eChapters

In natural condition primary soil particles cohere to each other to form a cluster or an aggregate through the cementing action of various agents like organic matter, oxides of iron and aluminium, carbonates, etc. Aggregate analysis tells one about the structural status, pore geometry which in turn influences the movement of air and water in soil, amount of water stable secondary particles (aggregate) as well as the extent of finer particles aggregated to the coarser particles and the erodibility status of surface soil against wind and water.

Methods of Analysis

Among the several methods of aggregate analysis the commonly used methods practiced in agriculture and related fields are wet sieving and dry sieving method of aggregate analysis.

Introduction

India is well-known around the world for its rapid economic growth rates over the last fifteen years or so, fuelled in part by the spectacular growth in its export- oriented software and ICT-based services sector. Many other countries look to India as a model for global outsourcing and try to imitate elements of this in their own strategies (Carmel 2003; Heeks and Nicholson 2004). Success at a particular period of time does not, of course, guarantee its continuation and commentators have expressed concerns such as rising wage rates and skills shortages of ICT professionals (CACM 2007), and increasing competition from countries such as China (Negroponte 2003). It is likely, however, that India will remain a major player in the ICT industry for years to come and thus its global image as an ICT success story will continue. Viewed from a broader development perspective, things are not so simple. The new wealth that has arisen in India from the ICT boom benefits the relatively wealthy and educated in the first instance (Kambhampati 2002). Will this trickle down to the poor and uneducated? Statistics paint a mixed picture of the current situation. On the one hand, India is now the world’s fourth largest economy in purchasing power parity terms, and has enjoyed high growth rates for over a decade rising to an average of over 8% per annum in the period 2004-7 (World Bank 2007).

On the other hand, India was ranked as 128th out of 177 countries on the human development index 2005 (UNDP 2005) which is a composite index based on life expectancy, literacy and education levels, and economic standard of living. Shocking statistics include the percentage of malnourished children under 5 being 46%, the adult female literacy rate as only 48%, and the percentage of the rural population using adequate sanitary services as 18% (World Bank 2007, UNICEF 2004). A major development issue, therefore, is whether India can seriously address the needs of all of its people, including the vast numbers of poor and uneducated in the rural areas and the urban slums. A related sub-question is whether, and to what extent, can ICTs be used to provide development benefits to all Indian citizens. There are increasing attempts to use technology in this way through projects such as e-government services and telecentres in poor areas.

8.1. Kisan Credit Card (KCC)

Credit scheme introduced in August 1998 by Indian Banks.

Prepared by NABARD on recommendations of R.V.Gupta committee to provide term loans and agricultural needs.

KCC holders are covered under personal accident insurance up to Rs.50,000 for death and permanent disability and up to Rs.25,000 for other risk.

Premium is borne by both bank and borrower in a 2:1 ratio.

Validity period is five years with an option to extend for up to three more years.

5.1 Introduction

Citrus is one of the most important fruit crops in the world. It is grown in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. The top ten citrus producing countries are China, India, Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico, USA, Spain, Egypt, Italy and Argentina. The citrus industry in India is the third fruit industry after mango and banana. The important groups of crops in citrus are sweet orange, mandarins, limes, lemons, grape fruits and pummelo. The most important commercial Citrus species grown in India are mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco.), followed by sweet orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) and acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle). The major citrus producing states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.

1. To which family freshwater prawn belong?

 a) Arthropoda b) Crustacea

 c) Palaemonidae d) Malacostraca

 2. Scientifc name of freshwater prawn is .........

 a) Penaeus monodon b) Scylla serrata

 c) Macrobrachium rosenbergii d) Metapenaeus monoceros

 3. Freshwater prawn is also known as .........

 a) Giant river prawn b) Scampi

 c) Banana prawn d) Both a & b

 4. Identification features of freshwater prawn are .........

 a) Presence of grey and longitudinal streaks of light and dark colour

 b) The largest pereiopod of adult male is dark blue.

 c) The eggs of berried female are yellow in colour

 d) All of these

Livelihood refers to the means and capabilities by which individuals and households secure the necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing, education, and healthcare. It encompasses not just the income-generating
activities people undertake, but also the assets, skills, knowledge, and social networks they use to sustain and improve their living conditions. The concept of livelihood is broader than employment or income; it includes access to natural, financial, social, human, and physical capital that enable people to build a decent standard of living.
A widely accepted definition by the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (developed by the UK’s Department for International Development) states that a livelihood comprises “the capabilities, assets (including both material and
social resources), and activities required for a means of living.” A livelihood is considered sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for the next generation. In India, livelihood patterns differ significantly between urban and rural areas due to differences in economic structures, resource availability, access to services, and lifestyle choices.

Diseases of livestock cause massive economic losses in terms of reduced productivity and production and some of them have zoonotic potential posing a serious risk to public health. Vaccination is the most efficient and cost-effective method of controlling infectious diseases both in humans and animals. The eradication of smallpox and rinderpest from the globe; the elimination of hog cholera and brucellosis from many countries; and the control of diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, canine distemper, rabies, influenza, and pseudorabies would not have been possible without the use of effective vaccines. Vaccination not only protects the vaccinated animals but also reduces disease among non-vaccinated animals through herd immunity. They also reduce antimicrobial usage and minimize the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Vaccines Vaccines are prepared antigens to be used to prevent diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, mycoplasma, protozoa, and parasites.

4.1 THE NURSERY
We distinguish several types of nurseries among which we have Permanent nursery and Temporal or Seasonal nursery.
4.1.1 Permanent nursery
Permanent nursery is a large nursery destined to produce large number of plants for several years or in other words, the place is used for several years even if the plantation center is far. It is also called the central or industrial nursery. For example, the Cameroon Development Corporation [CDC] with head quarter in Limbe has its central nursery in Bota – Limbe. Here oil palm seedlings are being transported from the nursery in Limbe to the Bomboko area in Idenau Subdivision and Illoani in Ndian Division. A special management practices is being carried out in this type of nursery notably:
• Access road for vehicles accessible in all seasons ;
• Forecast annual rotation of surface area and annual production of plants;
• Forecast species with permanent shelter to serve for the protection of pots;
• Anticipated area for irrigation systems;
• Construct a shade, store, office and a guard’s room;
• Forecast methods of plant preservation for plants destined to be transported to far stations.

Abstract

A Mathematical Method for Artificial Neural Networks offers an original, broad and integrated approach that explains each tool in a manner that is independent of specific ANN systems. Artificial Neural Networks are abstract mathematical models of brain structure and functions. They are nothing but a mathematical model that relies on varying the strength of connections between the internal processing elements to interpret data. They can be applied to many pattern classification problems. In this paper, it has been used to predict the level of amino acid in protein sequences. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. It is any molecule that contains both amine and carboxylic acid functional groups. Here, known protein sequences of ingredients are taken as input patterns. The network is trained using back propagation algorithm with sigmoid function as activation function by generating random weights. It is tested again with unknown protein sequence. Error is calculated by the difference between actual network output and desired output. If the training is successful the patterns are correctly classified. The network is trained until the error is minimum. The amino acid level is thus predicted in a particular protein sequence.

Biotechnology can be defined as utilization of materials and methods for benefit of mankind by the utilization of microorganisms and biological agents. It is an area with a tremendous potential in solving basic problems of food, fibre, fuel and medicines in developing countries. According to the office of the Technology Assessment of the US Congress, biotechnology can be defined as any technique that uses living organisms to make or modify a product, to improve plants or animals or to develop micro organisms for specific uses. Flower industry has always increasing demand for new forms, colours and types of flowers. Biotechnology has made significant advances in the improvement of ornamental crops and development of new varieties has great potential to be utilized in future. Utilization of this technology can be done in floriculture under two broad subheads viz., tissue culture and genetic engineering.

TISSUE CULTURE

The major commercial utilization of tissue culture has been micropropagation, which is an alternative to vegetative propagation. Micropropagation permits true to type multiplication of a desired genotype using in vitro culture techniques. Micropropagation process can produce a large number of propagules in a relatively short time and space under controlled conditions. It has already revolutionized production process of several nurseries. The dream of multiplying disease free plants in required quantity on the specified time schedule in an industrial way has become true due to micropropagation. Some of the important floricultural crops that are successfully propagated in vitro in Indian laboratories are given below with their explant source:

Carnation: Leaf segments, internodes, petals

Gerbera: Leaf, petiole, flower stalk segments

Gladiolus: Inflorescence stalk, leaf sections

Orchids: Epidermal peelings, leaf segments, root tips

Rose: Internodal segments, petals, leaf segments, immature embryos, root segments

Common groundwater investigations include necessary considerations of the system’s influx sources, flow regime, discharge points and geomorphological characteristics of the area. Often, hydrogeomorphological mapping of an area is required as to determine these characteristics. The primary data can be acquired from the survey of India toposheet map and the satellite images. The secondary data set includes the satellite imageries, the preparation of digital elevation model (DEM) and digitized precipitation maps.

The first step in the procedure of hydrogeomorphological mapping is to calculate the watershed/basin area, which serves as a mask to define the area of interest. The watershed/basin calculation relies on the digital elevation data and assumes that topographic aspect (dip direction of the cell surface) completely controls the extent to which surface flow emanating from each point in the study area can reach the low point in the valley. The calculation of the potential annual recharge of the aquifer combines techniques described above with data for recharge areas, DEM aspect, and precipitation. First, the catchment area of the recharge zones must be calculated in a process similar to the watershed analysis, returning the area associated with the catchment coded as “1”. A simple multiplication overlay with the precipitation data and the catchment areas yields a result giving the amount of precipitation for each catchment cell. Before using the precipitation data, we converted it to meters so as to keep units consistent. The precipitation amounts within the catchment area (i.e. each cell value) are to be summed, yielding the amount of water available for influx into the groundwater system. Finally precipitation per year data can be acquired.

Identifying surface areas of groundwater discharge is based on the observation that such areas provide a relatively constant source of moisture, which is readily exploited by vegetation in semi-arid region. Thus areas with year-round green vegetation are assumed to be indicators of discharge. The relative amount of vegetation in a scene can be estimated by calculating a vegetation index (Reddy et al, 1989 and Tucker 1979).

Principle

Nucleic acids leaving the rumen are mainly of microbial origin which are extensively digested in the small intestine and the purines liberated are absorbed. Only a small amount of absorbed purines are utilized by the host animal, the rest are metabolised forming hypoxanthine, xanthine, uric acid and allantoin. These metabolites are excreted mainly through urine. Therefore, with the understanding of how urinary excretion of purine derivatives (PD) respond to purine absorption i.e. the response curve of PD excretion to purine input into intestines, the microbial purine outflow from the rumen and the microbial N supply to the ruminant animal can be estimated by measuring the purine derivatives excretion through urine.

Weed control in agriculture disturbs the farming. Weed management and control essentially increase productivity of the farm. Autonomous robots for weed control systems are gaining a lot of attention. Adaptability of effective weed control robots has the potential to bring evolution in the areas of weed species, genetics and climate conditions. Weed control is one of the major challenges in agriculture. Removal of weeds from farming land required a lot of human effort. To minimize the weed growth pesticides and chemicals are used which is very harmful. In order to make this process easy and reliable robots are used nowadays. Robots are specially designed to detect the weeds and remove them within a stipulated time period. Robots are programmed using various algorithms to do this task in an efficient way without human efforts. This chapter illustrates the use of modern robots in weed control to help the farmers to gain maximum profit and healthy concerns without using chemicals to do so.

10.1 Introduction

Over the time, weed control in a farming land has been an issue. Evolution in technologies in the area of agriculture brought a lot of innovations. Among these robots are one of the innovations to be implemented in agriculture to enhance profitability and reliability with minimum human resource. The robots are deployed to monitor the farming land from weeds and try to remove these. Due to which uses of agrochemicals reduced down the timeline. When precision farming came into the picture robots are the best use cases. An autonomous mechanical robot was used to remove the weed from farming land. Robots are equipped with sensor modules, actuators and IoT enabled which makes the things very easy to control from remote area with commands [4].

Dairy farmers hope to have better milking cows than those in their current herds. A solid foundation is necessary for every farming operation. Undoubtedly, the dairy farm documentation system is among the most important facets of farm management. Tracking each cow’s productivity within a herd and assisting breed development generally are the major objectives of a dairy farm tracking system. This information could be referred to as production data.

Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) were initiated by the government to guarantee funds to SC/STs both at State and Centre in pro portion to the size of their respective population. It was in 1974-75 in the Fifth Five Year Plan period that the Government of India introduced the policy of the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) and later in 1979-80 in the Sixth Five Year Plan period the Special Component plan (SCP) which was renamed as Scheduled Caste Sub Plan in April, 2006 and renamed as Allocation for the Welfare of Scheduled Caste (AWSC) in February, 2017.Specifically, the SCSP and TSP mandated that pub lic resources towards SC/ ST welfare must be earmarked in proportion to their share in total population.The Narendra Jadhav Committee was constituted by the Planning Commission in 2010 in this regard.Every year, the Union Budget makes allocations exclusively for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe.This fund is spent through the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP).As per the recommendations of the committee the earmarking of funds for all Central Ministries/Departments taken together should be at least 16.2% and 8.2% of the total Plan outlay respectivel under the SCSP and the TSP. The aim of such dedicated allocation is to promote nutritional security, livelihood security and entrepreneurship among these communities.

Stride of ICAR-IIVR and Operational Are

Amid nutritional and livelihood security of tribal population ICAR- Indian Insti tute of Vegetable Research (ICAR-IIVR), Varanasi has adopted 2724 tribal house holds from 24 villages of six clusters namely Faripan, Manvasa, Bakuliya, Chet wa, Jugail, Dahakudandi of Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh and one cluster from Ranchi, Jharkhand for implementation of TSP programme of the institute. Similarly 2566 Scheduled Caste (SC) households have been adopted from 33 vil lages of five different clusters of Varanasi, Mirzapur and Chandauli districts for implementing SCSP programme.

The village of Khan Saheber Abad is located in the Sagar subdivision of South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, India. It is situated 4.8 km away from the sub-district headquarter Rudranagar (the tehsildar office) and 99.6 km away from the district headquarter Alipore. A training programme was conducted for the empowerment of rural tribal communities through sustainable inland fisheries development and utilisation of open water bodies in the village.

Challenges and opportunities

The Khan Saheber Abad is primarily a tribal dominated village. These Tribal people belong to the Santhal community. They have a low level of literacy, declining or stagnant population, and are economically weak, but they are very close to nature.

Poultry rearing systems vary in scale and complexity, each suited to different production needs and environments. This chapter explores the main poultry housing systems, detailing their advantages and disadvantages to help in selecting the most appropriate method for various farming scenarios.

Housing Systems of Poultry

Generally, there are four types of housing systems in poultry, they are

1. Free range or extensive system,

2. Semi-intensive system,

3. Folding unit system and

4. Intensive system.

Studying livelihood systems requires a multidimensional approach, as livelihoods are shaped by a variety of social, economic, environmental, and institutional factors. To understand how individuals and communities sustain
their lives, researchers and policymakers use a range of indicators that help analyze both the opportunities available and the vulnerabilities faced by people. These indicators provide insights into the resources people use, the strategies they adopt, and the outcomes they achieve in their pursuit of a secure and dignified living. One of the foundational frameworks for analyzing livelihoods is the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), which identifies five core categories of capital or assets: human capital, natural capital, financial capital, physical capital, and social capital. Indicators related to each of these asset types are commonly used in livelihood studies.
Apart from these core assets, livelihood outcome indicators are also important. These include levels of food security, poverty status, employment stability, quality of life, savings and investment behavior, and ability to withstand shocks. These outcomes provide a picture of whether the livelihood strategies adopted are sustainable and equitable. Institutional and policy indicators are equally significant. These include access to government schemes, land rights, legal entitlements, effectiveness of rural development programs, and availability of extension services. The role of markets, financial institutions, and governance structures must also be considered when evaluating livelihood systems. In the context of vulnerability, indicators like frequency of crop failure, income variability, health risks, and exposure to natural disasters are used to assess how secure or fragile a livelihood is. Coping strategies, such as migration, asset liquidation, or diversification of income sources, are also analyzed.

This chapter introduces Heliconia as an exotic tropical ornamental crop valued for its brilliant colours, distinctive inflorescences and excellent postharvest longevity. It examines origin, distribution, genetics and botanical characteristics and discusses important commercial species and varieties. Protected cultivation practices, nutrition, irrigation, planting, pruning, plant growth regulators, pest and disease management, harvesting and postharvest handling are presented. The chapter highlights the potential of Heliconia as a premium cut flower and its suitability for tropical and subtropical regions of India.

ABSTRACT

Marketers make consistent attempts to innovate tools and strategies to overcome the challenges they face in the business arena. Business innovations are broadly classified under two heads, namely Product / Service innovation. Marketers need to design creative solutions to overcome challenges typical of the rural environment such as physical distribution, channel management, promotion and communication. India’s rural markets offer a sea of opportunity. The urban rural split in consumer spending stands at 9: 11, with rural India accounting for 55 percent of private retail consumption. Indeed the market can be tapped with focused attention and strategy. Currently the Indian retail market is estimated at Rs. 13,30,000 crore and almost half of this growing retail market at present lies in rural India, which is a tremendous growth sector that needs to be tapped with care. This paper examines how the corporate sectors with their innovation and creativity tapping the Indian rural market with their retail marketing.

Key words: Innovation, retailing, rural retailing, rural India, creativity