eChapters

Introduction on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA)

Extreme weather conditions like rainstorms, high wind pressures, high temperatures, flood and drought situations have profound influence on agriculture. Climate and agriculture are strongly interrelated universal processes and thus variations in climate influence agricultural activities (IPCC, 2007). The effects of climate change are seen in form of global warming, unseasonal and excess rainfall, and frequent natural calamities which affects agricultural production. At the same time emission of GHG to the atmosphere is a major source of climate change. The impact of climate change on crop yield, dairy and other livestock production including fishery will be felt in reduced production and consumption. Climate change will effect in additional increase in prices for main agricultural food crops such as rice, wheat, corn and soybeans (IFPRI, 2009).

Need for climate-smart agriculture strategy

Climate change has long-lasting and potentially detrimental consequences on the agriculture sector. Changes in weather events cause perturbations across agricultural ecosystems and have impact on farm productivity. Adopting the climate-smart agriculture approach has thus, become inevitable in order to build resilience in agriculture systems and cope up with climate change. With a view to implementing climate-smart agricultural practices to ensure climate resilience, certain broad strategies have to be adopted. The CSA approach is designed to identify and operationalize sustainable agricultural development within the explicit parameters of climate change (Climate Smart Agriculture Sourcebook.FAO.2013). It integrates the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) by jointly addressing food security and climate challenges.

Introduction

A case study involves a thorough examination of an individual, group, or event, delving into nearly every facet of their life and history to identify patterns and causes of behaviour. This investigative approach finds application across diverse fields such as psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work. The primary objective of a case study is to acquire comprehensive knowledge about a specific individual or group, enabling the generalization of information to a broader audience. However, it is worth noting that case studies often exhibit a high degree of subjectivity, making it challenging at times to extrapolate results to a larger population.

Agriculture and Food Security

Food security refers to a situation when people gain physical and access to enough food to meet the dietary requirements for a healthy life for all times. A household can have food security when all the members lead a hunger free life. It is estimated that nearly 800 million people in the world go to bed hungry every night. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (World Food Summit, 1996). This definition gives rise to four dimensions of food security: availability of food, accessibility (economically and physically), utilization (the way it is used and assimilated by the human body) and stability of these three dimensions.

Energy is a critical component of the economic infrastructure, as it is the primary input required to support economic growth. Economic development and energy use have a close relationship. The higher a country’s per capita energy usage, the more developed it is and vice versa. Human civilization is dependent on several energy sources.

Climatic Factors and Crop Growth

Crop growth depends on internal and external factors. Internal factors are mostly genetic or hereditary factors which include high yielding ability, resistance to lodging, tolerance to adverse conditions such as drought, flood and salinity, tolerance to insect pests and diseases, and grain quality. The external factors include climate, edaphic, biotic, physiographic and socio-economic factors.

Modern agriculture requires certain precise information on pattern of rainfall, temperature, occurrence of drought and flood etc. for formulating required strategy for crop production. It also requires knowledge about agro-climatic conditions of the region for deciding a planned cropping pattern. Therefore climatic classification and delineation of agro-climatic zones would be imperative for a country or state.

Climatic factors like increase in temperature, carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration, moisture, and other factors directly or indirectly affect agriculture, which have been elaborately dealt in previous chapters. Climate change causes weather variability that may result in low production, hike in price of agricultural commodities including food grains, vegetables, fruits, meat, egg and milk. It is now realised that climate resilient agriculture (CRA) will be imperative to reduce the vulnerability of agriculture to the climate change.

Climate-smart Agriculture Practices and Indicators

Considering the three pillars of climate-smart agriculture such as productivity, adaptation and mitigation, different technologies and practices have been evolved.

The CSA practices are grouped under soil and land management, water management, crop management, livestock management, forestry, fishery & aquaculture and energy management. The World Bank Group (2016) has suggested broad indicators of CSA practices (Table 7.1; Chapter 7)

Definitions of Energy

Energy is a key topic in science and technology, as well as in society in general. In terms of energy, a typical definition found in popular literature as well as textbooks is “energy is the ability to do work” or, much more precisely, “energy is the capacity of a system to do work” [Atkins 1990].

Energy is described as the ability to generate change or carry out work, and that work can be separated into numerous easily identifiable tasks: Energy produces light, heat, motion, sound, growth, power and technology etc.

Energy in Agricultural Context (FAO)

Agriculture’s fundamental and foremost function is to produce food and other primary products, so contributing to food and nutritional security. Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) attempts to promote ecologically non-degrading, technically suitable, commercially successful, and socially acceptable development in the agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors. Achieving food security necessitates policies that promote social, cultural, political, and economic stability. Integrating agriculture’s economic, social, and environmental roles can help to attain these objectives.

Agriculture may provide a variety of non-food commodities and services. This can include its application as a viable, long-term source of energy. According to the FAO, agricultural activities and related land use directly contribute to non-agricultural functions such as social, environmental, economic and cultural products and services. They can have major advantages or disadvantages. Research reveals that, in addition to food security, agriculture contributes significantly to attaining sustainability at the local, national and global levels in rural development, energy and the environment. The efficient operation of the market encourages the identification and strengthening of these many functions, as well as the development of new techniques and technologies. Plant and crop-based resources are utilised as raw materials in a wide range of industrial goods, including wood for paper and board production, starches for adhesives, and vegetable oils for paints and resins.

Services for CSA

Under the CSA projects and programmes, the services like supply of inputs and technology transfer through extension services are provided to the farmers. The inputs like seeds of crops are provided by the input dealers at the subsidized rate and seedlings of fruits and vegetables are provided by both private and government agencies to grow under general cultivation and poly-house cultivation technology. Similarly other services like soil testing facilities, issue of soil health cards, construction of micro-irrigation projects and rain harvesting structures are made available to farmers. Under insurance scheme, loanee farmers are supported to pay premium dues for availing crop insurance facilities. Other services like trainings at various levels, demonstrations, exposure visits, exhibitions, kisan melas, field days, monitoring and evaluation of all these activities under these programmes are provided to the farmers with collaboration of extension officers.

Climate and Agriculture

Soil, climate and water are three basic requirements of a crop to be grown in a particular region. Climate affects the temperature trends, seasons, length of the growing season, amount of sunlight and the seasonality of sunlight etc. A change in climate may cause recurrent droughts, floods and weather extremities that would affect the agricultural production, human livelihoods, health and biodiversity. The relationship between agriculture and climate is complex as it is dependent on climate and also plays a contributing role in emission of greenhouse gas (GHG). Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs), per fluorocarbons (PFCs) etc. , which play a significant role in climate change.

Healthcare represents one of the most promising yet sensitive application domains for Large Language Models. LLMs can process extensive medical literature, electronic health records, clinical narratives and other forms of biomedical information to support diagnosis, research and patient care. This chapter explores the growing role of LLMs in healthcare, beginning with their development from general language models toward specialized biomedical and clinical systems. It examines applications in disease diagnosis, clinical decision support, medical documentation, literature analysis, drug discovery and personalized medicine. LLMs can assist with differential diagnosis, symptom extraction, medical question answering, clinical trial matching and interpretation of medical information. In drug discovery, they can analyze scientific publications, patents and clinical evidence to identify potential drug candidates, targets and opportunities for drug repositioning. Personalized medicine applications involve integrating genetic, lifestyle and treatment-response information to support patient-specific therapeutic decisions. At the same time, the chapter emphasizes major concerns involving patient privacy, hallucination, explainability, regulatory compliance and human oversight. The discussion highlights the importance of responsible integration of LLMs with clinical expertise and established healthcare practices

Introduction For sustainability hill agriculture water conservation issues are of great concern. Water is a generally limiting factor for crop production in hills and further water scarcity is arising at alarming rate due to climate change, declining soil productivity and inefficient management factors. Global warming is also putting the serious impact on the intensity, frequency and distribution of the rainfall. Further hill soils are ecologically fragile with undulated steep soils with low water retentive capacity where irrigation is not available. Moreover scope of supplying water by developing new water resources is limited thus under these conditions there is an urgent need for development of recent advanced agrotechniques to conserve and harvest natural water resources and protect the fragile environment of hills.

Project Planning Matrix

• Generally, a project represents a single, focused effort. Programs are collections of projects together that constitute a complete package of work. The program's overall objectives are achieved through the complementarily of the various projects.
• The PPM is a matrix of four columns and four rows providing sixteen squares for a comprehensive description of a project.
• PPM shows both the project's logical structure (the links between the inputs/activities and the objectives to be achieved under certain Assumptions), and its major quantitative data.

Weather and climate have profound influence on agriculture of a region. There are some differences between these two terms. Weather describes the state of the lower atmosphere of a place with respect to temperature, precipitation, wind direction, wind speed, humidity, cloudiness and pressure etc. over a short period of time. The short term variations over minutes to days are indicated as weather of a location. It says whether the atmosphere is hot or cold, rainy or dry, sunny or cloudy, still or cyclonic and so on usually for period of 24 hours. The weather may vary from place to place and from time to time due to difference in temperature, cloudiness, humidity, rain and other events of atmosphere. It may be sunny at one locality, but rainy at another locality.

Principle

β-Glucosidase (BG) plays a major role in the degradation of soil organic matter and plant residues. It catalyzes the hydrolysis of β-d-glucopyranosides, the final, rate-limiting step in the degradation of cellulose, the most abundant polysaccharide providing simple sugars for the soil microbial population. BG has been shown to be sensitive to changes in soil and residue management as well as an early indicator of changes in SOC before these changes are reflected in total or organic C analyses. The method is based on colorimetric determination of the p-nirtrophenol released by β-glucosidase when soil is incubated with buffered PNG solution and toluene.

Introduction 
Artificial intelligence (AI) has undoubtedly had an important influence in the restructuring of higher education by altering traditional teaching techniques and opening the way for long-term growth and innovation. This paradigm shift is distinguished by the usage of sophisticated software algorithms, data mining models, and data analytics into pedagogical and administrative practices. AI technologies have the potential to transform higher education by improving individualized learning experiences, streamlining institutional procedures, and enabling novel research approaches. Universities and colleges that embrace AI technology can not only better prepare students for the problems of tomorrow’s labor market, but also make important contributions to accomplishing sustainable development goals (Lomine, 2024). The inclusion of AI into higher learning is about more than just keeping up with technical breakthroughs; it is about completely altering the educational landscape to satisfy the demands of a digitally native population. Furthermore, the use of AI in this domain not only promises to improve educational outcomes, but it also poses important concerns regarding equity, ethics, and educators’ future role. Artificial intelligence (AI) has undeniably transformed the structure of higher learning, providing a blueprint for long-term progress and innovation in academia. The prospect of AI to revolutionize traditional education techniques and drive long-term growth for future leaders is unsurpassed. Aggarwal, Sharma, & Saxena (2023) proposed that incorporating AI into higher education is critical for educating graduates for the dynamic needs of tomorrow’s labor market as well as also building a more inclusive and forward-thinking academic environment. This paradigm shift toward integrating AI in academia has the capacity to generate a lively and efficient learning ecosystem which suits the different demands of students while also giving real-time feedback to improve academic achievement and retention rates. Furthermore, the application of AI in academic settings can transform research processes by enabling data-driven insights, boosting interdisciplinary partnerships, and hastening the pace of innovation in a variety of disciplines of study.

Natural farming in India is based on core principles that advocate for harmony with nature, self-reliance, and ecological sustainability. More than a farming system, it represents a holistic philosophy that mirrors natural ecosystems in agricultural practices. Inspired by India’s traditional wisdom and promote prominently by Subhash Palekar through Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), it stands as a low-input, environmentally responsible alternative to chemicaldependent agriculture.
No external input is a fundamental principle of this approach. Farmers are encouraged to avoid chemical fertilizers and pesticides, instead utilizing resources available on the farm—such as cow dung, cow urine, compost, and herbal preparations—to maintain soil fertility and manage pests. This closed-loop system reduces reliance on market-purchased inputs and encourages farm-level self-sufficiency.
Soil regeneration is another key tenet, viewing the soil as a living system teeming with beneficial microbes. Techniques such as organic mulching, maintaining soil cover, and applying Jeevamrutha (a mixture made from cow dung, cow urine, jaggery, and pulse flour) enrich the soil microbiome. These practices improve soil structure, moisture retention, and nutrient availability, leading to healthier crops.
Seed treatment in natural farming avoids chemical coatings. Instead, Beejamrutha—a preparation made from cow dung, cow urine, lime, and native soil—is applied to seeds before sowing. This enhances seedling health, protects against disease, and promotes vigorous early growth, rooted in natural protection.
Natural pest management uses plant-based deterrents rather than synthetic chemicals. Preparations like neem oil, garlic extract, and Agniastra (made from cow dung, cow urine, tobacco, and chili) are applied to control pests. These reduce chemical residue in crops and help preserve beneficial insects and overall biodiversity.