eChapters

Early childhood care and education provides the foundation for children’s physical, cognitive, linguistic, emotional, social and creative development. This chapter examines the meaning, objectives and importance of early childhood education, together with the characteristics and developmental needs of young children. It covers preschool programmes, curriculum planning, play-based learning, classroom organization, teaching-learning materials, daily schedules, evaluation and the professional qualities of early childhood educators. Questions address the contributions of major educational thinkers and approaches, including Montessori and other child-centred practices. National policies, Integrated Child Development Services, Anganwadi programmes and contemporary challenges are also included, supporting effective preparation for academic and professional examinations.

INTRODUCTION

Various procedures which are used for genetic improvement of crop plants are known as breeding methods. The breeding approaches that are more commonly used for genetic improvement of crop plants are called conventional breeding methods. Following conventional breeding methods were followed in improvement of crops.
    (A)    Plant introduction
    (B)    Pureline selection
    (C)    Mass selection
    (D)    Progeny selection
    (E)    Synthetic and composite breeding
    (F)    Pedigree method
    (G)    Bulk method
    (H)    Backcross method
    (I)    Heterosis breeding
    (J)    Clonal selection

Cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] popularly known as guar is a drought hardy, deep-rooted, summer annual legume, grown as feed, fodder, green manure, vegetable and seed in the dry habitats of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab and to a limited extent in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In addition to its major cultivation in India, the crop is grown as a cash crop in different countries like Australia, Brazil and South Africa. The crop is exceptionally known for its higher adaptation towards poor and erratic rains, low inputs and less care. Its other multi uses are soil enrichment in cropping systems, industrial uses, social and dietary uses. These qualities have made it as the most favoured crop of marginal farmers in the arid areas. Being a leguminous annual, its primary use is soil health enrichment through atmospheric nitrogen fixation; on an average basis it is estimated to be  30 kg N ha-1. The young pods of Cluster bean are a source of delicious vegetable from late summer to middle of rainy season. The pods are sweet and can often be cooked as those of Phaseolus bean pods and are a very good source of vitamin A, calcium, iron, phosphorus and ascorbic acid with enriched nutritional value.

History of rickettsial infections went back to 16^th century and it has long been associated with famine and war. Epidemic typhus had major impact to decide over the outcome of several wars. The epidemic alone killed or caused great sufferings to over 1,00,000 people during World Wars. However, the causative agent was not determined until the early part of the 20^th century. Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) was the first detected rickettsial infection in 1896 in Idaho Valley, USA. It was originally known as ‘black measles’ due to its clinical appearance in the form of characteristic spotted rash throughout the body. Howard Taylor Ricketts, an American pathologist for the first time described the causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and was able to isolate it in the laboratory animals during 1902-1909. He was a dedicated scientist and on several occasions injected himself with the pathogen for experiment. The causative pathogen of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Rickettsia rickettsii was named after him. Later, the family Rickettsiaceae as well as the order Rickettsiales was named after him. Ernest William Goodpasture, an American pathologist and physician, invented the methods of isolation and culturing the rickettsial pathogens in chicken embryos and fertilized chicken eggs.

Nano-bioinoculants are poised to transform Indian agriculture with solutions tailored to its diverse agro-climatic regions, prevailing smallholder farm management systems, and environmental sustainability. The chapter explores the progress, present research scenario, and future scope of nano-bioinoculants in India. These have been built upon early nanotechnology explorations catalyzed by government initiatives like the Nano-Mission and augmenting research infrastructure, with ongoing research being marked by crop-based studies of Indian crops and utilizing the immense diversity of indigenous microorganisms in cutting-edge nanomaterials. Through controlling the complex plant-microbe interactions to biotic and abiotic stresses, the reaction of nano bioinoculants is being performed using advanced omics-based studies. Great progress is being made in the development of smart delivery systems for precision agriculture, in conjunction with novel formulation methods such as layer-by-layer assembly and stimulus-response release. The use of sensors, drones, and AI-based systems opens up possibilities for targeted application and real-time monitoring. Though commercialization is picking up speed via new start-ups and businesses, costeffectiveness issues, farmer awareness, and an immature regulatory system continue to be a challenge. Looking at the future, promising directions for intelligent farming highlight the revolutionary significance of such beneficial microbes in shaping a more durable, productive, and sustainable future for agriculture in India.

The march of weather factors during crop period is never smooth and regular. Agriculture, because of its dependance on climate is inevitably subjected to unpredictable long and short term fluctuation characteristic of atmosphere conditions. Climate introduces an element of risk in farming which makes it particularly hazardous occupation.

A Weather hazard in this context can be defined as any type of extreme weather condition that can damage the crops and animals leading to abnormal decrease in production and income. The extent to which these hazards create risk depends on the time of occurrence, intensity and duration of the hazard besides the age, stage of development and inherent resistance of the crop or livestock involved. Major abnormalities affecting the crop production are:

Introduction

The hills and mountains are one of the most important agro-ecosystems that supports life of half of the mankind either directly or indirectly. In India, hills are rich source of bio-diversity and possess enormous potential for sustaining agriculture, including horticulture and animal husbandry. The ecological fragility and vulnerability of the Himalayas to climatic aberrations, increasing demand for land to grow more food have been issues of concern for quite some time. Nearly 59% of the total work force in the Himalayas is engaged in subsistence agriculture which is barely enough to feed the growing population for 5-6 months in a year (Raizada et al., 2009). The North-West Himalayas (NWH) consisting of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand spreads to 33 million ha, habited by 25 million humans and 19 million livestock. Though, the whole economy of the region is based on agriculture, the total cultivable land is only 3.2 million ha of the total geographical area of the region (Srivastva et al., 2009).

The litchi or ‘lychee’ (Litchi chinensis Sonnen) is an evergreen subtropical fruit tree of the family Sapindaceae. It is known for its delicious fragrance, quality and juicy fruits contributing significantly to the nation’s economy. India is the second largest producer of litchi in the world after China with an area and production of 82,000 ha and 555,000 tonnes, respectively during 2012-13 (DAC, 2013).So far as Eastern India is concerned, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal accounts for 85% of the total litchi production in the country. The state Bihar alone contributes 45% of total litchi production and occupies nearly 40% of the area in India. In India litchi is being grown in an area of 89000 ha with a total production of 556 000 MT annually (http://nhb.gov.in).

Introduction

Decentralization means the action or fact of reducing or undoing “centralization” or “concentration.” The dictionary meaning of decentralization is “The process of transferring the functions from the Central Government to the local units.” Decentralization is devolving power of decision–making with the lower level of organization. In a decentralization, delegation and devolution of power are given to the lower level. Devolution implies a situation in which lower ranking units acquire greater autonomy in respect of certain defined functions, including decision-making authority. Devolution of functions, powers, and responsibilities are normally granted through legislation.

Decentralized Planning in India

With the introduction of the Community Development Programme (CDP) and National Extension Service (NES) in 1952, increasing agricultural production had been on India’s agenda in different plan periods. The success of CDP and NES was reviewed by the Balawant Rai Committee in 1957 and the committee realized that community development can be achieved only when the community understands its problems, owns its responsibilities, exercises the necessary powers through its elected representatives, and maintains a constant and intelligent vigilance on local administration. The recommendation of the committee led to the preparation of plans at the level of state, district, block, towns, and Panchayats in the second plan period from 1957 to 1962. The Fourth Evaluation Report (Programme Evaluation Organization, Planning Commission) in 1959 recommended that organized and institutional participation by the public in development programs is bound to give better, more consistent, and more lasting results. In 1977, Ashok Meheta Committee suggested changing the concept of Panchayati Raj to a political institution. In 1981, the eminent economist Prof. M.L. Dantewala observed that the merit of decentralized planning is derived from its ability to discover dormant resources and skills and its endeavor to activate them. However, there was slow progress in decentralized planning up to the eighth plan (1992-97).

5.1 Introduction

A farm pond that collects and harvests in-situ rainfall as well as runoff from the catchment area can be used for many purposes: the most important of which is the supply of water to crops as supplemental irrigation. It is no doubt a viable source for integrated farming system. In addition, the water of the pond can be used for domestic and to some extent for the industrial uses. It is also a good source for recreational use. Total water demand of the pond including irrigation to different crops in different seasons, domestic and other non agricultural uses are to be assessed. While estimating the crop water requirement and irrigation requirement, various crops to be grown in the service area of the pond, their water requirements, crop duration, extent of coverage and water management practices followed are to be taken into consideration. Multiplying the irrigation requirement with crop coverage area, volumetric irrigation water requirement of crop can be found out. Summation of irrigation requirement of all crops grown in service area of the pond, gives total irrigation demand of the pond.

Farm ponds are normally used for irrigation to crops as well as to meet the live stock water demand. Normally the large live stocks like horse, cattle require 20 thousand litres of water per head per year whereas the small live stocks like sheep, goat, pigs require 2 thousand litres of water per head per year. Adding the irrigation demand to the livestock demand, total water requirement of the pond is calculated. In addition to this, if the pond water is used for industrial, domestic and other sectoral purposes, then water used in all such sectors are to be added to irrigation and livestock demand to estimate the total water demand of the pond.

Introduction The Globe artichoke is a herbaceous perennial crop that is grown for its tender, edible, immature flower buds. It is botanically known as (Cynara scolymus L.) and having chromosome number 2n=2x=34. The globe artichoke belongs to the family Compositae, and it originates in the Mediterranean Basin, where it was most likely introduced as a crop in about the first century AD (Sonnante et al., 2007). The globe artichoke is presently grown as an annual crop or a perennial crop in different regions of the world. The increasing demand for globe artichokes as a source of pharmaceuticals and modern functional foods has created new challenges for producers, necessitating the concurrent development of new production hubs and the use of cutting-edge technology in established growing regions that can support the global market.

Introduction
 
Sugarcane is an important cash crop of India. Since 1930-31 the area of sugarcane in the country has increased by about 4.3 times and production by about 9.8 times because of the rise in productivity of sugarcane by about 2.28 times, however, during the last decade there is no perceptible increase in productivity of sugarcane in the country. The domestic demand of sugar is around 22-23 million tonnes annually whereas the production of sugar in India is about 26 million tonnes annually. Data on nitrogen use efficiency of sugarcane from 1998-99 to 2013-14 in India is depicted in Fig. 1 and 2 show a decreasing trend (Anonymous, 2015). However, the escalating price of fertilizers in the market has become a cause of concern to sustain the productivity of the crop.

ABSTRACT

Due to the exorbitant price of the popular gelling agent agar, Plant Tissue Culture (PTC) has gradually become a costly technique in recent times. So, alternative sources of agar needs to be popularized which at one hand should be able to meet all the positive properties of agar and on the other hand be cost effective as well. The seed husk obtained from Plantago ovata Forsk. is such an alternative which was successfully used as a gelling agent for media preparation in PTC experiments for in-vitro shoot and root development in Nicotiana tabacum L. and Ocimum gratissimum L. The nodal explants were grown in MS basal medium (MSo) supplemented with 3% sucrose and were gelled with progressive concentrations of isabgol husk to ascertain the optimum concentration for better survival and growth response, while 0.8% agar acted as a negative control. The response of the explants on media gelled with husk was compared to that of media gelled with 0.8% agar. It was inferred that 0.3% husk in the medium was optimum for best growth response which was comparable to that of agar. Consequently, the estimated cost of a liter of MSo reduced by almost Rs.61.15/- (compared to Himedia’s Agar) to Rs.177.57/- (compared to Sigma’s Agar) after using isabgol seed husk as a gelling agent in media preparation.

Imagine the air around us. Even though we can’t see it, air has weight. Atmospheric pressure is essentially the force exerted by the weight of the air molecules above a particular point on the Earth’s surface.
Think of it like this: Imagine you’re at the bottom of a swimming pool. The water above presses you down, and you feel that pressure. Similarly, the atmosphere, a giant ocean of air, has layers of air molecules, and their weight presses down on everything below, including us.
• Atmospheric pressure is defined as the force per unit area exerted by the weight of the air column extending from the surface of the earth to the top of the atmosphere above that area (Fig. 3.1).

Introduction
Biological stress factors such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and pests can lead to losses in yield and quality before and after harvest. An estimated10 to 23 percent loss is caused by fungal pathogens, along with an additional 10 to 20 percent post-harvest loss. Unlike animals, plants do not possess a highly developed immune system or mobile immune cells. They possess highly sophisticated defense mechanisms based on their structural, chemical, and protein composition. The defense responses of plants to different pathogens are influenced by factors such as the stage of plant development, the pathogenicity of the pathogen, and the environmental conditions. Recognizing the importance of genes that resist biotic stressors, it becomes clear that they are invaluable natural resources for sustaining agricultural productivity and minimizing crop losses36. Any physiological abnormality or significant disruption in the average health of a plant is considered a disease. Living agents, like fungi and bacteria, and environmental factors such as nutrient deficiency, drought, and lack of oxygen, excessive temperature, ultraviolet radiation, and pollution can all contribute to disease development. Plants have developed diverse constitutive and inducible defenses to safeguard themselves from harm. Disease resistance is decreased pathogen growth on or within the plant11. It indicates a lower disease occurrence in one genotype than the susceptible variety and is a relative characteristic. Typically, the reproduction rate is significantly decreased, which restricts disease transmission. Plants have varying levels of resistance to different pathogens, with some being more susceptible to specific pathogens while being resistant to others. This resistance is often specific to particular species or strains of pathogens.

Introduction
Liposomes are bubble-like structures made up of (phospho)lipids that form on their own and surround an area of water in the middle with two or more overlapping layers of lipids. Liposomes are between 30 and micrometers in size and are made up of two phospholipid layers that are 4-5 nm thick. British scientists Alec Bangham and his colleagues at Babraham Cambridge were the first to describe the structure of liposomes in 1964 (Kozubek et al., 2000; Samad et al., 2007). This was in the middle of the 1960s and was a big step forward for the field of liposomology. Following this, liposomes have been studied in great detail because they can carry imaging agents, proteins, nucleic acids, and small chemicals. Many ways of giving medicine have been created to make treatment more effective and help patients stick with it. These include parenteral, pulmonary, oral, transdermal, ophthalmic, and nasal methods. In addition, liposomes are used a lot in the food and beauty industries (Maurer et al., 2001). Liposomes are very good at delivering drugs because they keep the parts inside from breaking down naturally, increase the half-life of the drug, manage the release of drug molecules, and are very safe and compatible with living things. Liposomes can improve therapeutic benefits by passively or actively targeting to deliver their payload to the affected area. This raises the maximum dose that can be tolerated, lowers the risk of systemic side effects, and improves treatment results. When compared to normal tissue, which has strong links between endothelial cells, abnormal tissues like solid tumors or inflammatory sites have more permeable capillaries (Szoka, 2019; Allen and Cullis, 2013; Fielding, 1991).
The enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect is when liposomes can quietly gather and stay in damaged tissues by passing through the broken neovasculature. When the liposome interacts with certain molecules and receptors on the surface of tumor cells, this is called active targeting (Saraf et al., 2020). Some receptors, like folic acid, integrin, CD44, CD13, prostate-specific membrane antigen, vascular endothelial growth factor, and epidermal growth factor, may be overexpressed in tumor cells. Certain ligands could be used to change the surface of liposomes, as shown by the receptors. Antibodies, nucleic acids, protein peptides, iNGR, small molecules like folic acid, and carbohydrates are some of these ligands. Besides being used for specific medicines, liposomes are also a great way to get drugs to people who need them. However, liposomes have not yet reached their full potential because there are only 14 different types of liposomal goods on the market. We have learned more about commercial liposomal products that have been approved by both the FDA and the EMA through this research. The materials used in commercial goods and the ways they are made are both carefully thought out (Nekkanti and Kalepu, 2015; Olusanya et al., 2018).

Nanobioinoculants (NBIs) represent a transformative advancement in sustainable agriculture, combining nanotechnology with microbial inoculants to address critical challenges in soil health, nutrient use efficiency, and crop resilience. This chapter explores the mechanisms of action of NBIs, from their precise delivery systems and enhanced microbial-plant interactions to their role in stress mitigation and immune priming. Unlike conventional bioinoculants, NBIs leverage nanoscale carriers to improve microbial survival, enable controlled release, and enhance nutrient uptake, offering superior performance under diverse environmental conditions. We examine their ecological impact, field efficacy, and commercialization challenges while highlighting emerging trends such as AIdriven design and CRISPR-enhanced formulations. By integrating fundamental research with practical applications, this chapter underscores the potential of NBIs to revolutionize precision agrobiology, providing a sustainable alternative to chemical inputs.

Small ruminant sector, after agriculture, is the second largest means for economic sustainability and livelihood in India. It contributed Rs. 32000 crore to the gross domestic product of India in 2012 -13 despite having a potential to contribute over Rs. 150,000 crore but there are certain lacunae in system which act as its growth inhibitor. Small ruminants are the main source for rural economies due to participation of women (70% of total) and weaker sections of the rural society. Thus there is urgent need for formulating policies to support the development of the small ruminant sector.
 
Sheep and goat husbandry is a tool for poverty alleviation of the rural masses because of wide adaptability with low investments, high fertility and fecundity, low feed and management costs, higher feed conversion efficiency, quick pay off and low risk in comparison to large ruminants. The above traits of small ruminants need to be exploited for economic upliftment of small farmers.

4.1. Substrate quality
    Litter quality
    Soil organic matter (SOM) quality

4.2. Decomposer community
    Soil animals
    Soil microorganisms
    Terrestrial fungi
    Actinomycetes    
    Bacteria