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Today, health promotion of the poor has emerged, worldwide, as a vital area for policy research and action. Healthcare is the responsibility of the constituent states and territories of India.
Food security: Gender dimensions
Health standards have improved gradually over a period of years. But the burden of ill health is borne disproportionately by different population subgroups and people of lower socio-economic status, especially women, as they consistently experience poor health outcomes. Gender inequality leads to food insecurity and is also its leading cause. National food security is largely dependent on agricultural sector. The FAO articulates that food security is achieved when people at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy and active life.
Rural women rarely own a control land and lack access to agricultural inputs, technology, training, extension services and marketing services. Despite being major contributors to agricultural production, they have little or no access to the means of production. They face restrictions in mobility due to social conditions, hence face a narrower range of labour markets than men including harsh working conditions and lower wage rates. This is insufficient for them to overcome absolute poverty. Added to this, the role of girl child as an unpaid contributor to the household production is another labour phenomenon of agriculture. In many families, girls and women suffer from severe anaemia, malnutrition and a malady of diseases. Women who are considered and counted in the national statistics as ‘cultivators’ are largely unpaid workers. In many families, females suffer from severe anaemia, malnutrition and a malady of diseases. ‘Feminisation of agriculture is being witnessed as there is higher proportion of female labour in comparison to male labour. They often engage in unpaid family agriculture work and subsistence farming.

1.    The predominant form of fat within fat (adipose) tissue is stored in humans in the form of

(a) Glycogen

(b) Triglycerides

(c) Diglycerides

(d) Monoglycerides

2.    The Thermic Effect of food refers to

(a) The ‘heat’ one feels from eating a chili pepper

(b) The amounts of energy the body spents to process, use and store

(c) The benefits of eating warm foods in cold weather

(d) All of the above

    1.    Nutrients : Chemical substances obtained from food and used in the body to provide energy, structural materials, and regulating agents to support growth, maintenance, and repair of the body’s tissues. Nutrients may also reduce the risks of some diseases.
    2.    Carbohydrate, fat, and protein are sometimes called macronutrients because the body requires them in relatively large amounts (many grams daily). In contrast, vitamins and minerals are micronutrients, required only in small amounts (milligrams or micrograms daily).
    3.    The international unit for measuring food energy is the joule, a measure of work energy. To convert kcalories to kilojoules, multiply by 4.2; to convert kilojoules to kcalories, multiply by 0.24.
    4.    Essential nutrients : Nutrients a person must obtain from food because the body cannot make them for itself in sufficient quantity to meet physiological needs; also called indispensable nutrients. About 40 nutrients are currently known to be essential for human beings. Energy-yielding nutrients: the nutrients that break down to yield energy the body can use:

1. Introduction Millets are the Nutri-cereals belonging to the Poaceae family and are classified into two major categories: major and minor, depending on their size and nutritional composition. Most millet crops are indigenous to India and are referred to as “nutri-cereals” since they contain most of the nutrients needed for the body to function properly. Millets such as Sorghum (Jowar), Pearl Millet (Bajra), and Finger Millet (Ragi) are the millets that come under the category of major millets. In contrast, the minor millets category includes Foxtail Millet (Kakun), Proso Millet (Cheena), Kodo Millet, Barnyard Millet (Sanwa), Little Millet (Kutki), Brown top millet including two pseudo millet that includes Buckwheat (Kuttu) and Amaranth (Chaulai) (Saini et al., 2021).

Introduction

There is an ongoing debate on global warming worldwide as it is seriously impacting climate change. The global temperature has been increased by 0.74±0.18°C during the last century and the climate model projections summarized in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report indicate that the global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4°C during the twenty-first century (IPCC, 2007). High ambient temperature is one of the most important stressors to poultry, which has a direct relationship on profitability of chicken meat and egg production. A seasonal problem in many parts of the world, high environmental temperature (35-43^oC in tropical countries) causes economic losses through reducing feed intake while decreasing nutrient utilization, live weight gain, egg production, egg quality and feed efficiency in poultry (Corzo et al., 2003; Panda et al., 2007a; 2008). The ideal temperature for broilers is 10-22^oC for optimum body weight and 15-27^oC for feed efficiency (NRC, 1994). Layers will produce egg constantly in the temperature range of 10-30^oC. Above 30^oC, performance in terms of growth and egg production declines.

Food, at the fundamental level, is viewed as a source of nutrition to meet daily requirements at a minimum in order to survive but with an ever greater focus on the desire to thrive. Nutritional security denotes the consumption and physiological use of adequate quantities of safe and nutritious food by every member of the family and encompasses the process of equitable distribution among members of household and communities. This would entail the need to ensure a varied food intake, comprising all the essential macro- and micronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins), plant pigments (lycopene, β- carotene, anthocianin, lutein, capsanthin, zeaxanthin, etc.) and other functional phytochemicals (secondary metabolites, like flavonoids, isothiocyanates, glucosinolates, etc.) through a diversified diet. The growing awareness in recent years of the health promoting food has directed increased attention to vegetables as vital components of daily diets.

Main Nutrient Components of Vegetables

Nutrient components of our food can be grouped into five main divisions, namely, (i) Carbohydrate, (ii) Protein, (iii) Fat, (iv) Vitamins and (v) Minerals. Balanced diet is the food containing all these nutrient components in balanced form to run the physiological process in good tune. So, only eating to one’s heart’s content may not be the criterion of a balanced diet. Our dietary constitution which is mostly cereal based is really alarming. Cereals, which supply chiefly carbohydrate, constitute only a part of the diet. Moreover, the present average carbohydrate supply through cereals is also not adequate. Chief deficiencies in our diet are calories, protein, vitamin A and riboflavin. According to the studies of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi and National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, meager intake of vegetables, the low cost protective foods, is largely responsible for malnutrition among the majority of our population. The dieticians advocate intake of 125g leafy vegetables, 75g other vegetables and 100g root and tuber vegetables (total 300g) everyday to make our diet balanced. In households below the poverty line, per capita vegetable consumption is very low, apprehended to be even lower than 40g per day.

Nutritional and metabolic disorders in livestock and poultry arise from imbalances in nutrient intake, environmental factors, or the inability of the body to metabolize nutrients properly. These disorders impact animal health, productivity, and overall economic performance. Early identification and proper management are critical to mitigating their effects.
Nutritional and metabolic disorders can be broadly categorized as:
1. Disorders caused by deficiencies or excesses of nutrients
2. Disorders related to imbalances in energy, protein, or minerals
3. Disorders resulting from inadequate metabolic adaptations to physiological or environmental changes
Common nutritional and metabolic disorders in livestock include:
A. Energy and protein-related disorders
1. Ketosis (Acetonemia) in dairy cattle
Cause: Negative energy balance during early lactation, leading to fat mobilization and ketone body accumulation.
Symptoms: Reduced milk production, weight loss, acetone-like breath, and decreased appetite. Management
Increase energy density in diets with concentrates and high-quality forages.
Supplement with propylene glycol or glucose precursors.
Monitor body condition scores to prevent over-conditioning during the dry period.

Abstract

Due to rapidly increasing knowledge on nutrition and medicine, concepts about food and health has dramatically changed and resulted in consumption of nutraceuticals and natural plant foods.Use of nutritional therapy and phytotherapy have become progressively popular to improve health, and to prevent and treat diseases. Plants have long history of their uses as ingredients of human nutrition and folk medicine,because of availability of huge array of high-value components and multiple-activity bio-actives. “Licorice” means “sweet root” in Greek is a plant of ancient origin, indigenous to Southern Europe and Asia Minor. Most of the supply comes from former USSR, Spain, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, with total production between 40,000 and 50,000 tonnes per annum. The chemical constituents of the roots include several bioactive compounds, such as glycyrrhizin (~16%), different sugars (up to 18%) ,flavonoids, saponoids,sterols, starches, amino acids, gums and essential oils. A large number of clinical and experimental studies reported its useful biological properties such as antioxidant, immunomodulatory, cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anticancer effects. It is useful in anaemia, gout, asthama,ulcers, sore throat, tonsillitis, diabetes, tuberculosis, flatulence, diarrhea, sexual debility, epilepsy, hyperdypsia, fever, coughs, skin diseases, eye diseases, swellings,constipation, rheumatism, acidity, leucorrhoea, bleeding, jaundice, hiccough, hoarseness, bronchitis.Recently, it is reported to have neurological properties such as antidepressant, anxiolytic, and anticonvulsant effects. The most abundant minerals present are calcium, sodium, phosphorus, potassium and iron. Licorice extracts and its principle component, glycyrrhizin, have extensive use in foods,as a natural sweetener and flavoring agent in beverage, confectionery, tobacco and pharmaceutical industry. It is in great demand globally as medicinal and nutritional supplement due to it's wide range of properties, which also indicates that in future the plant could serve as a “lead” for the development of novel agents having good efficacy in various disorders.

Introduction

In the recent past there has been a great deal of questioning regarding role of milk fat in cholesterol metabolism and other body functions. The enormous wave against cholesterol containing foods has damaged the image and market growth of fat rich dairy products. This trend is due to presence of saturated fats and cholesterol that are known to increase the incidence of coronary heart diseases one of the common cause of heart attack. The educated and urban society is more health conscious about the presence of cholesterol in their diets. This has led to the greater demand of cholesterol free foods. Ghee being a saturated fat and containing little amount of cholesterol, is suspected to contribute towards coronary heart diseases. However, critically surveyed scientific literature indicates that there is no evidence of any association of milk fat with increased risk of coronary heart diseases. Age old and proven Ayurvedic system of medicine has proved the usage of ghee to induce several beneficial effects on human health and used extensively for therapeutic purpose like in treatment of skin allergy, respiratory diseases, curative for ulcers and eye diseases. This suggest that ghee is a valuable form of dietary fat.

India is blessed with a coast line of 8118 km with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2.02 million square km and a continental shelf of 0.506 million sq. km. The inland water resources includes 191024 km of rivers and canals; 2.05 million ha of reservoirs; 2.254 million ha of ponds and tanks; 1.3 million ha of oxbow lakes and derelict waters; and 1.24 million ha brackish waters. India has an estimated fish production potential of 8.4 million tons, of which the marine sector forms 3.9 million tons and the inland sector 4.5 million tons. As against this, the current fish production is 5.96 million tons i.e., 2.89 million tons from marine sector and 3.07 million tons from inland sector (Vannuccini, 2003). The per capita fish availability in India is 4.7 kg/year (Laurenti, 2002).

1 Application of lime reduces plant minerals namely

a) Ca b) Zn

c) Mn d) All of the above

I. FILL UPS

1. _____ is the necessary component for vitamins.
2. _____ is vital for seed formation.
3. _____ is essential for protein synthesis.
4. _____ is essential for nut development in peanuts.
5. _____ is the key element for chlorophyll production.
6. _____ is the integral part of amino acids.
7. _____ is essential for seed and cell wall formation.
8. _____ catalyzes several plant processes.

Nutritional deficiencies can result from a lack of specific nutrients in the diet, adverse interactions between nutrients in seemingly well-balanced diets, or the influence of specific anti-nutrients. The latter two scenarios are particularly challenging to diagnose because dietary analysis may suggest that nutrient levels are adequate. Micronutrients such as vitamins and trace minerals are typically added to diets through standalone micro premixes, making classic signs of individual nutrient deficiencies rare. Instead, the effects are often a combination of various metabolic conditions. Accurate diagnosis often requires comprehensive information about the diet and management practices, clinical signs in affected birds, necropsies, and tissue analyses. However, tissue analysis, especially of the liver and serum, can be misleading. Following the onset of a deficiency, birds may sequester nutrients in the liver, leading to falsely high liver assay values even when the diet is deficient. This effect is particularly significant for minerals such as copper. A diet that appears to contain sufficient levels of certain nutrients based on analysis may actually be deficient in those nutrients to some extent. Stressors such as bacterial, parasitic, or viral infections, as well as extreme temperatures, can interfere with nutrient absorption or increase the nutritional requirements. Toxins or microorganisms may destroy or render unavailable specific nutrients that appear to be present in adequate levels according to conventional chemical or physical assays. Consequently, many trace minerals and vitamins are included in the diet at levels significantly higher than the actual requirements to account for these potential issues.

Introduction

Poultry production is practiced at levels ranging from subsistence to large scale commercial operations. Commercial operations depend on hatcheries for the supply of day-old chicks while the subsistence farmers hatch their chicks by natural incubation. The hatchery plays a central role in the poultry production chain. Optimization of hatchery and breeder farm management can lead to improvement of the result throughout the production chain (Heier and Jarp, 2001). Generally, the success of hatchery management is monitored by the percentage of eggs set that are hatched (hatchability) and the number of chicks that are placed for grow-out (saleable chicks). 

1. Introduction
Nutritional genomics, also known as nutrigenomics, is an emerging field that seeks to understand how individual genetic variations influence responses to specific nutrients and how diet, in turn, affects gene expression and overall health. By studying the complex interactions between nutrients and the human genome, nutritional genomics aims to develop personalized nutrition strategies that optimize health, prevent disease, and improve dietary outcomes for individuals based on their unique genetic makeup.
In the past, nutrition science largely followed a “one-size-fits-all” approach, with general dietary recommendations applied to broad populations. However, advances in genomics have shown that people respond differently to the same foods based on their genetic profile. Factors such as nutrient metabolism, absorption rates, and predispositions to certain diseases can vary significantly among individuals. These discoveries have led to a paradigm shift toward personalized nutrition, where diet plans are tailored to an individual’s genetic predispositions, improving the effectiveness of dietary interventions and reducing disease risks.
Nutritional genomics spans several sub-disciplines, including nutrigenetics (the study of how genetic variations affect the body’s response to nutrients) and nutrigenomics (how nutrients influence gene expression). These two aspects work together to help researchers understand the dual relationship between diet and genetics, contributing to the development of personalized diets that account for metabolic and physiological differences.

Proper nutrition is essential for the health and well-being of dogs at every stage of life. The nutritional needs of a dog change as it grows, so it’s important to tailor their diet according to their age, size, and health status. Below is a comprehensive guide on the nutritional needs of dogs, broken down into different age groups: puppies, adult dogs, and senior dogs.

1. Puppies (0-12 Months)

Puppies are in a rapid growth phase and require a high level of nutrients, including proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals, to support the development of muscles, bones, organs, and the immune system.

Nutritional Needs

Protein: Puppies require high-quality animal-based protein to build muscle and tissue. Around 22-30% of their diet should be protein-rich. Chicken, tur key, fish, and eggs are excellent sources.

Healthy body maintains a healthy mind. Fruits and vegetables are said to be protective food as they provide proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, roughages, organic acids, enzymes and energy for normal growth and sustenance of physiological activities of human beings. Fruits and vegetables provide palatability, taste and improve appetite. It also provides fiber to prevent constipation. They reduce the ill-effect of acids produced during digestion of proteins and fatty acids. Thus, they protect the human body from various deficiency disorders.

Important fact is that most of the Indians are vegetarians. The incorporation of fruits and vegetables in daily diet is essential as body building elements and calorie yielding foods for good health. Comparatively fruits and vegetables are the cheapest source of natural nutritive foods and are an important component of a balanced diet Balanced diet is a diet which contains body building elements and calorie yielding foods in an appropriate proportion for normal growth and well-being of a person. According to ICMR, New Delhi; 120 g fruits and 280-300 g vegetables should be consumed per day per capita. Vegetables include 80-100 g of leafy vegetables, 100-125 g of tubers as energy source and remaining as other vegetables.

Significant achievements have been made in the food availability throughout the world over the last few decades. The estimated number of people in developing regions suffering from chronic malnutrition has declined (from 946 million people in 1969-71 to 870 million people in 2010-12), as the proportion of malnourished people from 36 percent to 20 percent, even though the world population has increased. Global food supplies (if distributed according to individual requirements) are sufficient to fulfill the energy needs. An estimated 20 percent of the people in developing world are chronically under nourished, consuming too little food to meet even the minimal energy needs. Approximately 192 million children under the age of five years suffer from acute or chronic protein energy malnutrition. According to WHO, 6.9 million children under the age of five died in 2011, from direct or indirect result of hunger and malnutrition. Moreover, more than 2 billion people, mostly women and children are deficient in one or more micronutrients, babies continue to be born mentally retarded as a result of iodine deficiency, children go blind from vitamin-A deficiency and enormous number of women and children are adversely affected by iron deficiency.

The overall growth in food availability resulting from the green revolution over the last two decades has eliminated the threat of famine for India’s entire population. Country’s production of food grains has reached over 257.07 million tonnes. However, malnutrition is still a serious problem in this region. Evidences suggest that micronutrient deficiency is far more prevalent in the area than protein energy malnutrition. The International Food Policy Research Institute has reported a rising trend in micronutrient deficiencies, which is becoming more serious than malnutrition from lack of major nutrients. Thus, the emphasis is now shifting from supply of basic food (calories & protein) towards supply of balanced diet (calories, protein & micronutrients which includes vitamins and minerals).

Introduction

Climate change is one of the biggest environmental threats to food production, water availability, forest biodiversity and livelihoods. Warming of climate system of the earth is a unanimously accepted reality and probably one of the most prominent challenges for scientists, development workers, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders regarding development and sustainability in international and national arena during past several years. Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPPC) has described climate change as any anthropogenic or naturally occurring alteration in the climate over time. It is widely believed that developing countries such as India will be impacted more severely than developed countries. Climate change is emerging as a big threat to sustainable development of agriculture including animal husbandry and to the livelihood of people. Extreme events such as cold waves, heat waves, ?oods and high intensity single day rainfall events are on increasing trend during the last decade (Dikshit and Birthal, 2010). It is probable that by 2030 the impacts of climate change will be noticeable, although not dramatic and will be largely manifested through changes in pasture growth and quality, and greater inter-annual variability in pasture production. Livestock contribute to climate change by emitting methane through enteric fermentation. But they are also affected by climate change it directly and indirectly, hence affecting their economic and social contributions. Various studies suggest that the changes in pasture growth, composition and production will be dependent on the actual combination of CO₂, temperature and rainfall conditions. Livestock productions under both intensive and extensive systems are subjected to so many stresses, where they undergo different types of physiological adjustments to cope up with stressful conditions. Productions are drastically reduced during stress and require managemental interventions both in terms of optimum nutrition and health care (Soren, 2013).

India ranks first in goat population with 148.88 million goats and 10.14% growth rate (DADF, 2019). Goat meat contributes around 37% of the total meat produced from the livestock sector in India which comes from the 42% of goat population annually (GOI, 2019). Goat has served as source of livelihood support and financial security to large section of society, especially to the resource-poor farmers. However, in the current scenario, this small ruminant farm animal has tremendous potential to be projected as the “Future Animal” for rural and urban prosperity. Rapid transformation of backyard goat farming to “commercial goat industry” is taking place in the country. The perception of goat as “poor man’s cow” to “preferred livestock species” is fast changing; therefore, to meet this transformation goat rearing system is shifting gradually from extensive low input system for livelihood purposes to semi- intensive and intensive rearing system for commercial purposes in India (Ramachandran et al., 2019). Due to their higher resilience capacity to climate change and better adaptability goats play significant role in ensuring food security. Goats have traditionally been a significant asset and source of protein for rural communities inhabiting arid and semiarid regions of the world. It is an endeavour of millions of small holders who rear animals on crop residues and Common Property Resources. The small holders produce milk, meat, fibre, skin etc for the community with virtually less capital investment, resources and formal training. They are conventionally raised on grazing resources. However, these resources are gradually shrinking over the periods both in terms of quality and quantity. On the other hand, there is continuous rise in the demand of meat which led to further deterioration of available grazing resources.