eChapters

Introduction

In the dynamic realm of contemporary work environments, the psychological contract has emerged as a cornerstone concept, influencing the fabric of employee-employer relationships and organizational dynamics. While traditional employment agreements delineate formal terms and conditions, the psychological contract encapsulates the implicit understanding between individuals and their employers regarding mutual expectations, obligations, and entitlements. This symbiotic agreement, rooted in perceptions and beliefs rather than written documentation, shapes the essence of the employment relationship, impacting employee engagement, organizational commitment, and overall workplace satisfaction.

The significance of the psychological contract has become increasingly pronounced in recent years, propelled by a confluence of factors such as rapid technological advancements, demographic shifts, and evolving socio economic trends. In this era of unprecedented change, the nature of work itself has undergone a metamorphosis, with traditional notions of employment giving way to flexible arrangements, remote work options, and gig economy platforms. Consequently, the traditional employer-employee dynamic has evolved, necessitating a deeper understanding of the implicit expectations and reciprocal obligations that underpin modern work relationships.

TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS

2.1 Mango
 

Mango is considered to be an allopolyploid. The chromosome number is 2n =40. The polyembryonic seedlings of cv. Vellaikolumban, earlier reported to be 2n= 80 was later shown to be a diploid. In Canary Island, a putative tetraploid viz Gomera-1 has been identified.

Floral biology

Flower starts opening early in the morning from 4-7 a.m. and maximum flowers open between 9.30-10.30 a.m. and complete 11 a.m. Dehiscence of anthers takes place at 11.30 a.m. and it continues up to 3.45 p.m. The pollen grains are oval, or triangular or oblong. Stigma becomes receptive even 18 hours before flower opening. Mode of pollination is entomophily; nectar is present to attract the insects.

The flowering duration is usually of short i.e. 2 to 3 weeks. The mango inflorescence or panicle bears mainly two types of flowers - male and perfect. The number of flowers per panicle varies between 1000 to 6000 depending upon the variety and climatic factors. The percentage of perfect flowers varies between 0.74 per cent in Rumani, 16.41 to 55.7 per cent in Neelum and up to 69.8 per cent in Langra.

Perennial Flowers

Perennial flowers have a life span of more than one year and usually bloom during a specific time period every year during the growing season. These flowers are hardy and herbaceous. They need less maintenance, less water, and fewer pesticides than annuals. Perennials are easily used as ground covers, mixed with annuals, grown in containers and used as accents or specimen plants. Many perennials are short bloomers and are best mixed with others that bloom at different times or included with other landscape plants. These flowers are treasured by gardeners as heirloom plants and have proven themselves to be hardy enough to withstand weather and climate extremes. They are treasured in their dried form for beautiful and exotic dried flower arrangements.

Introduction The asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) is an herbaceous perennial plant and known as Shatawar in Hindi. It is grown for tender succulent shoots known as ‘Spears’ which are used as vegetable and in the preparation of soup. Once the plant established, it continues to produce yield for 10-15 years. The juice obtained from spears contain a white crystalline substance called ‘Asparagine’ which has diuretic properties. Asparagus is a type of vegetable that is commonly enjoyed for its unique taste and nutritional benefits. Asparagus has a distinctive spear-like shape, with a green, purple, or white colour depending on the variety. Asparagus is a low-calorie (20 Kcal) vegetable that is rich in protein (2.2 g), vitamins, including vitamins B1 (0.143 g), Vitamin B2 (0.141 g), Vitamin C (5.6 g), Vitamin E (1.13 g) and Vitamin K (41.6 µg), as well as minerals including calcium (24 mg), iron (2.14 mg), potassium (202 mg), zinc (0.54 mg), sodium (2.0 mg) and magnesium (14 mg) per 100 g raw asparagus. It is also a good source of antioxidants, which help to protect the body against damage from free radicals. Asparagus can be cooked in a variety of ways, including boiling, steaming, roasting, or grilling. It is a popular ingredient in many dishes, such as salads, soups, pastas, and stir fries. Asparagus is also often served as a side dish, either on its own or with other vegetables.

Perennial vegetables live/survive in field for several years and go on yielding vegetables without much care and attention. They are usually planted on the side of kitchen garden without much interference with tillage operations of other annual crops. Tender leaves, shoots, fruits or tubers of a number of perennial crops are used for vegetable purpose in different agro-climatic conditions. They may be trees or shrubs as in bread fruit, jack fruit, drumstick, etc. or bushes as in colocasia or trailing plants as in yams, chow-chow and ivy gourd.

Temperate perennial vegetables are asparagus, rhubarb, artichoke and seakale. All the above crops have tuberous roots, rhizomes or corm. Above-ground portion may dry up during winter and again sprout during spring. Tuber crops like cassava, elephant foot yam, Colocasia (taro), Dioscorea (greater yam, lesser yam) etc. grown under tropical conditions are also perennials. But for cultivation purpose, they are replanted every year and are treated as annuals.

Perennial vegetables live/survive in field for several years and go on yielding vegetables without much care and attention.  They are usually planted on the side of kitchen garden without much interference with tillage operations of other annual crops.  Tender leaves, shoots, fruits or tubers of a number of perennial crops are used for vegetable purpose in different agro-climatic conditions. They may be trees or shrubs as in bread fruit, jack fruit, drumstick, etc. or bushes as in colocasia or trailing plants as in yams, chow-chow and ivy gourd.

Introduction

Indian agriculture contributes to 25 per cent of the National Gross Domestic Product. As per Census of India, 2001, India’s total population was 1,028.6 million and the percentage of decadal growth of population during 1991- 2001 was 21.34 per cent. Thus, the main challenge is to produce enough food for increasing population.

Many new agricultural technologies and improved practices are being developed in agricultural research stations. Effective communication of these agricultural innovations to millions of farmers in rural area is essential to bring about accelerated agricultural development. The impact of demographic pressure on reducing farm size further on the one hand and the need for longer or optimum sized farms to take more advantage of modern technology on the other hand would bring into sharper focus the growing contradiction in the farming sector.

Abstract

In any extension organization, performance appraisal is critical for human resource management. Extension professionals or employees will have a better grasp of their roles and obligations, as well as recommendations on how to improve their performance, if the performance appraisal process is formal and well-structured. The Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) is also described as the project-planning matrix, is a planning, monitoring and evaluation technique for extension projects. The steps in the performance appraisal process are as follows: setting performance benchmarks, communicating standards to employees, evaluating actual performance, comparing actual to desired performance, discussing the results and making a conclusion. Critical Incidence Technique, confidential report, weighted checklists, visual rating scales, behaviorally anchored rating scales, forced choice approach, Management by Objectives (MBO) etc. are commonly used performance appraisal methods. The essential components of Logical Framework Analysis, on the other hand, comprise of hierarchy of objectives, objectively verifiable indicators, verification means and critical assumptions and risks. The logical framework isn’t a universal remedy for all development project problems, but it can help policymakers and financial agencies/donors to understand what a project is trying to achieve. Not only that, LFA may also describe in simple terms how the project will achieve its goal.

Abstract

This chapter highlights the need of performance appraisal. It discusses various measures and methods of performance appraisal with respect to organizational goals. Performance counseling, when used as a part of performance appraisal is a strong motivational tool for the employees and results in organizational effectiveness. The issue has been discussed from the perspective of employer and employee

What is Performance Appraisal?

Performance Appraisal (PA) is the process through which an individual employee’s behaviour and accomplishments for a fixed time period are measured and evaluated. The major purpose of measuring and evaluating is to assess the worth or value of an employee. Performance appraisal is a systematic and objective way of judging the relative worth or ability of an employee in performing his task. Performance appraisal helps to identify those who are performing their assigned tasks well and those who are not and the reasons for such performance.

Aim

To determine the efficiency of groundnut decorticator

Apparatus required

Manually operated groundnut decorticator

Weighing balance

Groundnut pods

Aim

To determine the effectiveness of inclined belt separator

To determine the capacity of inclined belt separator

Materials required

Inclined belt separator

Weighing balance

Feed material

Sample divider

Theory

Paddy parboiling is a hydrothermal process where the paddy is partially boiled to gelatinize the starch. During the gelatinization process the void of the rice kernel are filled and become hard on drying resulting minimum breakage and maximum head rice recovery. The nutrients are also absorbed into the inner mass and loss of nutrient is avoided. In general, the steps are involved in parboiling process are (i) Soaking (ii) Steaming (iii) Drying.

Aim

To evaluate the performance of the gravity separator.

Materials required

Specific gravity separator

Weighing balance

Sample divider

Stopwatch

Grains

Aim

To determine the effectiveness of the spiral separator.

Materials required

Spiral separator

Weighing balance

Sample divider

Stopwatch

Grain mixture (round and others)

Theory

Removal of outer sheath is called husking and removal of kernel from maize from maize cob is called shelling. The performance of the sheller is expressed in terms of capacity, percentage of unshelled kernels (corn) and percentage of breakage. The above terms are defined as:

ABSTRACT

Astudy was undertaken to evaluate the performance of tissue culture derived plants vis a vis open pollinated seedlings of cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton). A total of 102.5 ha (units) covering 50 ha in Kerala, 37.5 ha in Karnataka and 15 ha in Tamil Nadu was selected for the present study out of which each demonstration plot (unit) had an area of one hectare in which 80% of the plants are tissue cultured and 20% are open pollinated. Elite cardamom clones were subjected to in vitro multiplication and their respective open pollinated seedlings were compared. The planting was initiated in 1989 and completed with 1991 in all the zones identified. Plant growth characters such as number of tillers, number of bearing tillers and panicles per clump were recorded and compared. The yield was recorded in 1993-94 and 94-95 seasons after its stabilisation. Results indicated that tissue culture plants performed better compared to open pollinated seedlings with regard to growth attributes and yield irrespective of the seasons and zones. In Kerala region tissue culture plants exhibited a yield increase of 24.3 and 36% over open pollinated seedlings for the 1989 and 1990 plantings respectively. Similar trend was observed in Tamil Nadu for 1989 and 1990 planting where the percentage increase in yield became 130 and 21 respectively. In Kerala, the yield performance of tissue culture plants and open pollinated seedlings was on par during 1990 planting but in the subsequent year (1991) tissue culture plants showed 24% increase in yield compared to their respective open pollinated ones. Further, the study enabled to identify cardamom clones suited to in various zones of the cardamom tract. Accordingly 14 clones with a yield potential of over 750 kg/ha under moderate management were identified and this indicated that cardamom clones are highly location specific in their performance.

Abstract

In Himachal Pradesh, apple plantations have been made on seedling rootstock. The valley and comparatively warmer areas leads to the problems of irregular bearing and lower yields, besides less colour development in delicious varieties. Non uniformity in tree growth and yield is observed. To solve these problems, efforts have been made and plants of different cultivars of delicious and other prominent cultivars on different virus free clonal rootstocks have been introduced and planted at progeny-cum-demonstration orchard (PCDO) at anu situated at 1375m a.m.s.l. in Shimla district during 1989-90. Plant of three cultivars viz., Real Mecoy Red Delicious, Mutsu and Criterion on EMLA 26, EMLA 7a and EMLA 106 rootstock have been planted with a density of 1280 plants per hectare. The observations on yield were recorded during 1999-2002.

The effect of oil sludge on the growth and performance of Celosia argentea (L.) were evaluated using four levels of pollution viz: 0%; 0.25%, 0.5% and 0.75% of the 6kg soil and three levels of N.P.K. fertilizer (20:10:10) viz: low level (0.005 kg), normal level (0.01 kg) and high level (0.015kg). These treatments were imposed after the soil analysis were carried out on the site.  The results obtained show that pollution has a significant effect (P < 0.05) on the growth and performance of Celosia argentea, despite the different levels of fertilizer application with second level of pollution (0.25%) being the critical point. Thus, pollution retards the growth of this crop drastically beyond the critical level with Celosia argentea showing more tolerance to pollution at the post-application treatment than the pre-application treatment.

It is therefore suggested that land users should not embark on cultivating land that has an oil sludge pollution level beyond 0.25% of soil.

Introduction

Irrigated agriculture plays a predominant role in the state’s food grain production. Erratic trend of rainfall, it has been realized that the availability of water will become very less in forthcoming days as a result cultivation of crops will face water crisis. Development of new water resources needs excessive money investment with high level of expertise and technical knowhow. The ground water is also falling down to greater and greater depth due to overdraft causing for the restriction of the construction of tube wells. Further the efficiency of traditional irrigation system in India is now varying from 30% to 40% against 62 to 65% during the project plan periodbecause of wastage of this valuable water resource due to mismanagement. To meet the increasing demand for additional food grain production, the demand for water in the irrigation sector will increase substantially. In such a situation conservation of water and its proper management is necessary for developing a sustainable agricultural system avoiding the degradation of the land quality, water and other natural resources in an irrigated area.