eChapters

Nutrient use efficiency of crops is being improved through temporal and spatial management of the form and amount of nutrient inputs as being demonstrated by various agronomic practices. In addition, understanding of the genetic basis of nutrient efficiency would lead to the development of nutrient use efficient varieties thus reducing the application of nutrients. Earlier studies on genetics of nutrient use efficiency were limited as increasing productivity with heavy nutrient inputs was the main focus. But in the backdrop of environmental degradation due to the excessive nutrients and its impact in climate change, nutrient use efficiency in crops is need of the hour for sustainable and eco-friendly agriculture.

Introduction 
Fossils fuel resources are crucial for producing and distributing other goods, making them one of the most important global commodities. Fossil fuels account for more than 75% of total energy consumption in society. It is critical to recognize that the fossil energy problem and anthropogenic climate change problem are inextricably linked and must be addressed as two intertwined challenges requiring a comprehensive solution. The features of coal, oil and gas which are employed as fossil fuels for power generation, have different classification of characteristics (Shindell & Smith, 2019). Fossil fuels are natural fuels and derived from the decompositions, heating and pressurization, of buries phytoplankton (plants) and zooplankton (animals). Over time, these waste materials get decomposed to produce carbon rich deposits that are now used to create energy products (Holechek et al., 2022). They are essential for the synthesis of steel and polymers in addition to energy. Fossil fuels fall into three main categories: coal, oil, and natural gas (Singh et al., 2023). Biofuels are produced from plants and animals waste materials and considered as a renewable source of energy. The sources are key components to overcome the issues related to greenhouse gas emission. Due to rapid change in climatic conditions, demand of renewable energy sources has increased. There are some drawbacks for fossil fuels due to presence of high carbon footprints and environmental impacts. On the other way, biofuels offer two major benefits first they reduce carbon emissions and modify waste management method, the other paving the way for a sustainable future. The carbon neutrality of biofuels is among their most alluring features. Biofuels only release the carbon dioxide that plants consume during growth, as opposed to fossil fuels that release old, stored carbon into the atmosphere. They are an eco-friendly choice because of this balance(Jeswani et al., 2020). Bioethanol, biodiesel, and biogas are among the several types of biofuels(Esmaeili & Tamjidi, 2021). Bioethanol is used in transportation and produced by using crops like corn and sugarcane. Waste management and sustainable energy production are further enhanced by biogas after producing with the help of anaerobic digestion of organic waste and is a great source of energy for heating and power generation. We can take a comprehensive approach to sustainability, improving energy efficiency and lessening our environmental impact, by combining the production of biofuel with waste management and the use of organic fertilizers. Significance environmental benefits of biofuels include lower GHG emission, reduced dependency on the fossil fuels and better air quality. By diversifying energy sources and possibly stabilizing prices, they also lessen exposure to changes in the world's oil markets, which promotes energy security. Nonetheless, it is essential to evaluate the wider ramifications of biofuel production and make sure that its advantages exceed any potential disadvantages in order to completely match with sustainability goals(Jeswani et al., 2020).

Introduction
Crop breeding programmes are under increasing pressure for developing cultivars that possess the ability to adapt to diverse environments while maintaining higher quality and quantity, in response to the escalating worldwide demand for food. The primary goal of plant or crop breeding is to attain genetic enhancement, leading to the creation of new varieties that demonstrate higher yield and superior quality. Hence, the central aim of crop breeding initiatives is to develop novel cultivars that demonstrate improved resistance against fungal, bacterial, insect, or viral pathogens, alongside increased tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought low temperature, salinity, dehydration, and heavy metal toxicity. Additionally these breeding efforts aim to improve quality attributes, including taste, size shape, colour, and cooking convenience (Lenaerts et al., 2019). The ability to anticipate emergent phenotypes resulting from genetic or environmental disruptions necessitates the utilization of methodologies capable of identifying metabolic pathways or canopy structures suitable for change. The insilico tools have the potential to guide breeding endeavours aimed at developing novel germplasm that exhibits robust adaptation to diverse environmental conditions. The precise simulation of organisms in a computational environment is a current and effective approach to enhance prediction abilities. Significant progress has been made in the field of predictive medicine through the implementation of community projects that utilize integrative, multi-scale modeling techniques. However, there are a lot of crop models that are just geographically and temporally restricted, which limits their ability to go beyond the data that is now available and, consequently, leads to insufficient forecasts regarding crop reactions in novel circumstances. The plant community has launched or continued a coordinated endeavour focused on the development of a virtual plant modelling through consolidative and multi-scale mapping, models and simulations (Marshall-Colon et al., 2017).

Climate-based/smart (digital) irrigation practices and its management, irrigation automation, sensors based irrigation, robotic application in irrigation and artificial intelligence
Climate-smart (digital) irrigation: Aims and Objectives
Climate-smart irrigation (CSI) is a vital part of climate-smart agriculture,
aiming to
• Boost the productivity of irrigated farming and farmer incomes while minimizing negative social, political, and environmental consequences.
• Bridge the gap between potential and actual crop yields across different climates.
• Enhance the resilience of irrigated farming and related supply chains to current and future climate change impacts and other risks.
• Adapt irrigated farming to climate change by capitalizing on new opportunities and mitigating adverse effects.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions per unit of food, fiber, or fuel produced in irrigated systems, from farm to market.
• Identify and prioritize ways to cut GHG emissions from irrigated systems at various stages, from water sourcing to post-harvest processes.
• Improve the environmental sustainability of irrigated farming and supply chains while safeguarding water access for communities, protecting vulnerable groups’ livelihoods, and preserving aquatic ecosystems.
• Improve the sustainability and reducing the GHG emissions of existing crop production systems.
Irrigation is key to stable agricultural production, especially in dry conditions. CSI aims to improve existing and new irrigation systems by incorporating climate-smart principles. While good irrigation infrastructure is essential, it’s not enough. Effective CSI also requires supportive policies, strong institutions, good water governance, secure land and water tenure, farmer knowledge, market access, and credit availability.

Introduction

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most versatile promising crops having wider adaptability under diverse agro-climatic conditions. Worldwide, maize is known as “Queen of cereals” because it has the maximum genetic yield potential amongst the cereals. It is cultivated on nearly 197 million ha in about 170 countries having wider diversity of climate, soil, biodiversity and management practices that contributes 36% (1135 million tonnes) of the global grain production. The United States of America (U.S.A.) is the largest producer of maize contributes nearly 33% of the total production in the world and other important growing countries are China, Brazil, India, Argentina, Indonesia, Ukraine and Mexico (Table 1).

INTRoDUCTION

In developing countries, cereals and legumes are the principal source of daily energy and protein intake. The major economic loss caused by grain infesting insects in not always the actual material they consume, but also the amount contaminated by them and their excreta which makes food unfit for human consumption. Today million of tones of the food grains are damaged by the ravages of the pests that not only cause quantitative but also qualitative changes in food grains. Stored product insects depress the food value of a product, introduce pathogens, parasites or toxins or make it less palatable. Insect infestation in high in the tropics and may lead 100 per cent damage in severe cases.
 
In order to cope with the requirement of the increasing population and food problem, at present as well as for the decades to come, the world will have to raise agricultural production very substantially, both by increasing the production and by reducing losses on account of post harvest spoilage especially of cereals and legumes which are the primary sources of food for men kind. This is a major problems during agricultural production, food transfer and processing. Million tonnes of grain worth several hundred corers of rupees every years are either damaged or loss for want of knowledge of scientific methods of saving the foodgrains during storage. In India, post-harvest losses caused by the unscientific storage, rodents, insects, micro-organisms, moisture etc. account for about 10 per cent of total foodgrains (Anonymous, 1971). A world survey by F.A.O. indicated about 5 per cent loss of cereals, in storage annually (Herford, 1952).

Introduction

The various kinds of plants present on earth have been used over the millennia for human welfare in the promotion of health and as drugs and fragrance materials. About 80% of the world’s inhabitants rely mainly on herbal medicines for their primary health care, while medicinal plants continue to play an important role in the health care systems of the remaining 20%. The use of herbal medicine and medicinal plants in most developing countries, as a normative basis for the maintenance of good health, has been widely observed (UNESCO, 1996). According to WHO (1998), herbal medicines are finished, labelled medicinal products that contain as active ingredients, above ground or underground parts of plants or other plant materials, or combinations thereof, whether in the crude state or as plant preparations. The plant materials referred to above include juices, gums, resins, fatty oils, essential oils and any other substances of this nature. Herbal medicines may contain excipients in addition to the active ingredients (WHO, 1991). Remarkably, even today there is no real definition for this special group of plants that has been accompanying mankind throughout history. Most frequently, medicinal plants are defined as feral and/or cultivated plants that, based on tradition and literature records, can be directly or indirectly used for medical purposes. The basis of medicinal use is that these plants contain so called active ingredients (active principles or biologically active principles) that affect physiological (metabolic) processes of living organisms, including human beings.

The conception about aromatic plants is even less definite. The term aromatic indicates plants having an aroma; being fragrant or sweet-smelling, while the word aroma is supposed to imply also the taste of the material (aromatic herbs). Since, large number of plants possess both medicinal and aroma properties which leads to complexity and overlapping uses of active ingredients, making impossible to establish rigid categories or a practical classification for medicinal and aromatic plants. For example; Anise, dill, coriander, thyme, etc. are equally known as medicinal, spice and essential oil crops. Thus, frequently these plants are simply referred to as medicinal plants, disregarding their specific features. More recently, the term “Medicinal and Aromatic Plants” (MAPs) has been used in a slightly broader sense, distinguishing the fragrant (aromatic, ethereal) ingredients containing group of medicinal plants.

Introduction

It is already established that mathematical modeling aims to describe the different aspects of the real world, their interaction, and their dynamics through mathematics. It constitutes the third pillar of science and engineering, achieving the fulfillment of the two more traditional disciplines, which are theoretical analysis and experimentation. Nowadays, mathematical modeling has a key role also in aquaculture. The problem is the complex modeling other than counting. Modeling and reasoning with data of different kinds can get extremely complex. Data streams are common source of Big Data. Now the task is to collect, prepare, represent, model, reason, visualize and additional issues like usage, quality, context, streaming, scalability. A few publications are available on modeling of fisheries and aquaculture in Indian context with live examples of modeling (Roy, et al. 1998, 2002, Roy et al., 2002, Ghosh et al., 2017, Roy, et al., 2006, Roy et al., 2008, 2012). A book on exclusively with various types of model applicable in fisheries and aquaculture has been published (Roy et al., 2009). In all these earlier publications conventional statistical and econometrics techniques are applied. But today there is sea change in this field with the advancement of technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics. There are attempts to apply these cutting edge technologies aiming sustainable productivity through efficient management of resources. In the following sections an attempt has been made to present an overview of the advances in analytics along with a briefing on what was developed in the past, and what is available today. Before proceeding to the analytics, I am presenting the scenario of basic characteristics of data along with different types of data generated today with automation of aquaculture industry.

Understanding biology and genetics at molecular level has become very important for better understanding and manipulation of genome architecture and this creates new opportunities to streamline plant breeding. Breeding is simply defined as the selective mating of individuals of a population to isolate or combine desired morphological, physiological or genetic traits such as appearance, yield, and disease resistance. This is performed with the assistance of identifiable traits.

Molecular markers have contributed significantly in this respect and have been widely used in plant science in a number of ways, including genetic fingerprinting, diagnostics, identification of duplicates and selecting core collections, determination of genetic distances, genome analysis, identification of markers associated with desirable breeding traits which are useful in marker assisted breeding, genomics and development of transgenics. Use of these markers also significantly reduces breeding time and cycles required for crop improvement. This is reflected in the fact that complete molecular and genetic maps have now been constructed for at least 20 major crop species and many more have been characterized at less defined level and the genomes of a few model plant species were completely sequenced.

Introduction
Molecular systematics is a branch of systematics that uses molecular data, particularly DNA sequences, to understand the evolutionary relationships among organisms. It utilizes nucleic acid and amino acid sequence compositions to analyse the taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography of biological organisms. It offers a superior alternative to morphological systematics, which relies on physical traits. This approach has significant applications in taxonomic studies, disease diagnosis, biodiversity conservation, and industrial purposes. The integration of molecular biology and bioinformatics has significantly advanced the capabilities of molecular systematics, making it a powerful tool in both microbiological research and public health.

1. Introduction
Fish and fisheries remains to be an important sector for Indian economy providing food, nutrition as well as employment to a large share of the population. Initiating with a production of merely 7.7 lakh ton of fishes in 1951-52, the country was on its way of increasing the production steadily and has now attained the phenomenal success of producing 162.5 lakh ton during 2021-22. Of this total amount, 41.3 lakh ton has been obtained from marine fisheries and 121.2 lakh ton from inland resources (Anon, 2022). For the inland fisheries production, the contribution of fish culture sector was much lower than that from capture fisheries for several decades during the initial phases. However, the production of culture fisheries maintained a consistently increasing trend and has now surpassed in magnitude the production from capture fisheries sector (Fig.1). With the potential areas for fish culture being gradually used up for different purposes, maintaining such high production rates in coming days will be possible only through optimum management of various factors which govern the productivity of the ponds. Among such factors, one important aspect is nourishing the quality of pond soil and water.

Introduction

Oilseeds are the third most important group of crops after cereals and pulses in India. These are important food crops which also find their place in industrial use. Oilseeds have been an integral component of Indian agriculture since time immemorial. On the oilseeds map of the world, India occupies a prominent position, both in terms of acreage and production. India is the 4^th largest edible oil economy in the world and contributes about 10% of the world oilseeds production, 6-7% of the global production of vegetable oil, and nearly 7% of protein meal. The oilseeds production statistics of the world for the year 2016-17 includes a production of 549.98 million tonnes from an area of 234.57 million ha with the productivity of 2.34 tonnes/ha. The top countries include U.S.A., China and India with U.S.A. ranking first in all area, production and productivity of 39.25 million ha, 126.94 million tonnes and 3.23 tonnes/ha, respectively. Next is China which ranks 2^nd in production and productivity but 3^rd in terms of area; the area, production and productivity being 22.72 million ha, 54.92 million tonnes and 2.42 tonnes/ha, respectively. India ranks 2^nd in terms of area, i.e. 33.83 million ha but 3^rd in both production and productivity being 36.32 million metric tonnes and 1.07 tonnes/ha respectively.

Introduction

India has very old and long tradition of flower cultivation. With changing life styles and increased urban affluence, floriculture has assumed a definite commercial status in recent times. Improved communication facilities have increased their availability in every part of the country. Floriculture in India is being viewed as a rapidly growing industry. In India, at present total area under flower crops is about 2,33,000 ha with production of about 17.29 lakh tonnes of loose flowers and 76732 lakh  number of cut flowers (NHB database, 2013).The important floricultural crops in the international flower trade are rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, gerbera, gladious, gypsophila, liastris, bird of paradise, orchids, anthurium, tulip, lilies, etc. All the flowers and ornamentals are the most perishable commodities needs special care during harvesting, handling, storage and transport. The losses can be both, quantitative as well as qualitative, which result in loss in terms of monitory value.

Low bioavailability of phosphorus (P) in soils is one of the major limiting factors influencing crop production throughout the world. Plants, however, are known to possess potential adaptive mechanisms at morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels to overcome P deficiency (Vance et al., 2003). Such adaptive mechanisms mainly include an increase in total root length and root hair growth (Bates and Lynch, 2000), enhanced organic acid (Singh and Pandey, 2003), acid phosphatase (Pandey, 2006) and ribonuclease (RNase) secretion into the rhizosphere (Hocking, 2001), increase in expression of proteins such as phosphatase, inorganic phosphate (Pi) transporter, RNase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPcase) in plant tissues.

INTRODUCTION
 
The form genus Sclerotium was described by Saccardo (Saccardo, 1913) to include fungi that produce sclerotia and had sterile mycelia. Several fungi were inc1uded in this genus, and all were characterized by production of small, dark brown or black spherical sclerotia that were internally differentiated into a rind, cortex and medulla. Several plant pathogenic fungi with this sclerotial type and with no known sexual or conidial state were placed in the genus Sclerotium. However, as the teleomorphic states were discovered, affinities to the Basidiomycotina (Punja, 1988) or Ascomycotina (Krause and Webster, 1972) were established for some members of the form genus.

Abstract

Potassium (K) is the third most essential macronutrient element for plants. More than 98% of K in agricultural soils are remained as insoluble organic and inorganic compounds or complexes that are unavailable for plant uptake. Nutrition of crop plants are heavily relied on application of expensive inorganic chemical fertilizers, which is a potential cause of environmental pollution. An eco-friendly alternative strategy for plant K nutrition could be the application of K solubilizing bacteria (KSB) as biofertilizer. Plant and soil-associated bacteria from diverse taxonomic genera such as Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Acidithiobacillus, Paenibacillus, Flectobacillus, Arthrobacter, Enterobacter, Sphingomonas, Paraburkholderia etc. have shown high K solubilizing activities and promote plant nutrition in K deficient soils. The mechanisms involved in their activities include acidolysis, chelation, exchange reactions, and enzymatic degradation of insoluble K minerals and other K complexes. However, inconsistency in the efficiency of KSB-based biofertilizer for crop production in diverse ecological settings is still a big challenge. Recent genomics, post-genomics and CRISPR-Cas genome editing approaches seem to be useful for a better understanding the underlying mechanisms of KSB and development of highly efficient K fertilizers for promoting sustainable agriculture. This chapter comprehensively reviews current updates of KSB-based biofertilizer and their potentials for promoting sustainable crop production. The role of genomics and post-genomics approaches for better understanding of the mechanisms of the functions of applied KSB-based biofertilizers in the crop field and mitigation of the existing inconsistency in the efficiency of KSB-based fertilizers are also discussed.

Tissue Doppler Imaging

Doppler echocardiography relies on detection of the shift in frequency of ultrasound signals reflected from moving objects. With this principle, conventional Doppler techniques assess the velocity of blood flow by measuring high-frequency, low amplitude signals from small, fast-moving blood cells. In TDI, the same Doppler principles are used to quantify the higher-amplitude, lower-velocity signals of myocardial tissue motion.

There are important limitations to TD interrogation. As with all Doppler techniques, TDI measures only the vector of motion that is parallel to the direction of the ultrasound beam. In addition, TDI measures absolute tissue velocity and is unable to discriminate passive motion (related to translation or tethering) from active motion (fiber shortening or lengthening). The emerging technology of Doppler strain imaging provides a means to differentiate true contractility from passive myocardial motion by looking at relative changes in tissue velocity.

Precision viticulture aims to optimize vineyard management, reduce use of resources, reduce environmental impact and maximize yield and quality of grapes. New technologies as UAVs, satellites, proximal sensors, variable rate machines (VRT) and robots are being developed and used more frequently in some parts of the world in recent years. Developments and abilities of computers, software and informatic systems to read, analyze, process and transfer a huge amount of data are major milestones in precision viticulture. In addition, different decision support systems (DSSs) for making better crop management decisions at the right time also assist vine growers.

Introduction

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is an important fruit crop in arid and semi arid regions. In India, it is grown commercially in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. India is one of the largest producers of pomegranate in the world. During 2020–2021, pomegranate was cultivated over 2.71 lakh ha with an annual production of 30.88 lakh tonnes and a productivity of 11.39 tonnes/ ha in India. Maharashtra is the leading state, with 63% of the area and 62% of total production. In India, pomegranate is available throughout the year (January–December). India has the largest area of pomegranate cultivation globally.

Pomegranate can tolerate heat, drought, and moisture deficit. The area under pomegranate cultivation in India is increasing daily due to its high demand, hardy nature, low cost of cultivation, high yields, better storage quality, and therapeutic values. It has enormous medicinal and nutritional value and is one of the richest sources of antioxidants. Several processed products such as juices, squash, jelly, anardana, and mouth fresheners are prepared by fruit processing. The fruit is mainly used as an ingredient in cooling and refrigerant mixtures and in the preparation of juice, concentrates, condiments, and pastes. The juice is highly nutritious and is recommended for patients suffering from gastric troubles. It contains 16.5% TSS and 0.33% acidity; total sugars, 13.93; reducing sugars, 13.60 and non-reducing sugars, 0.33%; and 9.27 mg/100 g ascorbic acid.

Introduction Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) is a very popular herbaceous biennial root vegetable mainly grown for its edible roots and leaves, it is commonly known as Chukander in Hindi, but also has different local names depending on the area, for instance, it is called Bita gacha in Bengali, Bita in Marathi, Beet in Punjab, Salada in Gujarati, Dumpamokka in Telugu, and Bit in Malayalam etc (Kumar, 2015). It belongs to the family Chenopodiaceae (now Amaranthaceae). The chromosome number of beetroot is 2n = 18. It is used as a cooked vegetable, salad, and for pickling and canning. Origin and distribution The origin of beetroot (Beta vulgaris) can be traced back to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East.