eChapters

Deep learning enables automated analysis of agricultural images for crop classification, disease detection, weed identification, yield prediction and soil monitoring. This chapter examines Convolutional Neural Networks, Recurrent Neural Networks and Vision Transformers applied to imagery collected by satellites, drones and ground-based sensors. These models automatically identify patterns and features that conventional methods may overlook. Integration with precision agriculture can improve decision-making, increase crop productivity and reduce resource waste. Challenges include shortages of annotated datasets, limited interpretability and high computational requirements. Transfer learning, data augmentation, edge computing and real-time processing are discussed as approaches for enabling practical deployment in remote and resource-constrained agricultural environments.

Introduction

Plant parasitic nematodes occur wherever plants grow. These nematodes are referred to as plant pathogenic when they cause crop losses by direct injury to roots, stems, leaves and seeds. A large number of plant parasitic nematodes have been found associated with fruit crops in all over India but pathogenisity has not been proved for all. Most of commonly occurring nematodes belong to genera Meloidogyne spp., Pratylenchus spp., Rotylenchulus spp., Hoplolaimus spp., Tylenchulus spp., Xiphinema spp., and Radopholus spp. etc. The nematodes damage the crops not only by feeding on plants but also by interacting with various other organisms like fungi, bacteria and viruses etc. Estimated overall average annual yield loss of the world’s major crops due to damage by plant parasitic nematodes was 12.3%. Estimated annual crop losses in India have been accounted to Rs. 242.1 billion. The crop losses due to nematode pests are not only in the form of reduced plant growth and yield but are also in the marketable quality of the produce.

Sprayers

Sprayer is a machine used to apply liquid chemicals on plants to control pest and diseases. It can also be used to apply herbicides to control weeds and to spray micro nutrients to enhance plant growth. The main functions of a sprayer are

•             Breaking the chemical solution in to fine droplets of effective size.

 •            Distributing the droplets uniformly over the plants.

 •            Applying the chemicals with sufficient pressure for positive reaching the plants

 •            Regulating the amount of liquid applied on plants to avoid excessive application.

Definition

“Biological pesticides”, or “Biopesticides” as the name suggests, are naturally occurring substances that biologically control harmful pests, especially among field crops. These are naturally produced bio chemical materials basically non-toxic to the environment that can be employed in pest control. Biopesticides could mean living organisms (bacteria, virus, and algae), their products (biochemicals produced by them) and also plant byproducts. Biopesticides offer an ecologically effective solution to the harmful effects of synthetic pesticides.

Introduction

The contribution of agrochemicals in improving food security and human health cannot be undermined. They are, however, like a double-edged weapon; their indiscriminate use could result in a serious threat to the sustainability of the agricultural production system and human health. Though their long-term effects on environment and human health are yet to be fully understood, the short-term adverse effects of their indiscriminate use became apparent soon after their invention during the World War II. Many insect pests have developed resistance to chemical pesticides, and a number of beneficial insects that are natural enemies of the pests have disappeared. Realizing these threats, the scientific community has been proactive and developed safer alternatives using flora and fauna as substitutes for chemical pesticides. These alternatives are claimed to be as effective as chemical pesticides. Experimental evidences indicate that these provide effective protection against pests when used in conjunction with other methods of pest control, including chemical pesticides. The strategy is often referred to as Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Since the adoption of IPM as a cardinal principle of plant protection in 1985, India has devised and implemented many IPM programmes encompassing research, extension and education with the objective to reduce the use of chemical pesticides, improve farm profitability, conserve environment and reduce adverse effect of pesticides on human health. Their effect is revealed in considerable reduction in pesticide-use, particularly during 1990s. The purpose of this paper is to provide a perspective on the IPM with emphasis on food security and safety.

Introduction

India is the largest developing economy of the world and about 70 per cent of its population is dependent directly or indirectly on this profession.  To meet the food requirement of the ever-multiplying population of this country, agriculture production has to be maximized by using genetically improved varieties, fertilizers improved implements, seed, and other agronomical technologies. Beside these improvements the agriculture production has remained static for the last decade. For further improvements in agricultural production we have to adopt comprehensive strategies. One of such strategies is the pollination management that is a very vital process of agriculture crop production. Pollination is a process involving reproductive parts of a flower and an external agent in the form of a vector. According to Prof. E.C. Martin, the value of bee pollination of fruits, vegetables and seeds in the United States of America totaled very close to $8 billion in the 1960s; the figure 20 years later is probably close to $20 billion.

Definition

Seed treatment is the process by which seeds are treated with physical, chemical or biological agents to prevent the infection of seedlings and the subsequent development of the crops.

Advantages of Seed Treatments

Increased seed germination.

Ensures uniform seedling emergence.

Protect seeds or seedling from early season diseases and insect pests improving crop emergence and its growth.

Lower seedling mortality.

Improved plant population and thus higher productivity.

Reduces the cost and the potential environmental impact.

Also reduces the probability of chemical residues in harvested grain.

Relatively easy and cheap to apply compared to broadcast sprays.

26.1 Introduction

The green revolution brought dramatic changes in productivity of rice and wheat and the production increased tremendously using high yielding wheat and rice varieties coupled with fertilizers and pesticide use to meet urgent demands of food. The world population is growing rapidly at an alarming rate. It has crossed 7 billion mark and is expected to become between 8.3 and 10.9 billion by 2050 (United States Census Bureau (USCB). India is second largest populous country of the world with 17.4 % of world population. Such an enormous overpopulation will result in extreme pressure on environment, global food supplies and energy resources. The less arable land and fewer renewable and non-renewable resources, the food production has to come from increases in production rather than expansion of cultivable areas.

Since the wide introduction of organochlorines and other synthetics in early 50’s farmers have heavily relied on the chemical pesticides for pest control. Over emphasis on chemical control has caused serious imbalances in the agro-ecosystem. The enormous quantities of chemicals, poisonous to microbial life, that fall on earth gets mixed up well with soil. Some problems like non-target effects of chemicals as well as latrogenic diseases are being experienced. Coupled with these, the increasing awareness of impeding pollution, health hazards and development of resistance have intensified the search for alternative strategies.

In the present investigation, the attempts have been made to test the stability and pest management efficacy of the plant extracts of some Indian medicinal plants, namely, Datura stramonium, Ricinus communis, Vitex trifolia and Nerium indicum. In the earlier chapters detailed methodologies and the results have been elaborated. This chapter embodes the comprehensive inter- and intra-comparative results and discussion on the basis of selected plants, extraction media, pest species and bioassay followed by conclusions.

The hot sterilized water extracts of R. communis were found to be more stable (i.e. 20 days to start the fermentation). In overall study the plant extracts were stable or viable means active for three to four weeks only. In most cases, the activity of cold and hot water extracts was found to be increasing with fermentation however the decrease in the activity of some extract was also observed.

The highest mean anti-fungal activity was reported for R. communis extracts followed by D. stramonium and N. indicum aqueous extracts, whereas no any anti-fungal potency was reflected by V. trifolia against test fungi species. R. communis and N. indicum extracts, the cold water method extraction showed greater positive effects in terms of mean anti-fungal potency as compared to the hot water extracts. The water extraction of D. stramonium was found to be more effective in anti-fungal activity study.

Introduction

Among vertebrate pests such as birds and wild animals, Well-known rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, dogs, gerbils etc., are great importance. Among rodents, rat and mice come under class Mammalia. They are small mammals belonging to order Rodentia and under sub family Murinae in the Family Muridae. Rat and mice cause severe damage to various crops like sugarcane, rice, maize etc. both directly and indirectly by gnawing, spoilage, contamination and hoarding activities. Beside this, it is big problem in house, store godown, warehouse, urban cities and industries. Rats and mice have caused more human suffering and more economic damage than any other vertebrate pest. It is also known to introduce secondary pest like fleas, mites and ticks into premises cause additional problem.  Statisticians estimate that rats and mice destroy 20 per cent of the world’s food supply every year directly by feeding and indirectly through contamination. It has adapted to nearly all human environments. They live in granaries, fields, city sewers, attics, basements, street trees, on top of 30-story buildings, and inside subway tunnels. Rats may be also responsible for the spread of many diseases. Some of the more important diseases associated with rats are plague, murine typhus fever, rat bite fever, salmonella food poisoning, and trichinosis. Adult mice have a small, triangular head with a small nose and little delicate feet as compared to the body. The mouse ears are very large relative to their heads. Rat ears are smaller relative to their heads. Rats have thicker tails than mice.

Insects, belonging to the phyllum-arthropoda, have an open circulatory system. An open circulatory system is that in which blood bathes the organs rather internal organs directly in the haemocoel, the coelom of the insects, which actually is not a true coelom. Almost entire haemocoel of insects is formed from the epineural sinus. The haemocoel is divided into the perineural sinus and perivisceral sinus by the dorsal and ventral diaphragm respectively. The characteristic of insects is the presence of dorsal vessel, which comprises of anterior aorta and a posterior heart and is the only conducting tube present in insects. The blood of insects mostly does not perform gaseous exchange, therefore it does not contain haemoglobin, and blood in insects is called the haemolymph, which is red-coloured. So in order to study the circulatory system of insects, the major focus must be on the dorsal vessel, which has been described as follows, along with its accessory structures.

The respiratory system or tracheal system is involved in gaseous exchange in the insect with the environment. In this system there is a system of internal tubes, the tracheae that directly transport the oxygen to the parts of the body. Therefore, it does not use the circulatory system as the vehicle for gaseous exchange. The trachae open outside through segmental pores called spiracles having some system of closing and opening. Except proturans and some collembolans all insects possess tracheal system for respiration. These insects live in moist habitats where gaseous exchange takes place directly with the environment via the integument.

Exocrine Glands Types: Exocrine glands are generally of ectodermal origin and are widely scattered over the insect. Exocrine glands release their secreations through ducts into the lumen of various internal organs. Example: Accessory reproductive glands, salivary gland, silk gland. Gland is mainly composed of secretory epithelial cells. These are simple unicellular, bicellular, multicellular, complex multicellular (compound glands). These glands are ectodermal in origin and are secreated over the insect body.

Examples. Wax glands, lac glands, cephalic glands, poison glands.

1. Glands pouring (secreting structural materials). Some insects secrete substances that are used in building their houses (beehive) as protecting them (lac or cocoon).

5.1 Introduction
One of the main methods for cost avoidance and prevention is value engineering/ value analysis. “Society of American Value Engineers (SAVE)” states that value Analysis is the systematic use of known procedures which determine the function of a product or service, define a monetary value for the function, and provide the essential function reliably at the lowest overall cost. If these are applied to a new product, it is called value engineering. By analysing the function of any product, material part, component, system, or service, it is possible to find extraneous expenditures connected with them and effectively remove them without compromising the product’s quality, functional dependability, or ability to provide services. The principles and steps of value analysis/ value engineering will supplement the effort of design thinking.
5.2 Symptoms for Introducing Value Analysis (VA)
If one or more of the following symptoms exist, starting a VA programme is expected to yield very positive effects.
i. Sales of the company’s products are declining.
ii. The prices of the products of the company are greater than those of the products of its rivals.

History of Chemical Control, Insecticide Toxicology and Properties

History of pest control probably started when the first person swatted a mosquito or pulled off a tick, the battle for the control of our planet didn’t start until organized agriculture, when pests attacked the plants, and we grew to eat and threatened our very survival.

A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substances used to stop, kill, avoid, or lessen the effects of a pest (insects, mites, nematodes, weeds, rats, etc.). This includes insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, and many other substances used to control pests. Pesticide was defined in different ways at different times and in different places. But pesticide is still generally the same: it is a (mixed) substance that is poisonous and effective on target organisms but safe for non-target organisms and environments.

Chemical control, commonly known as pest control, is the use of chemicals to reduce insect populations. Herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, rodenticides, acaricides, nematodes, and fungicides are all examples of pesticides. Insecticides are a class of chemicals used to combat insect pests. A substance or combination of compounds used to kill, repel, or otherwise prevent insects is called an insecticide. When it comes to controlling pests, insecticides are most powerful tools available for management. They have a wide range of positive effects, including high efficiency, speed of healing, general applicability, adaptability to different settings, adaptability to shifting agronomic and ecological conditions, and low cost. When insect pest numbers approach or surpass the economic threshold, insecticides are the sole viable instrument for emergency action in pest management. The usage of pesticides, a widely used method, can be central to such a system. The use of chemical pesticides will remain pivotal in these initiatives. In many cases, chemical control of pests is the best option available. Some people’s view of pesticide use for pest management as an ecological sin is incorrect. Chemical pesticides are a reliable and useful tool for the biologist, so long as they are used in accordance with good ecological principles.

Farmers still rely heavily on insecticides because of their efficiency, portability, and speedy returns on investment. Although synthetic organic insecticides are highly efficient, their widespread usage has led to toxicity to natural enemies, toxic residues in plants and the environment, insect resistance, and a resurgence in insect populations. Ripper (1956) first time recognized the problem of resurgence in plant protection.

Metcalf (1986) distinguished between two types of resurgence: primary insect resurgence, in which populations of target insects that had been suppressed by insecticide application quickly recover to excessive levels (Fig. 1.A), and secondary insect outbreak, in which non-target species develop into serious insect s after insecticide application (Fig. 1.B).

Primary insect resurgence

Primary insect resurgence occurs when the target insect population increases to at least as high (Hajek, 2004) or higher (Hardin et al., 1995) than in an untreated control or higher than before the treatment (Pedigo and Rice, 2006).

Secondary insect resurgence/ secondary insect outbreak (Type II resurgence)

The phenomenon known as replacement of a primary insect with a secondary insect, or secondary insect outbreak, occurs when the population of a non-target insect, which is harmful to the crop, experiences a surge following the application of a insecticide aimed at controlling the population of the primary insect. A second insect outbreak is also called resurgence. A secondary insect outbreak is the rise of a non-target species after an insecticide has been used.

In the present era, residue analyst is exposed to array of analytical choice and as per International regualtions, presence of pesticide residues in environmental components and food commodities are becoming more stringent.Generally, multiresidue methods are based on GC equipped with selective detection either electron capture detector, nitrogen phosphorous detector, flame ionization detector etc. One most widely applied technique in pesticide residue analysis is HPLC, equipped with different detectors. Another up-datemethod for confirmation is gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GCMS)and HPLC-MS applyingparticlebeam or thermo sprayionisationtechnique. Recently one more analytical technique which has gained ground in the field of pesticide residue analysis, is high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC).The criteria of good analytical technique like simple, rapid, flexible, versatile, inexpensive, easily documented and validated has been the inherent advantage of HPTLC. Strictly speaking, HPTLC is not different in principleor application from conventional TLC, but due to improvements in materials, its effectiveness has also enhanced.The technique has a potential to operate upto femtogramlevel. HPTLC is a sophisticated and automated form of TLC. It is a technique which can generate about 5000 or more theoretical plates. The high performance in TLC is achieved by optimized plate coating materials, by improved sample application techniques, and by developing newmethods for the development of mobile phase. Thus HPTLC is an instrumental approach at different stages of TLC. A flow chart for HPLC principle is shown in Figure 8.1. The principle of separation is based on adsorption and this leads to easyseparationof isomers, includingchiralcompounds.Main difference between HPTLC and TLC is given in Table 8.1

American Ecologist Whittaker (1969) proposed the five kingdom system of classification. In his ‘Five Kingdom System’, he added three more kingdoms in to Linnean model of two kingdom system. These were: Monera, Protista and Fungi. Whittaker succeeded to overcome the difficulties as well as demerits of two, three and four kingdom systems and to represent the living organisms according to the evolutionary relationships among themselves. He also defined the kingdoms by a number of special characteristics such as whether the organisms possessed a true nucleus or not. Whittaker’s five kingdom system of classification is based on (a) mode of nutrition (b) cell structure and complexity (c) phylogenetic relationship (d) body organization and (e) reproduction.

The large branches within the Animal Kingdom evolutionary tree are ‘phyla’ (the singular being ‘phylum’). ‘Animal phyla’ outlines thirty three phyla, although there are still disputes and disagreements concerning how many phyla are needed to classify the less well-known species. The most easily recognised are Porifera, Cnidaria, Arthropoda, Nematoda, Annelida, Mollusca, Platyhelminthes, Echinodermata, and Chordata. Animal phyla each comprise a branch of the evolutionary tree and these branches are always connected to other branches.

Apart from honey, bees also generate several other valuable products— beeswax, propolis, royal jelly, and pollen—all of which offer significant nutritional, therapeutic, and commercial benefits. In natural beekeeping systems, these secondary bee products are collected carefully to maintain ecological balance and avoid disrupting the natural functioning of the hive. Each of these substances plays a crucial role within the colony and finds diverse applications in healthcare, cosmetics, traditional medicine, and small-scale industries. When harvested responsibly and kept free of synthetic additives, they serve as sustainable income sources for beekeepers and contribute to environmental conservation and biodiversity.

HONEY

Among all bee products, honey is the most recognized and widely used from ancient times to the present day. Human cultures have celebrated honey for centuries, embedding it in literature, folklore, and religious symbolism. The earliest known references to honey use involve religious offerings, possibly among the first non-animal sacrifices. It was often presented alongside milk, butter, ghee, oil, or incense.

Natural beekeeping presents a valuable economic opportunity for farmers, rural populations, and aspiring entrepreneurs by blending ecological farming methods with sustainable income generation. This approach emphasizes low-cost, environmentally conscious practices that align with the natural behavior of bees, thereby minimizing production expenses while delivering high-value outputs such as honey, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly, and propolis.

One of its key strengths lies in reduced dependency on costly inputs like synthetic drugs, chemicals, and advanced machinery. By employing traditional hive models, natural pest control methods, and organic feeding practices, operational costs are kept low, making the venture accessible to small and marginal farmers with limited capital resources.

Natural beekeeping yields multiple marketable products beyond honey, enabling producers to diversify their income. Products like beeswax and royal jelly are in demand in premium sectors, both domestically and globally. With multiple harvests across seasons, this diversity ensures consistent revenue and improved economic resilience.

Global consumer trends increasingly favor natural, organic, and chemical-free products due to their health and environmental appeal. As a result, natural honey and related derivatives are gaining traction in wellness, skincare, and gourmet food markets, creating promising opportunities for certified natural beekeepers to access niche segments and export markets.