eChapters

Mass selection is a form of selection in which individual plants are selected phenotypically and the next generation propagated from the aggregate of their seed. It is applicable to both self and cross-pollinated crops. The obvious first step in the improvement of self-pollinated variety is the elimination of undesirable types. This may be achieved by simply roguing them as the variety grows in the field. Sometimes, this is called as negative selection. Another approach is to tag desirable types and to harvest only those at maturity. This is called as positive selection. Either way, results are similar. The best plants in the variety are identified and bulked. A refinement of mass selection is to harvest the best plants separately and to grow them as pure lines for comparison. Only those pure lines that are similar and superior are bulked as an improvement of an established variety. 

Introduction

Agriculture is an important sector in Indian economy, 58 per cent of India’s population depends on agriculture for their livelihood. Agriculture is main victim of climate change, it can disrupt availability, accessibility and quality of food. Moreover, increase in temperature, reduction in ground water availability, f looding and salinity are the major limiting factors in sustaining and increasing vegetable productivity. As a result of this crop physiology and production both are affected. Organic farming can help to tackle climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied to farming land. In India we have advantage that the agricultural techniques we practiced before green revolution in our country is eco-friendly and today also it is somehow it is in memories of our older and younger farmer generation. Principle of sustainable farming is the base of organic farming. According to OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) “Sustainable agro-ecosystem - agricultural and food systems are economically viable, meet society’s need for food assurance, while they retain and enhance natural resources and environmental quality for future generations” it is very clear from the definition that organic farming mostly emphasizes the environmental aspect and it includes.

Introduction

Precise learning of the components of the general structure of a research article is inevitable in writing a research article. The general structure of a research article consists of Title, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References and Supporting materials. There are no specific guidelines for which one of the above should be written first.

Process of Writing - Building the Article

To start writing a research article, it is not advisable to consider all the tables and data that are available to the writer. The easiest way to start with is to choose the tables and data that can be used wisely in the paper. The writer should be aware of the types of the chart or table which are accepted and the number of charts and tables that should be included in the paper (generally a research paper contain 7 to 9 figures and charts in each category). It is also not recommended to use conventional ways of presenting data and figures (like bar charts, pie diagram). The figures or illustrations should not be so simple. Figures and Tables should be self-communicating. The reader of the paper is very well educated and may have mastery in the particular subject. The language and illustration should be appealing to them. The figures and illustrations should have an impact on the reader to think and draw inference from the data provided by the research. Two dimensional and three dimensional data presentation create more interest in the reader rather than the one dimensional presentations. Next to consider is Methods that explain how the data was collected. In case of writing the methods in research paper, unlike thesis, the methods need not be elaborated in the paper. Results are the description of the data and the broad observation made. Results should not contain the inferences that are already known. Results should be supplementing the tables and charts, not a description of them. Discussion involves the comparison of the obtained result and the previous results. The contribution to the previous research results can be discussed. New findings and solutions can also be discussed. Conclusion is a single paragraph which altogether summarizes the final outcome. Generally the conclusion should not contain citations.

The cytological insult due to exposure of different environmental pollutant viz. pesticides, herbicides etc. impose great loss to the vitality and health of the individuals. The basic pathophysiological distrubances following the expo sure of these deterrents to the different visceral organs leads to dysfunction of these organs. Imbalance between body’s antioxidant defense and peroxidation of the lipid layer of cells’ causing free radical generation is defined as Oxidative stress. Free radicals are the molecules or entity that contains one or more than one unpaired electron. Pathophysiology of several diseases are associated with the generation of oxidative insult and many xenobiotics associated toxicity are also a result of oxidative damage and generation of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species. Alzheimer’s Disease is one of the fine example of oxidative damage associated neuronal degeneration.

Oxidative stress can be estimated using following parameters:

1. Lipid peroxidation (Paula et al., 2005)

2. Reduced glutathione (Sedlak and Lindsay, 1968)

3. Superoxide dismutase (Madesh and Balasubramanian, 1998)

4. Catalase (Aebi, 1983)

Introduction
A mineral is a naturally occurring substance that possesses distinct physical qualities and a specific chemical makeup. An ore is a mineral or group of minerals that can be used to extract a useful substance, such a metal, and use that substance to makeother useful commodities. In  the crust of the earth, minerals are created over millions of years. These nonrenewable resources are crucial to the advancement of modern civilization. India’s mineral resources are confined to a small number of places and are unevenly distributed. The Chotta Nagpur Plateau region contains almost 90% of our mineral riches. Mining is the procedure used to extract minerals from the earth.
Mining Activities Move Through Four Phases
Mining Procedure
Mining activities move through four phases:
a) Prospecting: Mineral exploration
b) Exploration: Determining the deposit is dimensions, form, location, and economic worth.
c) Development: The process of making the deposit accessible so that minerals can be taken out of it.
d) Exploitation: Mining the minerals and taking them out.

Genus : Phyllanthus
Species : emblica L.
Family : Euphorbiaceae
Chromosome No. : 2n = 28

The aonla (Emblica officinalis syn. Phyllanthus emblica) is native of tropical south-eastern Asia, and to central and southern India in particular. Aonla although considered as a minor fruit, but is of commercial significance primarily due to early high returns without much care. The small lateral branches resembles pinnate leaves of walnut or sumac and when fall off leaves behind a big scar. Flowers are axillary, apetalous mono or dioecious in small clusters or singly. Plants show great adaptability, are hardy and high bearer. The genus Phyllanthus (Greek-for leaf flower) has some 500 species or even more and two have been identified as important from fruit point of view i.e. P. emblica and P. acidus.

Whatever may be the nature and strength of resistance to the performance appraisal, management cannot relinquish this practice. Without employee appraisal, salary increases, reassignments or promotions cannot be administered rationally. Each of these areas has its specific problems and one of the solutions of modern times has been offered by an unusually promising frame work offered by Peter Drucker concept of Management by Objectives (MBO).
MBO calls on the subordinate to set his short-term performance goals in consultation with his superior. Goals explicitly state the actions which the employee will follow. Instead of being appraised in a traditional way by his superior, the subordinate appraises his own performance by evaluating it vis-à-vis the goals. Before establishing a goal, the individual studies his job, assesses his potentialities, and formulates some specific plans to reach the goal. The supervisor is not the evaluator, but directs the goal-setting process to ensure that it matches the objectives of the organization.

A. Answer the following?

1.    Why does camel mostly eat carbohydrates during desert travel?

Ans: Because increasedrespiration needed to oxidize body fat and protein which result in an increased loss of water by evaporation whereas carbohydrates oxidation results in lower loss of water.

2.    Why birds require less water than mammals?

Ans: Because uric acid is the end product of protein metabolism and is excreted in nearly solid form with minimum loss of water. Higher evaporative loss in birds is partially balanced bytheir reducedurinarywaterexcretionrelative to mammals. Besides, the breakdown of protein to uric acid provides more metabolic water than does its catabolism to urea.

3.    What is TDS?

Ans: TDS or total dissolved solids or salinity is a measure of the usefulness of water for animals or for crop irrigation.

4.    What is metabolic water?

Ans: When prganic compounds such as fat,protein, carbohydrates are oxidized in the animal body, water us produced as end product along with other usable products. Similarly, when proein, fat and carbohydrates are synthesized liberation of water takesplace. The water which is available to the animal body by such biochemical reaction is known as metabolic water.

5.    What is bound water?

1. SEED FORTIFICATION

It is process of enriching the seeds with bioactive chemicals for improving the germination and seedling vigour. To the known volume of seeds, one third volume of the nutrient solution is added and allowed to imbibe for short duration. The imbibed seeds should be dried under shade. The fortification treatments recommended for different crops are depicted

While fertilizer injectors that mixes fertilizer solutions with the irrigation water flow in the micro irrigation systems, a scientifically prepared fertigation schedule is the software that farmers need to implement a successful fertigation plan.

Though water soluble fertilizers are a special grade of fertilizers manufactured for fertigation per se; I have been assisting farmers to do fertigation with conventional fertilizers, those are familiar to them; like Urea for N, white muriate of potash (MOP) for K. Only in the case of P source they need to acquire water soluble special fertilizers like Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP) or Phosphoric acid. Historically, fertigation by our small holder farmer began in India just by fertigating Urea alone. And applying P and K as direct dry application to the soil with Single Super Phosphate (SSP) or pink MOP, both are not water soluble. Gradually, when farmers realised that fertigation is giving them more yield of the crop and income they warmed up to the idea of full fertigation and demand for water soluble fertilizers like MAP, White Potash, SOP etc. grew.

15.1 Introduction

In addition to serving as a means of reproduction, avian eggs are a staple meal in the diet of humans and include a natural balance of all the required components. However, eggs must overcome a few drawbacks in the current food market in order to compete for sales with an expanding number of other items. For instance, eggs are a delicate commodity that age-related quality reduction. Additionally, the intrinsic variability of the egg’s three primary parts—the shell, albumen, and yolk—does not meet the demands of contemporary customers for consistency. The successful sale of eggs depends on planned production techniques and effective quality control processes, both of which contribute to decrease this fluctuation.

Tissue Collection

Rats are most commonly employed as test subjects to conduct the experiments related to drug metabolizing enzyme assays involving various enzymes i.e. microsomal and non microsomal enzymes. Rats are humanely sacrificed at the end of the exposure period of 28 days of any therapeutic agents or drug and the liver of all the animals has to excise and immediately wash with ice-cold normal saline, weigh and perfuse with ice-cold 1.15% KCl solution containing 0.05 mM EDTA. Livers are processed further for preparation of microsomes for determination of microsomal drug metabolizing enzymes.

Preparation of Microsomes

Livers tissues are homogenized in 3 volumes (1:3) of ice-cold (1-4o C) homogenization buffer containing 1.15% potassium chloride in 50 mM potassium phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4). The homogenates are centrifuged at 15000 g for 30 min (Hitachi cs120GX II). The mitochondrial supernatant (8 ml) is transferred to ultracentrifuge tubes and spun at 105000 g for 1 hour in ultracentrifuge to sediment the microsomal pellet. Cytosolic fractions are collected from the middle separating the lipid layer on top in separate micro centrifuge tubes. The microsomal pellet is then washed by adding 8 ml of resuspension buffer (homogenization buffer containing 0.05 mM EDTA) and spun again 105000 g for 15 min. The microsomal pellet so obtained is resuspended in 4 ml of resuspension buffer and 1 ml aliquots are stored immediately at -80o C until assayed for drug metabolizing enzymes.

Mammary glands are important part of body which synthesize and store the milk in between milkings or suckling by the calf. Therefore it attains prime importance in any dairy animal. However, it has received little attention in buffaloes till now. Buffalo presents several unique characteristics in terms of milk production, length and shape of teats and arrangement of duct system in the mammary glands. Development of udder may be related to milk production and the knowledge of changes in its structure in relation to different physiological stages may also have practical implication.

Transducer Selection and Preparation of Scanning

Preparation of the site to be imaged will enhance the quality of the image. Therefore, any loose hair and dirt must be clean off. Ultrasound gel is applied to the area of interest. The gel acts as a coupling agent to prevent air from trapping between the transducer and skin. A 7.5 MHz transducer is ideal for imaging the teats. A 5.0 MHz transducer provides an adequate image. The mammary gland should be scanned with a 5.0-7.5 MHz transducer to give adequate penetration. All structures should be scanned in cross section and longitudinal planes.

A farm microclimate refers to the specific climatic conditions of a small, localized area within a farm. These conditions can differ significantly from the broader regional climate due to various natural and man-made factors. Understanding and managing microclimates is crucial for optimizing crop growth, animal welfare, and overall farm productivity. Modern commercial dairy production requires a special approach to the microclimate on the farm. High quality milk and animal health depend on the conditions of their keeping. At the same time, farm for dairy production for the most part do not have the means to control and manage the microclimate, in contrast to poultry farm. When organizing the correct process of controlling the microclimate, a prerequisite is the presence of an automated system for collecting data. Generally animals adapt to a wide range of weather conditions although their growth and productivity varies with weather conditions. Buffaloes and cows form the main component in dairy industry. The extent to which these animals can adapt to different weather conditions is given below: Successful management of buffalo rearing will be incomplete without wellplanned and adequate housing facilities (Fig.10.1).
Improper planning in the arrangement of animal housing may result in management problems, increase in disease incidence, additional labour charges and hence decrease in the profit of the farmer. During erection of a house for dairy buffaloes, care should be taken to provide comfortable accommodation for individual animals. It is important to ensure:
• Proper sanitation
• Durability
• Abundant supply of clean water
• Arrangements for the production of clean milk under convenient and
economic conditions.
Buffaloes may be successfully housed under a wide variety of conditions, ranging from close confinement to little restrictions except at milking time. However, two types of farms are in general use.

Heat units also called growing degree-days (GDD), effective heat units, or growing degree units, are a heuristic tool in phenology. GDD is a simple means of relating plant growth, development and maturity to air temperature. The concept is widely accepted as a basis for building phenology and population dynamic models. Degree day units are often used in Agrometeorology, Agronomy, Entomology and Pathology essentially to estimate or predict the lengths of the different phases of development in crop plants, insects, pathogens etc.

Edmond Nocard (French Veterinarian) first isolated filamentous aerobic bacteria from clinical cases of ‘bovine farcy’ in 1888. In 1889, the genus Nocardia was formed by Trevisan, and the organism described by Nocard was named as Nocardia farcinica. In 1891 another similar organism (Nocardia asteroides) was isolated by Eppinger from a human brain abscess. Initially it was thought that they are the same organisms. Latter on the basis of the molecular studies their separate entity is established.

            However, 80 years later, re-examination of Nocard’s original isolate revealed two different filamentous organisms, one of which was Mycobacterium and the other was Nocardia. The cause of ‘bovine farcy’ has been subsequently attributed to Mycobacterium. Latter, it is proved that Mycobacterium farcinogenes is the actual causative agent of ‘bovine farcy’.

TRANSFER

A transfer is a change in job assignment. It may involve a promotion or demotion or no change at all in responsibility and status. It is a change in assignment in which the employee moves to another job at approximately the same level of responsibility, the same skill, the level of pay. Transfer is to be distinguished from promotion and demotion which imply an ascending or descending change respectively, in the hierarchy of positions. A transfer may be either temporary or permanent, depending upon the need, and may occur within a department, between departments and divisions, or between plants or officers within a company/organization.

ABSTRACT

In oil palm there are three fruit forms viz. dura, tenera and pisifera. The commercial planting material is tenera produced by crossing dura and pisifera (D X P). Dura has thick shell and less economic part, where as pisifera is an abortic, female sterile type and cannot be reproduced in the normal ways. When tenera is selfed, segregation takes place in the monogenic Mendelian ratio; 1 dura: 2 tenera: 1 pisifera. Since all these palm types are morphologically alike, they can be confirmed only after fruiting, and verifying the internal fruit morphology. Fruiting in pisifera is highly erratic and often prolonged to several years. Proper technique in identifying these palms has been puzzling the breeder all over. Hence, a shell thickness marker is very important for early identification of the oil palm varieties.

An attempt has been taken to screen PCR primers and select the probable primers linked to the shell thickness in the present study. ‘Bulk segregation analysis’ approach was adopted for the study and DNA isolation was carried out from 25 dura and 25 pisifera palms. All the palms were developed from same tenera x tenera crosses. DNA from all the 25 duras and 25 pisiferas were pooled separately. Two pooled DNA samples were subjected to RAPD analysis with 50 random primers using the standard RAPD protocol. The amplified samples were electrophoresed and documented.

Both the pooled samples showed same banding pattern with all the primers, except 10 primers showing differences. Since the genetic configuration of the pooled dura DNA was likely to be same as that of the pisifera pooled DNA, the primers showing difference in banding pattern were the putative primers linked to shell thickness. All the 10 primers would be used for amplification of individual dura and pisifera DNA for confirmation of shell thickness marker.

LL is a retrovirus-causes, neoplastic disease of semi-mature or mature chickens characterized by a gradual onset in a flock, persistent low mortality and neoplasia of, the bursa of Fabricius (BF) with metastasis to many other internal organs especially the liver, spleen and kidney.