eChapters

Introduction

Harvesting and handling are the equally important activities as the entire production system as an individual activity. Therefore, proper harvesting and handling is essential to assure the farm income. There are various factors which directly affect the storage life of fruits and vegetables as below. The natural limits to the post -harvest life of all types of fresh produce are severely affected by other biological and environmental conditions.

Temperature: An increase in temperature causes an increase in the rate of natural respiration of all produce and food reserves and water content become depleted. The cooling of produce will extend shelf-life by slowing the rate of respiration.

Transpiration and water losses: High temperature, low humidity in the store and injuries to produce can greatly increase the loss of water from stored produce beyond that unavoidable lost from natural causes. Maximum storage life can be achieved by storing only undamaged produce at the lowest temperature tolerable by the crop and at the relative humidity appropriate for the produce.

Mechanical damage: Damage caused during harvesting and subsequent handling (i.e. injuries, impact bruising) increase the rate of deterioration of produce and renders it liable to attacks by decay organisms even under refrigerated storage. Mechanical damage to root crops will cause heavy losses owing to bacterial decay and must be remedied by curing the roots or tubers before storage. Curing is a wound –healing process.

Decay in storage: Decay of fresh produce during storage is mostly caused by the infection of mechanical injuries provoked by micro organisms, mostly bacteria and fungi. Furthermore, many fruits and vegetables are attacked by decay organisms which penetrate through natural openings or even through the intact skin. These infections may be established during the growth of the plant in the field but lie dormant until after harvest, often becoming visible only during storage or ripening.

14.1. INTRODUCTION

The climate of a place is the average weather that is experiences over a period of time. It is the natural phenomenon that has occurred throughout the history of the earth. Climate change is strongly associated with higher temperature, altered precipitation, and higher levels of atmospheric CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. It is a very slow process; it takes a long time to settle in. Climate change in IPCC (2007) usage refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activities. Over the last 150-200 years the changes to our climate are happening more quickly now than they have ever done before in the geological past. Human activities have altered natural climatic processes at a geographically rapid pace by booting atmospheric concentrations of several greenhouse gasses. Following are the changes taken place over years of industrial age (IPCC, 2007):

Abstract

The state of Nagaland located in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent is also prone to landslides similar to the other north eastern states due to the softer lithologies, intense deformation and extensive anthropogenic activities. So in order to understand the landslide vulnerability and to evolve remedial measures, a 12 km stretch of the NH-2 from Kohima town in the south to Zhadima junction in the north was studied. The study comprises the preparation of landslide hazard zonation map using BIS method and detailed studies in six major landslides involving RMR, SMR and Kinematic analysis and also the suitable remedial measures for such landslide phenomenon.

Food Safety has been the buzz word in recent days as there are increasing consumer awareness on hazards present in food as well as the ombudsmen role played by independent media. Although regulatory regime across the world has taken proactive steps, in most of the cases it has been a knee-jerk reaction to the impending crisis. Defining the actual goal of food safety has been an arduous task as there are umpteen interrelated factors that influence the intended goals. Some of the definitions on food safety put forward by international agencies are as follows:

Brinjal (Solanum melongena), also known as eggplant or aubergine, is a major solanaceous vegetable crop grown in India and other parts of the world. It is affected by several insect pests throughout its growth period, significantly reducing both yield and quality.
Introduction
One of the major constraints in production and productivity of brinjal is the incidence of pests and diseases. The fruit and shoot borer is one of the most damaging pests of brinjal. Pest infestation starts from transplanting seedling stage and continues up to harvesting of the crop. Pest is active throughout the cropping season with peak infestation from last week of August to December
Distribution
China, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Laos, Congo and South Africa

Abstract

Due to fragile lithology belonging to Disang and Barail groups of the Cretaceous-Tertiary period, intensive structural deformation related to collision tectonics, extensive weathering and the anthropogenic activities in the form of slope cutting for the development and widening of roads lead to frequent landslides in the state of Manipur, India. In this connection, the road section between Tengnoupal and Sita has been studied to understand the landslides vulnerability and to evolve mitigation strategies. The study involved the Petrochemical analysis to elucidate the weathering potential of the rocks, kinematic analysis to understand the network of joints and the strain, slope stability analysis to prepare Land Hazard Zonation mapping and estimation of factors of safety in selected locations. On the basis of these studies, long & short term remedial measures were suggested to mitigate the landslide hazards.

Agroforestry is a land use system that involves two or more plant species at least one of which must be a woody perennial. When perennial woody and herbaceous components are grown together on the same piece of land their performance would largely depend on their ability to share various growth resources in a given environmental situation. Due to difference in growth pattern and resource requirement of the components in agroforestry situation, a close interactive relation is obvious. Thus, careful management practices for the components are required to establish a successful agroforestry system. The characteristics of the trees and crops, and their interactions, can be modified with good management practices in order to take advantage of the positive characteristics and minimize the effects of the negative ones. Effective and efficient agroforestry management may be divided into two groups; tree management and agricultural crop management.

Biofertilizers focuses on microbial and biological resources that enhance nutrient availability and support crop nutrition. The chapter covers nitrogen-fixing organisms, phosphorus-solubilizing microorganisms, phosphate-mobilizing mycorrhizae, mineral-solubilizing biofertilizers, and plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria. It explains applications, importance, liquid biofertilizer methodology, mass production, packaging, storage, and multiplication of bacterial, mycorrhizal, cyanobacterial, and Azolla-based inputs. By connecting microbial activity with nutrient cycling and plant growth, the chapter demonstrates the practical role of biofertilizers in reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers and strengthening soil fertility. It provides an applied foundation for students, researchers, extension workers, and practitioners of sustainable agriculture. under diverse soil and climatic conditions and practice for field application in natural farming.

Mycorrhiza research is relatively recent. Although, it was in 1885 that A.B. Frank made reference for the first time to the term “Mycorrhiza”, it took him nine more years to establish the symbiotic relationship between the fungus and its host plant. It took a much longer time to convince the rest of the scientific community of the validity of Frank’s theory. Researches carried out between 1917 to 1950 confirmed that “Mycorrhizal colonization is a beneficial symbiosis between tree and fungus”. It is an unique partnership in nature, where the higher plants share their photosynthates with their fungal partners and provide them shelter, the fungal partners in return provide protection to the root system and assist it in performing its functions especially anchorage and absorption of nutrients / water from soil more efficiently.

The ectomycorrhizal fungi have been in use as a biological tool in improving the performance of forest trees since long. Better performance of forest trees is ensured by making them mycorrhizal, employing efficient strains of ectomycorrhizal fungi.

Among garden plants, herbaceous perennials that produce perennating structures like bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes or fascicled tuberous roots are called bulbous plants. They belong to various plant families such as Amaryllidaceae, Cannaceae, Heliconiaceae, Iridaceae, Liliaeceae, Musaceae, Ranunculaeceae and Zingiberaceae. The possession of perennating structures that are modifications of plant parts- mostly stems- is common to these plants. These modifications aid in their vegetative propagation as the dormant buds associated with them regenerate when conditions are favourable to result in new plants. In both tropical and temperate climate zones, bulbous plants have evolved and naturalized in several ecological ‘niches’. Many of these have been domesticated centuries ago and are familiar garden plants. Generally, bulbous plats are adapted to grow vegetatively putting forth shoots carrying a limited number of leaves. When further vegetative growth has ceased these shoots produce terminal or basal inflorescences. Bulbous plants are grown and displayed in clumps.

Based on the requirement of relatively low or high temperatures for sprouting and flowering they are classified into warm- season bulbous plants and cool-season bulbous plants. These groupings are not exclusive and many plants have evolved varieties that thrive in both seasonal conditions.

Quality management in apparel production requires an integrated approach covering every stage from material sourcing to final inspection. Important areas include fabric inspection, spreading, cutting, in-process monitoring, finishing and evaluation of completed products. The chapter explains the Acceptance Quality Limit system through practical examples and introduces Statistical Process Control for monitoring manufacturing performance. It aims to help students, practitioners and researchers understand the multiple dimensions of apparel quality and apply appropriate inspection systems. Checklists, performance indicators and corrective measures support continual improvement. Because perceptions of quality depend on value, expected performance and durability, manufacturers must translate customer expectations into measurable specifications and consistently controlled production processes.

Introduction

Discovery of the antimicrobial agents in the early twentieth century was a breakthrough to safeguard the public health from the microbial infection. Propensity of these compounds to kill pathogens influenced the discovery of novel antimicrobials. However, since the 1970s, soon after the discovery of the fluoroquinolones, no major antibiotics have been introduced. The prevalent issue is largely attributed to the repercussions of antibiotic overuse or irresponsible utilization across diverse contexts, predominantly in clinical treatment, agricultural practices, animal healthcare, war crisis and the food system. Moreover, the accessibility and availability of antibiotics results in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Nonprudent use of antibiotics accompanied by genetic plasticity allows microorganisms to adapt to the effect of antimicrobials causing a rapid surge of antimicrobial resistance. Extensive use of antimicrobials in animal husbandry is a major driver of AMR selection and the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (ARBs) (World Health Organization, 2014).

Mechanism of Bioinputs explains the biological processes through which beneficial microorganisms and other bioinputs influence plants, pathogens, and agricultural ecosystems. The chapter examines direct and indirect plant-growth-promoting mechanisms of rhizobacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, endophytes, and biocontrol microbes. It also covers entomopathogenic bacteria, fungi, nematodes, viruses, and the modes of action of microbial and botanical biopesticides, predators, parasitoids, and semiochemicals. Environmental factors, microbial variability, pathogen interactions, and relationships with other organisms are considered as influences on biocontrol performance. The chapter therefore connects biological mechanisms with practical application, helping readers understand why particular bioinputs work under specific agricultural conditions. across varied farming conditions.

1.0 Introduction

Kiwi or kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) belongs to the Actinidiaceae family that is a fruiting vine originated from Yangtze Valley of China. Kiwifruit was named because it resembles a flightless bird, kiwi which is New Zealand’s national symbol. It is also referred as “New Zealand’s horticultural wonder”. In china kiwi was named as Yang Tao and also as “China’s miracle fruit”. Over the past century, kiwis have also acquired a variety of strange names, including “melonette”, “wood berry”, “strange fruit”, “monkey peach, “macaque pear”, “mihoutau”, “Chinese gooseberry” (Tyagi et al., 2015) “vine pear”, “sun peach” and the particularly enticing moniker “hairy bush fruit” (Hugh Cambbell and Julia Haggerty., 2008). Kiwifruit is a nutrient dense fruit which is exceptionally known for its flavour and vitamin C content (Guroo et al., 2017). Digestive potential, antioxidant property, healthy metabolism, immune function and protection from coronary artery disease are the therapeutic benefits of kiwi (Feruguson., 2003; Boeing et al., 2012; Singeltary., 2012). It reduces the risk against cancer (Puri and Manjula., 2018), arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases and irritable bowel syndrome (Chang et al., 2012) as it is a rich source of ascorbic acid and polyphenols. Due to palatability, aromatic compounds present in kiwifruit attract many consumers. Unique flavour and aroma is increased due to the presence of aldehyde E-2-hexenal, methyl benzoate, ethyl butanoate and esters. China tops in kiwifruit production followed by Italy. Two biggest exporters of Kiwi in world are Italy and New Zealand (Testolin & Ferguson, 2009). Kiwifruit has excellent pharmacological profile and it helps in development of nutritional supplements for welfare of mankind. Farmers can earn high return per unit area as it bears heavily every year and has no crop failure. Thus, kiwifruit has bright prospects in our country.

Storage : It can be defined as keeping the commodity fresh or processed in safe condition with minimum of deteriorative changes for later use.

Reasons of Deterioration During Storage

Reliable artificial intelligence depends on accurate, timely and multidimensional livestock data. This chapter examines the transition from manual record-keeping to sensor-based systems that capture physiological, behavioural, production and environmental information. Data sources include wearable devices, IoT monitoring networks, computer-vision systems and environmental sensors. Their applications include monitoring health, welfare, movement, feeding and productivity. The chapter also considers the integration of heterogeneous datasets and persistent challenges involving missing values, noise, interoperability, scalability and system reliability. By connecting data generation with intelligent analysis, it emphasizes that robust acquisition protocols and dependable infrastructure are essential for developing effective, evidence-based and responsive livestock-management systems.

The International movement of seed takes place for (i) germplasm for R&D purposes, (ii) experimental lines and hybrids for screening purposes, (iii) basic seed for multiplication purposes, and (iv) commercial varieties and hybrids for marketing (Ranganathan, 2019). Vegetable seed import and export for research purposes is handled by National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi where the importing research organization in India first gets an import permit from NBPGR following due procedures as available on NBPGR website (www.nbpgr.ernet.in). Once the importing research organization, like ICAR institutes, state agricultural universities, private seed companies, etc get the import permit which specifies the list of material to be imported and the seed source, the import permit is sent to the research seed supplying agency who in turn attaches a phytosanitary certificate along with the copy of the import permit to the consignment and sends the same to NBPGR. NBPGR retains part of seed and releases the seed to the indenter after necessary quarantine test and charging quarantine fee. The importing organization is expected to give a brief report about the material to the NBPGR after its evaluation at its farm/lab.

The bulk seed import (vegetable seed for commercial purposes) is handled by Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Faridabad, Haryana (www.ppqs.gov.in) with no condition of testing by government system. This exemption of testing is not available for field crop seed. It needs to be clarified that the bulk vegetable seed import has been simplified as per New Seed Policy-1988 which has put the vegetable seeds among others under OGL (open general license) and this provision facilitates the vegetable seed in bulk and the private seed companies have taken advantage of this provision. The Indian private seed companies are importing large quantities of seed of cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, radish, carrot, beet root and even vegetable peas. The bulk vegetable seed import for commercial purposes is done as per following procedure.

Cloud computing and Edge AI provide complementary infrastructure for intelligent livestock management. Cloud platforms offer scalable storage, centralized analytics, model training and integration of data from sensors, cameras, automated feeders and farm-information systems. Edge AI processes information close to the farm, reducing latency, bandwidth consumption and response time. This chapter explains their architectures, workflows and applications in dairy, poultry, swine and small-ruminant production. Uses include disease detection, estrus prediction, behavioural monitoring, feeding and environmental control. Hybrid cloud-edge systems balance centralized intelligence with local autonomy. Challenges involving connectivity, interoperability, cybersecurity, cost, model reliability and ethical animal surveillance are also critically examined.

Preservation of food (fruits and vegetables) in common salt sand vinegar is called pickling. It is one of the most ancient method of preservation of fruits and vegetables. Pickling is the result of fermentation by Lactic acid forming bacteria which are found in large number on the surface of fruits and vegetables. They can grow in acidic medium and in the presence of 8-10 percent salt solution. The growth of majority of undesirable bacteria is inhibited. Lactic acid most active at 30 °C temperature. This temperature should be maintained during the process of pickling.

Preparation of pickles

Pickles are prepared with salt, vinegar and oil or combination of these ingredients. Spices are also used for pickle preparation.

Introduction

The crops, its significance along with its classification has got paramount importance in agricultural heritage. A crop is a plant or animal product that can be grown and harvested in an area with a target to earn profit or achieve subsistence. Crop may refer either to the harvested parts or to the harvest in a more refined state (husked, shelled, etc.). Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or aquaculture.

A crop is usually expanded to include macroscopic fungus (e.g. mushrooms), or alga (alga-culture) at the point of origination. Most crops are harvested as food for humans or livestock (fodder crops) or to get raw materials for agro-based industry. Some crops are gathered from the wild collection (including intensive gathering). The important non-food crops include horticulture, floriculture and industrial crops. Horticulture crops include plants used for other crops (e.g. fruit trees, grown single or in orchard). Floriculture crops include blanket plants, houseplants, flowering garden and pot plants, cut cultivated greens, and cut flowers. Industrial crops are produced for clothing (fiber crops), bio-fuel (energy crops, algae fuel), or medicine (medicinal plants).

Microbes (fungi, bacteria or viruses) are rarely referred to as crops. Animals raised for human or animal consumption are referred to as livestock and microbes as microbiological cultures. Microbes are not typically grown for food itself, but are rather used to alter food (e.g., for production of citric acid, fermenting yogurt, soya sauce and so on). The importance of a crop varies greatly by region. Crop production depends on the availability of arable land and is affected in particular by yields, macroeconomic uncertainty, as well as consumption patterns; it also has a great incidence on agricultural commodities’ prices. The importance of crop production is related to harvested areas, returns per hectare (yields) and quantities produced. Crop yields stands for harvested production per unit of harvested area for the particular crop i.e. products. In most of the cases yield data are not recorded, but are obtained by dividing the production data by the data on area harvested. The actual yield that is captured on farm depends on several factors such as the crop’s genetic potential, the amount of sunlight, water and nutrients absorbed by the crop, the presence of weeds and pests infestation. These indicators are presented for wheat, maize, rice and soybean. Crop production is measured in tons per hectare, in thousand hectares and thousand tons.