eChapters

The term robot is czech word, first time used by play write Karel Capek, in year 1920, applicable to the forced labour or serfs or slaves. The first commercial, digital and programmable robot, named ‘Unimate’ was built by George Devol in 1954.

This chapter describes the components to design the mobile platform. The UN estimates the world population will rise from 7.3 billion today to 9.7 billion in 2050. The world will need a lot more food, and farmers will face serious pressure to keep up with demand. Agricultural robots can be used to increase the production yields for farmers in various ways.

3.1 Role of Robots in Agriculture

A challenging problem in Mechanical Engineering and robotics is the design of a mobile robot. The robot must successfully traverse through its environment, including rough terrain, grass, hills, etc. For correct positioning of the robot, the wheels of the robot must have good traction and never lose contact with the ground. For improved manoeuvrability the robot must also be able to rotate around a centre point as close to its centre of mass as possible. All of these factors have been considered in the design of a second generation outdoor de- mining robot.

A rectangular frame for the robot allows the easier positioning and accessibility of parts within the robot, which is useful in the development phase. Having the wheels up front helps the robot drive onto a slope. A circular frame for the robot would allow the robot to rotate around its true centre, such a frame, with the wheel axle running along the diameter of the frame would need support at the front and back of the robot.

Rock gardens and pool are two most attractive features of the garden. These together can transform any part of the garden into a pleasing spot. Both are quite different from other common features and increase beauty of the gardens in manifold.

Rock Garden

The term rock garden refers beautification of a portion of the garden in combination with rocks and plants. Rock garden provides height and a rugged grandeur. A flat area can be converted into an elevated and graded one in combination with rocks and plants. This breaks monotony of the plain land and creates a feature of interest. The plants grow in the rock garden are different from others and add variety to the existing groups.

I. General information

1. Cacti plants suitable for rock garden are Opuntia, Cereus and Mamillaria
2. Succulents suitable for rock garden are Agave, Aloe, Euphorbia splendens, Sedum, Sempervivum, Stapelia, Yucca, Furcraea
3. Ferns suitable for rock garden are Drynaria, Nephrodium, Nephrolepis, Polypodium
4. Famous rock garden of India is located at Chandigarh
5. The founder of Rock garden in Chandigarh is Nek Chand
6. Annuals suitable for rock garden are

I. Rock Phosphate

Rock phosphate is natural source of phosphorus. It occurs as natural deposits of rock in Morocco, U.S.A., Egypt, Poland, Russia, Tunisia, Algeria, Brazil, Nauru and some Islands in the Pacific and the Indian ocean. It contains 20 to 35 percent phosphoric acid (P2 O5 ) but this phosphorus is in insoluble form. In India, some of rock phosphates occur in Udaipur and Jaisalmer districts (Rajasthan), Purulia (West Bengal), Singhbhum (Zharkhand) and Mussorie (Uttrakhand). Most of these phosphates are classified as low grade phosphate since its phosphoric acid content is less than 20-25%. The total reserve of low grade rock phosphate is estimated to be around 165 million tonnes of which nearly 70 million are reported to occur in Rajasthan. The other economically viable deposits are in Mussorie (Uttarakhand), Jhabua district (Madhya Pradesh), Singhbhum (Zharkhand) Kasipatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Purulia district (West Bengal). Rock phosphate is the basic raw material for manufacture of superphosphate and other kind of phosphatic fertilizers. It is reported above that India has mostly low grade rock phosphate. Hence India has to spent huge amounts of foreign exchange to import high grade rock phosphate containing around 32-35%, P2 O5 for manufacture of phosphatic fertilizers.

Soilless media or culture

Gravel culture is a general term which applies to the growing of plants without soil in an inert medium into which nutrient solutions are usually pumped automatically at regular intervals. Haydite (shale and clay fused at high temperatures), soft- or hard-coal cinders, limestone chips, calcareous gravel, silica gravel, crushed granite and other inert and slowly decomposing materials are included in the term “gravel”. The more important greenhouse flowering crops include roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, gardenias, snapdragons, lilies, asters, pansies, annual chrysanthemums, dahlias, bachelor buttons and others.

Media ingredients and Mix

Commercially available materials like peat, sphagnum moss, vermiculite, perlite and locally available materials like sand, red soil, common manure/ compost and rice husk can be used in different proportions to grow greenhouse crops. These ingredients should be of high quality to prepare a good mix. They should be free from undesirable toxic elements like nickel, chromium, cadmium, lead etc. Most common medium other than soil used in India in greenhouses is coco peat. In other countries these are Rockwool and Peat-vermiculite.

A rock is the home for minerals. In other words, naturally occurring coherent aggregate of minerals (or glassy mass) will constitute a rock. Like in a family, more often, there are several members(minerals) within a rock but occasionally just one mineral also makes a rock( olivine in dunite, quartz in quartzite and calcite in marble). The root word petros is of Greek origin, meaning rock and a petrologist is one who specializes in the study of rocks. The three main categories of rocks are distinguished on the basis of their origin. Igneous rocks are the ones that have solidified from a molten state in deep seated conditions, as also on the surface while Sedimentary rocks are formed from the erosion of preexisting rocks and subsequent re-deposition or precipitation of the resulting material at or near the surface. Metamorphic rocks on the other hand, are formed by the action of heat or pressure or both on preexisting rocks.

The theme of rocks is split into five chapters. The first chapter introduces the theme of petrology, petrography and petrogenesis., presents rocks as the storehouses of minerals and their grouping into three classes. The second chapter presents all the important aspects of igneous rocks( plutonic, hypabasal and volcanic) including their forms, texture, structure, chemistry and classification and variation diagrams. It also presents a somewhat sufficient description of different kinds of igneous rocks under the categories of ultrabasic, basic, intermediate acid and alkalic rocks. The chapter ends with an introduction to some of the peculiar kinds of igneous rocks and also presents a brief account of causes of diversity among igneous rocks.

Chapter III is devoted to the study of sedimentary rocks beginning with nature and categories of sediments and general factors that affect sedimentary process. Sequence of breakdown, sedimentary minerals, depositional environment , classification of sediments and sedimentary rocks is the next theme followed by primary and secondary and biogenic structures. The next theme is a description of important sedimentary rocks under different categories ( rudaceous, arenaceous, asrgillaceous and rocks of biogenic origin). The chapter ends with introducing sedimentary rocks as the home for natural resources.

Chapter IV dwells on metamorphic rocks distinguishing between metamorphism and metasomatism. Metamorphic minerals and naming metamorphic rocks is the next theme. Next, agents and types of metamorphism is followed by grade, zones, index minerals and metamorphic facies. Textures, structures and the description of metamorphic rocks comes next. The use of triangular plots in metamorphic petrology is introduced and ends with considering metamorphic process in the light of global tectonics.

The last chapter is a short but important chapter- The Rock Cycle which combines the three important geo-processes of igneous activity, sedimentary process and metamorphism while presenting a birds eye view of them. It considers the movement, not only of matter but also the energy that drives the rock cycle. The chapter closes with introducing the rock-cycle-mineral deposits relationship.

Rodents are well recognized pests and are considered the number one enemy of man. These animals, though considered primitive, have been so successful and abundant worldwide that they alone account for more than half of the known mammalian fauna. They can subsist on a variety of food and even without water for a long time. Due to their prowess of adaptability, they have successfully adapted to varied ecological and physiological niches, and therefore are inhabitants of practically each and every latitude and altitude. They multiply at super fast speed because they become sexually mature when they are just 6-8 months old. They then pose a challenge to man in all respects. According to Prakash (1988) in India there are 135 species and about 300 sub-species of rodents belonging to 46 genera. At least 15 of these rodent species are known to be the serious pest of public health hazard (Jain and Tripathi, 1988). Rodents not only damage the crops in the fields, where the infestation occurs at all stages of food production, processing, storage and distribution, they are also responsible for a number of diseases in the human beings.

Rodents attack the-crops shortly after sowing, during the vegetative growth and during the ripening of the seed heads. They damage the various crops of the kharif season viz., jowar, maize, ground nut and cotton as well as the crops of the rabi season viz., wheat and barley etc. They damage other crops also which include paddy, sugarcane, soyabean and Bengal gram etc. Hence some well planned rodent management is the need of the time and before going for the planning of any control method in a given situation it is essential to have an estimation of the population and the species involved.

Economic Importance of Rodent Pests

• They consume and damage foods in the fields and in stores. In addition, they spoil it in store by urine and droppings reducing the sale values.
• Due to their gnawing and burrowing habit they destroy many articles (packing, clothes and furniture) and structures (floors, buildings, bridges, etc). By gnawing the electrical cables they can cause fires.
• They are responsible for transmitting diseases dangerous to human and domestic animals.

Among many pests of agricultural crops and stored grain products, rodents are the major pests which do the great damage. Rodents including rats, mice and squirrels are gnawing animals having chisel like teeth. They have highly developed sense of smell, taste and hearing. They are omnivorous and feed on grains, vegetables, fruits, meat and other products in the houses or in the fields. Rats daily consume food equal to about 10 per cent of their body weight and the figure may go up to 30 per cent in case of mice. Rats are among the most destructive pests of paddy in the field causing about 5-10 percent damage. It is estimated that these animals destroy 30 per cent of the total world’s cereal production. In India, 10 million tonnes of food grains are lost every year. It is often said that if rodent ravages could be controlled, a huge amount of food grains can be saved.

Of the 84 species of order Rodentia in India, 50 belong to family Muridae. The important ones belong to two sub-families, viz., Murinae and Gerbillinae. Murinae has 18 species of genus Rattus, 2 of Bandicota, 7 of Mus, 2 of Apodemus and a few each under eight other genera. The sub-family Gerbillinae has 2 species of Gerbillus, one each of Tatera and Meriones. Family Sciuridae has 10 species of flying squirrels and 13 species of tree squirrels in India.

Morphological characteristics

Tecomella undulata is a slow growing small deciduous tree with drooping branches and grey-tomentose innovations which are otherwise glabrous. Leaves are usually opposite, 5- 10 cm long, simple, narrowly oblong, obtuse and entire with undulate margins.

Floral characteristics

Flowers are pale-yellow to deep orange, arranged in few flowered corymbose racemes on short lateral branches. Calyx is campanulate, lobes broadly ovate, obtuse and mucronate. Corolla is companulate, veined, stamens exserted, flaments glabrous, stigma 2-lamillate. Capsules are slightly curved, smooth and seeds are winged.

Distribution

Plant is distributed in drier parts of North-West and Western India extending eastwards to the river Yamuna and ascending to an altitude of 1200 meter in the outer Himalaya.

Climate and Soil The plant prefers subtropical climate having medium to light soil.

ABSTRACT

Family farming is the blending of experience, skill, managerial qualities, business strategies and finally economic independence because this type of farming involves the blending of different minds of the family members. There is not any doubt in saying that youth are the of future. This is the time between childhood and adulthood. It is the time when a young individual get out of their dreamy world of childhood and face some of the most complicated realities of the world. Family farming is still facing the problem of urbanization and unemployment. But youth of present scenario are the solution of every problem because skilled youth of rural background can drive future economic growth as they are innovative in bringing and applying new ideas on a large scale. Rural youth are enthusiastic and they can act as good leaders as their orientation is scientific. Youth support family farming as well as perform gender specific activities. They are said to be the key to sustainable and innovative development. Investment in rural youth is the key to country‘s progress and boost economic opportunities. Rural youth of today want that their capabilities should be utilized for producing food and for conserving productive resources in rural environment. Their mental skills make them different from others so Govt. should adopt such policies that mark the correct value of their skill. This research paper emphasizes the role of rural youth in agriculture and family farming and what are their aspirations from this sector.

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is an important sector of Indian economy that contributes about 17% to the total GDP and provides employment to over 60% of the population. But, the villages are becoming poorer and poorer and only older generations are left there to do the agricultural operations. During the past two years, cost of food items like grains, pulses, oil and vegetables are increasing, month after month. Family farming is the best approach to produce agricultural products economically, utilizing locally available resources and crop residues and manpower very efficiently and sustainably. Family farming is a way of life” - there are unique advantages - the security of access and control over resources, meeting multiple needs of the family – food and income, the relationships with nature, the bonding with the past, present and future; ensuring freedom from external exploitation as well as freedom to do your own way. Family farms as multipurpose enterprises have been serving as buffers in times of disasters, as glue of social bonding, often functioning as a ’value web’ between farming families and communities. The United Nations defines youth as young men and women from age 15 to 24. The present situation of rural youth in developing countries can generally be characterized by illiteracy, lack of educational and training opportunities, unemployment, under-employment and the flight of large numbers of rural youth to the cities. There are serious challenges too – stifling and non supportive policy environment, lack of extension system to handle the farmer’s distinct needs and capacities, and lastly ‘converting’ family farms to be ‘business like’ models. However, successful pilots can become big impact programmes, for instance, as in Andhra Pradesh, through NGO-GO collaboration. Hence, rural youth need to be prepared in: (a) improving their capabilities to produce food and to conserve productive resources in the rural environment, (b) improving skills and abilities in undertaking income-generating activities in rural areas, (c) relieving population pressure and improving nutrition and the well-being of farming families and (d) developing leadership and the ability to work well with others in group and community situations.

A number of animals are used in this country for conducting a variety of experiments. There has been a long felt need to prescribe guidelines and procedures for animal experimentation covering all aspects. The Central Government has constituted a Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) under PCA Act 1960 to ensure that experimental animals are not subjected to unnecessary pain or suffering before, during or after the performance of experiment on them. For this purpose the government has made “Breeding of and Experiment on Animals (Control and Supervision) Rules, 1998 as amended during 2001 and 2006 to regulate the experimentation on animal. Under these provisions, the concerned establishments are required to get themselves registered with CPCSEA, form IAEC, get their Animal House Facilities inspected, and also get specific projects for research cleared by CPCSEA before commencing the research on animals. Further, breeding and trade of animals for such experimentation are also regulated under these Rules.

Calcium, anti-oxidants and certain enzymes are reported to play vital role in extending the shelf-life of harvested produce of many horticultural crops especially fruits. They help in maintenance of cell wall structure. Being an important constituent of cell wall, in the form of calcium pectate, it helps in maintenance of cell wall structure. Antioxidants are highly beneficial in extending the shelf-life of fruits besides maintaining the quality. Similarly, some enzymes play a key role in preserving the fruit quality and prolonging its market life. As some fruits are catergorized under ‘Low volume high value fruits’, it is essential to extend their shel-flife for reducing the post-harvest losses of fruits and also to reap better remuneration. Thus, it becomes indispensable to review the role of Ca, anti-oxidants and enzymes which are beneficial in keeping the harvested produce afresh for a relatively longer period.

Abstract

Research has demonstrated that nutrition plays a crucial role in the prevention of chronic diseases as most of them can be related to diet. Functional food enters the concept of considering food not only necessary for living but also as a source of mental and physical well-being contributing to the prevention and reduction of risk factors for several diseases or enhancing certain physiological functions. One of the most clear objectives of the study of functional foods is to identify and validate biological markers in order to understand the interaction mechanisms between the food component and a body function. Epidemiologic and laboratory data from previous studies suggests that diets rich in fruits and vegetables are associated with a reduced risk of various types of cancers. The reduction in cancer risk may be attributed to the abundance of a family of specific compounds referred to as anthocyanins, which are found in various berries. Anthocyanins are water soluble pigments responsible for the blue, purple, and red color in many plant tissues Strawberry is one of “super fruits”, since they can form a significant component of the diet and are a potential resource of functional foods and nutraceuticals due to their antioxidant capacity and nutritional quality. Strawberries contain high levels of anthocyanins and they are also well liked by consumers. Popularity of strawberries in the consumer market makes them an ideal focus for chemoprevention studies. Strawberries are a rich source of phytochemicals (anthocyanins, catechins, the flavonols quercetin and kaempferol, and ellagic acid) and an important source of essential nutrients (ascorbic acid, potassium, folic acid, carotenoids, B-vitamins). Strawberries are consistently ranked among the top food sources of polyphenols and antioxidant capacity; the preventive and therapeutic health benefits of strawberries may be attributed to the synergistic effects of these bioactives and the nutrients contained in the fruit. These bioactive photochemical contribute the major health-promoting function. Strawberries have shown a remarkably high scavenging activity toward chemically generated radicals, thus making them effective in inhibiting oxidation of human low-density lipoproteins. Antioxidant activity of strawberries could contribute to the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. Hence strawberry can be used as a vital and indispensible functional ingredient for the development offunctional foods and nutraceuticals.

Role of water
Water is the principal constituent of living plants as well as animal body. With the maturity of seed, water content decreases. Animal body is composed of two thirds of water – intra and extra cellular fluids, and that a feed is any substance used by the body for building tissue, it is obvious that water is very important nutrient. Experiments have shown that animals may live for 100 days without organic feed, but they may die within 5 to 10 days, when deprived off water. Cell rigidity and elasticity imparts a definite form to body, which may be changed by the liquid content of the cell. Due to its high dielectric constant, oppositely charged ions co – exist in water without much interference. Hydrolysis is an important chemical process in digestion and other metabolism, where H+ and OH- ions of water are introduced into bigger molecules and these bigger molecules are broken down into smaller units.
Lubrication is yet another important function where water prevents friction or drying in joints, conjunctiva, mouth, pleura surrounding lungs, other soft organs. Body heat regulation is carried out due to certain properties – for example, due to high specific heat conducting power, water can carry away heat from the site of production and distributing it throughout the body. Yet another due to such property, highest latent heat of evaporation from skin, lungs or tongue. Oxygen and carbon di oxide are soluble in water, hence gaseous exchange takes place in the tissues, for example, fish. The “aqueous humour” of eye helps to keep up the ‘shape’ and ‘elasticity’ of the eye – ball and acts as refractive medium.

Abstract

People are the most important and valuable resources of any organization. Dynamic people can build dynamic and growth-oriented organizations. No wonder that late Homi J Bhava advocated on identification and selection of a dynamic scientist and building a laboratory ‘for’ him and ‘around’ him and not the reverse, that is, building a laboratory with certain aim and then search a suitable candidate to steer it. Effective employees can contribute to the effectiveness of the organization. Competent and motivated people can make things happen and enable an organization to achieve its goal. Therefore, organizations should continuously ensure that the dynamism, effectiveness, competency, and motivation of its people remain at a high level. Human resource development is a continuous process to ensure the development of employee dynamism, effectiveness, competencies and motivation in a systematic and planned manner.

Micronutrients play an active role in the plant metabolic processes from cell wall development to respiration, photosynthesis, chlorophyll formation, enzyme activity, hormone synthesis, nitrogen fixation, etc. Micronutrient requirements of crops are relatively small. Use of chemical fertilizers with accompanied changes in soil management practices resulted in steady decrease in micronutrient content in soil. The future of agriculture depends on sustainable management of land, water, flora, fauna and the atmosphere. In order to produce 240 m tones of food grains by the end of twentieth century, removal of major nutrients from soil will be to the tune of 7 m tones N, 2.7 m tones P2O5 and 11.2 m tones K2O. Similarly, a good amount of secondary (Ca, Mg, S) and micronutrients would also be removed proportionately which should be compensated through application of well rotten FYM or micronutrient fertilizers in soil.

Introduction

Compared to the previous decades, the scope and power of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in agriculture and biotechnology has grown substantially and their international reach has expanded. The IP regime has set up the stage for healthy competition among research centres and industries for developing and seeking novel technologies. However, compared to developed countries, once the technology is created, not much attention is paid in the developing nations on their commercial, policy, environmental, ethical and societal implications. Hence, better techniques are needed for their management, to create policy and educate professionals to commercialize and govern them. Due to the critical role of technology in a competitive environment, strategic technology management is important for farmers and agri-enterprises too. The translation of nascent technologies into new products/ services and their commercialization requires some amount of hand-holding, mentoring and incubation support.

ABSTRACT

Ethical conduct of research is utmost important which form the basis of overall development of society. Academic institutions can play key role in promoting scientific integrity by creating awareness about scientific misconduct and can frame policies to curb scientific misconduct. As a part of course curriculum knowledge about various issues related to academic integrity can be easily passed to young researchers and students of the institution. Awareness programs can play significant role in promoting research integrity for which academic libraries can be the frontrunner. Librarians’ role is also changing as they have not limited themselves to traditional services but are also providing web based services to the users. They can support research community by providing services like reference management through the use of reference management tools and data management and preservation services. Faculty development programs are also helping the working librarians to update their knowledge. This article discuss about the concept of academic integrity and role of academic institution in promoting it in general and library in particular. PA U library faculty has taken a lead in raising the awareness of students and researchers about research and publication ethics by teaching this course to as part of the course curriculum to research scholars and post graduate students of the university. It is also facilitating teaching community and researchers in plagiarism checking of the manuscripts through the use of antiplagiarism software.

Keywords: Scientific integrity, Research integrity, Research ethics, User education and research ethics, User awareness programs.