eChapters

Daily Maximum Temperature : As per the IMD guidelines, the maximum temperature recorded in a 24 hour period at any given place or location.

Daily Mean Temperature : The average of the values observed during a day (at any regular intervals or maximum and minimum) of temperature.

Daily Minimum Temperature : As per the IMD guidelines, the minimum temperature recorded in a 24 hour period at any given place or location.

Daily Range of Temperature : The range of temperature (between maximum and minimum) recorded as per IMD guidelines in 24 hour period.

Earthquake : A sudden, transient motion or trembling of the earth’s crust, resulting from the waves in the earth caused by faulting of the rocks or by volcanic activity.
    
Easterlies : Usually applied to the broad patterns of persistent winds with an easterly component, such as the easterly trade winds.

Easterly Wave : A wave like disturbance, of the tropospheric easterlies of low latitude. These are synoptic scale and occur in the region of intertropical convergence zone.

Ecoclimate : Climate under crop canopy is called eco-climate. 

Edaphic : A term pertaining to the influence or relationship of soil or other similar media to plant growth in contrast to atmospheric influences. 

Introduction

Disaster is defined as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses, which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources (ISDR 2002).

Disaster in Global context - The impact of natural disasters in terms of human and economic losses has risen in recent years, society in general has become more vulnerable to natural disasters. Those usually most affected by natural and other disasters are the poor and socially disadvantaged groups in developing countries as they are least equipped to cope with them (IFRC 2001).

Fahrenheit Temperature Scale : A temperature scale having freezing point of water as 32 degrees and the boiling point equal to 212 degrees at standard atmospheric pressure. 
    Degree F = (Degree C x 1.8) + 32
    Degree C = (Degree F - 32)/1.8

Fair Weather : Fine sky. Appearance of cirrus or cumulus cover is in fair amount but not covering the sky totally.

Fetch : The distance over which a wind of nearly constant direction has blown, usually over a consistent surface such as water or a forest or a field. Most often the fetch is applied to a distance over water and used to determine the height of wind-generated waves.
 
Fine Weather : A blue and cloudless sky. Even if a few cirrus clouds are noticed, they do not express any vertical development.

Soil testing kit is developed to determine the available nutrient status of soil by rapid test methods. With this system of soil testing, a farmer can test his own soil as often and, in as many places as he feels necessary, and after gauging the need of his soil, he can apply the fertilizers as required. The present mode of soil testing in laboratories usually takes few days and sometime weeks and the farmers may have to travel long distances to submit the soil sample.

Haboob : Sudanese name for duststorm or sandstorm with strong winds that carry small particles of dirt or sand into the air, particularly severe in areas of drought.
 
Habitat : A place where a plant or a community of plants or a crop is existing.

Hadley Cell : A mean thermally driven atmospheric circulation in which warm air rises and flows away from the equator at upper level and descends at the tropics. Wind moves from the tropics back to equator poleward. In many cases this term is also referred to as ‘Hadley circulation’.

Hail : Solid precipitation in the form of balls or pieces if ice (hailstones) with diameter ranging from 5 mm to 50 mm or even more. 
Hailstorm : A storm, often too long and severe, consisting largely of hail or frozen rain drops ranging in diameter from 5 mm to 10 mm or more. 

Lake Effect : The effect of any lake in modifying the weather and climate along its shore and inland which depends on the size of the lake. In some areas such as the North American Great Lakes, lake effect refers to snowfall generated by the lake on the downwind shore.

Lake Effect Snowfall : Snowfalls along the lee shore of a lake or downwind some distance from the shore caused by the modification of cold, subfreezing air by the relatively warmer lake water. The intensity of the lake-effect snowfall depends upon several factors : the temperature contrast between the lake surface and the air passing over it, the over-water distance the air has traversed (the fetch), and the regional weather situation. 

It has been repeatedly proving that Science& Technology that is close and in harmony with nature is proving winner in the long run. If the past 60 years led to the Green Revolution in agriculture which often became Greed Revolution, the next 60 year should be the emergence of love for nature, diversity and Sustainable Green Revolution. The two goals – Sustainability and Productivity are inter-related.

It is also said that the main difference between the past and today is that our problems are truly global. We are also aware that globally and nationally the rich-poor divide is growing and though world produces enough food, nearly 800 million people remain food insecure. Among 8 millennium goals, eradication of poverty and hunger and environmental sustainability are perhaps the most prominent and complimentary.

Higher Farm Production with Lower Input Cost

There is a great need to reduce the input costs and at the same time improve the farm productivity in a sustainable manner. A model has been worked out based on a number of field demonstration studies in different parts of India, Africa and Far Eastern countries. A model in which input cost can be reduced by nearly 20 percent and at the same time the crop production can be enhanced upto 20 percent is possible and can be a boon to farmers in most parts of the world. This is the model, which can be easily adopted in an evolutionary way. As suggested by Jonathan Foley (BOX – 1), use of high-tech, precision farming systems, as well as approaches borrows from organic farming, we can boost farm productivity substantially.

Abstract

Cultivated cucurbitaceous plants viz., pumpkin, Cucurbita moschata Duch ex Poir.; karingada, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.); ridge gourd, Luffa acutangula Roxb.; sponge gourd, Luffa cylindrica Roemer and cucumber, Cucumis sativus (L.) and wild cucurbitaceous plants viz., little gourd, Coccinia grandis (L.); kan kareli, Momordica charantia (L.); Gothamada, Cucumis callosus (Rott.) Cogr.; tutar vela, Luffa acutangula (L.); tumada, Citrullus colocynthis (L.); kankoda, Momordica dioica Roxb. and ankhfooti, Trichosanthes bracteata (Lam.) were recorded as hosts of fruit flies in Banaskantha district of north Gujarat. Melon fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae and Ethiopian fruit fly, Dacus ciliatus were the major fruit fly species infesting these cucurbitaceous plant. The relative abundance of both the species were almost the same in cultivated hosts whereas, D. ciliatus was more abundant in wild hosts.

We let you know that the type of people in a given region is closely linked to the kind of resources found in the concerned region; and which are necessary for human beings to survive.

In fact, more than 100 countries possess arid lands, where more than 40% of the global population lives. The soils of these regions present too much fragility and they are too degraded that they can’t allow people to survive.

Let’s emphasize that in Africa, two third of the total area are arid zones. Thus, for Africans, the type of their struggle for adaptation to the context of their land, illustrates their ingenious capacity to model their hostile surroundings and to leave marks of their cultures all over prehistory and history.

Social organizations in those arid areas are closely linked to modes of exploitation and valuation of resources (water and land). However, human productions in those areas are doubly menaced; on one side by the action of humans who exploit resources for their immediate needs, and on the other side, by climate adverse effects during long periods of drought. It means that climate change and violent meteorological phenomenon worsen circumstances. That leads to environmental degradation and biodiversity reduction; alarming deterioration of vital conditions; and intensification of poverty, both in rural and urban areas; particularly among women and young. Consequently, there are non durable (viable) agricultural practices, overexploitation, overgrazing, excessive and illegal forestry exploitation; destruction of forests and bushes by non-controlled fires, pillages and conflicts with weapons; reduction of vegetation, due to the scarcity of rain; of water in general and menaces of heaps of sands.

"Where is your Dhoti, Dr. Mehta ?” Dr. Varghese Kurien surprised me as I entered his office at IRMA (Institute of Rural Management Anand). That was April 2000, soon after I had taken over as the Vice Chancellor of the erstwhile Gujarat Agricultural University (GAU) and had decided to call on him during my visit to the Anand Campus. (At that time GAU was the largest University in the Asia with four main campuses – Dantiwada, Anand, Junagadh and Navsari and about 65 experimental farms / stations spreaded all over).

In contrast to the traditional universities, agricultural universities have been entrusted with the Herculean task of technology dissemination at the grass root level such that the package of practices evolved by the agricultural scientists should reach out the end-users, viz. farmers , for adopting in the field, with consequent increment in the farm productivity and farmer’s income.

This unique mandate has been assigned to agricultural universities on the pattern of land grant colleges of the United States. Such vision and trust, envisaged by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his devout lieutenants, herald creation of state agricultural universities (SAUs) in the early 1960s. The key role played by SAUs in the first green revolution and agricultural human resources development have been regarded as the milestones in the history of India post-independence, that made the country self-sufficient in food production and, in turn, to self reliance in milk, vegetables, fruits and inland fish production.

Soil consistency is a term used to designate the manifestation of different physical forces acting within the soil at various moisture levels. The consistency limits, also known as ‘Atterberg Limits’ (Atterberg, 1911; 12) are defined by the water content of the soil to create specified degree of consistency. These limits are – (i) Liquid limit or upper plastic limit, (ii) Plastic limit or lower plastic limit and (iii) Sticky limit.

7.1. Determination of Liquid Limit or Upper Plastic Limit

Equipments and Materials

Liquid limit device (Casagrande, 1932) and accessories, spatula, dish, oven, moisture box, balance, desiccator

8.1. Law of Mass Action

Gulberg and Waage, the two Norwegian chemists in the year 1864 stated the law of mass action in this form: ‘The velocity of any chemical reaction at any instant at a given temperature is proportional to the active mass of each of the reactants at that instant present in the system, the active mass in a homogeneous system is defined as the number of gram molecule of the substance present per unit volume i.e., the molar volume’.

Mathematical Formulation of the Law of Mass Action

Let us take a simple case of a reversible reaction at constant temperature represented by the equation:

As we look to the future, climate crisis is looming large and it is essential to address several aspects of climate-resilient agriculture. One of the critical areas that require attention is scaling up climate-resilient agricultural practices. This involves promoting and supporting the adoption of climate-resilient agricultural practices, such as conservation agriculture, agroforestry, and climate-smart agriculture, among small-scale farmers and rural communities. There is vast scope for upgrading traditional technologies making best use of modern technologies. To achieve this, there is a need:
• To increase funding and investment in climate-resilient agriculture. This can be achieved through a combination of government funding, private sector investment, and international aid. The funding should be used to support research and development, technology transfer, and capacity building, as well as to provide financial incentives to farmers to adopt climate-resilient agricultural practices.
• Strengthening international cooperation is also critical for promoting climate-resilient agriculture. This involves sharing knowledge, expertise, and resources among countries, as well as collaborating on research and development, technology transfer, and capacity building. International cooperation can also help to promote policy and institutional reforms that support climate-resilient agriculture.
• Promoting climate information and early warning systems. This involves providing farmers and rural communities with accurate and reliable climate information, as well as early warning systems that can help them prepare for and respond to climate-related disasters. Climate information and early warning systems can be provided through a range of channels, including mobile phones, radio, and television.
• Supporting climate-resilient agricultural research and development is also critical for promoting climate-resilient agriculture. This involves investing in research and development that focuses on improving crop varieties and animal breeds, developing new technologies and practices, and improving our understanding of the impacts of climate change on agriculture. Research and development can also help to identify and promote climate-resilient agricultural practices that are suitable for different regions and contexts.
• Promoting policy and institutional reforms is also essential for supporting climate-resilient agriculture. This involves promoting policies and

Abstract

Under Ministry of Earth Sciences, India Meteorological Department has launched District level Agro-meteorological Advisory Services in June 2008. The agro-advisory bulletins containing the forecast on rainfall cloud cover, wind direction and speed aid minimum and maximum temperature with their likely impact on crops are in use twice in a week.

India is a geologically diverse country with a wide variety of rock types. The major rock types found in India can be broadly classified into the following categories:

Igneous Rocks: These rocks are formed from the solidification of molten magma. They can be further divided into two types:

1. Plutonic (Intrusive) Igneous Rocks: Examples include granite, diorite, and gabbro. These rocks are formed deep within the Earth's crust and have a coarse-grained texture.
2. Volcanic (Extrusive) Igneous Rocks: Examples include basalt, andesite, and rhyolite. These rocks are formed on the Earth's surface from volcanic eruptions and have a fine-grained texture.

Sedimentary Rocks: These rocks are formed by the deposition and consolidation of sediments over time. They can be further divided into various types based on their composition and mode of formation:

1. Clastic Sedimentary Rocks: Examples include sandstone, shale, and conglomerate. These rocks are formed from the accumulation and lithification of fragments of pre-existing rocks.
2. Chemical Sedimentary Rocks: Examples include limestone, dolomite, and rock salt. These rocks are formed from the precipitation of minerals from water bodies.

Abstract

The present experiment was conducted to study the influence of weather parameters on the population dynamics of insect pests of rice during 2009-10 at ICAR-RC for NEH Region, Mizoram Centre, Kolasib, Mizoram. The result of the study indicated that, the mean populations of peak abundance of major insect pests rice crops during August were stem borer, flea beetle and gundhi bug. The Correlation studies showed that stem borer population a significant positively correlation was observed with maximum and minimum relative humidity. Nevertheless non significant negative correlation was obtained with maximum and minimum temperature. The finding of the present study indicated a positive non significant correlation with maximum relative humidity, maximum and minimum temperature where as negative insignificant correlation with rainfall and minimum relative humidity with flea beetle population. The highest minimum temperature showed a positive significant correlation with the Monolepta.