eChapters

Moniliformis means ‘like a string of beads’ signifying the arrangement of flowers on the spike. The tree is native of tropical Australia. It is valued for afforestation and beautification. It grows in warm climate under both dry and moist atmosphere. It is a medium-sized, thornless, quick growing, evergreen tree of 13 to 15 m height.

Leaves: True leaves are present only in early seedling stage. The apparent leaves are the modified midrib called phyllode, leathery, sickle-shaped, tapered at each end, up to 18 cm long and 6 cm broad; nerves parallel.

Mango (Mangifera indica)

1. Mango hoppers

(i) Amritodes atkinsoni (ii) Idioscopus niveosparsus and (iii) I. clypealis

Order - Hemiptera

Suborder - Homoptera

Family - Cicadellidae

Nature of damage. Three different species of hoppers are found to cause damage to mango trees. During some years, especially during the months of November-February, when the mango trees come to flowering, the pest appears in large numbers. During the other months, the pests are seen in much lesser numbers in an active form, while the other insects hibernate under the bark of the trees. Even in the peak period of pest occurrence, after a few heavy showers, the number of insects is considerably reduced.

During the cold season, when the trees put out the flower spikes, thousands of hoppers, young and adults appear in large numbers, pierce, suck and feed on the sap from the tender shoots, flower stalks, flowers and buds. This drain of the sap causes the buds and flowers to dry, wither and they are shed in large numbers, as a result fruit production may go down by 25-60 per cent. When a severely infested tree is approached, thousands of hoppers hop or fly about and make a rustling noise, as they dash against the foliage. The hoppers exude a sweet, sticky fluid excretion and this fluid thrown out by myriads of these insects after feeding on the tree sap, wets the soil underneath the trees and on the surface of the leaves of the trees. In case of severe infestation, the fluid may fall down in drops. The secretion attracts scores of flies, bees and other insects, which come to feed on the secretion. The infested tree presents a sickly appearance. The trees get devoid of buds and blossoms. The leaves appear shiny and are covered by ‘sooty mould’, a fungal disease. Thousands of caste skins of the nymphs are found on the shoots and leaves. The continuous damage caused to the trees year after year by the pest makes them loose their vigor gradually and eventually leads to severe reduction in their yielding capacity.

Life cycle of the pest. The female hopper inserts spherical, pale whitish eggs singly into the plant tissues through slits made in the young shoots, flower stalks and flower spikes. The eggs hatch in 4-6 days and the young nymph hatching out of the egg looks quite similar to the adult. The nymphs are very active and move about rapidly along the flower spikes and shoots, suck and feed on the plant sap. They are smaller in size, wingless and unable to fly or jump. The young ones moult their skin a few times during their growth and become adults in 10-15 days. The adult hoppers are small insects, about 3.0 mm. in length with a wedge-shaped body. The head is broader and the body gradually narrowing backwards. The legs are well developed, especially the hind legs. The general color is light greenish-brown. They are extremely active and can fly and hop around. They have a tubular, sucking mouthpart by which they puncture the tender plant parts and floral parts. The adults of Idioscopus clypealis are smaller, with two black spots on the prothorax and a few black spots on the front portion of the head, while those of Idioscopus niveoparsus are slightly bigger with three black spots on the prothorax and whitish, distinct cross bands on the light brownish forewings. The adults of Amritodes atkinsoni are bigger than the other two species, about 5.0 mm. in length, with two black spots on the prothorax. Two or more generations may appear during the flowering season of mango trees (Fig.71).

INTRODUCTION

Zantedeschia is commonly known as Calla lily. The other names are Arum lily, Aroid lily, Lily of the Nile and Pig lily. They are mainly grown for their attractive, large flower spathes, which are usually produced in the spring and summer and also for their variegated and spotted foliage. They are grown in large quantities by commercial growers because they are commonly used for decoration in Easter and throughout the spring and early summer months. It grows very well in open conditions in warm climate. Regular gardeners may have their bloom in winter, spring or early summer depending upon the temperature conditions maintained in the greenhouse.

Zantedeschia is an excellent cut flower and last a long time in water. There are various species, which produces different coloured flowers. The flower spathes of calla or arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) are white, the spathes of the yellow or golden callas (Z. elliottiana) are yellow, whereas the pink calla (Z. rehmannii) produces lavender red, rose red, violet red or pink spathes. The white arum (common calla) forms large colonies in marshy areas ranging from the coast to an altitude of 2250 m above mean sea level. Thus, they may exist in humid, salt laden air at the coast and freezing, misty mountain grassland at high altitudes and as a result, are very versatile in the garden. The leaves of the calla are very interesting in that they contain water stomata, which can discharge excess water by a process known as guttation. This prevents logging and enables calla lily to grow in wet conditions.

R is a software package / language / environment for statistical analysis and graphics.

It Reads Any Type of Data *.txt, .csv, .dat, etc.), You can also scrape (collect) data from websites and execute SQL queries It Supports Large Data Sets. Reproducibility.  R allows you to add comments to your scripts to make it clear to you and others on what you’re doing as data and analysis are separated in R. As R is fully free you can use the latest version on any / as many computers so you and your student can work on the same version. You can use R on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Unix. Anyone (Including You) Can Contribute Packages to the Community to Improve its Functionality.

You can download R from : http://cran.r-project.org. R has a command line interface and that is a huge hurdle for many users, but believe us you will find that using a command line is also easy. However we strongly recommend the R Studio text editor for working with R scripts (http://www.rstudio.com/ide/download).

We do not know when intercropping began nor why early civilizations fostered its use. Whether by design or accident, intercroppinq dominated early agriculture and is still practiced in many areas of the world. With the advent of “modern” agriculture, intercropping began disappearing from many areas. This shift was driven primarily by mechanization and specialization. Despite pressures to abandon intercropping, it has survived and flourished Inereasing interest in sustainability and environrnental concerns have drifted attention back to intercropping as a means of better utilization of resources while preserving the environment.
Through intercropping, farmers can achieve the full production of the main crop and also an additional yield (bonus) associated with an increased plant population of the second component. Hence, intercropping can increase incomes obtained by smallholder farmers in areas where labor is not shortage, through reduction of economic risk and market fluctuation resulting from growing a single crop which is more prone to natural hazards and helping the farmers in better utilization of land by having more than one crop produced per unit area. Though all intercrops produced higher productivity, the farmers could better use the appropriate population of component crops in intercropping systems in order to maximize yield of both crops as well as total productivity. It is, therefore, important to support intercropping systems with appropriate agronomic practices such as timely irrigation, pest protection and the likes to sustain the cropping system in the countries where labor is not problem for proper management in general even though sometimes sole cropping may became more productive.

INTRODUCTION

Plant diseases need to be managed for maintaining the quality and abundance of food, feed, and fiber produced by growers around the world. Different approaches may be used to prevent, mitigate or control plant diseases. Beyond good agronomic and horticultural practices, growers often rely heavily on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Such inputs to agriculture have contributed significantly to the spectacular improvements in crop productivity and quality over the past 100 years. However, the environmental pollution caused by excessive use and misuse of agrochemicals, as well as fear-mongering by some opponents of pesticides, has led to considerable changes in people’s attitudes towards the use of pesticides in agriculture. Today, there are strict regulations on chemical pesticidal use, and there is political pressure to remove the most hazardous chemicals from the market.

I. General information

1. Common names of trees

• Acacia nilotica – Black babool, Indian gum-Arabic tree
• Acacia auriculiformis – Golden shower
• Adansonia digitata – Baobab, Monkey bread
• Adenanthera pavonina – Red sandal wood, bead tree, red wood
• Ailanthus excelsa – tree of heaven, paradise tree
• Albizia julibrissin – Pink siris, silk tree

2.1 Loose Smut of Wheat

The disease is prevalent in all the wheat growing areas in the world. However, it is a serious problem in humid and sub-humid areas. The incidence of the disease is comparatively more in cooler and humid parts of northern India as compared to the drier and tropical parts of the country. Being a simple interest disease epidemiologically, this is a threat to the cultivation of wheat for seeds. The disease is therefore, dreaded by seed growing agencies who have to treat the seeds with costly chemicals.

Introduction

The intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) which takes account of on historical, psychological, social , physical and economic and political perspectives of climate change in its report, released in November 2014 said that the Working Group I contribution to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) considers new evidence of climate change based on many independent scientific analyses from observations of the climate system, paleoclimate archives, theoretical studies of climate processes and simulations using climate models. Climate change is not controversial as naysayers and some media would convey. After decades of careful observation, collection of data, and tracking of changes in the climate system, there exists a solid, scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is a reality (Michael, 2012). In their report, the NCSE 2015 says that there is substantial scientific agreement about the occurrence, causes, and consequences of climate change. Yet due to the inherent complexity of the topic and the social controversies surrounding it, confusion and doubt often persist. Here, we need to develop the workforce, education, and training for climate-smart Agriculture. The following are some interventions.

Appendices
    
I.    Released Varieties/Hybrids in Aromatic Crops from KAU
     P. Skaria Baby, P.P. Joy, Samuel Mathew, Ancy Joseph and Ragina Joseph 
    
IIa.    Released Varieties of Fruit Crops in India
    T. Radha
    
IIb    Released Varieties of Arid Fruits
    S.K. Sharma
    
III.    Released Varieties of Ornamental Plants
    P.K .Valsala Kumari 
    
IVa.    Released Varieties of Coconut
    P. Maheswarappa
    
IVb.    Release Varieties of Cocoa
    P. Maheswarappa
    
IVc.    Released Varieties of Plantation Crops
    P. Maheswarappa
    
Va    Released Varieties of Spices from Kerala Agricultural University (KAU)
    Asha Sankar 
        
Released Varieties of Spice Crops Through All India Coordinated Research Project on Spices
    K. Nirmal Babu
    
Vb    Released Varieties of Spice Crops Through All India Coordinated Research Project on Spices
    K. Nirmal Babu
    
VI    Released Varieties of Vegetables from KAU
    T.R. Gopalakrishnan
    
VII.    Research and Educational Infrastructure in Horticulture in India
    P.G. Sadhan Kumar and S. Nirmala Devi
    
VIII.    Important Websites in Horticulture
    T. Pradeepkumar 
    
VIIIa.    Horticulture Institutes in India
    T. Pradeepkumar 
    
IX.    Vital Statistics on Horticultural Crops
    National Horticulture Board, Gurgaon, Haryana
    
X.    Nutritional Values of Horticultural Crops
        Indian Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad

Soil fertility is defined as the quality that enables the soil to provide proper nutrient compounds in proper amounts and in proper balance for the growth of specified plants. Soil fertility is also defined as the ability of soil to supply adequately the nutrients normally taken from the soil by plants.

Methods of Analysis

Organic material especially, seeds, grains, fruits and nuts contain mainly three groups of compounds. They are carbohydrates, proteins and fats/oils, mostly in that order. They also contain 3-5% minerals and smaller quantities of vitamins and other minor constituents. Cereal grains contain more of carbohydrates while oilseeds contain more oil. Tree nuts and even oilseeds may contain 30-50% protein while cereal grains contain 5-8% protein. The starch and sugar contents of oilseeds may be less than 10% while the oil content of cereal grains ranges around 5%. The actual content and the composition of these groups of compounds really account for the quality as well as their commercial value.

The composition and quality of grains and other plant products vary with respect to their genetic background, location or the soils under which they are grown, season or the environment, the maturity of the grain/product or its harvest stage and the post harvest processes including storage etc. Crop scientists have in recent years been bringing out made to order or designer seeds, whose quality and composition need to be examined to satisfy the needs of the quality conrol and consumer requirements. Keeping this aspect in view this chapter has been designed.

As this book deals with oilseeds, emphasis has been placed on methods of evaluation relating to thier composition and quality. This chapter deals with methods of oil, protein and sugar analysis. Oil being the major constituent of oilseeds, importance has been given to methods of oil quality evaluation including fatty acid profile. Antinutrients especially aflatoxins, glucosinolates, ricin, oxalate, phytic acid, oligosaccharides, etc. also find a place. Analytical methods of some vitamins and minerals have also been included. Only a few important and most essential procedures relating to oilseed quality have been presented. The analyst can find more details and methods of evaluation of other constituents in standard laboratory analytical manuals.

Orchids are perennial ornamental crop, grows well in shady and humid places in wild habitat. The same growing conditions can be achieved by making special structures known as orchidaria or orchid houses.
Basics for Orchid House Cultivation
The following points should be considered during the construction of orchid houses:-
    ·    Topography of land.
    ·    Climate of region.
    ·    Type of soil and water.
    ·    Accessibility of area, transport and marketing facilities.
    ·    Proper drainage facilities.
    ·    Availability of good quality irrigation water.
    ·    A good infrastructure like availability of electricity.

Introduction

The biggest issue that humanity is currently facing is climate change. due to the increasing use of conventional energy sources. As a result, people all around the world are turning to affordable, clean renewable energy sources. These energy sources include biomass, tidal, solar, and wind energy. All of these energy sources, meanwhile, come with a unique set of challenges (Jeyasubramanian et al., 2021)particulate matter, carbon monoxide, etc. which influence a lot of environmental issues that are hazardous to all living beings including humans. One of the useful methods of using crop residues is in the form of biochar obtained after employing thermo-chemical routes. Apart from the crop residues, the carbon rich contents obtained from forest, animal compost, waste plastics, etc., can be heated in oxygen starved atmosphere, that left char having enriched carbon and trace amount of minerals finds extensive applications in agriculture, especially to make soil more fertile, as a carbon sequestration agent, increases crops yields, etc. This review focuses on the synthetic strategies adopted to obtain biochar, and the numerous applications in various fields. Further, the interactions involved in between the host–guest molecules are explained using computational studies like Density Functional Theory, Artificial Neural Network analysis, Machine Learning methods, and Visual MINTEQ program.

Sustainable agriculture can be defined as a tool of using the natural resources for meeting the present needs without jeopardizing the future potential, increasing per capita productivity without causing degradation of soil and water resources, enhancing profitability without reducing total production and reducing excessive dependence on off farm inputs. Thus the holistic view of sustainability is an approach which is ecologically sound, economically profitable and socially equitable. Theoretically this is an ideal concept and of recent origin. But the real danger to sustainable agriculture stem from the compelling needs of increasing population for food, fuel, fodder on one hand and limited natural resource base of land and water on the other.

Characterisation of Natural Resources

The objective of food security can be met by promoting sustainable agricultural production systems. Increasing agricultural production should not be at the cost of degrading soil and depicting the water bodies. If the basic needs of people are to be met on a sustainable basis, the earth’s natural resource base must be conserved and enhanced. In other words, for food security and sustainable livelihoods, ecological security is necessary. Areas under ecological stress need attention, pressure on natural resources increases with population increase in order to fulfill the demand.

Obesity: A condition characterized by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body. It is a physiological disorder having high body mass index (BMI), which can be expressed as a mathematical formula in which a person’s body weight in kilogram is divided by the square of his or her height in meters.

Objective Methods of quality evaluation: These are based on recognized standard scientific tests to any sample of the product without regard to its previous history. They represent the modern idea in quality control (QC) because the human element has been excluded. This method divided into three groups like physical, chemical and microbiological. The devices are used in this evaluation.

Obligate anaerobes: These microbes do no grow inthe presence of oxygen.

Obligate parasite: Obligate parasites is host specific and grows on living host only and attach limited range of host and are very difficult or impossible to grow on artificial culture/media.

Obligate thermophile: These microorganisms grow at a temperature between 38 80oC.

Oedema / edema: It is an abnormal infiltration and excess accumulation of serous f luid in connective tissue or in a serous cavity. Oedema meanswatery swelling of plant organs or parts. It is also called dropsy.

1. GENERAL FLORICULTURE

Development of Floriculture’ was recommended by Dr. P.P. Trivedi committee.

India ranks 2^nd in flower cultivation next to China.

The production of loose flowers almost tripled between the 8^th Plan and the 11^th Plan.

The annual domestic demand is valued at around 60 billion USD.

About 2,33,000 hectares across the country was used for floriculture, producing 17,29,000 metric tonnes (MT) of loose flowers and 76,732 lakh cut flowers.

India has exported 22,947.23 MT of floriculture products to the world for worth of Rs. 460.75 crores in 2014-15.

The share of exports of dried flowers and plant parts are 45%, flowering plants (22%), fresh foliage (13%), fresh cut flowers (10%), live plants (7%) and bulbs and tubers (3%).

India’s share in global floriculture trade- 0.6%.