eChapters

Introduction

Diversity connotes multiplicity of variety. In a given ecosystem, diversity refers to presence of number of different species of ?ora and fauna that have ecological niches in agreement with the environment. Scaling up, there exists diversity between different ecosystems. All life forms of ?ora and fauna on earth contains genetic material, that is the repository of an immense amount of genetic information in the form of traits, characteristics, etc. Focusing on the species level, genetic diversity refers to genetic variation that is observed in a population. Thus, genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. This provides in built latitude to the nature and/or the livestock breeders (including farmers) to manoeuvre/ manipulate so as evolve an improved population of desired qualities and traits. Further, genetic diversity is essential because the presence of adequate and appropriate genes in a population will make the species tide over adversaries owing to climate change and other emerging threats like new disease outbreaks. The ‘desired’ divergent gene pool provides the inherent resilient mechanism that equip the species to cope with likely challenging situation.

Over the years, with human interventions, the genetic diversity has been interfered with to meet specific needs; mostly with respect to garnering higher production and productivity. In the process, the diversity has been compromised for achieving the unitary goal. In certain cases, geographical barriers and other bio-physical constraints have also led to loss of diversity within a population. Studies on impact of climate change especially the effect of rise in environmental temperature on milk production of dairy animals indicate that global warming will negatively impact milk production. During 2020, the annual loss in milk production of cattle and buffaloes due to thermal stress will be around 3.2 million tonnes of milk costing more than Rs 5000 Crore at current price. Similarly, there would be prevalence of many emerging diseases including those with zoonotic implications owing to change in climatic conditions. Thus, the present day society is confronted with an imminent development dilemma of ecology vs. economics more specifically genetic diversity vs. higher production. It has led to volume of debates and discussions on the livestock development agenda to be pursued. The apparently con?icting interests has also generated antipathy amongst two schools of development.

Introduction

Milk is a natural food source of mammals. Animals produce milk to feed their young-ones until they are ready for solid feed. Cow milk contains protein, vitamins and minerals which are essential for the overall growth of the body. Cow milk contains a lot of nutrients and it has great role for overall health. Cow milk helps to boost the immune system of humans. Cow milk has a high content of calcium and minerals which plays a key role in maintaining bone density. Because of its high calcium content, cow’s milk is also considered great for teeth health. Cow milk has all essential amino acids which are required for growth and development of body. It is very beneficial for children as it helps to grow with physically and mentally. Cow milk help to reduce weight loss as it loaded with protein which is essential for weight loss. Calcium and vitamin D of milk increases the metabolic rate of the body. A better metabolic rate helps in burning calories faster. Drinking cow milk regularly helps in maintaining the blood sugar levels in the body. Cow’s milk has essential minerals and vitamins that help in processing the food normally and helps to maintain the insulin and glucose level.

Buffaloes thrive best in the areas of moderate rainfall as they require plenty of water for their daily bath. They live on coarser grass and even then are heavy yielders of milk. Buffalo species is thought to have originated in India. Indian buffaloes are the descendant of Bos arni found in north-eastern parts of India, especially in Assam & surrounding areas. There are two main types of buffaloes in India: River and Swamp types. However, both are called Bubalus bubalis. Most of the buffaloes in India are river types, though swamp varieties are also found in certain parts of the country, especially in eastern parts. Buffalo is our main milch producing species, that’s why the contribution of buffaloes to the total milk production is larger than that of cattle. India is the home tract of some of the best buffalo breeds. Buffalo has the major share in milk production in India. It is one of the major way for doubling the income of farmer by mix farming. Buffaloes are more resistant to many diseases as compare to cattle. Everyone know that, buffaloes milk are superior than cattle milk, hence fetching more price.

ABSTRACT

With the advancement of mobile technology, the usage of mobile application has increased significantly which leads to change the life style of common people. Library is also not an exception in this context. Library and Information Science Professionals have started to incorporate the changes from the beginning of ICT advancement with an idea “library should be within thumb of people”. Mobile application plays vital role to fulfil the objective of library. Most of the library has started or planning to start the service to its user with various services effectively. But, the process to provide library service through mobile application is not satisfactory till date. No too much usage of libraries mobile apps can be seen; even which mobile applications are in use, most of them are almost inactive form.

But the various recent surveys show us the tremendous growth of the usage of mobile application among people. According to Google, (2017) the user survey shows that mobile can fast-track time to purchase by 20% through facilitating efficiencies in decision-making and enhanced team collaboration, particularly with more complex purchases.

ACID SOILS: Acid soils with pH below 6.5 are widespread. Main limitations of these acid soils are low pH, low CEC, low status of bases, especially Ca, Mg, and K along with toxicity of Al and Mn. Use of acidifying fertilizers aggravates this situation.

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in driving economic growth, and its significance in the agriculture and allied industry cannot be overlooked. As the backbone of many economies, agriculture and its allied sectors provide employment to a significant portion of the global population. We shall highlight the benefits of being an entrepreneur in this sector, discuss the different types of entrepreneurs, provide relevant statistics and case studies, and touch upon the factors affecting entrepreneurial behaviour. Additionally, we will examine the current trends and forecast for the next three years in the agricultural entrepreneurship landscape and examine relevant statistics and case studies and shed light on the government’s role in promoting entrepreneurship in the Indian startup ecosystem.

Following are the reasons why must understand topic indepth.

1. Agritech startups have raised over $1 billion in funding in the past 5 years.
2. The Indian agritech market is expected to reach $15 billion by 2025.
3. There are over 1,000 agritech startups in India.
4. The top three agritech sectors in India are precision agriculture, farm management, and farm equipment rental.

1. ABSORPTION

Deals with the translocation of the xenobiotics. Passage of toxicant from site of adminstration to blood stream or systemic circulation.

Translocation may occur by following processes

a) Simple /Passive diffusion - most common route by which xenobiotic pass through the membranes:

? Down hill transport, No energy involvement

? It is not substrate specific.

? Small molecular weight (600) hydrophilic toxicants cross membranes by simple diffusion through aqueous pores.

? High molecular wt. hydrophobic molecules diffuse across the lipid domain of membranes.

? Follows Ficks Law of diffusion

? The rate of diffusion depends on their lipid: water partition coefficient value, Conc. Gradient, degree of ionization.

? Higher lipid: water partition coefficient and lower degree of ionization favours absorption of toxicants by this process.

World population is expected to cross 8.5 billion by 2025 and it will be a gigantic task to produce enough to meet the future food demand by growing same set of crop varieties on anticipated reduced area. Most of the land that could be brought under cropping has been utilized with exception of some land in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America (Borlaug and Doswell, 1993). Therefore, it is warranted to produce more from less land, less water and less inputs which can be achieved by enhancing the efficiency of production system by devising more efficient crop management practices and developing input use efficient cultivars.

Al-Ani, F.K. and Vestweber, J.G.E., 1986. Udder oedema: an update review. Vet. Bull., 56: 763-769.

Aitken, I.D. 2007. Diseases of sheep, 4^th edition, Blackwell publishing, UK.

Bennett, R. H. and Jasper, D. E. 1980. Bovine mycoplasmal mastitis from intramammary inoculations of small numbers of Mycoplasma bovis: local and systemic antibody response. Am. J. Vet. Res. 41(6):889-92.

Bennett, R.H. and Jasper, D.E. 1977. Bovine mycoplasma mastitis from intramammary inoculation of small numbers of Mycoplasma bovis. I. Microbiology and pathology. Vet. Microbiol., 2(4): 341–355.

Bergey’s Manual of determinative bacteriology. (edited by) John, G. Holt Fetd. 9th edn. (1994).

Bottom of Al-Ani, F.K. and Vestweber, J.G.E., 1986. Udder oedema: an update review. Vet. Bull., 56: 763-769.

Bertschinger, H. U., Pohlenz, J. and Hemlep, I. 1977. Studies on the mastitis-metritis-agalactia syndrome (milk fever) in sows. II. Bacteriological findings in spontaneous cases. Schweiz Arch Tierheilkd.119(6): 223-33.

Bostedt, H., Lehmann ,B. and Peip, D. 1988. The problems of mastitis in mares. Tierarztl. Prax.. 16(4):367-71.

Bradley, A. J. 2002. Bovine Mastitis: An Evolving Disease. Vet. J., 164(2): 116–128.

Buchanan, A. G. 1982. Clinical laboratory evaluation of a reverse CAMP test for presumptive identification of Clostridium perfringens. J. Clin. Microbiol. 14:761–762.

Bushnell, R. B. 1984. Mycoplasma mastitis. Vet. Clin. North Am. Large Anim. Pract., 6(2):301-12.

Chareonsirisuthigul, T., Kirpal, G., Amtsberg, G. 1979. Biochemistry, serology, pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance of an Escherichia coli strain from healthy sows and from animals with mastitismetritis-agalactia syndrome. Berl. Munch Tierarztl. Wochenschr. 92(21):409-16.

Christie, N. E., Atkins, N. E. and Munch-Petersen, E. 1944. A note on a lytic phenomenon shown by group B Streptococcus. Aust. J. Exp. Biol. Med. Sci. 22:193–195.

Claxton, P.D. and Ryan, D. 1980. Bovine mastitis bacteriology. Australian Standard Diagnostic Techniques for Animal Diseases. Pp. 1-8

Daley, M. J., Oldham, E. R., Williams, T. J. and Coyle, P. A. 1991. Quantitative and qualitative properties of host polymorphonuclear cells during experimentally induced Staphylococcus aureus mastitis in cows. Am. J. Vet. Res., 52(3): 474-9.

Darling, J. F. 1975. Standardization and evaluation of CAMP reaction for the prompt, presumptive identification of Streptococcus agalactiae (Lancefield group B) in clinical material. J. Clin. Microbiol. 1:171–174.

De, U. K. and Mukherjee, R. 2005.Status of nitric oxide production by polymorphonuclear cells during clinical mastitis in lactating cows. Indian J. Comp. Microbiol. Immunol. Infec. Dis., 26(1): 61-62.

De, U. K. and Mukherjee, R. 2008. Anti-inflammatory and respiratory burst activity of Azadirachta indica during acute bovine mastitis Indian J. Anim. Sci., 79(2): 32-34.

De, U. K. and Mukherjee, R. 2009. Expression of cytokines and respiratory burst activity of milk cells in response to Azadirachta indica during bovine mastitis. Trop. Anim. Health Prod., 41(2): 189-197.

De, U. K. and Mukherjee, R. 2009. Inhibitory response of Azadirachta indica extract on nitric oxide production by milk leukocytes during clinical mastitis. Vet. Arhiv, 79(1), 41-50.

De, U. K. and Mukherjee, R. 2009.Prevalence of mastitis in crossbred cows. Indian Vet. J., 86:858-859.

De, U. K. and Mukherjee, R. 2011. Potential of Indigenous Enzymatic Activities, Nitric Oxide and Ceruloplasmin in Bovine Milk to Diagnose Subclinical Mastitis. J Veterinar Sci Technol 2:109. doi:10.4172/2157-7579.1000109

Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotential cells capable of proliferation and differentiation into osteogenic, chondrogenic and adipogenic lineages both in vitro and in vivo. Minimal criteria for defining MSC according to International Society of Cell Therapy (ISCT) are (a) they must be plastic-adherent when maintained in a standard culture conditions, (b) MSC must express some surface antigen such as CD105, CD73, CD90, CD44 and must not express CD34, CD45, CD 14, CD19, and HLA-DR, and (c) MSC must differentiate in vitro into osteoblast, adipocytes and chondrocytes under specific differentiating condition.

Although traditionally MSC isolated from bone marrow, more recent reports have detailed the isolation of cells with MSC characteristics from a variety of tissues including umbilical cord blood, chorionic villi of the placenta, Wharton’s jelly, peripheral blood, fetal liver and lung, adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, periosteum, deciduous teeth, amniotic fluid, dental pulp, testis, synovium and the circulatory system. Bone marrow and periosteum sources are richest in young animals with their numbers diminishing, but still present in old age. It is estimated that MSCs represent approximately only 0.01 to 0.001% of the total nucleated cells within isolated bone marrow aspirate. The yield of MSCs from bone marrow varies from species to species. e.g., Canine =1 in 2.5 × 10⁴; Feline =1 in 3.8 × 10⁵; Murine =1 in 10.8 ×10³ to 1 in 3.45×10⁴ and Horses =1 in 4.2 × 10³. Despite this low number, they are remains a great interest, as they can be easily isolated from a small aspirate and culture-expanded through as many as 40 population doublings to significant numbers in about 8 to 10 weeks.

Introduction

Now a day, goat farming has become more commercial. Due to its good economic prospects, goat rearing under intensive and semi-intensive system for commercial production has been gaining momentum for the doubling the income of the farmers. There is good encouragement from governments with providing subsidies on especially stall fed goat farming. Goat is being raised for centuries as poor man’s cow due to its importance of providing employment in rural areas by producing healthy meat. Goats also play major role in agriculture economy of India. Goat is excellent source of additional income for poor and landless owners. The goat milk is nutritious and easily digestible milk to their kids. Goats are easy to maintain as they can graze on open land. Goat farming is an excellent option where fodder and forage is limited. Goat farmers can get good returns with successful goat rearing. Goats are among the main meat producing animal in India, whose meat (chevon) is one of the choicest meats and has huge domestic demand. High demand of goat and its products with potential of good economic returns have been deriving many progressive farmers, business, professionals, ex-servicemen and educated youths to take up the goat enterprise on a commercial scale. The emerging favorable market conditions and easy accessibility to improved goat technologies are also catching the attention of entrepreneurs.

Sheeps were first domesticated by human being, many thousands of years ago for their wool, meat and skins. It provides a source of income to the shepherds through sale of wool and animal. Sheep do not need expensive building to house them and require less labour than other kinds of livestock. Sheep are economical convertor of grass into meat and wool. Sheep will eat varied kinds of plants compared to other kind of livestock. This makes them excellent weed destroyer. Unlike goats; sheep hardly damage any tree. The production of wool, meat and manure provides three different source of income to the shepherd. The structure of their lips helps them to clean grains lost at harvest time and thus convert waste feed into profitable products.

Predation and cannibalism are entirely two different processes. In predation, the animal used to consume other species then their own, whereas cannibalism is a practice of eating one’s own kind. Cannibalism is a common behavior in animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1500 species. It is reported in an increasing number of fish species belonging to group/ families such as air-breathing catfishes (Clariidae), pikes (Esocidae), percids (Percidae), characids (Characidae), latids (Latidae), gadids (Gadidae) and in over 30 other families, including cyprinids (Cyprinidae) and salmonids (Salmonidae) (Smith & Reay, 1991; Hecht & Peinaar, 1993; Folkvord, 1991; Baras, 1998; Qin et al., 2004). Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction and depends on genetics and fish behavior; mediated by appetite and metabolism and is promoted by size differences, and is more intense among fast growing larvae and young juveniles than among older fish (Hecht and Pienaar, 1993; Baras, 1998).

Cannibalism is a serious problem in the farming of striped murrel that starts from the early larval stage (Ng and Lim, 1990) and continues at all sizes including during parenting also. Murrels have large mouth gape; sharp jaw teeth for catching & grasping prey and can consume prey fish more than half to two-third of its length (Wee, 1981; Diana et al., 1985; Ng and Lim, 1990 and Qin and Fast, 1996). Its aerodynamic body shape allows fast movement in water and catching the prey with ease. Striped murrel observes two types of cannibalism, Filial and Intracohort, which is discussed in detail in the subsequent sections.

ABSTRACT

The chapter focuses that information as an economic resources and the role of library to distributing information among the user’s communities. From the economic point of view-the most important properties of information are easy to access and limited money acquire more information i.e. cost benefit. Information economy makes people ware about their goal and library help people to provide resources on need base.

Keyword: Information economy, Library, Information Communication Technology, ICT, Users’ community.

Definition

Entrepreneurship refers to the process of identifying, creating, and pursuing opportunities to develop new products, services, or processes, often involving innovation and risk-taking. It involves the willingness to take calculated risks in order to capitalize on these opportunities. Entrepreneurs are individuals who exhibit a unique mindset, combining creativity, resourcefulness, and resilience to bring their ideas to fruition. Entrepreneurship can manifest in various forms, including starting a new business, introducing novel products to the market, or even implementing innovative strategies within an existing organization. It is a dynamic and evolving concept that plays a vital role in driving economic progress and societal development.

Introduction

Pulses are a part of healthy and balanced diet and have special importance for vegetarians in fulfilling their daily requirements for body proteins. Low productivity in pulses is due to nutritional deficiency in soil and imbalanced external fertilization (Awomi et al., 2012). Nitrogen (N) is more important as it is essential component of amino acids and proteins. It fixes atmospheric N of about 35 kg ha-1 by the help of symbiotic Rhizobium, a soil bacterium (Movalia et al., 2020). Globally, Rhizobium and Bradyrhizobium can fix approximately 175 x 106tons of N every year which is higher than the annual total chemical N fertilizer production of 30 x 106tons (Hidayatullah et al., 2016). The element molybdenum (Mo) is crucial for functions of nitrogenase and nitrate reductase, the two important enzymes that act as catalyst for N fixation. These two enzymes work properly in presence of Mo as nitrogenase contains Fe-Mo and Fe-Fd proteins, and N fixation cannot take place without these proteins (Hidayatullah et al., 2016).

Introduction

Over 250 million people are directly affected by land degradation worldwide. Each year 12 million hectares are lost to deserts. Only 11 % of the global land surface can be considered as prime or Class-I land.

India contains 2.4 % of world’s total land. Out of the total geographical area of 329 million ha of the country, land use statistics are available for about 93 % of the total area which comes around 306 million ha. The arable land (net area sown plus the current and other fallow lands) was estimated at 166.14 million ha (54.2%) while the area under forest was accounted at 69.02 million ha (22.6%). Land put to non-agricultural uses was estimated at 22.97 million ha (7.5%) and the barren and uncultivable land at 19.44 million ha (6.4%). Permanent pastures and other grazing lands where estimated 11.04 million ha. (3.6%), land under miscellaneous uses at 3.62 million ha. (1.2%) and the cultivable waste land at 13.08 million ha (4.5%). By summing up these figures, the reporting area comes out 306 million ha.

Abstract
Non-tariff barrier (NTBs), particularly Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), have increasingly shaped the contours of international trade. While originally instituted to safeguard human, animal, and plant health and ensure product standards, these regulatory mechanisms are often criticized for functioning as covert instruments of protectionism. This chapter undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the dual nature of SPS and TBT measures, acknowledging their public policy rationale while critically examining their role in distorting trade flows, increasing compliance burdens, and eroding competitiveness, especially for exporters in developing economies. It highlights the economic ramifications, operational challenges, and policy complexities inherent in their implementation. Drawing from global best practices and multilateral frameworks, the study advocates for targeted strategies such as regulatory harmonization, improved transparency, enhanced capacity-building and robust dispute resolution mechanisms. These approaches are essential not only to prevent the misuse of SPS and TBT provisions but also to facilitate equitable market access and support rules based international trading system. The chapter emphasizes that achieving this balance is critical for fostering inclusive economic growth, promoting global competitiveness, and strengthening cooperation among nations in an increasingly interconnected world.
Keywords: Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), Sanitary and Photosanitary Measures (SPS), Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Regulatory Harmonization and Disguised Protectionism

The advent of blockchain technology is instigating a transformative shift across various industries, with the Indian agricultural sector being no exception to this phenomenon. This chapter examines the function of blockchain technology within the realms of agricultural branding and market intelligence in India, elucidating its contributions to the enhancement of transparency, traceability, and trust throughout agricultural value chains. The implementation of an immutable ledger for transactions and supply chain data through blockchain technology enhances branding strategies while facilitating data-driven decision-making within the agricultural markets of India. This chapter further examines the practical implementations, obstacles, and prospective trajectories concerning the adoption of blockchain technology within the agricultural sector of India.

Abstract
Coastal wetlands, including mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows, play a critical role in regulating the global climate by sequestering carbon. These ecosystems act as vital carbon sinks, efficiently absorbing and storing carbon in their biomass and soils. Despite covering only 2-3% of the planet’s surface, coastal wetlands are believed to store more than half of the world’s carbon in the top meter of soil, helping to mitigate climate change. The unique hydrological and biological characteristics of these ecosystems, such as their ability to slow the decomposition of organic matter and facilitate sediment burial, are crucial to their carbon storage capacity.
In addition to their role in carbon sequestration, coastal wetlands provide essential ecological services, including supporting biodiversity, preventing erosion, and protecting against storm surges. However, they face significant threats from pollution, climate change, human activity, and hydrological alterations, which could jeopardize their ability to store carbon. Preserving and restoring coastal wetlands is essential for maintaining their carbon sequestration capacity and strengthening climate resilience. Effective wetland conservation efforts, including sustainable land-use practices and restoration techniques like sediment augmentation, are essential to ensure these vital ecosystems continue to contribute to climate regulation.
Keywords: Coastal Wetlands, Climate, Carbon Sequestration, Blue carbon

A TTO fills the important intermediary position of linking research institution with industry so that innovations and new ideas can reach market. To be able to facilitate that effectively, the institutions must have well-defined R&D policies that include Sponsored R&D, Collaborative R&D, and Grant-in-Aid R&D. These ensure that the research remains properly managed, regulatory compliance assured and aligned with institutional priorities. This chapter has discussed about key policies that can help in successful operation of TTO while aligning institution’s mission and interests Various core policies that help in successful technology transfer include:
• Intellectual property policy
• Technology transfer policy
• Revenue sharing policy
• Startup/Spinout/Venture creation policy
• Conflict of interest/Conflict of commitment policy
Each policy has specific objectives. These policies collectively ensure a clear and consistent framework for technology commercialization.
11.1 Intellectual property policy
An IP policy is a formal document that provides guidelines for managing IP by an organisation. A strong IP policy build trust by ensuring efficiency and transparency. Other benefits of IP policy includes creation of environment to encourage innovation and commercialisation of IP. It also lays foundation to set out the rules for public-private partnerships while addressing issues among various stakeholders and ensures compliance. IP Policy is not law, but a proposed course of action.

Chrysanthemum is one of the important commercial loose flower crops in India, valued for its wide range of flower forms, colours, sizes and long-lasting florets. It is extensively used for religious offerings, garlands, Veni, bouquets and ornamental purposes. The chapter describes its origin, distribution, genetics, botanical characteristics and important annual and perennial types. It provides information on suitable varieties, climate, soil, propagation and field establishment. Production practices including nutrient management, irrigation, pinching and other cultural operations are explained systematically. The chapter also discusses important pests and diseases, harvesting, postharvest management and yield, providing a practical foundation for commercial chrysanthemum cultivation and floriculture teaching.