eChapters

Biotechnology is defined as a set of tools that uses living organisms or parts of living organisms to make or modify a product, improve plants, trees or animals or develop microorganism for specific uses. Agricultural biotechnology is the term used in crops and livestock improvement through biotechnology tools. Biotechnology encompasses a number of tools and elements of conventional plant breeding techniques, bioinformatics, microbiology, molecular genetics, biochemistry, plant physiology and molecular biology.

Principle

Plasmids requires hosts to replicate, hence it has to be inserted into bacteria. But efficiency of uptake of plasmid DNA by bacteria is low and will not do so without getting degraded. Therefore, to enhance the probability of uptake of the plasmid DNA by bacteria it is necessary to make the bacterial cells “competent” to absorb the plasmid DNA. One of the methods to increase efficiency of cell competence is given below. It should be noted that competent cells are more fragile than normal bacteria. Vortexing the cells, heating the cells above 42ºC or to 42°C for prolonged periods, or exposure of the cells to abusive treatments may kill them

The chapter on completely randomized design (CRD) presents an overview of its theoretical principles, structure, and randomization methods. It includes the mathematical modeling of CRD and the analysis of ANOVA tables. Additionally, the chapter facilitates an understanding of how to analyze CRD and factorial CRD data using R, offering valuable practical insights for research applications.

Completely Randomized Design

Completely Randomized Design is a type of experimental design commonly used in statistical analysis and research. It is applied under specific conditions:

• Homogeneous units: CRD is suitable when the experimental units are consistent and uniform across the study area.

• Adherence to experimental design principles: This design conforms to two principal aspects of experimental design i.e. Randomization and Replication.

• Flexibility in replication: It allows for both equal and unequal replication of treatments within the experimental setup.

• Suitable for controlled environments: CRD is particularly effective for experiments conducted in greenhouses or laboratories, where conditions can be tightly regulated

Introduction
Gene Regulation before delving into gene regulation, it’s essential to understand the concept of gene action. Gene action encompasses the expression of a particular trait or phenotype by a gene. This expression hinges on the synthesis of a specific protein encoded by the gene, followed by the protein’s involvement in a metabolic or biosynthetic pathway leading to the manifestation of the phenotype. The sequence of events in phenotype production may, therefore, be written as follows: DNA → RNA → Protein → Phenotype (Griffiths et al., 2000).
In molecular terms, gene action refers to the production of an RNA transcript from the gene (Lewin, 2004).
Gene Regulation
Gene regulation is the process by which cells control the amount of protein or RNA produced by a gene, either increasing or decreasing its production as needed (Alberts et al., 2014). Different tissues in eukaryotes produce varying sets of proteins and enzymes tailored to their specific requirements.

Composites defined as advanced generation populations maintained by random mating in the material constituted through mixing of equal quantity of seeds of crosses showing less inbreeding depression in F2 over F1. The components of composites inbreds, open-pollinated populations, locally available open-pollinated cultivars, hybrids, advanced generation lines, improved populations. Mixing the seeds of several phenotypically outstanding lines produces a composite variety and encouraging open pollination to produce crosses in all combinations among, the mixed lines. The lines used to produce a composite variety are rarely or not tested for combining ability with each other like as done in case of synthetics where the combining ability of the component lines is invariably tested for GCA. Composite are commercial varieties and are maintained by open - pollination in isolation. While mixing the seeds of various genotypes, care should be taken that the component lines are similar in maturity height, seed size, colour, etc. so that the composite maintained through random mating in isolation manifests a reasonable degree of phenotypic uniformity. The variety is maintained by open pollination. Farmers can use their own seed for 3 to 4 years.

Composting explains the biological decomposition of organic materials and its importance for soil fertility, nutrient recycling, and sustainable farm management. The chapter introduces stages and types of composting, including anaerobic, aerobic, and vermicomposting systems, and discusses physical, chemical, biological, economic, and social benefits. Major methods such as Indore, Coimbatore, Bangalore, NADEP, sugarcane trash composting, fermented mixed compost, and crop-residue composting are presented. Factors affecting decomposition, including carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, shredding, moisture, and temperature, are examined. The chapter concludes with vermicomposting, earthworm roles, materials, preparation, developmental phases, and essential conditions required for effective vermicompost production. with emphasis on practical farm-level management practice systems.

Abstract

Advances in genome sequencing technologies have made it possible to uncover the whole genome sequences of numerous organisms from microbes to higher eukaryotes. Haemophilus influenza, a free living bacterium, was the first complete genome to be sequenced in 1995 by a team headed by J. Craig Venter and Hamilton Smith at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR). Immediately after this, Mycoplasma genitalium, a bacterium responsible for reproductive-tract infections and well-known for having the shortest genome of all free-living organisms was sequenced. Subsequently, TIGR unearthed the genome sequences of many microbes like Methanococcus jannaschii, Archaeoglobus fulgidus, Helicobacter pylori, Borrelia burgdorferi etc. During the years 1996-2000, the complete genome sequences of several model organisms such as bacterium Escherichia coli K-12, baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster etc were published. Since then the complete genome sequences of many other eukaryotes have been released by the genome sequencing community.

Computer vision provides an important foundation for automated plant analysis, monitoring and precision agriculture. This chapter explores computer vision approaches for plant phenotyping, disease detection, growth monitoring and yield prediction. Traditional image-processing methods are considered alongside machine learning and modern deep learning techniques, including convolutional neural networks and vision transformers. Image segmentation, object detection and classification are used to extract meaningful information from plant images and video data. The chapter also examines multispectral and hyperspectral imaging, IoT integration and real-time monitoring. Environmental variability, dataset quality, computational complexity and model generalization are discussed, together with transfer learning, data augmentation, edge computing and future directions

Introduction

Agriculture has played an important role in the global economy in recent years. The further growth of the population is leading to a gradual decrease in the area of the agricultural land and further growing stresses on the farm system. Agricultural food production methods are rising in demand for successful and healthy. Innovative sensoring and motive technologies and advanced information and communications systems and Artificial Intelligence must supplement conventional agricultural management methods to speed up farm productivity growth more accurately, thereby promoting the production of high-quality and high-performance agriculture. Computer vision monitoring systems have become valuable tools in farm operations over the past decades, and their use has increased significantly.

What is Computer Vision?

Computer vision can be characterized as a field of AI for extracting information from digital images. The type of data obtained from an image may be different from recognition, navigational space measurements or applications of increased reality.

The applications of computer vision can also be described. Computer vision builds algorithms that recognize and use the quality of pictures for other purposes.

The crop production is affected by the plant type, climatic condition, soil type and management factors. The production of the plant might be increased by changing plant type and increasing the grain filling period under certain climatic condition where management and soil factors are not limited. There is a direct relationship between the plant type and crop yield because the orientation and number of leaves play an important role in carbon fixation (photosynthesis). Again any variety/cultivar will contribute 21-25 per cent to the total yield of any crop in general. In recent years due to development of photoinsensitive varieties and hybrids which are more fertilizer responsive and high yielding varieties lead to increase overall production in the country.

Plant ideotypes

Refers to plant type in which morphological and physiological characteristics are ideally suited to achieve high production potential and yield reliability. The concept of ideotype was given by Donald in 1968 and he illustrated that there should be minimum competition between the crops and crop must be competent to compete with weeds. Ideotype is defined as a biological model which is expected to perform or behave in a predictable manner within a defined environment. On the basis of environment, Donald and Hamblin (1976) identified two forms of ideotypes that is isolation ideotypes and competition ideotypes. Isolation ideotypes are suitable for mono/single cropping and competition ideotypes are suitable for mixed cultivation.

In sustainable agriculture the word sustain is derived from the Latin word sustinere (sus-from below and tinere-to hold), to keep in existence or maintain, implies long term support or performance. As it pertain to agriculture, sustainable describes farming system that are capable of maintaining their productivity and their usefulness in society indefinitely. Such system should be resource conserving, socially supporting, commercially competitive and environmentally sound. Systems approach is essential for understanding sustainability and it gives us tools to explore the interconnections between farming and other aspects of our environment and sustainability implies at the following,

1. Meeting the basic needs of all people and giving this priority over meeting the greeds of a few
2. Keeping population densities if possible below the carrying capacity of the region
3. Adjusting consumption patterns and the design and management of systems to permit the renewal of renewable resources
4. Conserving, recycling and establishing priorities for the use of non- renewable resources
5. Keeping environmental impact below the level required to allow the systems unaffected to recover and continue to evolve.

Various definitions have been provided for what constitutes sustainable agriculture ranging from the narrow focus on economics or production to the incorporation of culture and ecology. Wendell Berry has simply said A sustainable agriculture does not deplete soils or people.

Cross-pollinated species, or outbreeders, are highly heterozygous, heterogeneous and carry a higher mutation load than the inbreeders. Their mode of reproduction bestows upon them considerable heterozygous balance under panmitic population structure. Inbreeding such species disturbs the natural rhythm and leads to inbreeding depression. It is, therefore, essential that if selfing has created any disturbance in outbreeders, the heterozygous structure be restored. Since artificial selfing and outcrossing can be carried out in such crops at will, all breeding methodologies, even those meant for self-pollinated crops, can be used for their improvement. In fact, allogamous crops have provided opportunities for innovating breeding procedures to achieve the maximum efficiency by combining selfing and outcrossing cycles.

Thus, the classical separation of breeding procedures for self- and cross-pollinated crops has become unnecessary, particularly, for outbreeders which are amenable to selfing. Exploitation of heterosis has been the major objective in cross-pollinated crops and most breeding procedures developed earlier aimed at maximising heterosis. In later years, with better understanding of genetic structure of populations and availability of efficient biometrical methods of estimating genetic parameters, newer procedures of accumulating desirable genes have been developed. The presently available breeding procedures for cross-pollinated crops can be broadly classified under two heads: (1) Hybrid development, and (2) Population improvement. Both these methodologies, though independent, are not mutually exclusive. The steps for operating the two procedures, however, have contrasting requirements. For hybrid development, fixation of genes through cycles of selfing is necessary whereas such fixation is avoided while developing populations. As can be seen from the scheme given below, in both cases the homozygosity attained through initial selfing is converted to heterozygosity at the end of breeding programme. Irrespective of whether hybrids, synthetics or composites are being developed, great emphasis is placed on the attainment of homogeneity in the end products.

Man-directed evolution of distinct types and cultivars (cultivated populations) of self-fertilised crops had their beginning about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. As a breeding system, self-fertilisation favoured constancy and fitness (Stebbins, 1950) of the genotypes to the immediate environment. This provided an alternative to the slash and burn migrant agriculture of the Neolithic farmers (7,000-6,000 B.C.) and to stabilisation of production.

Manu Smriti (700–500 B.C.) proclaimed Subeejam Sukshetre Jayate Sampadyate meaning that good seed in a good field yields abundant produce. The knowledge that good seed is essential for a good harvest, led to conscious efforts for selecting types which provided a dependable source of food. Besides their utility as food, choice of plants and their seeds as progenitors of the next generation depended on personal fancy, observation and experience. As farmers learnt their crop plants better, they sorted them out into similar types (species). While migrating from the centres of origin they carried seeds of mixed populations.

Self-pollinated cereal crops of barley, wheat, oats and important grain legumes such as lentil, peas and chickpea spread from the Near East Centre, first to far and remote areas of Asia, Europe and Africa; and subsequently in comparatively recent times, to the Americas and Australia. In new environments, the introduced mixed populations diversified into well adapted identities of land races. These land races continued to be the main basis of cereal production till early 1900. Improvement in crop plants made by some early civilisations was mainly through introduction and mass selection, based on the natural tendency of preserving the seeds of preferred colour and size from vigorous, healthy and more productive plants.

It was only after the rediscovery of Mendel’s laws in 1900 that breeding procedures based on the knowledge of the genetic principles and the inheritance pattern of different characteristics were developed. This permitted the improvement of crops with objectivity and predictability.

Introduction

Breeders expect a new variety to show high performance for yield and its contributing characters along with other physiological and nutritional traits. A variety is said to be superior not only for its higher economic yield, but also for its consistent performance over a wide range of environmental conditions. But the performance of a particular variety is the resultant of its genetic constitution and the environment in which it has been grown. Particular variety may not exhibit same phenotypic performance under different environments, or different varieties may perform differently to a specific environment.

The basic cause of differences in the stability of different genotypes is the interaction effect of genotype and environment, known as genotype × environment (G × E) interaction (GEI). The term environment refers to the uncontrolled external conditions that affect expression of genes of an individual genotype such as the annual rainfall, dry spells, soil fertility gradients, waterlogging, depth and texture of soil, and photoperiod and incidence of disease or pests. However, prediction of GEI is seldom possible with available and known factors. Therefore, the environmental factors can be categorized as predictable and unpredictable environmental factors (Table 1).

Introduction
Understanding the concepts of technology transfer, licensing, and commercialization is crucial as it plays an important role in understanding how scientific discoveries leads to generation of new technologies further making them the impactful solutions that benefit industries and society. In the context of Indian HEIs, this especially important because a large volume of impactful research often remains underutilized due to limited commercialization channels. This chapter explains the terminology, essential components of technology transfer, outlines its significance for the innovation ecosystem. It also outlines the evolution of India’s technology transfer ecosystem, and emphasizes while understanding its potential to boost India’s economy, encourage entrepreneurship, and strengthen global competitiveness. From initial idea to a market-ready product is complex and multiphased process. The stepwise process is shown in Figure 1. It highlights a structured pathway consisting of five core phases: Idea/Concept, Technology development, Intellectual Property (IP) rights, Technology transfer, and Technology commercialisation.
Phase 1: Idea/Concept stage
This process of technology transfer starts with the Idea/Concept phase, where an invention is created. Each phase plays an important role in transforming raw scientific knowledge into innovative solutions that benefit society and generate economic value. In this phase breakthrough ideas emerge, within labs. Researchers explore and develop initial proof-of-concept or prototypes to validate their ideas. At this stage, the focus is primarily on knowledge creation rather than commercialization. This pathway of technology transition is summarized in Figure 1.

18.1 Introduction

Nano – Science & Technology is design, fabrication and application of nanostructures or nanomaterials, and the fundamental understanding of the relationships between physical properties or phenomena and material dimensions at nano meter scales.

2.1 Introduction

The word Nanotechnology has originated from a Greek word which means “dwarf” and nanometer is one billionth of a meter (1 nm = 10^-9 meter). The nano-scale is not just another step toward miniaturization but a qualitatively new scale. The new behiviour of matter at nano-scale is dominated by quantum mechanics, material confinement, large interfacial volume fraction and other unique properties, phenomenon and processes. At nano-scale, physics, chemistry and biology converge towards the same principles and tools. Nanotechnology cannot be considered as a discipline in science or technology but it is domain in science and technology. Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary area, any scientist, engineer, medical doctor can do research on nanotechnology. Presently, it is more of a science and less of a technology because of a lack of proper tools for studying the properties of nano-material. There is an immediate need to convert this science into technology and get out of this transition stage.

9.1 Introduction

According to FAO guideline, “Conservation Agriculture (CA) is an approach to managing agricultural ecosystems for enhanced and sustained productivity, improved returns, and food security while preserving and enhancing the resource base and the environment.”

The terms “conservation agriculture” (CA) and “resource-conserving technologies” (RCTs) are not synonyms, but sometimes both words are used for a similar meaning. Therefore, the practices which improve resource or input-use efficiency are termed as RCTs. RCT is a wider term than CA which is used for nitrogen-efficient varieties; fuel-, money-, and time-efficient techniques; and improvement in plot-level water productivity including CA.

Complementary DNA (cDNA) is a double stranded DNA which is an exact copy of the mRNA, i.e. it consists of group of molecules possessing the information contained in various mRNAs but with termini equivalent to or related to those produced by restriction endonucleases. The use of cDNA is an absolute prerequisite for the expression of eukaryotic proteins in bacteria.

Exchange of genetic material rarely occurs between unreleated organisms and even similar species may not exchange chromosomal genes. A certain degree of DNA sequence homology is a prerequisite for genetic recombination in vivo. However, recombination between DNA molecules in vitro is not subject to such taxonomic restrictions.