eChapters

3.1 Introduction
Out of all methods of sampling, the most commonly used procedure in surveys is the stratified random sampling. When population units are of heterogeneous nature and if we select a sample using SRSWOR scheme then the sample selected may not be the representative sample and the estimate worked out from that sample will not be the reliable estimate of the population parameter. The estimate of sampling variance of the sample estimator obtained from that sampling scheme may happen to be very high leading to get a less precise estimate of the parameter. In such type of population, to overcome these draw backs, we use another sampling scheme known as stratified random sampling which is defined as follows.

Flowers blooming in a garden can be preserved by drying them for use in arrangements, decorations and various other applications. Natural dry flowers can be annual or perennial. Some of the important annuals used for dry flower making are described below.

14.1 Annual Flowers

Plants classified as annuals are those that complete their life cycle within the space of one year. Annual flowers are versatile and sturdy. The annuals have many uses in landscaping. Annual flowers are beautiful and garden lovers tend to preserve these flowers throughout. They dry these flowers and store them for use in several beautiful dry flower arrangements.

CARBOHYDRATES AND SUGARS

Carbohydrates which include sugars and starches are among the most important of the food stuffs as well as the simplest of organic foods. They may be divided into three groups.

Group – I

Monosaccharides  : These are simple sugars that cannot be split into any simpler forms. The principal ones are glucose or dextrose, fructose and galactose. Glucose sometimes known as dextrose or grape sugar is found widely distributed in nature, especially in fruits and vegetables, and is one of the main constuents of honey.

It is in the form of glucose that sugar appears in the blood and is being burned continuously to produce energy. A certain amount of surplus glucose is absorbed from the digestive tract and stored in the liver as glycogen, which can be converted back into glucose when the need for more fuel arises. In the presence of yeasts, glucose undergoes fermentation and changes into alcohol.

Definition

It is one of the important portion of milk which forms a fatty layer on top of milk when left un-disturbed. It is a prime component of milk and comprises mainly of milk fat. It may be defined as “that portion of milk which is rich in milk fat” meaning portion of milk into which larger portion of milk fat has been gathered.  According to FSSAI, 2011 Malai and Cream are defined as –

Malai means the product rich in butter fat prepared by boiling and cooling cow or buffalo milk or a combination thereof. It shall contain not less than 25.0 per cent milk fat.

Milk is the one food for which there seems to be no adequate substitute. It constitutes almost the entire diet for the young of all mammals. Each species produces milk that is especially adapted to the growth of its own young, but milk from one species may be used as food for others. Since animals were domesticated centuries ago, the milk from various species such as cow, buffalo, goat and camel, has been used in the diets of people throughout the world. Only cows milk is of commercial importance in the United States, although small amounts of goat’s milk are sold.

Whole cow’s milk is approximately 88 percent water, 5 percent carbohydrate, 3.5 percent protein and 3.3 percent fat. Its nutrient content varies from species to species, from breed to breed, seasonally and even from the beginning of the milking to the end of the process. In the United States it is cow’s milk that is used commonly as a beverage and in food preparation. Therefore the milk discussed throughout this chapter is cow’s milk.

The District-wise weekly agroadvisory service based on medium range weather forecasting (3 to 10 days) has been made operational by the State Agricultural Universities in collaboration with National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), India Meteorological Department. The Agroadvisory Bulletin (AAB) contains three parts. The first part of AAB consists of weather events occurred during the past week and weather forecast for three days ahead. These forecasts provide expected weather on cloud amount, rainfall, average wind speed, wind direction, maximum and minimum temperatures and cumulative rainfall. The second part contains the factual information on the varieties of crops, their state and stage, ongoing agricultural operations and occurrence of insect pest and diseases of crops.

15.1 INTRODUCTION

Vegetables are rich sources of many essential micronutrients, including vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, thiamine, carotenes, minerals, and dietary fibre. In addition, vegetables are rich in health related phytochemicals, such as antioxidants. Such phytochemicals play an important role in reducing the risk of many chronic diseases. Therefore, it is essential to produce more vegetables to feed our ever growing population. In this context, use of genetically improved, disease resistant and high yielding varieties in precision farming may play a significant role in increasing vegetable productivity and production.

15.2 EXPLOITATION OF GENETIC RESOURCES

The genetic resources of a crop may be defined as the sum total of hereditary material, i.e., all the alleles of various genes present in a crop species and its wild relatives. Genetic resources are broadly grouped into two major types (i) cultivated germplasm, and (ii) wild germplasm. Alternatively, they may be termed as (i) indigenous (from the country in question), or (ii) exotic (from another country) based on their place of origin. Genetic resources consist the following five types of materials: (1) land races, (2) obsolete varieties, (3) modern varieties or varieties in cultivation, (4) breeding lines, and (5) wild forms and wild relatives.

Successful crop production both in the rainfed and irrigated ecosystems depends on timely onset of monsoon, its distribution during the crop life cycle and collection of water in various storage structures viz; tanks, reservoirs and ground water table. It is therefore important that adequate supplies of water should be developed to sustain life. Development of water supplies should, however, be undertaken in such a way as to preserve the hydrological balance and the biological function of our ecosystems.

Consequently, the human endeavour in the development of water sources must be within the capacity of nature to replenish and to sustain. If this is not done, costly mistakes can occur with serious consequences. The application of innovative technologies and the improvement of indigenous ones should therefore include management of the water resources to ensure sustainability and to safeguard the source against pollution.

As land pressure rise, cities are growing vertical and in country side more forest area encroached and being used for agriculture. In India small farmers depends on monsoon where rainfall is from June to October and much of the precious water is soon lost as surface runoff. While irrigation may be the most obvious response to drought, it has proved costly and can only benefit a fortunate few. There is now increasing interest in the low cost alternative-generally referred to as “Rain Water Harvesting (RWH)”.

Water harvesting is the activity of direct collection of rainwater, which can be stored for direct use or can be recharged into the ground water. Water harvesting is the collection of runoff for productive purposes.

Rivers, lakes and ground water are secondary source of water. In present times, we depend entirely on such secondary source of water. In the process, it is forgotten that rain is the ultimate source that feeds all these secondary sources and remain ignorant of its value. Water harvesting is to understand the value of rain, and to make optimum use of rainwater at the place where it falls.

6.1. Speed Detection of Pests in China for Phytosanitary Programme

Phytosanitary procedures such as pest detection and identification rely on technology. With the rapid development of science, it is necessary for national plant protection organizations to keep informed and to make diagnoses more sensitive and accurate. Previous general pest detection methods frequently have limitations for the diagnosis of quarantine pests. In the past ten years, China has conducted considerable research into how to improve its diagnostic measures and methods.

6.1.1. General Pest Detection Measures and Methods

Traditional determination of morphology by microscope is used mostly to detect fungi and adult insects. The morphological method may be used, for example, in the separate identification of wheat dwarf bunt (Tilletia controversa), wheat karnal bunt (T. indica) and wheat common bunt (T. tritici). On the other hand, it is hard to detect seed-borne pests using the morphological method.

Isolation culture is also used to detect fungi and bacteria in China. It is an effective method for detecting seed-borne disease or systemic infection. However, it takes a long time (more than 1-2 weeks). Inoculating the indicated plant (a healthy plant that is a host for the suspected pest organism) is used mainly to identify viruses. This was the principal and time-consuming detection method used before immunological and molecular biological methods were developed. Because viruses are very important kinds of quarantine pests of young plants, effective and rapid methods for detection were urgently needed.

8.1 Introduction
We have already discussed in details how different sampling schemes can be employed to draw the representative samples suitable to many kinds of population whose sampling units differ in nature. From practical view points, however, it is often more important to be able to make decision about certain unknown characteristics of the population on the basis of informations available in the representative samples which are drawn from the parent populations. Such decisions taken, are known as the “Statistical decisions”. For example, we may wish to decide on the basis of sample data whether (i) One educational system is better than the other or not, (ii) A given six faced die is unbiased (balanced) or not, (iii) A new insecticide is really effective to control the attack of insects or not? etc. Such problems are dealt with in the theory of statistical decisions which uses the principles of sampling theory.

Nursery is a place where planting material, such as seedlings, saplings, cuttings, etc., are raised, propagated and multiplied under favourable conditions for transplanting in prepared beds. In other words, “A vegetable nursery is a place or an establishment for raising or handling of young vegetable seedlings until they are ready for more permanent planting.” There are some vegetables whose seed need to be sown directly in the main plot such as cowpea, okra, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, pumpkin, sponge gourd, ridge gourd, peas, beans, and similar others. Similarly, certain vegetables cannot grow by seeds directly and need to multiply by vegetative means like pointed gourd, ivy gourd, kakrol, kartoli, garlic, zinger, colocasia, Aravi, water chestnut etc.

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most important beverage crops in the World and the second most commonly drank liquid on earth after water. It has numerous medicinal benefits mainly due to its antibacterial and
antioxidant properties. The major tea growing regions of the world are South-East Asia (India and Sri Lanka), Eastern and South Africa consisting of Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique. All these countries are producers of black tea. China and Japan are the major producers of green tea. These countries experience cool, tropical humid climate where this crop is being cultivated. However, at present, the crop is also being cultivated in wide range of climates from Mediterranean to warm, humid tropics to include countries such as Russia and Georgia in the northern latitudes and Argentina and Australia in the southern latitudes (Plate 8. 1). The region to which the crop is grown is closely linked with the climate. The crop is grown across wide altitudes up to 2200 m a.m.s.l. Sri Lanka, Kenya, China and Vietnam are the major competitors to India in tea exporting field. China is the major producer of green tea while Sri Lanka and Indonesia are producing mainly orthodox varieties of tea. Tea industry in India occupies an important place in the national economy since last 172 years. It is an essential item of domestic consumption. Tea is also considered as the cheapest beverage amongst the beverages available in India.

Begonia is a perennial flowering plant belongs to family Begoniaceae. Begonia has rich colour and beautiful form of flowers. It is free flowering and striking foliage with free growth. The name Begonia is given by Franciscan monk Charles Plumier a plant which he found during his journey from Haiti to island Martinique. He dedicated this plant to “Michel Begon” the man who had the direct manmade over the expeditions. Begonia is easy to propagate and grown from seeds and vegetative means particularly cuttings. It is a popular flowering potted plant grown in containers and hanging baskets including tuberous, semperflorens, Rex, Elatior, Loraine and gracilis. Modern commercially cultivated begonias are mostly hybrids between wild types from all over the world.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Begonias are native to South America and second centre of diversity is Asia from Himalayas to Southern China and Malaysia (a floristic region that encompasses Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunes, Philippines and Paera New Guinea).

The distribution of Begonia diversity is uneven throughout tropical regions, with the greatest diversity in America and Asia (>600 species each), whilst being relatively species poor in Africa (160 species) and absent in Australia (Goodall-Copestake et al., 2010). The genus is thought to have originated in Africa, while South American and South East Asian species are the results of parallel radiations over the last 20-50 million years (Plana et al., 2004, Goodall Copestake et al., 2010 and Thomas et al., 2011). Long distance dispersal is rare, for example Begonia species have failed to cross the Torres Strait from Papua New Guinea to Australia.

Designing is a creative activity. Think of fashion designers or interior decorators, who design clothes or decorate homes. Think of the people who design sports cars or bikes, or the interiors of fancy hotels or corporate offices. They take simple things like fabric, or steel, or plastic and using colors create things that are attractive, useful and a pleasure to live with. Designing a project is equally creative - selecting inputs and managing them in a certain way to achieve objectives.

Introduction
Water management is a critical aspect of agricultural science and environmental sustainability, influencing not only the efficiency of food production but also the health of ecosystems and the balance of global water resources. This chapter delves into the principles, techniques, and modern advancements in water management, emphasizing its significance in ensuring food security, conserving vital resources, and combating global warming. The chapter begins by exploring the foundational principles of irrigation, a key component of water management in agriculture. Various irrigation techniques, such as surface, sprinkler, and drip irrigation, are discussed in detail, along with the factors that influence irrigation efficiency, such as soil type, crop needs, and climatic conditions. The importance of optimizing irrigation practices to enhance water use efficiency and minimize waste is underscored. Water use efficiency and conservation strategies form the next major focus of the chapter. As global water resources face increasing pressure from population growth, industrialization, and climate change, the need for efficient water use in agriculture becomes ever more critical. The chapter discusses various methods to improve water use efficiency, including advanced irrigation technologies, crop selection, and soil management practices. Conservation strategies, such as rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, and the use of drought-resistant crops, are also explored. Effective drainage systems and waterlogging control are essential for maintaining soil health and agricultural productivity. The chapter provides an overview of drainage system principles, techniques for assessing soil drainage, and strategies for controlling waterlogging, a condition that can severely impact crop yields. The benefits of well-managed drainage systems, including improved soil structure, reduced salinity, and enhanced crop performance, are highlighted. Water quality and salinity management are crucial for sustaining agricultural productivity and preventing soil degradation. The chapter discusses methods for assessing water quality, the impact of salinity on soils and crops, and techniques for managing salinity, such as the use of salt-tolerant crops and soil amendments. Effective water quality management ensures that crops receive the nutrients they need while preventing harmful buildup of salts and other contaminants

ABSTRACT

The current paper discusses the diversity, distribution and commercial importance of Indian Magnolias. Globally, these species are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate forests of southeastern Asia and tropical America. In India, there are 25 species of Magnolias and most of them are distributed in Northeast India, with highest number in Assam. Of all the species, two (Magnolia gustavii and M. pleiocarpa) are critically endangered, one (M. pealiana) endangered, two (M. manii and M. nilagirica) vulnerable, nine least concern and ten data deficient at global level. The highly threatened nature of most of the magnolias species calls for their immediate conservation and protection measures. Members of this genus are known to be rich in a wide variety of biologically active compounds including alkaloids, flavonoids, lignans, neolignans and terpenoids. Many of the species have been found to possess potent procognitive activity, anti-oxidative, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, diuretic, anti-ulcer, analgesic, anti-helmintholytic, and anti-cancer activities. The species have huge economic potential and are used for a number of purposes including ornamental, medicinal, culinary, timber and joinery works.

Introduction

Export of quality seafood products is important to have a success in international marketing. Exporters must be quality conscious and the Governments must insist on quality control and inspection. The seafood export industry in India is over 50 years old. Seafood contributes 10% of the total exports and nearly 20% of all agricultural exports. In the year 2022-23, India exported 17,35,286 MT seafood to more than 100 countries worth US $8.09 billion equivalent to Rs. 63,969.14 crore. There are over 150 fish processing facilities approved by the European Union out of the existing 350 processing facilities. The Export Inspection Council and the Marine Products Export Development Authority are working very closely with the fish processing industries for the growth of seafood exports.

The Government of India enacted the Export (Quality Control and Inspection) Act, 1963 for the development of export trade through quality control and inspection. It empowers the Government to notify the products intended for compulsory quality control and inspection prior to their export. It specifies the type of quality control required for the notified products. It recognizes standard specifications for a notified product. It prohibits the export of notified products that are not complying with export conditions. It creates a machinery for quality control and take measures to protect markets for Indian commodities. As the first step, Export Inspection Council (the Council) was established on 1st January 1964 for implementation of various provisions of the Export (Quality Control & Inspection) Act, 1963.