eChapters

1. INTRODUCTION

For maintenance of genetic purity in the field with the seed crop and to test verify the standards in certification programme, the studies on varietal characterization and identification have attracted the attention of breeders, breeder’s right protection institutions, farmers, the seed industry, certification agencies, and seed testing laboratories with a view to assure the quality of seed marketed to the consumers.

The complement system is a group of about 30 heat labile plasma proteins which constitute nearly 15% of total serum proteins. It is a system of plasma and membrane-associated serum proteins which can elicit a highly efficient and regulated inflammatory and cytolytic immune responses to different types of infectious organisms.

Plant breeding or crop plant improvement is one of the oldest accomplishments of man. It began when he domesticated plants by growing them under controlled conditions and selecting those types that suited to his food requirements, about 10,000 years ago. As settlements improved, men could find time to innovate agricultural practices and to have better selections. Thus, domestication of plants and animals marked one of the most important phases in man’s progress from a nomadic and highly individualistic life to the organized and cooperative society. All our food crops as we know them now are the direct results of this primitive agriculture. This early phase of plant breeding was haphazard and slow based on selection of desirable types from the availability variability and it largely remained an art and not a science until Mendel’s laws were rediscovered in 1900 and applied to plant breeding at the beginning of 19^th century. 

9.1 Geospatial Technology

It is an organized collection of computer hardware, software, geographic data, and personnel. It is designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display geographically referenced information. It includes typical Geographic Information System (GIS) software packages (ArcGIS, ArcExplorer, MapPoint, Google Earth), Remote Sensing (Collecting and interpreting information about the environment from a distance using satellite imagery, radar, or aerial photography), Global Positioning Systems (GPS) (A system of radio-emitting and receiving satellites used for determining positions on the earth) and many others (Lisa Kennaway, 2009). Geospatial technology can be used in pest monitoring and detection, data visualization/query, survey data collection, management and analysis, risk and pathway analysis, change detection and many others.

The practice of veterinary homoeopathy has existed since Hahnemann’s time. During recent years it has emerged from the shadows and appears to be growing exponentially, expanding in many directions. Veterinary homeopathy has strongest modern tradition in Europe particularly in Germany, France and Great Britain. European Union committee has urged recently to cut the use of antimicrobials in human as well as in animals to an essential level for maintaining the effectiveness of antimicrobials and to deal with the problems of emergence of resistance among microbes.

Tradition of veterinary homeopathy is as old as humans. Initially homeopathic drugs viz. Aconitum napellus, Camphora, Nux vomica and Opium were used for the treatment of certain diseases of horses and cattle as early as 1833 by German Practitioner – Guillaume Lux. Since then veterinary homeopathy has progressed considerably despite the apparent difficulty in adopting the patient questioning technique, lack of expression of subjective feelings and lack of experimental data.

1). Scab
Diagnostic Symptoms
• Symptoms generally noticed on leaves and fruits.
• Affected leaves become twisted or puckered and have black, circular spots on their upper surface.
• On the under surface of leaves, the spots are velvety and may coalesce to cover the whole leaf surface. Severely affected leaves may turn yellow and drop.
• Scab can also infect flower stems and cause flowers to drop.
• Lesions later become sunken and brown and may have spores around their margins.
• Infected fruit become distorted and may crack, allowing entry of secondary organisms(Figure-1).
Etiology
Scientific Classification
Kingdom : Fungi
Division : Ascomycota

Introduction 
The increasing prices of fast-depleting fossil fuels and their environmental impact have driven the quest for alternative fuels for diesel engines. Because of their higher biomass yield, faster growth rates, and superior photosynthetic efficiency when compared to other energy crops like soybean and rapeseed, microalgae are considered as promising candidates for biofuel production (Mubarak et al., 2015). Numerous species of microalgae have been found to have high lipid contents, making them attractive cell platforms for the synthesis of lipids. Their significance as a backup source of bioenergy in the future is indicated by the ease with which their lipids can be transformed into biodiesel (Ren et al., 2021). Tiny photosynthetic organisms known as microalgae are the ancestors of eukaryotic plants on Earth. These organisms range in size from one to hundred microns and are either unicellular or multicellular (Udayan et al., 2022). Due to the genetic and biochemical diversity of their lineages, algae are able to synthesize a wide range of metabolites, including lipids (Manning, 2022). Glycerolipids are the most prevalent and well-known lipid class in microalgae. Glycerolipids are categorized into two classes based on their functions: storage lipids and structural lipids. Membrane lipids, a type of structural lipid, play a crucial role in forming cell and organelle membranes. They typically consist of two fatty acid groups attached to a glycerol backbone, along with a polar group bound to the glycerol structure (Morales et al., 2021). In contrast, polar lipids have a higher oxygen content and possess charged side groups, enabling them to moderately interact with water. Examples include phospholipids and glycolipids (Manning, 2022). Microalgal lipid metabolism predominantly relies on the de novo fatty acid biosynthesis pathway and the triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis route (Zhu et al., 2022). Therefore, accurately estimating the composition of the lipid fraction is crucial for determining its potential applications, whether as a raw material for biofuel production or for nutraceutical and/or food purposes (Viegas et al., 2020). The production of biodiesel from microalgae presents a novel approach to generating renewable and sustainable energy. Additionally, different techniques, including lipid extraction and transesterification, are utilized to transform lipid-rich microalgae biomass into biodiesel (Gaurav et al., 2024). Microalgae possess thick-walled cell structures, which restrict the release of their bioactive compounds due to the rigidity of the microalgal matrix. Consequently, selecting suitable pre-treatment and extraction methods is essential for effectively obtaining lipids from microalgae while preserving their bioactivity. Traditional methods for lipid extraction, such as Soxhlet extraction, Folch extraction, and Bligh-Dyer extraction, have been used for a considerable time. While these techniques are generally easy to use and cost-effective, which encourages their adoption, they also have drawbacks, including high consumption of organic solvents, environmental pollution, and extended extraction times that can last several hours. Thus, it is essential to investigate suitable techniques that enhance the extraction rate and lower costs while ensuring the bioactive properties of lipids, enabling better industrial applications of microalgae (Zhou et al., 2022). In recent years, the use of nanotechnology and nanoparticles has emerged as a novel approach for extracting valuable metabolites or bioproducts from microalgae. Nanoparticles (NPs) are materials engineered with at least one dimension measuring less than 100 nanometers (nm). Due to their small size and large surface

As per the projection of International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, there is likelihood of shortfall of 41% in food production in India by 2020 and need to produce 300mt of food by 2020. India is the seventh largest country in the world with a population of more than 1.03 billion and with 1.93 population growth rate. To overcome such problems we have to go for horizontal or vertical increase in production. As the cultivable area and water resources are limited to bring under cropping, except by way of increasing the cropping intensity/cropping system, horizontal increase has little scope. While the vertical increase in production has tremendous scope with better value added varieties and farmer friendly sustainable management and production technologies.

India is bestowed by nature with a vast livestock resources comprising of 190 million cattle, 108 million buffalo, 135.17 million goats, 65.06 million sheep, 10.29 million pigs, 729.2 million poultry, 0.29 million mithun and 0.07 million yak (Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, 2014). The livestock sector is an important segment of agriculture and contributes nearly 25.6 percent of value in agriculture, fishing and forestry sector. The total share of livestock in GDP of India is 4.11 percent and meat is an important sector to generate foreign revenue by export. The share can further be extended by utilization of animal by-products because it is a sector of livestock neglected most. It is an old saying that ‘each and everything comes from animals can be utilized except last cry of animals’.

Abstract

Herbal Burfi was development with various types of milk viz., Buffalo (6% Fat), Cow (4% Fat) and mixed milk (5% Fat) and different levels of sugar i.e. 20, 25, 30 and 35 per cent (weight basis of khoa). Each sample was fortified with 5g satavar and safed musli powder. Other minor ingredients like Almonds, Cardamoms, Cashew nuts, Pistachio nuts, etc were mixed thoroughly and after preparation herbal burfi was allowed to set at room temperature (20- 25_oC) for two hours. Physico-chemical (acidity, pH, fat, protein, lactose, sugar, ash and total solids), microbial (total plate count, coliform count, yeast and mould count) quality and sensory attributes of the herbal burfi were evaluated. The data of experiments were statistically analyzed to compare significance effects of various factors by applying factorial Randomized Block Design (fRBD) with the help of OPSTAT software and ANOVA.

Introduction

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a set of soil management practices that minimize the disruption of the soil’s structure, composition and natural biodiversity. These include: i) maintenance of permanent or semi-permanent soil cover (using either a previous crop residue or specifically growing a cover crop for this purpose); ii) minimum soil disturbance through tillage (just enough to get the seed into the ground); iii) regular crop rotations to help combat the various biotic constraints. CA also uses or promotes where possible or needed various management practices listed below: i) utilization of green manures/ cover crops (GMCC’s) to produce the residue cover; ii) no burning of crop residues; iii) integrated disease and pest management; iv) controlled/limited human and mechanical traffic over agricultural soils. When these CA practices are used by farmers one of the major environmental benefits is reduction in fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In India, efforts to develop, refine and disseminate conservation-based agricultural technologies have been underway for nearly two decades and made significant progress since then even though there are several constraints that affect adoption of CA. Particularly, tremendous efforts have been made on no-till in wheat under a rice-wheat rotation in the Indo-Gangetic plains. The technologies of CA provide opportunities to reduce the cost of production, save water and nutrients, increase yields, increase crop diversification, improve efficient use of resources, and benefit the environment. However, there are still constraints for promotion of CA technologies, such as lack of appropriate seeders especially for small and medium scale farmers, competition of crop residues between CA use and livestock feeding, burning of crop residues, availability of skilled and scientific manpower and overcoming the bias or mindset about tillage. The need to develop the policy frame and strategies is urgent to promote CA in the region. (Bhan and Behera, 2014).

Major Histocompetibility Complex (MHC) is a closely linked cluster of genes which have codes for cell surface proteins known as MHC molecules. MHC molecules were previously called as HLA molecules. Since these molecules were first discovered on the leucocytes, these were called human leukocyte antigen or HLA molecules.

1.1 Weather Forecasting
Farmers have always been at the mercy of the weather, and accurate forecasting has become an essential tool for their decision-making process. Weather forecasts play a critical role in supporting farmers’ decision-making processes, from crop planning and management to harvest planning and economic decision-making. Crop planning and management is one of the key areas where weather forecasts are crucial. Farmers use weather forecasts to determine the best time to plant seeds, taking into account temperature, moisture, and sunlight requirements. This enables them to choose crops that are suitable for the predicted weather conditions. Additionally, forecasts help farmers optimize irrigation, reducing water waste and ensuring crops receive adequate moisture (Fig.1.1).
Weather forecasts also help farmers mitigate weather-related risks. Extreme weather events like floods, droughts, heat waves, and storms can have devastating effects on crops. Accurate forecasts enable farmers to prepare for and respond to these events, reducing crop damage and loss. For instance, forecasts help farmers take measures to protect crops from frost and freeze damage, which can be catastrophic for certain crops.

Abstract

Enzyme is a highly efficient catalyst that is produced by active cells. When compared to chemical catalysts; enzymes have a number of benefits, including high specificity, high catalytic efficiency and flexible activity, all of which greatly help to promote their use in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and food sectors. The majority of enzymes such as protease, amylase, lipase and cellulase are relatively unstable and industrial uses are frequently restricted by a lack of long-term operational stability as well as the technically challenging recovery process and ruse of the enzyme. Enzyme immobilization provides an excellent base for increasing enzyme availability to the substrate with higher turnover over a long period of time. Enzyme immobilization are done by several methods and their performance are influenced by many factors. Physical and chemical based immobilization are the most commonly used methods. The matrix immobilizes the enzyme by holding it permanently or temporarily for a short stretch of time. The generally used matrixes for immobilizations includes natural, synthetic polymers and inorganic compounds.Currently, synergistic interactions of biotechnology and nanotechnology are useful for the development of immobilized enzymes. Enzyme immobilization is a commonly used technology in a variety of industries including food, pharmaceuticals, bioremediation, detergents, and textiles due to technical and economical advantages. This chapter focuses on most commonly used immobilized techniques in industry with many recent applications of immobilized enzymes.

Introduction

The state of Odisha highly depends on rainfall for the agricultural production. But rainfall distribution is very erratic and uneven which result heavy floods and droughts in different pockets of the state. Thus, the agricultural production is very unstable. It is present in the eastern region of India which is again located in the subtropical belt of medium pressure. Here hot and dry summer welcomes wet humid monsoon which last about few months. Charming autumn and with short and mild winter entertain the human life. But here climate is characterized by high temperature and medium rainfall. Topography however modifies the local climate greatly. The four meteorological seasons prevailing in the state which are: winter (January to February), pre-monsoon season (March to May), south-west monsoon season (June to September) and north east monsoon season (October-December).

Introduction

The Himalayan and peninsular regions of India comprise of diverse coldwater resources in terms of upland rivers, fast flowing streams, high, mid and low altitude natural lakes and reservoirs (Singh and Akhtar, 2015; Singh and Sarma, 2017; Sarma et al, 2018). The Indus, the Brahmaputra and the Ganga basins in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) is a domicile of over 4 % of the country’s population having rich repository of biodiversity, a natural habitat of over 8000 species of flowering plants, 816 tree species, 675 edibles, nearly 1740 species of medicinal plants and about 258 species of fish (Singh and Akhtar, 2015; Pramanik and Bhaduri, 2016; Singh and Sarma, 2017). IHR mainly encompasses the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh where the diverse natural resource-base and wide climatic range, harbour huge inhabitants of endemic, indigenous and exotic coldwater fish species extending an enormous scope of developing upland farming practices (Singh and Sarma, 2017; Singh, 2020), game and ornamental f isheries of large extent (Zaidi et al., 2018). These can provide an excellent opportunities for augmenting livelihood security of upland people residing in the Himalayan terrain, where opportunities to earn revenue is difficult and hard to adopt the farming practices. Today, the Himalayan states offer a unique value proposition in coldwater fisheries to harness its potential. There is an increasing trend of coldwater fish production from the present level of 52,084 MT to 90 thousand MT by FY 2024-25 boosting current productivity from ~1 ton/ha to 3 ton/ha. Coldwater fisheries in the country is now occupying a key place among India’s freshwater fishes, contributing significantly to the nutritional security and job creation in rural hilly areas. More than 1.40 lakh fishermen in India directly depend on coldwater fisheries in hilly areas. In Himalayan region, aquaculture and fisheries represent an essential, often irreplaceable source of high quality animal protein crucial to the balance of diets in marginally food secure communities. The aquatic resources in the IHR are quite valuable for the development of aquaculture and fishery for food, sport, recreation and employment. In this paper, the author has attempted to present possible opportunities in coldwater aquaculture and fisheries which has great promises of future for job creation and nutritional security.

Introduction
An ecosystem is any unit that consists of all the creatures, or communities, in a certain area that interact with the physical environment to produce a trophic structure, biodiversity, and material cycle within the system. Various biosphere ecosystem types are
1) Natural ecosystems
2) Man-made ecosystems
Natural Ecosystems
Under natural conditions, these ecosystems function independently with little to no significant human intervention. These are further separated as follows based on the specific type of habitat:
• Terrestrial: grasslands, deserts, and forests
• Aquatic (open to the water), which is further subdivided into

Introduction 
Due to the depletion of their raw material supplies, traditional fossil fuel use should be reduced. There is significant hope for biofuel production (Gangl D et al., 2015 ; Seo et al., 2017), and in the past decade, interest in using microalgae has been steadily increasing (Gangl D et al., 2015). The algae group consists of various photosynthetic eukaryotic species that are typically found in both freshwater and marine environments. With an estimated 30,000 to 1 million species, algae range from single-celled cyanobacteria to multicellular forms, each having distinct traits. Microalgae, specifically, grow rapidly and absorb carbon dioxide as they develop (Guiry and M. D., 2012). Many industries have benefited from the utilization of microalgae species for the good of humanity. Food, medications and antibiotics, wastewater treatment, biofuel, biofertilizers, and CO2 fixation are a few of the significant uses for microalgae (Singh et al., 2018 ; Ananthi et al., 2021). Compared to first-generation biofuels, the manufacturing of algae-based biofuel is more advantageous to the environment (Alalwan et al., 2019). Microalgal biofuel production is a greener alternative to first-generation biofuels (Alalwan et al., 2019). It can be cultivated in less ideal locations, such as the ocean or non-arable land, and doesn’t require fertile soil, which helps prevent rivalry with food crops for freshwater and farmland (Winckelmann et al., 2015; Correa et al., 2020). Microalgal production systems can help treat wastewater or convert CO2 into oxygen without interfering with the food supply (Onyeaka et al., 2021; Prasad et al., 2021). Nanotechnology and nanomaterials are becoming increasingly popular across many fields for their useful properties, with global research exploring their role in biodiesel production and processing. To speed up the development of biodiesel production, advanced nanotechnology is being emphasized to achieve higher yields at lower costs. Microalgae are a promising source for biodiesel production, and various nanoparticles can significantly boost the efficiency of harvesting them. Reusing nanomaterials and combining cell harvesting, disruption, and extraction processes also help reduce costs. Moreover, different nanocatalysts can enhance the efficiency of biodiesel conversion (Verma and Kuila, 2020). Currently available techniques for microalgal harvesting include chemical, mechanical, biological, and electrical ones to some extent. Harvesting microalgal biomass is most often done by mechanical means since they are the most dependable (Grima et al., 2003 ; Christenson et al., 2011). But, in order to increase productivity and reduce operating and maintenance expenses, these procedures are frequently followed by biological or chemical flocculation phases. For maximum separation efficiency and minimum cost, two or more of these techniques are frequently used. For instance, processing costs can be significantly decreased by combining centrifugation and flocculation-sedimentation (Schlesinger et al., 2012). Novel approaches like biological treatments have the potential to further lower operating expenses.

Introduction
Water is chemical substance which important for all living organism to survive on this planet. Water is necessary for all cell of the living organism’s body to performance any normal work. Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface, most like in oceans and other more water bodies, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapors, clouds and precipitation. Some observation have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability, a situation which has been called a ‘water crisis’ by the United Nations. A recent report suggests that by 2030, in some developing regions of the world, water desire will be exceed supply by 50%. The total volume of water 1,385 million Km3 on the planet earth, 96.5% is salt water (oceans and seas), the fresh water is mostly ice (24 million Km3). The fresh water available as annual stream flow is 46,768 Km3, that is 0.00034% of the total global water. If there is no intake of water into the body, death can ensue in 7-10 days. Water is also essential to man for maintaining personal hygienic and freedom from disease. Today there are many cities worldwide facing actual shortage of water and nearly 40 percent of the world’s food supply is grown under irrigation and a wide variety of industrial processes depends on water. Water is the most vital element among the natural resources, and is critical for the survival of all living any organisms including human, food production, and economic development. The environment, economic growth and developments are highly affected by water is regional and seasonal availability and the quality of surface and groundwater. The quality of water is affected by any human activities and is declining due to the rise of urbanization, population growth, industrial production, climate change and other factors. The resulting water pollution is a serious surrounding to the well-being of both the Earth and its population. The pressures is increasing population, growth of industries, urbanization, energy intensive life style, loss of forest cover, lack of environmental awareness, lack of implements of environmental rule, regulations and environment improvement plans, untreated effluent discharge from industries and municipalities, use of non

1. Introduction

Horticultural crops have emerged as a cornerstone of India’s agricultural sector, wielding substantial influence over the nation’s economic landscape. Comprising an extensive range of fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants, plantation crops, spices, and medicinal herbs, this sector has witnessed remarkable growth and transformation in recent years. The significance of horticultural crops extends beyond sheer economic value, permeating various facets of Indian agriculture and socio-economic development (Ravichandra & Ravichandra 2014).The unique agro-climatic diversity of India allows for the cultivation of an unparalleled variety of horticultural produce, contributing to its global prominence as a horticultural powerhouse.