eChapters

7.1 Introduction
Valorization in simple terms means to increase the value of a product, in economics it is usually through government and administrative actions. In the concept of waste management, it is defined as the process of reutilizing or making a new product of value from waste sources. Several kinds of wastes can be transformed into materials and energy of value, one such example is agricultural wastes. These agricultural wastes are eligible to be a base for manufacturing refined commodity (Capanoglu, Nemli and Tomas-Barberan, 2022) such as chemicals, adsorbents, pharmaceutical products, acids, chitosan, certain type of wax esters, pigments etc. or can be used in several industrial or domestic processes as an energy source, most commonly the production of bioethanol. Valorization greatly contributes to circular economy as materials are continuously renewed and reused, minimizing the need for virgin resources. By transforming agricultural wastes into value – added products, valorization helps to close the loop, ensuring that each by – product is put to use in an efficient, affordable and green way, thereby reducing the dependance on conventional waste management techniques such as landfills and incineration. Moreover, valorization has other benefits, including improved public health, development of newer industries in the material recovery and processing and waste management sector. It can also bring about social awareness about sustainable practices, fostering responsible consumption and waste disposal behaviors.
7.2 Types of Agricultural Wastes
Generally, agricultural wastes are organic. The most common types of agricultural wastes are biomass from rotten produce, crops, livestock carcasses, dead leaves, droppings from livestock and straws. These organic wastes have vast potential in being converted to value – added products through various methods without much additional treatment. Inorganic wastes such as heavy metals like Pb, Cu, Hg and Ba are also found in agricultural runoff containing pesticides, paints etc. Figure 7.1 (Omojola Awogbemi et al. 2022) provides various examples of agricultural wastes that are commonly used in the production of materials and energy.

Abstract

This paper is the result of strong belief that if earth observation and geospatial techniques could be applied to a village to plan its natural resources in sustainable manner, the potential of this technique for common man is harnessed maximum. So analysis of one village natural environment, predicting its impact on humans, identifying certain possible inhabitable conditions due to existing nature & suggesting ways to utilize these conditions for sustainable human's and nature's existence  is the motive behind this work.

The history of evolution reveals that life on Earth has gradually gone enriching itself by adding more and more varieties to it. A variety of organisms as of today exhilaratingly blossoms in the biosphere. The organisms are divided into three broad categories based on their distinctive characteristics, viz. plants, animals, and microorganisms. The other broad categories all the organisms on Earth are placed in are the five kingdoms, viz. Protista, Monera, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. These kingdoms encompass living organisms based on their cell type (prokaryotic or eukaryotic), cell number (unicellular or multicellular), genetic recombination type (binary fission, asexual or sexual type), or feeding behavior or mode of nourishment (autotrophic or heterotrophic).

Soil supports diverse arthropod communities, including insects, mites, springtails, spiders, millipedes and centipedes. These organisms contribute to decomposition, nutrient cycling, soil formation, microbial regulation and food-web stability. Their activities improve soil fertility, structure and overall ecosystem functioning. However, soil arthropods are highly responsive to temperature, moisture, vegetation and other environmental factors. Global warming, altered rainfall, drought and changes in soil properties can modify their diversity, abundance, distribution and ecological interactions. Despite their importance, climate-change effects on soil arthropods remain comparatively understudied. This chapter examines their ecological roles, relationships with soil properties and responses to changing climatic conditions in agricultural ecosystems.

A flood occurs when water exceeds the carrying capacity of a river, stream, drain, gully, or another natural or artificial channel and spreads over adjoining land. Its severity depends on water volume, depth, velocity, duration, timing, and the vulnerability of affected communities. Prolonged inundation can severely damage crops, property, infrastructure, water supplies, and human and animal life. Night-time floods may be particularly dangerous because warnings and evacuation become difficult. This chapter introduces flood occurrence and mechanisms, India’s and the world’s flood history, flood-prone regions, flood types and causes, major consequences, and the responsibilities of Indian flood-control and forecasting agencies.

This chapter introduces the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, and artificial intelligence (AI) for modern forest monitoring and management. It explains how remote sensing provides spatially continuous information, GIS functions as a spatial database and decision-support environment, and AI and machine learning enable prediction and pattern recognition. Applications include forest inventory, carbon estimation, biodiversity assessment, forest-fire detection, insect monitoring, and disturbance mapping. The chapter also examines GeoAI, smart forestry, emerging technologies, data challenges, and future opportunities such as cloud-based geospatial platforms and explainable AI.

There are various weather hazards that affect agricultural productions. These hazards affect crops and agricultural productivity negatively if they are not checked. Weather hazards include cyclones, droughts, floods, hailstorms, heatwaves and cold-waves. The hazard is distinguished from an extreme event and a disaster. An extreme event is simply an unusual event; it does not necessarily cause harm. A disaster is an event that does cause harm in significant amounts. Weather hazards are often called as natural hazards. The natural hazards become natural disasters when people’s lives and livelihoods are destroyed. Hydrologic hazards are the result of either excess or a severe lack of water, i.e., flood or drought. By issuing accurate forecasts and warnings in a form that is readily understood and by educating people about how to prepare against such hazards, before they become disasters, lives and property can be protected.

DROUGHT

Drought is a relative term used with reference to deficiency of rainfall when compared to normal rainfall of a given location. However, drought cannot be defined in terms of amount of rainfall or number of days without rain. Since ancient times droughts have had far-reaching effects on humankind by causing the failure of crops, decreasing natural vegetation, and depleting water supplies. Drought is different from other hazards; in that it develops slowly. It is a hazard that requires many months to emerge and that may persist for many months or years thereafter. This type of hazard is known as a ‘creeping’ hazard. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation.

The climate system is the highly complex system consisting of five major components; the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the land surface and the biosphere, and the interactions among them. The climate system evolves in time under the influence of its own internal dynamics and because of external forcings such as volcanic eruptions, solar variations and human-induced forcings such as the changing composition of the atmosphere and land-use.

The term ‘climate variability’ is often used to denote deviations of climatic statistics over a given period of time (e.g., a month, season or year) from the long-term statistics relating to the corresponding calendar period. In this sense, climate variability is measured by those deviations, which are usually termed anomalies.

‘Climate change’ refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or due to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. The United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines ‘climate change’ as ‘a change of climate behaviour which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods’. The UNFCCC thus makes a distinction between ‘climate change’ attributable to human activities altering the atmospheric composition, and ‘climate variability’ attributable to natural causes. Climate change is a long-term shift in weather conditions measured by changes in temperature, precipitation, wind, snow cover, and other indicators.

A key difference between climate variability and change is in persistence of ‘anomalous’ conditions. In other words, events that are used to be rare occur more frequently, or vice versa. Occasionally, an event or sequence of events occurs that has never been recorded before, such as the exceptional tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 or hurricane season in the Atlantic in 2005. Yet even that could be a part of natural climate variability. If such a season does not recur within the next 30 years, by looking back it could be called as an exceptional year, but not a ‘climate change’. Only a persistent series of unusual events taken in the context of regional climate parameters can suggest that a potential change in climate has occurred.

Seepage is the movement of water through the soil body and foundation of a hydraulic structure. In an earthen dam, uncontrolled seepage may produce excessive water loss, high pore-water pressure, slope instability, internal erosion, piping, or complete structural failure. Seepage analysis therefore determines the quantity and path of water movement and helps engineers design filters, drains, impervious cores, cut-offs, and other protective components. This chapter explains the objectives and importance of seepage analysis, Darcy’s law, permeability, seepage velocity, phreatic lines, flow nets, equipotential lines, and flow channels. It also examines seepage forces, piping conditions, exit gradients, and methods for improving dam safety.

1.1 Water and its Importance

Water has played a crucial role in sustainace of lives of all living beings including animals, plants and human beings in this earth since time immemorial. It is there since the creation of the nature and will probably remain till the destruction of the nature. It is used in multifarious uses including domestic, industrial, agricultural, recreational and many other uses. It occurs in the nature in practically three forms i.e. solid, liquid and gaseous forms. All the three forms are important to living beings; but the liquid form of water is more beneficial. The weight of the water helps in running hydroelectric turbines, the density of water helps in floating the ships, the steam energy produced by heating the water helps to run the locomotives and thus is beneficial in many ways. It is considered as the most important resource of the society. It has become part and partial in our life so that we cannot live without water. That is why water is called as life.

Abstract

Ongoing rise in human population and affluence, and socioeconomic imperatives continue to demand more efficient and productive use of global finite resources. This is particularly true with water which society has to share between its domestic, industrial, agricultural, environmental and recreational purposes. With greater concern for nature and environment, and the socioeconomic development more water must be allocated to non-agricultural uses. Increasing crop water productivity (WP) is a key response option conserves water, energy and soil while satisfying society’s increasing demand for crops for agricultural products. Improvements to crop WP help to meet rising demands for food from a growing, wealthier, and increasingly urbanized population, when at the same time there are pressures to reallocate water from agriculture to cities and to make more water available for environmental uses contribute to the urgency for achieving gains in agricultural water management. The papers in addition to the rationale and basic concept of crop WP, explore the techniques for crop WP increases.

Saffir-Simpson Scale : A scale relating a hurricane’s central pressure and winds to the possible damage it is capable of inflicting.
 
Sand Storm : An ensemble of particles of dust or sand energetically lifted to great heights by a strong and turbulent wind.
 
Santa Ana Wind : A warm, dry wind that blows into southern California from the east off the elevated desert plateau. Its warmth is derived from compressional heating.
 
Satellite Imagery : Images formed from data collected by a weather satellite that reveal visual information on the nature of the atmosphere such as the flow of water vapour, the development and movement of weather systems, or the distribution of the temperatures of cloud tops or the earth’s surface.

Saturated Adiabat : Any statistically valid thermodynamic diagram on a graph related to adiabatic change under saturated conditions of an air parcel. 

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolour (L.) Moench) is one of the most nutritional and fifth most important cereal crop after maize, wheat, rice and barley as well as a major dietary staple food crop of more than 500 million people in various countries (Ashok Kumar et al., 2011). It is considered as the “King of Millets” that extensively grown in Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT). As a coarse grain, it is used not only for human food, but also for fodder and feed for animals, and building material etc. Its grain is used to make bread, biscuits, sugar, starch, syrups, and alcohol, beer and malt products. It is a good source of energy, protein, vitamin, minerals, and trace elements. Sorghum cultivation in India probably started in the first millennium BC (Dogget, 1988). In India, sorghum is commonly known as jowar and accounts 14% of total world’s sorghum cultivated area and 8% production. India stands first in area of cultivation and second major producer until the end of 20th century. Currently (2012-16). India stands second in cultivated area after Sudan and fourth in production after USA, Nigeria and Mexico. It is the fifth major cereal crop in India after rice, wheat, maize, and pearl millet (bajra), and accounts 6% of total cereal cultivated area and 3% of total cereal production (DES, 2016). Sorghum is cultivated in India majorly during kharif (rainy) season as a rainfed crop and in rabi (post-rainy) season under residual soil moisture/limited-irrigated conditions. Sorghum is gaining importance along the coastal belt of Andhra Pradesh as rice fallows during rabi season in place of maize due to water scarcity in recent years. Maize requires 4 to 6 irrigations while 2 to 3 irrigations in case of sorghum during the crop season for potential yields under field conditions. In this chapter,a glimpse of sorghum growing regions in India, interrelationship between climatic changes and yield of sorghum and adaptation strategies to sustain sorghum productivity in India during future climatic periods are discussed in detail.

The concept of climate-resilient agriculture encompasses a range of approaches, including climate-smart agriculture, conservation agriculture, and agroforestry. These approaches recognize that agricultural development and growth are inextricably linked to climate change, and that farmers, policymakers, and other stakeholders must work together to promote climate-resilient agriculture practices. The dynamics of development and growth engineering in the context of climate-resilient agriculture are complex and multifaceted. They involve understanding the interactions between climate change, agricultural productivity, and rural livelihoods, as well as the role of institutions, policies, and technologies in promoting climate-resilient agriculture practices. Several driving factors are influencing the dynamic development of climate-resilient agriculture (Fig. 7.1). These include:
Increased awareness of climate change impacts on agriculture, leading to growing demand for climate-resilient agriculture practices.
• Advances in climate information and early warning systems, enabling farmers and policymakers to make more informed decisions.
• Growing recognition of the importance of soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem services in promoting climate-resilient agriculture.
• Increased investment in climate-resilient agriculture research and development, leading to the development of new technologies and practices.
• Effective governance for growth is critical for promoting climate-resilient agriculture. This requires:
• Strong institutions and policies that support climate-resilient agriculture, including laws, regulations, and incentives.
• Inclusive coordination and collaboration among stakeholders, including farmers, researchers, policymakers, and private sector actors.
• Investment in climate information and early warning systems, as well as climate-resilient agriculture research and development.
• Support for capacity building and extension services, enabling farmers to access and adopt climate-resilient agriculture practices.
• Agricultural insurance and risk management mechanisms, enabling farmers to manage climate-related risks and uncertainties. By understanding the driving factors and governance requirements for climate-resilient agriculture, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners can work together to promote dynamic development and growth in the agricultural sector, enhancing food security, sustainability, and climate resilience.

10.1 General

The term “biomass” generally refers to renewable organic matter generated by plants through photosynthesis. Materials having organic combustible matter is also referred under biomass.

Biomass is an important fuel source in our overall energy scenario. Biomass is produced through chemical storage of solar energy in plants and other organic matter as a result of photosynthesis. During this process conversion of solar energy in sugar and starch, which are energy rich compounds takes place. The chemical reaction of photosynthesis can be written as:

13.1 Introduction

Winds are the motion of air around the earth. This movement in air is caused by the uneven heating of the planet’s surface by the sun. The idea of using wind as a form of power is not new. The traditional applications of wind were primarily as sources of kinetic energy for rural, agricultural and a limited number of industrial uses such as pumping water and grinding grain.

Presently wind energy can be used for two major applications, such as wind mills for pumping water for drinking as well as for irrigation purposes and second application is as aero-generator for electricity generation for domestic and industrial uses. In addition to this, presently wind energy battery charger are also available, which can store energy for lights, radio communication, hospital equipment and to power various emergency related equipment.

The wind energy has an enormous resource, but the problems of utilizing the winds are many and varied. Wind energy is very diffuse in nature and local topographical features significantly alter the prevailing winds thus leading to the extremely site specific nature of wind energy.

Scientirsts have estimated that as much as 10 per cent of >the world’s electricity could be provided by wind generators by the middle of 21 century. India has estimated wind power potential of 45,000 MW. India now, ranks fourth in the world in wind power generation.

The world’s largest wind farms are in California, where wind turbines can generate power upto about 1120 MW. The first wind mill used as source of electric power was built in Denmark in 1890. Presently in India about 2382 MW of electricity is being produced through wind energy.

A disaster is any event natural or manmade which creates an intense negative impact on people goods and services and or the environment and exceeds the affected community internal capability to respond prompting the need to seek outside assistance. In other words a disaster is a serious disturbance of a community or society interfere human resources losses and impacts on economically and environmentally or disaster means simply an event has unfortunate consequences on only on human but also on whole environment. Disaster can be two types’ Natural disaster and manmade disaster.

Abstract

India has diversified agro-climatic conditions with significant variability in climatic factors viz, rainfall pattern, temperature, humidity, sunshine hours and wind speed etc. A no of fruit crops and vegetable crops are grown in India with significant differences in climatic requirements for sustainable growth and production of these crops. Attempt has also been made to have off season production of horticultural crops. Weather variability could also play a pivotal role in disease and pest incidence. So, forecasting of yield along with disease pest incidence should be given top priority to save the crop from weather vagaries and increase the crop productivity.

The research setting provides specific details about the location where a study is conducted. This study area typically encompasses a particular geographical region, such as a state, district, block, or gram panchayat, chosen according to the research requirements. The researcher must have a thorough understanding of the locality, including its communication methods, in order to effectively access all parts of the region for data collection.

In social science research, a clear comprehension of the characteristics, attitudes, and behaviours of the individuals within the study area is essential. Without this understanding, accurately conceptualizing, perceiving, and interpreting data becomes challenging. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the implications and behavioural intricacies of the local people representing a broader community in the referenced study area, researchers must have a solid grasp of these factors. Therefore, this chapter critically analyses the socio-demographic background of the residents in a rural setting.

The term “research setting” denotes the context in which research inputs and elements are absorbed, interacted with, and mutually contribute to the system’s overall performance.

The research setting is crucial because it shapes and influences the interactions of various factors and components. Therefore, conducting a study on how farmers perceive persuasive issues and other topics requires a local context that takes into account the unique natural environment, demographics, crop ecology, institutional framework, and socio-cultural factors. For example, when writing a paper about the social behaviour of chimpanzees, it is important to include details about the research setting. This may include information such as where the chimpanzees were studied (in the wild or in captivity), the number of chimpanzees that were observed, whether they were part of the same social group, the geographic location, the time of the study, the season/weather conditions, the availability of resources such as food, water, and shelter, and any environmental factors that were present.

Imagine the air around us. Even though we can’t see it, air has weight. Atmospheric pressure is essentially the force exerted by the weight of the air molecules above a particular point on the Earth’s surface.
Think of it like this: Imagine you’re at the bottom of a swimming pool. The water above presses you down, and you feel that pressure. Similarly, the atmosphere, a giant ocean of air, has layers of air molecules, and their weight presses down on everything below, including us.
• Atmospheric pressure is defined as the force per unit area exerted by the weight of the air column extending from the surface of the earth ,to the top of the atmosphere above that area
• It can be explain in simple terms like:
• Air has weight: Just like water or a pile of books, the air surrounding the Earth has mass, and thus, weight due to gravity.
• Weight creates pressure: This weight of the air presses down on the surface. The more air there is above a certain point, the greater the pressure.
• Like a stack: Imagine a stack of blankets. The blanket at the bottom has to support the weight of all the blankets above it, so it experiences more pressure. Similarly, the air at lower altitudes has the weight of all the air above pressing down on it.