eChapters

Introduction

A sheet metal shop is a kind of workshop where different types of materials are used to make sheet metal and then it is flattened into thin sheets of desired shape and size. Sheet metals are used for the production of automobile bodies, utensils, almirah and cabinet appliances, etc.Sheet metal parts have many advantages, like they are less expensive, lighter in weight and can be modified into versatile shapes. Low-carbon steel is commonly used. The use of casting and machining is being replaced by metal stamping. The stamping press is a kind of machine tool in which most of the operations occur, and the sheet metal products which are obtained by the machine are called stampings.

Section 4.1 Patent Application Process in India
4.1.1 Introduction
India’s patent system is governed by the Patents Act, 1970, as amended by the Patents (Amendment) Acts of 1999, 2002, and 2005, and is administered by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks (CGPDTM). The Act aligns with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, ensuring compliance with global standards. For inventions in modern biotechnology, the patent application process in India involves a rigorous examination of novelty, inventive step, industrial applicability, and statutory exclusions, particularly under Sections 3(b), 3(c), 3(d), and 3(j).
 4.1.2 Who Can Apply?
Under Section 6 of the Patents Act, a patent application in India can be filed by:
• The true and first inventor,
• An assignee of the inventor,
• A legal representative of a deceased inventor.
In the case of collaborative research or industrial research programs, both academic institutions and corporate entities can apply jointly.

Abstract

Of the various rhizosphere associated bacteria, Azospirillum species are probably the most studied and appear to have significant potential for commercial application. During the last 35 years of studies of Azospirillum–plant interaction, over 20 proposals were suggested for the mechanism of action by which Azospirillum  enhances plant growth, yield and nutrient uptake. Besides, fixing the nitrogen with associative symbiosis, they impart a number of beneficial effects on plants such as phytohormone production, siderophore production, enzyme production, proliferation of root system, enhanced water and mineral uptake, mobilization of minerals, mitigation of environmental stressors of plants, and moderate biocontrol potential. The following plant responses to Azospirillum inoculation in agriculture crops were often reported: increase the germination percentage and height of the seedlings, increase the total number and length of adventitious roots and root hairs, increase the hydraulic conductivity of the root system, increase in the height of the shoot and dry matter production and yield of the crop plants. The effect of Azospirillum inoculation on the total yield increases of field grown plants generally ranged from 10 to 30 per cent. This article reviews the recent researches on role of Azospirillum in plant growth promotion.

New Technique of Food Preservation

1. High Pressure Processing (HPP)

High Pressure Processing (HPP) is a method of food processing where food is subjected to elevated pressures (up to 87,000 pounds per square inch or approximately 6,000 atmospheres), with or without the addition of heat, to achieve microbial inactivation or to alter the food attributes in order to achieve consumer-desired qualities. Pressure inactivates most vegetative bacteria at pressures above 60,000 pounds per square inch. HPP retains food quality, maintains natural freshness, and extends microbiological shelf life. The process is also known as high hydrostatic pressure processing (HHP) and ultra high-pressure processing (UHP).

Stress is an intrinsic part of biological systems, and successfully adapting to stimuli that induce stress is essential for the survival of dryland crops and farm animals kept in a complex and ever-changing environment. Here the biotic stresses of crop plants are treated and not that of farm animals to avoid the expansion of the volume of the chapter. Biotic stress in plants is caused by living organisms, specifically viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects, arachnids, and weeds. In contrast to abiotic stress caused by environmental factors such as drought and heat. Biotic stress agents directly deprive their host of its nutrients leading to reduced plant vigour and, in extreme cases, death of the host plant. In agriculture, biotic stress is a major cause of pre- and postharvest losses. Plants respond to biotic stress through a defence system (Atkinson and Urwin, 2012).

Introduction

Small and medium-sized industrial units, or small scale industrial (SSI) units, are generally referred to as SMEs, according to the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. The MSMED Act of 2006, which was updated in 2020, serves as the foundation for the definition of SMEs in India.

• Micro manufacturing and services units: Up to Rs. 1 crore in investments and up to Rs. 5 crore in revenue.

• Small manufacturing and services units: Up to Rs. 10 crore in investments and up to Rs. 50 crore in revenue.

• Medium manufacturing and services units: Up to Rs. 50 crore in investments and up to Rs. 250 crore in revenue.

Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) constitute the backbone of the global economy. SMEs not only provide major contributions to national GDPs, but they also play an important role in job creation, innovation, and regional development. In India, SMEs account for about 30% of the country’s GDP and employ over 110 million people, making them an important part of the economic structure.(FICCI,2023).

Introduction
Over the past few decades, fisheries nutrition has undergone a remarkable transformation, driven by the rapid expansion of global aquaculture and the increasing need for sustainable seafood production. As wild fish stocks have become overexploited and the demand for protein-rich aquatic food sources continues to rise, aquaculture has emerged as a vital solution for meeting the growing global need for fish and seafood. By 2014, aquaculture production had surpassed wild-caught fisheries in providing fish for human consumption, marking a significant shift in how we obtain seafood. This growth, however, brings with it numerous challenges, particularly regarding the nutrition of farmed fish.
Fisheries nutrition, as a specialized field, plays a pivotal role in supporting aquaculture’s ability to provide healthy, high-quality fish for human consumption while maintaining environmental balance. As aquaculture intensifies, the demand for high-quality, cost-effective feed ingredients has surged. Traditional reliance on marine-derived ingredients like fishmeal and fish oil is becoming increasingly unsustainable, as these resources are finite and face depletion due to overfishing. This has resulted in rising costs for these inputs, placing economic pressures on aquaculture producers. Additionally, marine-derived ingredients contribute to ecological imbalances, prompting the need for alternative solutions in feed formulation.
At the same time, the environmental impacts of aquafeeds have garnered increased scrutiny. The production of feed ingredients such as soybeans, corn, and other crops can contribute to deforestation, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, undermining efforts to achieve environmental sustainability in aquaculture. Nutrient waste from uneaten feed and fish excreta can also lead to eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems, damaging water quality and biodiversity. Therefore, fisheries nutrition must address not only the nutritional requirements of fish but also the broader ecological footprint of aquafeed production and usage.

Introduction

The respiratory electron transport pathway of plant mitochondria comprises the cytochrome (Cyt) pathway and alternative pathway (McDonald et al., 2002). Both the cyt and the alternative respiratory pathways start at protein complex I when NADH is being oxidized. One H+ (proton) is transported by the complex I to inner membrane space, whereas two electrons are transported within the inner membrane by the ubiquinone, which at its reduced state (Qr) transfers these electrons either to complex III or to the Alternative oxidase (AOX). Ubiquinone is the point in which reactions can proceed in different ways, and it is called the branch point. Cyt respiratory pathway is present in all living organisms. It proceeds while complex III pulls out a proton from the mitochondrial matrix to the inter membrane space. The electrons are received by cytochrome c which spreads up to the outer side of the inner membrane towards protein complex IV, which then pulls out another proton similar to complexes I and III, and transports the electrons back to inner domain of the mitochondria. As a result, oxygen is consumed with a proton and the two electrons to produce water (Fig 1).

Abstract

The Western Desert covers approximately 700,000 km², which is more than two-thirds of the total area of Egypt. This immense desert, to the west of the Nile, spans the area from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sudanese border. The Great Sand Sea lies within the desert’s plain and extends from Siwa Oasis to Jilf al Kabir plateau. Scarps and deep depressions exist in several parts of the Western Desert. Limited agricultural production, the presence of some natural resources, and permanent settlements are found in the western desert oases (Siwa, Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga), all of which have fresh groundwater. Siwa Oasis, close to the Libyan border, is isolated from the rest of Egypt but has sustained life since ancient times. The Siwa’s cliff-hung Temple of Amun was renowned for its oracles for more than 1,000 years. Herodotus and Alexander the Great visited the temple in the pre-Christian era. The Oasis is a natural depression about 23 meters below sea level. It covers an area of about 1050 km² (2,50,000 acres); of which only 87.95 km² (20,940 acres) are currently cultivated. The total numbers of inhabitants in Siwa were 21,482 in 2006. The main activity in Siwa oasis is agriculture which depends on the groundwater that outflows from about 1199 wells and springs giving a total annual discharge of about 255 million cubic meters from which, about 222 million cubic meters are lost due to evaporation and evapotranspiration, while the remainder goes to the natural lakes of Siwa Oasis. This has led to a continuous rise in the water table level and soil salinity.

Present research paper on land degradation processes relates to the improper management of water and land resources in Siwa Oasis, Egypt.

Planning is the beginning of all the other processes of management, namely, organizing, staffing, directing, communicating and controlling.

Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do, when to do and who is to do it. Planning bridges the gap from ‘where we are’ to ‘where we want to go’ (Koontz and O’Donnell).

In the words of Theo Haimann, “Planning is the function that determines in advance what should be done". It consists of selecting the objectives, policies, programmes and procedures of the enterprise and also the means of achieving their objectives.

As a part of planning process, the manager has to ensure that his team members understand the purposes and objectives of his enterprise and also methods to achieve them.

A kitchen garden/ nutrition garden is a vegetable garden where the vegetable crops are grown in the backyard of a house or any available space in compound or rooftop of the house, to meet the daily requirement of the family. All the members of the family are collectively involved in a kitchen garden.

For a balanced diet, 300 g of vegetables are to be included in our daily food. But on an average, Indians take only 160 g per day. Hence to fill up the gap, vegetable cultivation not only in farmers’ holdings but also in the home gardens is encouraged.

Heat engines - A device which change heat received by fuel combustion into mechanical work is called a heat engine. It may be classified into two broad categories viz. are Internal and external combustion engines.[8]

Infrared spectroscopy (IRspectroscopy) is the spectros copy that deals with the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, that is light with a longer wavelength and lower frequency than visible light. It covers a range of techniques, mostly based on absorption spectroscopy. As with all spectroscopic techniques, it can be used to identifyand study chemicals. A common laboratory instrument that uses this technique is a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer.

The infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is usually divided into three regions; the near-, mid- and far- infrared, named for their relation to the visible spectrum. The higher energy near-IR, approximately 14000–4000 cm^–1 (0.8–2.5 μm wavelength) can excite overtone orharmonic vibrations. Themid-infrared, approximately 4000– 400 cm^–1 (2.5–25 μm) may be used to study the fundamental vibrations and associated rotational-vibrational structure. The far-infrared, approximately 400–10 cm^–1 (25–1000 μm), lying adjacent to the microwave region, has low energy and may be used for rotational spectroscopy. The names and classifications of these sub regions are conventions, and are only loosely based on the relative molecular or electromagnetic properties.

Infrared spectroscopy exploits the fact that molecules absorb specific frequencies that are characteristic of their structure. These absorptions are resonant frequencies, i.e. the frequency of the absorbed radiation matches the frequency of the bond or group that vibrates. The energies are determined by the shape of the molecular potential energy surfaces, the masses of the atoms, and the associated vibronic coupling.

‘Prunes’ is prepared from peach.

Arrak” liquor is prepared from date palm.

Hayane” variety of date palm suitable for juice making.

Kanji” is made from black carrot.

Kirschwascer” a wine prepared from cherry.

Shahi” variety of Litchi suitable for canning.

Introduction

Radish (Raphanus sativus L., 2n=2x=18) is a root cum leafy vegetable suitable for sub tropical and temperate climate. Radish probably originated in Europe and Asia. It has been under extensive cultivation in Egypt since long. It was introduced to England and France in the beginning of 16^th century. In 1806, it was introduced to America. Radish does not exist in wild stack. It is believed to have originated from R. raphanistrum which is widely distributed as weed in Europe. Radish is primarily a winter crop but with the development and release of new varieties, it can be grown all the year round. The new varieties can withstand heat and does not bolt in spring. Radish is a favourite crop because of its quick growth and availability in 4-7 weeks.

Its fleshy roots are modified roots, developed from both the primary root and hypocotyl. The leaves and roots are consumed both as salad and cooked. The radish root is a good appetizer; its different preparations are useful in curing liver and gall bladder problems. Roots are also used in treating urinary complaints and piles. The juice of fresh leaves is useful as diuretic and laxative. Pungency in radish is due to volatile isothiocyanates while pink colour is due to pigment anthocyanin.

Radish is a good source of vitamin C containing 15-40 mg per 100g of edible portion. Roots also contain proteins, fat, minerals, fibre and carbohydrates, besides trace elements like aluminium, barium, lithium, manganese, silicon, titanium, fluorine and iodine. Pink skinned radish is generally richer in vitamin C than the white skinned type. Radish contains glucose as the major sugar and also contains fructose and sucrose in smaller quantities. Pectin and pentosans are also reported to be present. The leaves are good source of extraction of protein on a commercial scale and seeds are potential source for non-drying fatty oil suitable for soap making, illuminating and for the edible purposes.

A key question facing agricultural scientists in the 21^st century is how to produce sufficient amounts of food, feed and farm income while protecting and improving environmental quality (Robertson and Swinton, 2005). Intensive soil tillage, mismanagement of land, water and fertilizers had severe negative economic, environmental and social consequences (Foley et al., 2011; Godfray and Garnett, 2014; Tilman et al., 2011). Presently depletion and / or degradation of natural resources (land, water, and biodiversity), decreasing farm profitability, low input use efficiency (fertilizer, water, energy, pesticides, and labor), environmental pollution (soil, water, air), climate change and scarcity of farm labour are threatening the sustainability of crop production systems.

Introduction

Soil forms the base of the lithosphere on earth and is a fundamental and irreplaceable versatile three dimensional dynamic system that supports majority of terrestrial plant and animal life on earth. This soil system contains mineral (sand, slit and clay forming basic soil structure) and organic matter as well as marginal air and water contents. The soil organic matter content of the soil system constitutes every fraction of matter in various stages of decomposition that once was associated with the body, body parts, exudates, tissues and cells of living organisms including plants, animals and microorganisms. It is the product of continuous cycling of the compounds synthesized by autotrophic plants among the three kingdoms viz microbes, plants and animals. The decomposition of the organic residues in soil is performed primarily by the resident soil microflora termed as microbial decomposers; though initially the larger and complex organic material is broken down, devoured upon, chewed, regurgitated and transformed into smaller bits by larger soil faunal forms (earthworms, beetles, springtails, and collembola, the macro (large) to mesofauna) on which soil microbial forms could act upon.

The apparent reasons for undesirable productivity under intensively cultivated areas are depletion of native nutrient reserves, emergence of multinutrient deficiencies, and consequent decline in factor productivity of applied nutrient (Dwivedi et al., 2006; Yadav, 1998; Yadav, 2003). Surveys conducted at PDFSR in different agro-climatic regions of Indo- Gangetic Plain indicated that in order to achieve previously attained yield levels, farmers have started applying greater doses of N than the recommended ones (Dwivedi et al., 2001; Sharma, 2003). Such indiscriminate use of N is likely to further worsen the nutrient imbalance in soil-plant systems, besides increasing the pest incidence, cost of production and environmental problems (Dwivedi et al., 2001). The annual productivity of rice - wheat could hardly exceed 9 t ha^-1 in the multilocation experiments on yield maximization (Dwivedi and Singh, 2011). On the other hand, long-term experiments (Singh and Mishra, 2010) and other studies indicate that crop productivity can be sustained with balanced fertilization, taking into account the emerging deficiencies of secondary and micronutrients (Tiwari et al., 2006)

Nutrient management is a major component of a soil and crop management system. It becomes even more important in intensive high yielding cropping systems because of the higher investments at stake. The SSNM is applying those concepts to areas within a field that are known to require different management options from the field average. Site specific nutrient management is a concept that can be applied to any field and any crop. Yet, it is most often thought of in relation to use of computer and satellite equipment, and does not require large farming operation. The technology tools certainly expand the capabilities for using site-specific management. This is really a “repackaging“ of management concepts that have been developed and promoted for many years.

6.1. Determination of Hydraulic Conductivity of Saturated Soil: Laboratory Methods

Hydraulic conductivity of a saturated soil indicates the ease with which water is transmitted through the soil pores. If a constant water head (h) is maintained on a saturated soil column of length (L) and the volume of water (V) percolating per unit time (t) through per unit cross sectional area (A) to the other end, then according to Darcy’s Law the rate of flow of liquid or flux (q) is proportional to the hydraulic gradient (ΔH/L) across the length of soil column.

1 Sechium eduleis the botanical name of

 a) Chekurmanis b) Basella

 c) Chow-Chow d) Water Leaf

 2 Cylon Spinach is also known as

 a) Chayote b) Malabar Spinach

 c) Indian Spinach d) Water Leaf

 3 Botanical name of Leek is

 a) Allium porum b) Allium sativum

 c) Allium cepa d) None of thes