eChapters

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, with far-reaching consequences for the environment, human health, and the economy. One of the most significant impacts of climate change is on the world’s water resources. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events are all taking a toll on the availability, quality, and management of water resources. Water is essential for human survival, and its availability and quality are crucial for human health, food security, and economic development. However, climate change is altering the hydrological cycle, leading to changes in precipitation patterns, increased evaporation, and altered water flows. These changes have significant implications on demand for water resources, including reduced water availability, decreased water quality, and increased risk of waterrelated disasters which will ultimately impact agricultural production and food security.
15.1. Changes in Precipitation Patterns
One of the most significant impacts of climate change on water resources is the alteration of precipitation patterns and projected per cent changes in average annual precipitation over 1850-1900 period at 2.00C increase in temperature are depicted here (Fig.15.1).

Rabbit domestication dates back no farther than the previous millennium. It were the Phoenicians who are said to have discovered the wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus of Southern Europe and North Africa when they reached the shores of Spain about 1000 B.C. In Roman times, the rabbit was still emblematic of Spain. The Roman spread the rabbit throughout the empire as a game animal. Like the Spaniards, the Romans also ate foetuses or new born rabbits, which they called laurices. It then becomes a practice that the rabbits were kept in leporarian, stone –walled pens or parks for hunting purposes. These leporaria ultimately paved the way for the development of game parks in the middle Ages. The monks ate laurices during lent because they were an aquatic dish. In France, only the lord of the manor could maintain a warren.

Objectives

To acquaint with the various methods of sterilization and disinfection used in laboratory animals.

Materials Required

Boiler, autoclave, hot air oven, chemical disinfection.

Sterilization

It is a process of the complete removal or destruction of living organisms including viruses, vegetative forms and spores. Sterilization is an absolute term. Nothing can be “partially sterile’’, either, it is or it is ‘not’. An article must be protected from recontamination after sterilization.

12.1. Practice of SMEs in Africa-Critical Review

Previous studies in Kenya have focused on the role of entrepreneurship education in job creation, enterprise management and economic development (Simiyu, 2010; Mwangi, 2011; Warren, 2011); hardly any have addressed the process of delivering entrepreneurship education. Research provides new knowledge to guide educational practice, by making an initial foray into the teaching of entrepreneurship education in Kenya. The envisaged entrepreneurially empowered TTI graduate is a product of the training function. This book examines factors which affect implementation of entrepreneurship education programme in TTIs in Kenya. The variables investigated were teaching methods, assessment methods, teacher’s network, and availability of training resources. The findings show that teachers do not accord entrepreneurship education t he appropriate pedagogical approach that it deserves; they seem resigned to using ineffective traditional pedagogies. Meanwhile, the subject is inadequately resourced by TTI administrations. The results of this research invite the attention of entrepreneurship educators, practitioners and stakeholders to employ effective strategies for dev eloping entrepreneurial key competencies in TTI trainees.

Importance of Rainfed Farming

In India, rain dependent areas are vast and they have a great contribution to make in agricultural production, with just 1/40th of the world land. Of the 141 M ha of net sown area in the country, 80 M ha is rainfed. Rainfed agriculture contributes 40% of food grain production and supports 2/3rds of the livestock population. Despite considerable progress in irrigation development over the five year plans, 85% of coarse cereals, 83% in pulses, 42% in rice, 70% in oilseeds and 65% in cotton are still cultivated as rainfed. A large portion of industrially important crops such as cotton, groundnut and castor are cultivated under dry land conditions and has a great contribution to make to the production of food, fibre, fuel and furniture timber etc. Though, impressive gains were noted in some of the rainfed crops in recent times, the gap between attainable and farmers’ yields still remain high which is a major cause of concern. Small and marginal farmers who are the backbone of rainfed farming are resource poor and risk averse. Moreover, both public and private investments in technology adoption and infrastructure have been quite low in rainfed agriculture resulting in a vicious circle of low yields-low net returns-low investments in improved technologies.

With several resource management problems emerging in irrigated regions, rainfed agriculture offers scope to contribute to the growing food needs of future particularly of pulses and edible oils. The high yield gaps between attainable yields realized by progressive farmers using improved technologies and those actually realized by the farmers at large in any given region offer scope for enhancing overall productivity of rainfed crops anywhere between 50 to 70% in the near term with the adoption of the available technologies, provided resource and institutional constraints in delivering the technology and inputs are addressed timely and adequately. With the promised break-through in yields through genetic manipulation and large scale adoption of water saving technologies through conservation agriculture, the yield gains can be further enhanced in the medium to long term.

The 80 million hectares of rainfed farming area is not uniform for resource base, opportunities and constraints. There are areas receiving high rainfall and fertile deep soils where crop yields can be enhanced significantly by double cropping combined with supplemental irrigation with water harvesting. For the relatively lower rainfall regions, the overall system productivity needs to be enhanced by integrating crops, trees and livestock. This agro-eco region based differential approach is the key for realizing the full potential of rainfed agriculture besides addressing the dimension of regional equity.

Calcareous soils

In arid regions, calcareous soils are developed from limestone or marl parent materials. The content of calcium and magnesium carbonate may be as high as 60 to 70 per cent of the total soil mass. In calcareous soil lime content may vary from a small amount in some places in the profile to appreciable amounts throughout the profile.

Calcium carbonate coatings occur in sand, silt and clay size fractions of calcareous soils. In sub soil, large amounts of lime forms hardpan under high water tables.

In general, pH of the soil increases to alkaline pH with increasing the proportion of water to soil ratio. This may happen in part from a reduction of CO₂ pressure. The dilution of salts in soil solution also permits greater hydrolysis of calcium clay. The dilution of calcium carbonate with production of hydroxyl ions may lead to higher pH as:

A significant development in the field of agricultural research in India is the formulation of All India Coordinated Research Projects (AICRPs), initially for the improvement of agricultural crops, but later extended to all aspects of crop husbandry.

Electric Cooking Range is also known as an electric stove or electric range; is a stove with a built-in cooktop and with an integrated electrical heating device to cook and bake. Electric stoves became popular as replacements for solidfuel (wood or coal) stoves which required more labor to operate and maintain. “Cookstoves” (also called “cooking stoves” or “wood stoves”) are heated by burning wood or charcoal; “gas stoves” are heated by gas; and “electric stoves” by electricity. Unlike gas stoves, electric stove tops don’t produce a flame.

The synthesis of humic substances is the least understood and the most intriguing aspect of humus chemistry. This has been one of the intensely- researched subjects for a long time. Formation of humic substances takes several pathways during the decay of plant and animal remains in soil and the four important ones are shown in Fig. 8.1.

Fig. 8.1: Mechanisms for the formation of soil humic substances

The classical theory by Waksman advocated humic substances as modified lignins (Pathway 1), but a vast majority of current crop of investigators favour a mechanism involving quinones (Pathways 2 and 3). Including sugar-amine condensation pathway (Pathway 4), all the four pathways must be considered as likely mechanisms for the synthesis of humic and fulvic acids in nature. It is absolutely possible that these four pathways may operate in all soils, though not to the same extent or in the same order of importance. 

Introduction

The rare-earth elements (REEs) consist of a group of 17 elements that have atomic numbers between 57 (lanthanum) and 71 (lutetium). They are also known as lanthanides. The European Union banned all in-feed growth promoting antibiotics in 2006 because of public fears about the transmission and development of multi-resistant bacteria, which pose a threat to human health. Such restrictions have prompted the need to explore new safe, efficient, and inexpensive feed additives as alternative sources of growth promoters. Rare earth elements (REEs) have been used as feed additives for the last few decades due to their effectiveness in improving the body weight, feed conversion rate (FCR), and milk and egg production in various farm animals, including cattle, poultry, and swine.

As aquaculture expands rapidly across states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal, the demand for accurate and timely disease detection methods has intensified. Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and other serological tools have emerged as critical assets in pathogen surveillance and management in fish and shrimp farming systems.
ELISA, widely used in Indian diagnostics laboratories, enables the detection of pathogen-specific antigens or host antibodies with high sensitivity and throughput. Its capacity to analyze multiple samples simultaneously and deliver quantitative results makes it particularly suitable for large-scale disease monitoring. Both indirect and sandwich ELISA formats are employed, tailored to the diagnostic goal—whether it is detecting the pathogen itself or assessing the host’s immune response.
In indirect ELISA, fish serum samples are screened for antibodies against key pathogens. This format is instrumental in vaccine efficacy studies and epidemiological surveys. For instance, aquaculture centers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu use indirect ELISA to track immune responses to Aeromonas hydrophila and Koi Herpesvirus (KHV) in ornamental and carp species. On the other hand, sandwich ELISA is utilized for direct antigen detection in tissues and fluids, and is applied in shrimp hatcheries for diseases such as White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and Yellow Head Virus (YHV), supported by ICAR and MPEDA programs.
Other serological techniques also find relevance in Indian aquaculture. Agglutination assays, especially slide agglutination, offer rapid and cost-effective field diagnostics. These are applied in the detection of Edwardsiella tarda and Streptococcus iniae in tilapia and catfish. Latex agglutination further enhances rapid bacterial identification at the farm or lab level. Immunodiffusion techniques, such as Ouchterlony double diffusion, though less sensitive, are still used in resource-limited areas for detecting fungal pathogens like Ichthyophonus and Saprolegnia.

Brief History

Fondness of man for rabbits is well established by its appearance in the Aesop’s fables and Vishnu Sharma’s ‘Panchtantra, both of which date back to 2nd century B.C. However, domestic rabbits are descendents of wild species of Western Europe and North Western Africa where Oryctolagus still exists. Interestingly, it was the Romans who first raised rabbits in leporaria (enclosed warrens) as a game animal. Like Spaniards, Romans also ate fetuses of newborn young ones whom they called laurices. These leporaria ultimately paved the way for development of game parks in the Middle Ages. The monks ate laurices during Lent because they were an aquatic dish.

1.    Total horticulture covers an area of 27.1 m ha and production 305.8 m ton in the country annually (Indian Horticulture Database, 2018).

2.    Fruit crops cover an area of 8.4 m ha and vegetable crops 12.2 m ha. Accordingly, 98.7 m ton of fruits and 182.1 m ton of vegetables are produced in the country annually (Indian Horticulture Database, 2018).

3.    Apart from fruits and vegetables, floriculture industry in India comprising of florist trade, nursery plants, potted plants, seed and bulb products is being observed as sunrise industry.

4.    The developed flower market in the country during 2018 is with area of 0.32 m ha with a production of 2.7 m ton flowers.

5.    The traditional flowers are grown on a large area on a commercial scale. These flowers are mostly grown for loose flower purpose.

6.    Area under cut flowers like rose, chrysanthemum, gladiolus, carnation and orchids is increasing day by day.

7.    Plantation crops are another potential sector with lot of opportunities for employment generation, foreign exchange earnings and overall supporting livelihood sustenance of mankind at large.

Computer Purchase

With so many factors to consider, deciding which omputer to buy can be a real challenge. From components to software to accessories, new PCs offer a bewildering array of choices. Sifting through the large number of options can be a daunting task. Almost any PC on the market today can more than adequately handle such standard office chores as word processing and spreadsheets, as well as basic Internet functions like e-mail and general browsing. If you want to edit digital video or manage a large database, however, you may need more than the basics.

The best way to pay only for what you need is to carefully consider what you want to do with your system now, and try to anticipate what might interest you next 2-3 years. Specific applications call for certain types of hardware, whether at home or in the office. When you’re ready to buy a computer, here are some recommendations for the average user’s basic requirements:

Abstract

The anomalies observed in the reverine systems have been demonstrated to be the potential tool in deciphering the tectonically active zones. Such various drainage anomalies viz: radial drainages, anomalous compressed meanders, eyed drainage and the youthful floodplains observed in Annamali – Palani - Varushanad hill ranges of the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu show that the N-S and NE-SW trending faults are tectonically active in the recent years.

Healing of fracture is a consequence of cellular behaviour in a living organism and as such can be modified by almost all endogenous or exogenous factors that affect the metabolic function of cells. These factors include transforming growth factor-β, bone morphogenetic proteins, hormones, vitamins and prostaglandins. The anabolic hormones like thyroxine and insulin accelerate bone formation in experimental animal. Hence, this chapter is proposed to evaluate the effects of thyroxine and insulin therapy in the management of tibial metaphyseal fracture in dogs.

Clinically healthy, adult mongrel dogs (15) of either sex are randomly divided into three groups (A₁, A₂ and A₃) of 5 animals each. In all the animals, unilateral metaphyseal fracture is created in the proximal tibia and then immobilized with cross intramedullary pinning with interfragmentary wiring under thiopental (5%) anaesthesia. All the animals are administered broad-spectrum antibiotic (streptopenicillin @ 1 g intramuscularly /dog/day) and analgesic (5 ml I/M daily) and surgical wounds are dressed daily with Povidone iodine and Lorexane cream for 5 days postoperatively. In group A₂, thyroxine sodium tablets (0.013 mg/kg body wt, orally) and in A₃, insulin injection (2 IU/kg body wt, s/c) are given on day 7 and then on every alternate day till day 45 postoperatively, at one specific time. Group A₁, is remained as control, in this group no hormonal therapy is given.

Craniocaudal and mediolateral radiographs of the fracture site are taken immediately after surgery and subsequent on days 15, 30, 45 and 60 postoperatively. The radiographs are observed for status of fracture reduction and fixation immediately after surgery and subsequently for the maintenance of reduction, progress of fracture healing and complication, if any, at different intervals.

Iron Toxic Soils

Lowland rice is being cultivated on approximately 128 million hectares of either irrigated or rainfed land out of which 100 million hectares suffer due to nutrient deficiency or toxicities. Among the toxicities, iron toxicity is well recognized as a nutritional disorder in low land rice production. Iron toxicity is a syndrome of disorder associated with high concentration of Fe²⁺ in soil solution. A wide range of soil types show iron toxicity problem including acid sulphate soils, acid clay soils, peat soil and valley bottom soil. During monsoon rains in the wet season, soluble iron (Fe²⁺) migrate to the surface and its iron content increases to subtoxic or toxic levels.

In rolling topography and with heavy monsoon downpour there is considerable lateral flow of iron containing water from the adjacent uplands to mid – and low lands. This increases the iron content to toxic levels. Poorly drained sandy soils in valleys receiving interflow water from adjacent uplands with laterite horizon (Plinthudults) showed iron toxicity in Srilanka and Kerala and Odisha in India. These soil groups come under the taxonomic orders Alfisols, Ultisols and Oxisols occurring in association with Entisols and Inceptisols. The iron concentration (Fe²⁺) in soil solution that affect low land rice yield ranges from 10 to > 2000 mg L^-1 Iron toxicity induced yield reduction which is associated with poor nutrients . status (deficiency of P, K and Zn) and H₂S toxicities.

Introduction

Climate variability can have significant impacts on agricultural production, affecting both the demand and supply sides of farming. As climate change continues to negatively impact our ecosystem, food production, and human livelihood, this topic has gained widespread attention from researchers and academics worldwide. Given that agriculture is highly dependent on factors such as precipitation and temperature, it is considered one of the most climate sensitive sectors (Sagar et al., 2022).

Climatic data is complex and nonlinear, with significant fluctuation across time components, resulting in greater volatility. This means that stochastic climatic variables, including rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, and other weather parameters, often exhibit conditional heteroscedasticity, leading to irregular residual mean and variance across time series.

We can categorize statistical theory into two general parts.

1. Firstly, there is descriptive statistics which uses the appropriate tools, typically tables, diagrams and/or numerical measures, to describe a data set and provide a summary of its distribution.

2. In addition, there is inferential statistics which is concerned with drawing conclusions about a population using information obtained from a representative sample selected from it.

(a) One aspect of statistical inference is the estimation of a population parameter by the appropriate sample statistic (e.g. the population mean by the sample mean).

(b) The second aspect of inferential statistics is hypothesis testing. In this case, we examine a hypothesis, framed in terms of the parameters in one or more populations.

Estimation is concerned with description whereas hypothesis testing is ultimately concerned with decision.

Basic concepts of hypothesis testing

Hypothesis testing is a process that is concerned with making conclusions about the population using the information obtained from its sample.

Introduction
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is rapidly emerging as one of the most critical global health challenges of the 21st century. Antimicrobial resistance can be defined as a condition in which microbes develop resistance against the spectrum of conventional antibiotics, also known as multidrug resistance and these microbes are typically known as drug-resistant pathogens. The infections associated with antibiotic resistant pathogens are usually accompanied by substantial morbidity and mortality along with the massive economic burden on global healthcare, which causing approximately 4.95 million deaths globally each year. The prevalent issue is largely attributed to the repercussions of antimicrobial overuse or irresponsible utilization across diverse contexts, predominantly in clinical treatment, agricultural practices, animal healthcare, war crisis and the food system and a lack of regulation in their supply. Nature has long been a rich reservoir of biologically active compounds with diverse chemical structures and pharmacological properties, offering valuable resources for treating a wide array of diseases. In recent years, the rising threat of antimicrobial resistance has renewed global interest in natural products as promising sources for novel antimicrobial agents. Among these, plant-derived phytochemicals, microbial metabolites, marine bioactive compounds, and animal-based substances have shown significant potential in combating drug-resistant pathogens. These natural compounds exhibit unique mechanisms of action that can overcome existing resistance pathways, making them important candidates in the development of nextgeneration antibiotics. From alkaloids and flavonoids in medicinal plants to secondary metabolites produced by actinomycetes, antimicrobial peptides from animals, and complex molecules derived from marine organisms, nature offers a vast and largely untapped arsenal of antimicrobial agents. Exploring and harnessing these natural resources presents a sustainable and innovative strategy to address the growing global crisis of antimicrobial resistance. The enormous potential of natural products in the fight against antibiotic resistance is examined in this chapter. The different kinds of bioactive chemicals, their modes of action, and the creative approaches being used to maximize their medicinal potential are highlighted.
Challenges in Addressing AMR with Conventional Methods
1. Weak Implementation of National Action Plans: Only a small percentage of the more than 170 nations that have created AMR action plans have operationalized them with specialized financing and monitoring mechanisms. This leads to a gap between policy and practice, especially in low- and middle-income nations.
2. Restrictions in the Management of Antimicrobials: Lack of qualified staff, insufficient microbiological assistance, and shoddy governance frameworks are some of the common obstacles that antimicrobial stewardship initiatives must overcome. Due to the lack of quick diagnosis, broad-spectrum antibiotics are still empirically used in many hospitals.
3. Diagnostic Barriers: Rapid diagnostic methods are still few, and traditional culture-based susceptibility testing is sluggish. Resistance selection is accelerated by this diagnostic latency, which frequently forces physicians to use broad-spectrum empirical treatment.
4. Surveillance Gaps: Despite the growth of programs like the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS), data quality and surveillance coverage are still uneven. The inability of many nations to track resistance in important diseases compromises prompt policy responses.
5. Limited Innovation in Drug Development: Only a few new types of antibiotics are now in advanced clinical development, making the pipeline still rather thin. Under the present traditional paradigm, pharmaceutical innovation is discouraged by market failure due to low return on investment.