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Industrial microbiology is an important area of applied microbiology. In a broader sense, industrial microbiology is concerned with all aspects of business that relate to microbiology. It refers to the use of microorganisms in commercial enterprise. Cheap raw materials are converted to valuable products through the metabolism of microbes. Microbes for this purpose could be exploited in different ways.

Various commercial products of economic value made by microbes are :

18.1 Introduction

The farmers have limited resources and a number of enterprises/or enterprise combinations of crops and livestock to choose from. So, the question is how much of what to produce and with what technology. In other words, what combination of enterprises should be produced is expressed as.

Introduction

Women play a pivotal role in agricultural and rural economies in all developing countries. Rural India woman is facing Poverty and unemployment is the major problems. In India at the end of ninth five year span 26.1% of the population was living below poverty line. In the rural area 27.1% of the population was living under poverty. The overall unemployment rate is estimated to 7.32%. The female unemployment rate is 8.5%. The rate of growth of women unemployment in the rural area is 9.8%. A series of development programmes have been implemented for the development of economy in general ignoring women who constitute 50 percent of the total population. Role of women in development is an indispensable factor. Development programmes no longer can achieve their target without the participation and contribution of women. Women empowerment is multifaceted concept that extends to the psychological, economic, social, cultural, political and institutional spheres of women’s lives. The Government of India has launched and implemented a number of schemes towards poverty alleviation and women empowerment but it was observed that women in rural areas especially from the poor families could not be benefitted. Women empowerment is the most important instrument for the socio-economic development of a nation. In this context, SHGs have emerged as the tools that wield power to create a socio-economic revolution in the rural areas of our country. The empowerment of rural women is a key priority in the National Development Policy of India. In India, the organization of SHGs, especially those promoted by Non Governmental organizations (NGOs) is widely recognized as a development strategy for poverty reduction. NGOs also known as voluntary sector have become an irresistible global force today and it is growing in relation to its presence in developmental activities. Basically, an NGO or voluntary organisations are non-profit making agencies that are constituted with a vision by a group of likeminded people, committed for the uplift of the poor, marginalized, unprivileged, underprivileged, impoverished, downtrodden and the needy and they are closer and accessible to the target groups, flexible in administration, quicker in decision making, timely in action and facilitating the people towards self reliance ensuring their fullest participation in the whole process of development. SHGs are started by NGOs that generally have broad anti-poverty agendas. SHGs are seen as instruments for goals including empowering women, developing leadership abilities among poor people, increasing school enrollments and improving nutrition and the use of birth control. SHGs are small group of individual members who voluntarily come together and form an association for achieving a common objective. In most cases, SHGs are constituted by persons known to one another and coming from the same village community or neighbourhood. SHGs are small in size with membership ranging from 10 to 20 and are homogeneous. A strengthening development among women the nation over has been currently turned by quick advancement in SHG arrangement. The arrangement of SHGs isn’t conclusively a miniaturized scale credit venture however a strengthening procedure. The strengthening of women through SHGs would give advantage not exclusively to the individual women yet in addition for the family and network all in all through aggregate activity for improvement. Women constitute half of any country’s human endowment. All round development and harmonious growth of a nation would be possible only when women are considered as equal partners in progress with men.

Goat production for milk and meat is an age old practice and goat is one of the first animals to be domesticated by man. Throughout the world goat is considered as ‘poor man’s cow’. Central Institute for Research on Goats has projected it as ‘Future Animal’ for rural and urban prosperity (Chakrabarti, 2019). In Switzerland goat is nicknamed as “Swiss baby’s foster mother’ (Chakrabarti et al, 2014). Prasad et al., 2013 opined that among various livestock production enterprises, goat farming is one of the important enterprises, which supports the rural households by providing gainful employment and steady income for the rural masses. The households cultivating less than 2.0 ha of land (marginal and small) are the custodian of more than 76% of the total goats in the country (Singh et al., 2018). The Small ruminants are also important in a diversification strategy that aims to reduce market and climatic risks and optimize the use of available resources (Ayo-Enwerem et al., (2017). Goat farming is an important component in smallholder farming systems in Tripura. Goat rearing has grown from backyard farming to the localized cluster based intensified entrepreneurship activity throughout the state. Goat meat is considered in state is a high value product due to high market price than the any other meat available in the state. Also animals are mostly liked by the native people because of their varied adaptability and presence of lean meat. Goat farming becomes very popular in Tripura because of availability of abundant grass and fodder resources throughout the state. It becomes a significant food source due to its ability to convert poor quality of feed into valuable human food. At present total goat population of the world is more than one billion and 90% are available in developing countries.

Revelation
The structure and functioning of Indian agriculture have undergone significant transformation, primarily driven by the forces of commercialisation and increasing reliance on trade. These changes have been influenced by a range of both visible and subtle shifts in the sector. Among these, crop diversification and the implementation of trade liberalisation policies have played the most prominent roles in reshaping agricultural dynamics.
One of the critical challenges repeatedly highlighted by agricultural experts is the small size of landholdings in India. this structural limitation has left many Indian farmers unable to compete with the large-scale mechanised farming systems prevalent in Western countries. In light of this, land consolidation is becoming increasingly essential for improving competitiveness and sustainability. Despite various policy interventions and efforts by nongovernmental organizations aimed at curbing rural out migrations, including generating programs and measures, have largely failed. The primary reason lies in the breakdown of forward and backward linkages within the farming ecosystem. Key services such as mechanisation, farm advisory support, critical input supply and access to profitable markets remain inefficient and poorly coordinated. In this context, contract farming emerges as a promising solution. By establishing structured agreements between smallholders and agribusinesses, contract farming strengthens market linkages and provides access to essential resources and management support. Typically, these agreements cover three core areas: market access, resource provision and management services.
When implemented effectively, contract farming can offer long-term benefits for both farmers and buyers. Most importantly, it supports the welfare of smallholder farmers by addressing multiple dimensions of poverty, not just income-based poverty, but also by creating sustainable employment opportunities and improving market access. Against this background, the present study has undertaken to explore the perceived effects of contract farming on employment generation and poverty reduction.

ABSTRACT

Women are vital human resources and play a significant role in agricultural and allied sectors undertaking both on-farm and off- farm activities. Yet their contribution has not been recognized and they are considered as invisible workers. Considering this, the present study has been conducted to analysis the constraints faced by farm women in agriculture and allied sectors. A total of 100 farm women were selected as respondents through proportionate random sampling. The selected respondents were interviewed personally using pre-tested well structured interview schedule. The finding showed that the major constraints that farm women faced were limited access to productive resources like land, credit, input, extension services, storage and technical assistance, their absence from decision-making process, less wages and their illiteracy also hindered their progress. Women perform all un-mechanized agricultural tasks and perform multiple tasks, which add more burden to them.

Abstract

Cultivated cucurbitaceous plants viz., pumpkin, Cucurbita moschata Duch ex Poir.; karingada, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.); ridge gourd, Luffa acutangula Roxb.; sponge gourd, Luffa cylindrica Roemer and cucumber, Cucumis sativus (L.) and wild cucurbitaceous plants viz., little gourd, Coccinia grandis (L.); kan kareli, Momordica charantia (L.); Gothamada, Cucumis callosus (Rott.) Cogr.; tutar vela, Luffa acutangula (L.); tumada, Citrullus colocynthis (L.); kankoda, Momordica dioica Roxb. and ankhfooti, Trichosanthes bracteata (Lam.) were recorded as hosts of fruit flies in Banaskantha district of north Gujarat. Melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae and Ethiopian fruit fly, Dacus ciliatus were the major fruit fly species infesting these cucurbitaceous plant. The relative abundance of both the species were almost the same in cultivated hosts whereas, D. ciliatus was more abundant in wild hosts.

Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech delivered on 26 February 2010 announced: ‘We are now ready with the draft Food Security Bill which will be placed in the public domain very soon.’  Although no official draft has been placed on the website of the concerned Ministry, several leading organisations and individuals have questioned the adequacy of the steps proposed to be taken under the Bill for achieving the goal of a hunger-free India.  Based on Article 21 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court of India has rightly regarded the right to food as a fundamental requirement for the right to life.  Many steps have been taken since Independence to adopt Mahatma Gandhi’s advice for an antyodaya approach to hunger elimination. In spite of numerous measures and social safety net programmes, the number of undernourished persons has increased from about 210 million in 1990-92 to 252 million in 2004-06.  About half of the world’s under-nourished children are in India.  Also, there has been a general decline in per capita calorie consumption in recent decades.  Grain mountains and hungry millions continue to co-exist.

INTRODUCTION

It can be added that physiological stress as well as the physical offences contribute as primary factor for disease occurrence and fish mortality. Many parasitic diseases due to fluctuation in water quality leads to deplition of stock, and some times total stock will go eg. yellow grub disease.

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON PARASITES

Heterophyid Trematode

Cyprinodon variegatus, an estuarine fish, is heavily parasitized in the bulbus arteriosus by the heterophyid trematode Ascocotyle pachycystis. Parasitized fish ventricles were hypertrophied due to mechanical blockage of normal blood flow by metacercariae in the bulbus Swimming performance generally was reduced by the presence of parasites, which had their most significant negative effect at cold temperatures and low dissolved oxygen level ( Felicia C. Coleman , 1993)

The successful AI program depends on the health of the semen donors followed by hygiene in semen collection, processing, storage and AI methods as well as reproductive health of the females. However, the microbial contamination may not be able to avoid completely but it can be reduced to the minimum threshold level by adopting hygienic procedures.

The hygienic condition of the neat / frozen semen samples can be assessed periodically by enumerating the bacterial load apart from the periodical screening of bucks for the presence of various causative agents in animals and its transfer to the females via semen samples.

Though both viable and total (viable and nonviable) bacterial counts can be done, the viable techniques are more commonly used in diagnostic and food hygiene procedures. The viable bacteria are capable of multiplication with the production of visible colonies on or in agar media. In viable techniques, the assumption is made that one well-spaced bacterial cell gives rise to one colony. The bacterial colonies, rather than bacterial cells, are counted in these techniques. Among the viable counting techniques like Spread plate, Pour plate, Miles, Misra, Filtration are available and each has its own inherent errors, the pour plate counting method is explained as follows:

In India, the ivy gourd is also called as small watermelon, little gourd, gentleman’s toes” and “Tindora/Tondli/Kundru.” This vine climbs aggressively and spreads quickly across fences, trees, shrubs, and other supports. Its natural range includes India and stretches from Africa to Asia.

Botany and taxonomy: This is a single-tendered perennial climber with glabrous leaves. The leaves are 6.5-8.5 cm long and 7-8 cm broad, with 5 lobes. It’s a dioecious species. Female and male blooms have three stamens and emerge from the axils on the petiole. Scarlet gourds are a genus of 25 species (Coccinia from the Greek, kokkinia or kokkinias - “red” or “scarlet”). It is found in SubSaharan Africa, as well as South and Southeast Asia (with one species, C. grandis), and has been imported to the New World. This is a single-tendered perennial climber with glabrous leaves. The leaves are 6.5-8.5 cm long and 7-8 cm broad, with 5 lobes. It’s a dioecious species. Female and male blooms have three stamens and emerge from the axils on the petiole.

Mesothelioma

• Arising from the mesothelial lining of serous cavities
• It is very difficult to differentiate from carcinoma, reactive mesothelial hyperplasia
• Round to polygonal cells
• Arranged mostly in clusters
• Centrally located hyperchromatic nuclei

Super Species

According to Mayr (1931, 1942) Linsleg and Usinger (1953),“A super Species is a monophyletic group of very closely related and largely or entirely allopatric Species”.

Super species are, in other words, groups of populations that seem on other grounds (morphology, ecology etc.) to have passed beyond the point of potential interbreeding and to have acquired separate evolutionary roles. They are so by the more conclusive evidence of remaining separate when sympatric. It is to be assumed that they are still near the critical point of specification, near a definitive isolation. They are nascent species that will, if they survive, collectively form a subgenus or eventually a genus but have hardly get reached that degree of divergence.

They are not given special names; the Rules of Nomenclature make no provision for that usual designation and they are mostly known by the name of an included species and are in fact super species.

The domestication of animals started during Neolithic period. Initially goats and sheep, subsequently cattle and pigs, and lastly draft animals such as horses and asses were domesticated. Thus, goats and sheep were the earliest domesticated animals and rearing of these animals has been centred on food, religion, culture and economy from the ancient times. India’s ruminant biodiversity is enriched with 34 breeds of goats (ICAR-NBAGR-2023). At the world level, India ranks second in the goat population and third in sheep population. Even with such impressive genetic resource availability, goat rearing still continues to be a backward profession, primarily in the hands of poor, landless or small and marginal farmers who own either an uneconomical land holding or no land at all. Goats are a source of meat, milk and fibre. The ability of goats to utilize minimal forage, and survive under harsh conditions, makes them a very valuable asset for subsistence farmers. Morbidity and mortality are the two important factors resulting in heavy losses in goat production and improvement programmes. Diseases in goats result in mortality which ranges from 5-25% in adults and 10-40% in kids. In addition, losses due to morbidity result in low productivity. Prevention of disease is always better than cure as it is a lot cheaper. Goat farming is still traditionally oriented and the traditional management systems still hold the key in small ruminant production. Ample information regarding Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) still exists in the farming communities, which helps them in practicing successful goat farming. Even though considerable literature pertaining to treatment of animals using indigenous medicines/herbals is available, references on indigenous husbandry practices in sheep and goat farming are lacking.

Roots: The main distinguishing characteristic of roots is their high moisture content, which may vary from 75 to 90 percent. Their CF content ranges from 4 to 13 percent. The organic substance of the root is highly digestible and mostly composed of sugars (50-70% DM). Glucose and sucrose is the primary sugar. Although the CP content of roots is often low, the rumen’s protein degradability is extremely high (80-85%). Mangles, swedes, turnips, carrots, sugar beets and fodder beets are among the most popular root crops used to feed farm animals. Although sugar beet is a significant root crop, it is typically not fed to animals as such because it is cultivated largely for its sugar content. Nonetheless, sugar beet pulp and molasses (from both sugar beet and sugarcane) are significant and nutrient-dense animal products that are by-products of the sugar extraction companies. Although pigs are fed roots with higher DM concentrations, like fodder beet, they are not a favourite diet for pigs or poultry due to their bulkiness.
1. Swedes and turnips: Turnips (Brassica campestris) & swedes (Brassica napus) share a lot of chemical similarities, but turnips typically have less DM than swedes. Glucose and fructose are the primary sugars found.
2. Turnip (Brassica rapa): Turnips are root vegetables of cruciferous family. They are usually grown in temperate climates. Humans like a smaller variety, while animals are provided a larger variety. It has 8–10% DM, 12–13% CP and 75–80% TDN. Cultivars with yellow flesh have higher protein content than those with white flesh. Instead of passing through the animal, the volatile material that taints milk is absorbed by the milk from the air. Both turnips and swedes can taint milk if they are offered to dairy cows during or just before milking time.

Biodiversity provides the building blocks for sustainable food, health and livelihood security systems. It is the feedstock for both the biotechnology industry and a climate-resilient farming system. Because of its importance for human well-being and survival, a Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Convention’s triple goals are conservation, sustainable use, and equitable sharing of benefits. CBD defines biological diversity as follows:

Variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Neisseria meningitidis, also simply known as meningococcus, is a gram-negative bacterium best known for its role in meningitis. It only infects humans; there is no animal reservoir. It is the only form of bacterial meningitis known to cause epidemics. The carbohydrate capsule of N. meningitidis determines its virulence and is targeted by the immune system. Approximately 12 strains of N. meningitidis exist and are characterized by the polysaccharide expressed on its capsule: A, B, C, 29-E, H, I, K, L, W-135, X, Y and Z. Inhibition of Pencillin Binding proteins (PBPs) leads to irregularities in cell wall structure such as elongation, lesions, loss of selective permeability and eventual cell death and lysis. 3-D structure of PBP was studied using Bioinformatics tool. Using Homology modelling, converted protein sequence of penicillin binding protein, extracted from NCBI server, in FASTA format and performed PDB-BLAST to search a desired template. Selection of template was based on lower E-value, bit score and identity. Using MSA with the help of CLUSTAL W software conserved region was found between the target and template sequence, 1K25. The 3-D structure of penicillin binding protein was found with the help of Modeller 9v2 and molecular dynamics was performed using GROMACS software. The docking was performed (Autodock 3.0 software) using 3 ligands viz. Cefuroxime, Chloramphenicol, Cefalotoxime with standard Bioinformatics tools.

Freezing is one of the easiest and least time consuming methods of food preservation. The freezing process is a combination of the beneficial effects of low temperatures at which microorganisms cannot grow, chemical reactions are reduced, and cellular metabolic reactions are delayed.

Methods of Freezing

1. Sharp freezing (slew freezing)

In sharp freezing commodities are exposed at -15 to -29⁰C. It required 3-72 hrs. Here the thawed tissue cannot regain its original water content. The ice crystals formed are large and rupture the cells. The thawed tissue cannot regain its original H₂O content.

Water is an extremely essential component in plant growth and development. It is of utmost importance for photosynthesis, cell division, cell growth / elongation, respiration, nutrient uptake, mineral utilization and much other metabolic process, which directly affect the quantity and quality of the produce. Hence quantity and quality of water play a vital role in performance of a crop. A well distributed water supply, throughout the growth of plant is essential. Rainfall is the major source of water for the crops. Rainfall recharges the surface water resources such as rivers, streams and ponds and also the ground water resources like wells.

Determination of size of the food materials

Size is an important physical attribute of foods used in screening solids to separate foreign materials, grading of fruits and vegetables, and evaluating the quality of food materials. Various types of cleaning, grading and separation equipment are designed on the basis of size. The size and shape of the grains are used to determine the size of screen openings, angle of inclination, vibration amplitude and frequency of screen in designing an air screen grain cleaner and conveying characteristics of the solid materials.