eChapters

The Northeast Region (NER) of India consists of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, covering an area of 255168 km2. The area is characterized by rich biodiversity, heavy precipitation and high seismicity. Although the contribution from agricultural sector towards gross domestic product has declined, yet it remains the predominant sector for Indian Economy. Over 75% of the people of NE India directly depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Therefore, better performance of agriculture has a direct and multiplier effect across the economy of the region. Because of climate change the rain fed agriculture is facing a greater risk as it is resource poor and having limited flexibility for adaptation. Under changing scenarios there is increase in demand for fresh water and nutrient requirement, increase in soil erosion and nutrient losses affecting soil health, intensification of pest, disease and weed problems, reduction in nutritional quality and low input use efficiency. Continuous mono-cropping and the associated excessive tillage, inadequate erosion control measures and large scale slash and burn cultivation (Jhum) resulted in significant environmental damage and a non-sustainable crop production system in the region.

Eastern India is frequently affected by weather hazards, such as drought, flood and heat wave. The region consists of Orissa, West Bengal, and Bihar. The coastal states of Orissa and West Bengal frequently face cyclones, while Bihar and eastern U.P. face cold wave. Due to unfavorable seasonal weather, crop productivity is poor. However, the recent change in climate induced by global warming has further threatened the agricultural productivity in the region. Rice is the principal crop of Eastern India and rice based cropping systems has long been practiced in the region. While rice-rice is the most dominant cropping system in Orissa and West Bengal, rice-wheat is in Bihar and eastern U.P. Besides, rice-groundnut occupies a considerable area in the region. It is now doubtful whether the resilience of these cropping systems would continue sustaining the productivity under the climate change. The major aim of the proposal was to identify suitable adaptation measures of crop production under projected climate change. Climate change is expected to alter precipitation pattern, increase temperature, change in humidity level and decrease sunshine. As a result it is like to influence right from land preparation to the harvest and post harvest process. Thus the project aim was to revisiting the existing package of practices of selected cropping systems by simulation modelling, deduce suitable adaptation measures and validate these by OTC experiments.

Climate change is a multifaceted alteration of climate which is perceptibly subtle and yet continuous, nevertheless it is extremely important due its consequences on whole biome that thrives under constant or relatively unchanged climates. The effects of climate change have reached such an extent that irreversible changes in the functioning of the planet are feared. Some of the main effects of climate change with specific reference to agriculture and food production especially during the last decade are: increased occurrence of storms and floods; increased incidence and severity of droughts and forest fires; steady spreading out of frost-free intervals and potential growing season; increased frequency of diseases and insect pest attacks; and vanishing habitats of plants and animals. Currently, the world is facing a challenge of producing sufficient food from dwindling natural resource base for the constantly increasing population.

Agricultural production in India is still vulnerable to vagaries of monsoon rainfall in spite of rapid technological advancements like 1) Availability of high yielding varieties 2) Improved crop management practices and increased irrigation availability and effective control of pests and diseases and etc, over last few decades. Majority of Indian farming community which broadly comprising of small and medium farmers are often subject to climate extremes such as droughts, floods, heavy rainfall events, heat and cold waves, frost, hail storms during the crop growing season. The probabilities of occurrence of such climate extremes and associated crop damages and production losses are common in tropical countries like India. Compensation to the resource crunched farmers in the form of crop insurance seems to be the best option for speedy recovery from the losses incurred during the season. It provides security and stability to farm income by protecting the farmers’ investment in crop production and then improves their risk bearing capacities. Crop insurance scheme is based on the fundamental principle of insurance business in which risk is distributed across space and time. For successful implementation of any crop insurance scheme operating presently in the country, proper monitoring of accurate weather parameters at the identified locations throughout the crop life cycle is important.

Increasing evidences over the past few decades indicate that significant changes in climate are occurring across various regions of the globe in the form of increased occurrence of extreme weather events. The significant cause to this sustained increase in climate variability, known as climate change has been a resultant of increased level of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. The reason for this increase is mainly ascribed to enhanced human activities such as industrialization, uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels, increased use of refrigerants and changed land use patterns and practices. Most significantly, the concentrations of GHGs like CO₂ has already crossed the 400 ppm mark, while other potential contributors like methane and nitrous oxide also show significant rise. As a result of the heat absorbing capacity of these gases, there has been a considerable rise in global mean temperatures, more so in the recent decade and more. The increase in mean air temperatures of the globe was 0.76^ºC during the past 100 years. This rate of increase has been higher during the past two decades and the recent period recorded the warmest years in sequence, the latest being the 2017.

The District-wise weekly agroadvisory service based on medium range weather forecasting (3 to 10 days) has been made operational by the State Agricultural Universities in collaboration with National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), India Meteorological Department. The Agroadvisory Bulletin (AAB) contains three parts. The first part of AAB consists of weather events occurred during the past week and weather forecast for three days ahead. These forecasts provide expected weather on cloud amount, rainfall, average wind speed, wind direction, maximum and minimum temperatures and cumulative rainfall. The second part contains the factual information on the varieties of crops, their state and stage, ongoing agricultural operations and occurrence of insect pest and diseases of crops.

Natural disasters are extreme events within the earth’s system (lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere or atmosphere) which differs substantially from the mean, resulting in death or injury to humans, and damage or loss of valuable good, such as buildings, communication systems, agricultural land, forest, natural environment. They are a profound impact of the natural environment upon the socio-economic system (Alexander, 1993). This impact may be rapid, as in the case of earthquakes, or slow as in the case of drought. It is important to distinguish between the terms disaster and hazard. A potentially damaging phenomenon (hazard), such as an earthquake by itself is not considered a disaster when it occurs in uninhabited areas. It is called a disaster when it occurs in a populated area, and brings damage, loss or destruction. Natural disasters occur in many parts of the world, although each type of disaster is restricted to certain regions. Natural disasters are events which are caused by purely natural phenomena and bring damage to human societies (such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes). Mitigation of natural disasters can be successful only when detailed knowledge is obtained about the expected frequency, character, and magnitude of hazardous events in an area. Many types of information that are needed in natural disaster management have an important spatial component.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines Climate Change as a change the weather parameters attributed directly or indirectly to human activity, altering the composition of the global atmosphere. Human activity includes the pollution that arises from industrial activity and other sources that produce greenhouse gases. These gases, such as carbon dioxide, have the ability to absorb the spectrum of infrared light and contribute to the warming of our atmosphere. Once produced, these gases can remain trapped in the atmosphere for tens or hundreds of years.

Climate change has become real and tangible affecting people. It is a major challenge for agriculture, food security and rural livelihoods. Climate change impacts on vulnerable groups have social, economic, political, and environmental implications. The impacts of climate change are global. India is more vulnerable in view of the high population depending on agriculture, which in turn is dependent on the seasonal monsoons. India is confronted with the challenge of sustaining rapid economic growth amidst the increasing global threat of climate change. Government of India has accorded top priority for addressing climate change related concerns.

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.

Wheat (T. aestivum) is a staple food of the vast majority of the human population in most part of the world; Europe, West Asia, South East Asia, Americas and North Africa. It provides more nourishment than any other food crop and leads all other food crops-rice, maize and potato on a global basis. The wide varieties of food products prepared from it make the crop popular and also a reason for its expansion even to non-traditional wheat cultivated areas. As a leading cereal crop, it is cultivated widely under varied agro-ecological regions and cropping systems throughout the world. It is one of the first plants domesticated and cultivated by humans, which played a critical role in the transition from hunter–gatherer groups to stabilized societies with an agrarian foundation. Wheat is harvested every month of the year somewhere in the world, from as far south as Argentina and as far north as Finland, and it is grown over a substantial area in almost every country of North and South America, Europe, and Asia (Fig. 32.1). Even though, the normal planting period of wheat falls in the same month across different countries, the harvesting period is different (Fig. 32.2).

Introduction

In Indian agriculture, horticulture sector has made considerable progress after independence and as a result, horticulture has emerged as one of the major drivers of growth in the agricultural and allied sector. The horticulture sector includes large number of crops viz., fruits, vegetables, ornamental crops, spices, tuber crops, plantation crops, medicinal and aromatic crops, mushroom and their post harvest management. On the production and productivity front, the horticulture sector outperformed conventional food crops. Between 200405 and 201415, horticultural output achieved an annual growth of about 7 per cent as compared to around 3 per cent growth in food grain production. This increase in production has come from an increase in acreage and even larger increase in productivity. Over the last decade, the area under horticulture grew by about 3% per annum and annual production increased by 5.4%. Thereby, India has maintained its second rank in the global production of fruits and vegetables, next only to China. India’s fruit productivity is better than that of China, though China is the largest fruit producing country.

The country is currently producing 295.2 million tonnes of horticulture produce from an area of 24.9 million hectares, which has surpassed the estimated food grain production of 275.68 million tonnes (201617). Though the production of food grains and horticultural produce are not meaningfully comparable due to fundamental differences in resource requirements, their farming practices, characteristics of produce and most importantly, their nutritional and medicinal properties as well as energy value. The special attention was given to the this sector, especially after the introduction of the Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH) and the National Horticulture Mission (NHM) during 11^th Plan period, owing to bumper fruit production. Given the increasing pressure on land, growth strategies have been focusing on raising productivity through high density plantations, protected cultivation, micro irrigation, quality planting material, rejuvenation of senile orchards and an emphasis on post harvest management and marketing of produce for better price realization.

Introduction

The Indian hot arid zone occupies an area of 0.32 million km to forming a continuous stretch in the north western states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and scattered land masses in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, 70 per cent of it falls in western Rajasthan. Low and erratic rainfall, extreme temperatures, long sunshine duration (6.6-10 hours), low relative humidity (30-80 per cent), high wind velocity (9-13 km/h) and high evapo transpiration (1600-1800 mm) and characteristic features of the region. Moreover the soils are poor in nutrients and scarcity of water and recurring droughts are perennial constraints. Despite hostile conditions, the western arid Rajasthan supports a large human and livestock population and a variety of flora and fauna. However, the ever increasing human and livestock population and development activities exert enormous pressure on the natural resource in the region. These areas experience an annual rainfall between 100 and 500 mm with a coefficient of variation varying from 40 to 70%. The region is characterized by low and erratic rainfall with extremes of temperature (1–48 °C), high wind velocity and sandy soils. In dry and arid region, wind erosion affects 13.5% in India (Sehgal et al., 1994, Kar et al.,1959). Wind erosion is very active in the Indian Thar Desert and poses severe multifaceted problems (Dey et al., 2016). Loss of nutrient-rich particles from agricultural fields has been occurring due to suspension of fine particles in air and deposition of eroded soil. Among terrain properties, soil aggregate distribution, surface roughness, soil moisture and vegetation cover are important factors influencing wind erosion. Indiscriminate grazing in the region also further destroys vegetation and exposes the land surface, thus making it more vulnerable to wind erosion.

Introduction

Horticultural crops comprising of fruits, vegetables, flowers, medicinal and aromatic plants, and mushrooms play an important role in meeting the livelihood, nutritional security and socio-economic development of farmers. India’s horticulture production (287 mt) surpassed food grain output (265 mt) fifth year in a row in 2016-17 (First Advance Estimates, 2016-17). Horticultural crops together contribute around 30.4% to the agricultural GDP from nearly 14% of the total cropped area, and contribute nearly 37% to the export of the agricultural commodity from the country (Anonymous, 2015). Fruits and vegetables are an important part of the human diet and a major source of biologically active substances such as vitamins and secondary metabolites. India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, with a combined production of 260.7 million metric tons (91.7 million metric tons of fruits and 169 million metric tons of vegetables) during 2016-17.

Rapid growth in horticultural production has been accompanied by heavy use of pesticides thus causing major concern over health effects. Heavy pesticide use occurs, in part, because numerous pests attack horticultural crops, including the fruit itself, reducing market value and yield on high-value crops. Pesticide use raises safety concerns for agricultural workers who apply pesticides. Concern is particularly high in flower production because of heavy spraying in enclosed conditions. Potential food safety risks from pesticide residues are also a significant issue for importers of fresh fruits and vegetables and a market-risk factor for exporters who may have shipments detained or rejected if residues exceed allowable limits (George et al., 2003).

The increased use of chemical pesticides on horticultural crops has raised a number of economic, ecological and health concern. Economic concerns arise from the over reliance and use of chemical pesticides which increase the costs of production. Indiscriminate use of pesticides has resulted in ecological problems of common pests developing resistance, elimination of natural enemies and other beneficial arthropods, and environmental pollution. Human health concerns focus on risks from shortcomings in protective clothing, large deviations from recommended doses/situations, and excessive run-off into the soil and water sources. These concerns are exacerbated by poorly regulated internal markets for pesticides that have fostered usage of banned or outdated products; creating a situation that if not stopped will negatively impact on horticultural exports to countries with more stringent regulatory requirements for fresh crop produce. Meeting these food safety requirements has become a major challenge for the fresh produce export sector of many countries. To ensure and maintain export compliance, grower and consumer safety, and environmental integrity; farmers, government and development partners are developing programmes designed to improve pesticides usage, regulation and management on horticultural crops (Karungi et al., 2011). In this chapter, major important horticultural crops grown in India have been selected to illustrate trends in pesticide usage and regulation, and the development and application of alternative pest management practices through farmer participation and training.

Introduction

Vegetables are important constituents of Indian agriculture and play important role in nutritional security due to their short duration, high yield, nutritional richness, economic viability and ability to generate on-farm and off-farm employment. Vegetables form an integral part of staple diet in India where 42% population is vegetarian and vegetables are sources of daily requirement of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Our country is blessed with diverse agro-climates with distinct seasons, making it possible to grow wide array of vegetables. The role of vegetable cultivation in the country’s nutritional security, poverty alleviation and employment generation is becoming increasingly important. There are vast opportunities available in export sector, which need to be harnessed to their fullest ability. Vegetable crops have high yield potential and calories per unit area compared to that of cereals in the shortest time. Additionally, vegetable cultivation creates employment in rural sector, as it is a labour intensive farming practice. Vegetables are good source of ready farm income, besides being rich in health building substances, especially protective nutrients (Kalia, 2010 and Meena et al., 2016).

Introduction

Arid Horticulture denotes cultivation of fruits and vegetables under dry and arid regions. Arid region in India is stretched over 39.54 million ha (31.71 million ha is under hot arid region and 7.38 million ha under cold arid region) comprising about 12.02% of the total area of the country. Most of the precipitation in north-western arid region takes place from July to September. Occasional frost has also been a grave issue for horticultural crops, especially, aonla and moringa (Dhandar and Saroj, 2004). The region is exemplified by low and erratic rainfall with extremes of temperature (1–48°C), high wind velocity and sandy soils (Bhandari et al. 2014). Growing of annual crops restricted only a particular season of the year is the merely source of livelihood for the inhabitant of these region. These crops often encounter abiotic stresses like drought, hot and desiccating winds during their growth period leading to poor productivity. These regions have tremendous potential for cultivation of perennial fruit trees.

Introduction

Plant growth and productivity are adversely affected by various abiotic stresses. Plants are frequently exposed to a plethora of stress conditions such as low temperature, salt, drought, flooding, heat, and oxidative stress. Various anthropogenic activities have accentuated the existing stress factors. All these stress factors prevent them from reaching their full genetic potential and limit the crop productivity. In the event of growing concerns of uncertainties in climatic conditions, the abiotic stresses have become the major threat to agriculture production worldwide (Bray et al., 2000). The plant responses to abiotic stress condition are believed to be complex in nature as these are the reflections of integration of stress effects and responses at various levels of plant organization. To provide tolerance against stresses, plants are equipped with several inbuilt physiological and biochemical mechanisms occurring at cellular level. An understanding of processes linked to these mechanisms is vital in optimizing the crop growth and productivity under stress conditions.

Introduction

Multiplication and perpetuation of plants through sexual and asexual means at desired quantum and quality is one of the important aspects of successful horticultural development. For successful propagation, stock production and growth of plants some facilities in the nursery, field or greenhouses are required for mass multiplication of the saplings. Horticultural crops included annuals, biennial and perennial crops so careful planning is require for the quality and genuinely. We known the various methods of propagation i.e., seed, cuttings or grafting and budding can be used for faster and true to type sapling production (Aldriance and Brison, 2000). Plantlets propagation mainly depends on season in open conditions, but for round the year material multiplication require hi-tech propagation structures like greenhouses, cold frames low polyethylene tunnels, sun tunnels, shade houses (lath houses), tissue culture facilities, hot frames and net house (Singh et al., 2003; Ratha Krishna et al., 2014). Field management for mass multiplication of saplings require partial modification and refined in nursery beds preparation (raised bed in high rainfall area and sunken bed in arid region), mother bed preparation (bed with mixture of media, where generally seeds are sowing in enclosed area and all viable and vigours seedlings at early stage may be shifted in poly bags for further growth) and poly bag nursery (saplings of horticultural crops are produced in poly bags of 150-200 gauge and different sizes i.e., 25 x10 cm (ber, khejri), 15 x10 cm (phalsa and pomegranate, karonda) and 30 x17 cm (kinnow, mosambi, aonla, sapota, mango) etc. Propagated plants should be healthy, vigorous and free from disease, weed, insect-pests as well as grafted plants should be equal in size of scion – rootstock, proper in shoot: root ratio and appropriate in morphological standard of scion according to varieties and species.

Introduction

Indian horticulture sector contributes about 38% to the agriculture Gross Value Added (GVA) making very significant contribution to the Indian economy. Apart from ensuring nutritional security of the nation, it provides alternate rural employment opportunities, diversification in farm activities, and enhanced income to farmers. India is currently producing about 283.5 million tones of horticulture produce which has surpassed the food grain production, that too from much less area (24.2 mha. for horticulture against 125 mha. for food grains). Productivity of horticulture crops is much higher compared to productivity of food grains (11.96 tones/ha against 2 tones/ha.). India has emerged as world leader in the production of a variety of fruits like mango and banana and is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Besides, India has maintained its dominance in the production of spices, coconut and cashewnut. Among the new crops, kiwi, gherkins, kinnow, date palm and oil palm have been successfully introduced for commercial cultivation in the country. Launch of National Horticulture Mission has spurred the production and productivity of horticultural crops. Productivity of horticultural crops has increased by about 32% between 2004-05 and 2015-16. Increase in demand for horticultural produce due to greater health awareness, rising income, export demands and increasing population poses the challenge for further increasing the production and productivity of horticultural crops. The issue of climate change has thrown up greater uncertainties and risks, further imposing constraints on production systems. Therefore, continuous crop improvement programmes are the way forward for sustainable fruit production with greater opportunity of value addition of surplus produce.

Introduction

Most of the technological advances in the recent past in Indian Horticulture have been done for favourable agro-climatic regions. However, the vast and diverse land-scape of hot desert, arid, semi-arid and tribal area is not yet receiving logical thought for resource based horticultural development (Samadia and Haldhar, 2017). Although, the semi-arid regions of the country have now became potential hub for aonla, bael, ber, pomegranate, jamun, guava, fig and custard apple. There has been a steady increase in area and production of these fruits particularly under aonla, ber, custard apple and pomegranate in the country as a result of identification and development of suitable varieties and production technologies. The average productivity of these fruits in India is, however, low as compared to many developed countries. The main reasons for low productivity are old and senile orchards, low yielding varieties, poor orchard management and inadequate technological up-gradation and adoption by the growers. Presently, the continuing decline in the availability of cultivable land, rising energy and land costs together with the increased demand of fruit and fruit products, have given thrust to the concept of high density planting (HDP) in fruit crops. High density planting gives earlier production and return per unit area, shortens juvenility, eco-friendly, provides efficient land use and better use of resources like light, water and fertilizers, efficient pesticides application, besides, in this system the harvesting becomes easy(Mishra and Goswami, 2016). Among the factors such as cultivar, rootstock, quality of planting material and cultivation practices contribute to high yield of fruit trees, however, the number of trees^-1 is the most important factor which brings about radical increase in fruit production. Therefore, high density planting has great potential for increasing productivity in fruit crops (Mishra et al., 2003). The success of this technology in most of the fruit crops is dependent on the use of methods to control shoot growth and maximize light interception as the trees begin to bear fruit. The main aim of HDP is to achieve the twin requisites of productivity by maintaining a balance between vegetative and reproductive growth without impairing the plant health and fruit quality. The underlying principle of HDP is to make the best use of vertical and horizontal space per unit time and to harness maximum possible return per unit of inputs and natural resources.

Introduction

Canopy management is defined as managing plant architectural design as per need, using their inherent characteristics which is in accordance with a given set of conditions and resources to perform the plant maximum (Nath et al, 2014).The modern principles of sustainable fruit production systems focused on optimal use of natural resources (light, water, soil fertility) where the input (labour, energy, fuel, other material) and output (yield) are well balanced and the resources remain renewable.

Fruit orchards can be considered as artificial ecosystems converting the energy of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) into edible, marketable fruits for human consumption. The core of this system is the bio-factory of leaves driven by the absorbed PAR. Several data support that the light interception is the basic factor for the modern orchard systems. Factors as LAI (Leaf area index), tree spacing, training and pruning systems, fruiting wood development, rootstocks and genotypes also have an important bearing on orchard efficiency.

The main objectives of canopy architecture is to develop strong tree framework, maximize utilization of light, accommodate more number of trees per unit area, maintenance of tree orchard uniformity and induce and sustain proper amount of well distributed fruiting terminals.

In order for the fruit production system to remain sustainable, the orchard system should favour the contributory role of an input of natural origin to the maximum possible extent, in improving the yield in the early years and provide high yields after the trees are mature until the planned age of the orchard. Recent development in the tree architecture has produced some promising tree training and pruning systems as well for high density fruit orchards.

Introduction

Protected cultivation practices can be defined as a cropping technique where in the micro environment surrounding the plant body is controlled partially or fully as per plant need during their period of growth to maximize the yield and resource saving. Protected structures can play important role to minimize the impact of temperature fluctuation, over/under precipitation, fluctuating sun shine hour and infestation of disease and pest. The controlled environment can be utilized for growing early season /off-season vegetables and high value vegetables. This may become relevant to those farmers having small land holding who would be benefitted by a technology, which helps them to grow more crops each year and save them from adverse situation. Vegetable crops are very sensitive to climatic vagaries and sudden rise in temperature as well as irregular precipitation at any phase of crop growth can affect the normal growth, flowering, pollination, fruit development and subsequently decreased the crop yield. Apart from that high input cost and higher labor wages make vegetable cultivation less profitable under open field condition. Again, in the present scenario, more people are demanding early season/off-season vegetables and high value vegetables at higher price which are not possible to grow under open field situation.

Present status in world: In world, China has the largest area (2,760 thousand hectares) under greenhouse cultivation followed by Korea having 57.44 thousand hectares (Nair and Barche, 2014). The advent of protected cultivation technology in India materialized during the early nineties, post globalization.

India: India is the second largest producers of vegetable in the world, however as per medical council of India, the production is much less than the requirement if balanced diet are to be provided to every individual. The advent of protected cultivation technology in India materialized during the early nineties, post globalization. In India, the area under protected cultivation faced with constraints of land holdings, rapid urbanization, declining crop production, declining biodiversity and ever increasing population, demand for food, especially vegetables has increased manifold and protected cultivation has offered a new dimension to produce more in a limited area. Today Dutch protected cultivation is one of the most intensive farming systems in the world with high levels of output by using the latest technologies.

Introduction

Under arid and semi-arid regions of the world, major problems are salinity, alkalinity and calcareousness, which seems further aggravate with changing climate scenario. Besides that most of the developing countries lies in this zone with flanging population resultant shrinking down of land resource and good quality of irrigation water. Globally area under saline/sodic soils is about 953mha covering 8% of the land surface. Resent estimates indicate that 6.7 mha area in India is affected by soil salinity and alkalinity and about 25% of ground waters are sodic and/or saline in the country. There are two important approaches for utilizing saline, alkali or calcareous environment. The first one is to modify the environment so as to suit the plant or modifying the plant or substitute the plant species so as to suit the environment. First approach has been used more extensively because it enables the plants to respond better not only to water but also to other production inputs and also not far sustainable. However, second option is cost effective and most sustainable.

Accumulation of excessive salt in root zone leaves adverse effect on general agricultural crops and or crop failures sometimes, while crop diversification using seed spices are the option for such conditions. Most of the seed spices particularly cumin, fennel, dill, fenugreek, ajwain, celery, anise, caraway and coriander (and their cultivars) have some degree of salinity and alkalinity tolerance. However, among the seed spices, cumin is having high degree of salinity tolerance. In case of sodic or calcareous environment, fennel is most tolerant followed by dill as well as these crops are the remedy for such degraded environment by bringing down the sodicity and calcareousness. In some cases, germination, growth, yield and quality of seed spices improved by saline sodic environment. Besides eco-friendly use of these soils, phytoremediation of saline, sodic and calcareous soils by seed spices seems most sustainable.

Introduction

According to FAO estimates, about 50% total geographical area in India is under various degraded hazards and about 2.1 million ha of land is getting degraded and deforested annually (Sehgal et al. 1998). Out of that underground water in arid and semi-arid areas is saline or sodic in nature. While spices, medicinal and aromatic plants may be a boon for these areas, which not only withstand under adverse conditions but also could be productive and helps in mitigating these problems. However, other crops are remain less or unproductive in these areas.

Spices are low volume and high value crops and have tremendous export potential, which is witnessed by several invasions faced by this Indian peninsula during ancient time. Medicinal and aromatic plants have unequally market potential with the world demand of herbal products growing at the rate of 7 percent per annum (Aishwath and Tarafdar, 2007). Seed spices and aromatic plants are the natural source of flavour, perfumes and fragrance widely exploited by essential oil industries in the world. Owing to considerably diversity of edaphoclimatic conditions ranging from temperate to tropical and arid to sub-humid that prevails in India and an array of medicinal and aromatic flora occurs in wild state. Many exotic essential oil bearing plants, including mints, citronella, geranium, patchouli, lavender and chamomile have been naturalized in India. As the country has emerged as one of the main producers of seed spices and some of the essential oils, theses plants are significant foreign exchange earners. Some of the aromatic plants especially grasses can sustain both biotic as well as abiotc stresses, even in the areas unsuitable for conventional crops (Aishwath et al., 2008). Most of the seed spices crops are seasonal crops and comes up well with limited moisture and nutrients. Therefore, underutilized natural resources can be utilized profitably by crop diversification.

Introduction

Salinity is an encompassing term used to describe saline and sodic soils, and the marginal quality groundwater unsuitable for crop irrigation. A soil is considered to be ‘salt-affected’ when either excess soluble salts or excess exchangeable sodium or both adversely affect the soil properties and plant growth. Depending on the values of soil saturation paste extract electrical conductivity (EC_e), pH (pH_s) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), salt-affected soils (SAS) are grouped into saline (EC_e > 4 dS m^-1, pH_s < 8.2 and high ESP< 15) and sodic (EC_e< 4 dS m^-1, pH_s>8.2 and ESP >15) categories. Under certain conditions, both excess soluble salts and exchangeable sodium may be present resulting in saline-sodic conditions (EC_e > 4 dS m^-1, pH_s>8.2 and ESP >15)(Sharma and Singh, 2015). Based on FAO/UNESCO soil map of the world (1970-1980), the global extent of SAS was earlier computed to be 831 Million ha (M ha) consisting of 397 M ha saline and the remainder 434 M ha sodic soils. Although this estimate is still widely used, recent studies suggest comparatively higher global extent of salinity and the associated problems; especially in irrigated arid and semi-arid regions across the world. Not withstanding the discrepancies in such estimates, it is certain that salinity continues to impose substantial costs on global food production and environmental sustainability.

Introduction

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.; Family- Arecaceae) also known as Khajoor, Kharek is an ancient important fruit tree of semi-arid and arid regions of the world. It grows well under poor desertic soils due to its hardy plant characteristics and deep root system. It is also suitable fruit trees for growing under saline irrigation conditions. It is well known fact for date palm that its feet in the water and its head in sun. It requires dry hot climate for growth and development of fruits. In arid region, crop production is risky preposition, where date palm cultivation contributes in achieving food security, high nutritive value food, crop diversification, desertification control, higher income generation and foreign exchange earnings. It can be grown at such places where adequate irrigation facility is available besides other dry hot climate conditions (Chandra et al, 1992; Singh and Dhandar, 2007). Better returns from date plantation can be achieved through good management practices besides adequate marketing of produce. The quality produce and its marketing will help to increase the income from date palm cultivation.

Introduction

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is an important fruit crop of hot arid region of the India. It is grown commercially in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. India is one of the largest producers of pomegranate in the world. The pomegranate area in arid region is increasing at faster rate due to its incessant demand, drought hardy nature, low cost management and wider adaptability to arid soils. In Rajasthan it is mainly grown in Jaipur, Ajmer, Alwar, Tonk, Sriganganagar, Tonk, Pali, Kota, Jalore, Banswara, Sawai Madhopur, Bhilwara, Jhunjhunu and Sirohi districts in 12,000 ha area (Rathi, 2017). The pomegranate plants flower and provide fruits throughout the year. In Rajasthan pomegranate is harvested in all three seasons during March-April, Aug.-Sep. and Nov.-Dec. However, it needs to be forced into rest period for prolific harvest at a given time. The basic objectives of flower regulation in pomegranate is to manipulate the natural flowering and fruiting in such a way that it produce high yield of quality fruits in desired season with sustainable use of farm resources. Transition of flower from vegetative phase to reproductive phase is critical phase in pomegranate flowering, which determine production efficiency. The differentiations of vegetative tissue to reproductive tissue decide flowering intensity and production efficiency. Withholding of irrigation (moisture stress), plant growth substances, nutrient content along with canopy management are major horticultural interventions for flower regulation which influence flowering. It is based on principles that pomegranate bears three kinds of flowers namely hermaphrodite, intermediate and male flowers (Fig.1) on both new and old growth in three flushes i.e. ambe bahar (Feb.-March), mrig bahar (June-July) and hasta bahar (Sep.-Oct.).

Introduction

Bael (Aegle marmelos Corr.) is an indigenous fruit of India belongs to family Rutaceae and it is commonly known as Bengal quince (John and Stevenson, 1979), Bilva, Indian quince, Golden apple, Holy fruit, Bel, Belwa, sriphal, bilipatra Stone apple and Maredo in India. The deciduous with trifoliate aromatic leaves is traditionally used as sacred offering to the ‘Lord Shiva’ and thus the tree is also known by the name Shivaduma (The tree of Shiva). It has tolerance to arid conditions as well as high rainfall. It is known from prehistoric time and mentioned its importance in different ancient and medicinal system viz., Rigveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, Charak Samhita and Sushrut Samhita, and Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani medicines and religious Jain and Buddhist literature (Balunas and Kinghorn, 2005, Om Prakash,1961 and Kirtikar and Basu, 1935). It can be grown successfully in water scarce and rainfed areas of the country. Besides, occurring as natural wild plant of forest, it is commonly grown in the homestead gardens, backyards, and religious places particularly in the premises of the Lord Shiva temples and in the farmers’ fields. In India, bael is being grown throughout the country except temperate region, but there is no systematic plantation of bael except Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat where few progressive farmers have initiated growing bael economically (Dhankhar et al., 2011). Its fruit is highly nutritive and rich in vitamins, bioactive compounds, minerals, carbohydrate, etc (Gopalan et al., 1964). Every part of the tree such as fruit root, bark, leaf and flower of any stage of maturity and ripening are important ingredients of several traditional formulations. Recently, advanced scientific techniques have reported that plant has various medicinal properties viz, anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, haemolytic, larvicidal and anti-inflammatory activities. The sherbet and marmalade prepared from fruit pulp is prescribed for diarrhea and dysentery. It is said that the ripe fruit is a tonic, an astringent and laxative, whereas unripe fruit is an astringent and digestive and good for heart and brain. The important medicinal properties of bael are antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic, cardioprotective, antispermogenic, anticancer and radio protective (Kumar et al., 2010 and Vadivelan et al., 2011) The fruit is efficient to avoid malnutrition and health insecurity in the underprivileged. The ripen and unripe fruits can be used for preparation of various value added products such as jam, slab, squash, powder, candy, nectar, toffee, pickle, wine, sherbet, ice cream etc.

Introduction

Indian arid zone is one of the largest subtropical deserts of the world of which 20% is arid and rest is semi-arid. Hot arid zone is spread over 31.7 million ha area and mainly confined in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. The major part of hot arid region of the country lies in western Rajasthan (19.62 mha) followed by North-western Gujarat (2.16 mha). It is characterized by high aridity index, extremes of temperature low and variable precipitation, very high wind velocity and dust storm, high soil pH, high infiltration rate, very limited availability of groundwater and saline ground irrigation water (More, 2010). Under such harsh climatic conditions cultivation of vegetable crops in open condition results in very low and poor-quality yield which fetches less return per unit area. By creating the suitable micro-climate for plant growth round the year cultivation of vegetables can be done under adverse climatic conditions. It is possible through protected cultivation which has tremendous scope in peri-urban areas of the country (Singh and Sirohi, 2004). It is the best way to increase the productivity and quality of vegetables, especially cucurbits. India is the second largest producer of vegetables in the world next only to China. Presently India has 178.17 million tonnes of total vegetable production, but the productivity and quality of most of the vegetable crops is very poor (17.40 t/ ha) due to several biotic and abiotic stresses due to open field cultivation. In Rajasthan, the total production of vegetables is very less i.e. only 1.81 million tonnes from an area of 0.17 m ha with a productivity of 10.66 t/ ha.

Introduction

India is the second largest producer of fruits crops in the world but productivity of arid fruit crops especially in western Rajasthan is miserably low.The productivity as well as the quality of fruit crops is affected to a greater extent due to various physiological disorders. The extremes of environmental variables like changing environmental conditions such as temperature, moisture, unbalanced soil nutrients, inadequate or excess of certain soil minerals, extremes of soil pH, poor drainage and deficiency of micronutrients as well as macronutrient causes many more disorders (Kumar and Kumar, 2015). At present, the climatic scenario of arid region is also changing and the problems like frost, temperature fluctuation, moisture fluctuation, high evaporation and low precipitation as well as nutrient imbalances are becoming a challenge for cultivation of many arid fruit crops. Reasons of low productivity in hot arid ecosystem of western Rajasthan are primarily physiological or stress related disorders such as styler-end browning in ber, fruit cracking in bael and pomegranate, internal necrosis in aonla and black and white nose in date palm. The world wide approximately 70% of crop yield reduction is the direct effect by abiotic factors (Acquaah 2007). In this chapter, we discussed the problems associated with ber, pomegranate, aonla, date palm & bael especially physiological disorders which will certainly help the farmers in timely overcoming of these maladies for getting satisfactory remunerative prices from arid fruit crops under hot ecosystem of western Rajasthan.

Introduction

India is a second largest producer of fruits after China contributing about 11 per cent to the global production. India leads the world in productivity of papaya, grapes and banana but average productivity of country is much below as compared to other leading countries, which is merely 11.6 t/ha. Abiotic stress is the primary cause of crop loss worldwide, reducing average yields for most major crop plants by more than 50%. Drought and salinity are becoming particularly widespread in many regions, and may cause serious salinization of more than 50% of all arable lands by the year 2050 (Wang, 2003). This leads to a series of morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular changes that adversely affect plant growth and productivity. There are various factors, which contributes to low productivity like limited availability of quality planting materials, old and senile orchards, poor orchard management practices, insect pest and diseases, poor post-harvest management practices etc. There is a much scope in expansion of horticultural crops in arid region and it has vast potential for changing scenario of horticulture of the country. Land resource, surplus family labors, increasing canal irrigated area, developing infrastructural facilities, plenty of solar and wind energy, etc. are the strength in the region for research and development of arid horticulture. Further, low incidence of diseases/insects in the region provides good scope for production of quality seed and planting material of horticultural crops (Sharma et al., 2013).

India’s economic security continues to be predicated upon the agriculture sector, and the situation is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. Even now, agriculture supports 58% of the Indian population, as against about 75% at the time of independence. In the identical period, the contribution of agriculture and allied sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has fallen from 61 to 13%. As of today, India supports 16.8% of world’s population on 4.2% of world’s water resources and 2.3% of global land resources. Also per caput availability of resources is about 4 to 6 times less than that of world average. This will further decrease due to increasing demographic pressure and consequent diversion of the land for non-agricultural uses. Around 51% of India’s geographical area is already under cultivation as compared to 11% of the world average. The present cropping intensity is 136% and it has been registered an increase of only 25% since independence. Further, rainfed and dry-lands area constitute approximately 65% of the total net sown area. There is also an unprecedented degradation of land (107 million ha) and groundwater resource, and also fall in the rate of growth of total factor productivity. This deceleration needs to be arrested and agricultural productivity has to be doubled to meet growing demands of the population by 2050. Efficiency-mediated improvement in productivity is the most viable option to raise production of various commodities including horticulture.

Introduction

The Indian Thar Desert is a marginal zone for agricultural production. Scanty and un-even rain, extremes of high (March–October) and low (December–January) temperature condition for the prolong duration and in-together these factors creates an associated abiotic stressed environment that limiting choice of crops, quality of produce, productivity and production under hot arid agro-climate. Out of 9–12 mean rainy days/annum in the hot arid region of northwestern parts of Rajasthan, much of the rain often comes in only a few (1–3) heavy rainfall events during the monsoon season (June–September), which can be erratic and unpredictable. In kharif season, higher day temperature range (35–42°C) and prolonged drought periods in combination with sandy soil creates an environment where few crops can survive under rainfed situations. Here, the native crop-plants both annual and perennial can play an equally vital role for food and fodder especially when the livestock population is an important element of farming system. Further, horticultural exploitation with native crop-plant species in general is found to be potential and stable in the arid and semiarid areas which receive about 150–650 mm of rains.

Introduction

Arid and semi arid parts of the India are known as Seed Spices Bowl (Rajasthan and Gujarat) and contribute more than 80% of total seed spices production. Total 109 spices are listed by ISO and 63 spices are grown in India and out of which 20 are being classified as seed spices. Out of 20 seed spices, ICAR-NRCSS working on 10 most important seed spices namely cumin, coriander, fennel, fenugreek, ajwain, anise, caraway, celery, dill and nigella (NRCSS Vision, 2050). Seed spices also grown in some other states on considerable areas such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Punjab, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Since there is a large scope of seed spices by introducing them in new areas, the higher yields can also be achieved effortlessly by implementing new technologies. Among seed spices, maximum area is under cumin followed by coriander, fennel fenugreek, ajwain, celery, nigella, dill, anise etc. Being seasonal crops, these are grown extensively in rotation with food crops and also as inter/mixed crops under rainfed/irrigated conditions. All these crops mostly grown in rabi season. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of seed spices in the world. Out of total area and production in spices, seed spices contribute about 51.79% of total area and 19.06% of production of spices in the country. The area under seed spices is about 1.74 million hectare and 1.45 million tonnes. India is consistent source of seed spices for importing countries worldwide. There has been ever increasing demand of seed spices and importing countries look at India for quality produce of seed spices.

Introduction

India is emerging as a major stake holder in the global horticulture scenario. More emphasis is given to underutilized fruits due to their high nutritive and medicinal value in addition to being resistant/tolerant to many biotic / abiotic stresses. Jamun (Syzygium cuminii Skeels), fruits are used as an effective medicine against diabetes, heart and liver trouble (Singh and Singh, 2012). The powder of seeds has high value being useful in the treatment of diabetes. Therefore, the jamun fruits are having high value in terms of therapeutic and nutrition. Fruits and seeds of tamarind have tremendous potential for industrial use. Mahua (Bassia latifolia) is a boon for tribal farmers of Gujarat. The corolla commonly called as mahua flowers is a rich source of sugar containing appreciable amount of vitamins and minerals. Flowers (fresh and dried) and spent flowers (after fermentation) are also used as feed for livestock. Fruits are eaten as raw or cooked. Seeds are good source of oil. The oil obtained from Mahua kernel is used for edible purpose and permitted for preparation of vegetable oil. Mahua oil is used in manufacture of soap, lubricating grease, fatty alcohols and candles. Chironji (Buchanania lanzan Spreng) is excellent tree of agro forestry and social forestry. The flesh of ripe fruit is very palatable and the oily kernels are good source of protein (28-30%) and are used in preparation of sweets. Kernel oil can be used to substitute olive and almond oil. Khirni (Manilkara hexandra) thrives well on rocky, gravelly, saline and sodic soils and is good source of sugars and antioxidants. It is being used commercially as rootstock for sapota. Tamarind has tremendous potential under semi arid conditions (Singh and Singh, 2013). The medicinal properties of the bael (Aegle marmelos Correa) fruit are due to high marmelosin content. The pulp of mature bael fruit is very effective to cure dysentery and diarrhoea Varieties on jamun (Goma Priyanka and Thar Kranti), bael (Goma Yashi, Thar Divya and Thar Neelkanth), tamarind (Goma Prateek) and chironji (Thar Priya) have been developed. These varieties are precocious bearer with good yield and quality attributes and suitable for high density planting. These minor fruits have potential in secondary agriculture through value addition. Minor fruits have been conserved at the station and it has great potential under semi-arid regions of western India.

Introduction

India is bestowed with diverse agro-climatic conditions which favour the production of a variety of fruit crops. At present India is second largest producer of fruits in the world after China. Fruit culture can be highly profitable by increasing employment opportunities and commercialization of the rural sector. During early sixties, priority was to achieving self sufficiency in food grain production in our country, however, over the years, fruit culture has emerged as an indispensable part of agriculture, offering a wide range of choices to the farmers for crop diversification. It also provides ample opportunities for sustaining large number of agro-industries to generate substantial employment opportunities (Bardhan, 2016). Amongst various tropical and sub-tropical fruit crops grown in India, guava, pomegranate, acid lime, sweet orange and mandarins, if left on its own, give several light crops of the variable quantities and qualities from the various flowering flushes throughout the year. Under natural conditions, these crops produce flowers thrice in a year i.e. February-March (Ambe Bahar), June-July (Mrig Bahar) and October-November (Hasth Bahar) with the corresponding harvest during rainy, winter and spring season, respectively (Boora et al., 2016, Lal et al., 2017). Owing to this, potential yield is not obtained during the desired period. Therefore, to obtain higher fruit yield during a particular period, these fruit crops are given a resting period with artificial means so that the natural flowering tendency of the trees is altered. It can be achieved through root exposure and its pruning (Boora et al., 2016), shoot pruning (Tiwari et al., 1992, Thakre et al., 2016)

Introduction

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Indian population and contributes about 30 per cent to the gross domestic product of India. The government has laid great emphasis onimproving productivity, quality of produce and welfare of farmers through awareness campaign and enhanced agri-knowledge for the farming community to double the farmer’s income by 2022 and make the farmers realise their significant contribution to the nation building. Doubling the farmer’s income can only be possible, with proper diversification of crops, developing the existing irrigation system in proper utilization of available water on plant requirement basis, conservation of soil fertility through adding organic manures to the field, best utilization of human excreta from the storage tanks of individual toilets after proper decomposition through bacterial degradation, fulfilling the nutrient requirement of crops on the basis of soil test values, proper financial support from the Government to the farmers in managing stress due to natural calamities etc. The governmentbelieves that farmers’ welfare will improve if there is increase in net income from the farms. With this end in view, the approach is to reduce cost of cultivation, enable higher yield per unit area and realize remunerative prices of farm produce. To achieve this goal, action on three pillars needs to be taken.

Introduction

It is a well known fact that agricultural pests cause substantial crop losses throughout the world. In the past farmers had to manage this problem to secure their basic subsistence needs, and as a response, the farmers practiced and developed cultural and mechanical pest control based on trial and error. Over a period of time, these practices have become a part of their production management system. The first known chemical control dates back to 2,500 years. From the late 1800s to 1940s, the main insecticidal compounds used were oils, soaps and resins, plant-derived poisons and inorganic compounds. The chemical age began in the 1940s with the discovery of dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane (insecticide), ferbam (fungicide), and 2, 4-D (herbicide) (Arneson and Losey, 1997). In 1940s and 1950s, pesticides were thought to be the final word in pest control and their introduction contributed substantially to raising agricultural productivity in many regions of the world. Since then, pesticides have become an integral component of many intensive agricultural systems. Repeated applications of pesticides lead to resistance in the pest (Beaument, 1993). This resistance results in the increased application of pesticides and to the collapse of the agricultural systems characterized by highly resistant pests, with no natural enemies left to control them. Pesticides have been found to causeacute and chronic human health problems, contamination of groundwater, surface water, atmospheric contamination, and negative effects on non-target organisms (Mullen, 1995). Concerns about the negative effects of pesticides led to research and promotion of alternative pest control practices – Integrated Pest Control or simply IPC. This new concept called Integrated Pest Control (IPC) and later Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was stimulated by symposia organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 1966. IPM made a paradigm shift in the philosophy of pest control, from pest eradication to pest management. Instead of single tactic control, emphasis was placed on the use of a combination of available tactics in a compatible manner aimed at providing cheap, long term sustainability with minimum of harmful side effect and controls the pest at ETL level.

Introduction

Arid regions are characterized by stressful edaphic and environmental conditions such as low and erratic rainfall coupled with limited irrigation resources, high evapotranspiration and extreme temperature regimes. Under such environment, the productivity of agriculture crops is far behind the satisfactory level, rendering cultivation of field crops an unprofitable venture. The recent awareness about potential of ecologically fragile lands for cultivation of fruit trees has not only opened up scope for providing economic sustainability for the natives, especially small farmers, but also for bringing new areas under fruit production. Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) or Indian jujube, which belongs to the family Rhamnaceae and said to be indigenous fruit crop. Ber is grown in India traditionally from ancient times where it has been in use for almost 4000 years (Mittre, 1961). It is one of the most suitable fruit trees for arid and semiarid regions. It is also known as ‘King of Arid Fruits’, Chinese date, Chinese fig or poor man’s fruit. Ber can do well even under marginal growing conditions and provides quality yields at low cost (Shukla, 1996). Cultivation of ber under the harsh conditions of the Thar desert of India (west Rajasthan) demonstrates its adaptation to desert conditions. Flowering and fruiting of ber coincide with the availability of maximum rain water (monsoon rains), which is during JulySeptember. It has a long taprootand can withstand high temperatures during the summer. During the dry hot summer (AprilJune), it undergoes dormancy by shedding its leaves, thus evading the injury of drought. It can produce fruits even under rainfed situation where average annual rainfall is 150200 mm. It is truly a desert apple for the dwellers of Thar Desert. The tree propagates freely and greatly resists stress conditions in regions experiencing recurrent droughts. It is thus an important tree suitable for integration into the agroforestry systems in the warm desert ecoregions. The tree can provide economic sustenance to the region and insurance against ecological degradation.

Introduction

Pomegranate is one of the most remunerative fruit crops that grow well under arid and semi-arid agro eco-system with severe scarcity of water. The popularity of pomegranate has grown tremendously due to its health beneûts, high returns on investment, less water requirement, therapeutic and functional properties. Growing health consciousness among the consumers and acquisition of super fruit status by pomegranate has made marketing of pomegranate fruits and derived value added products quite easy. As the result of all these benefits, India is witnessing a pomegranate revolution with more than 80 % expansion in area and 250 % increase in production during last one decade. However, there are many challenges to be overcome so as to double the income of pomegranate growers, these challenges include market glut due to unprecedented increase in production coupled with limited export resulting into suboptimal price of the harvested produce; intensification of diseases and insects and pest due to huge unplanned expansion; dominance of only one variety; very limited value addition; hampered export due to suboptimal quality, unwanted sprays, issue of pesticide residues and lack of sufficient number pesticide label claims in pomegranate; inadequate supply chain management. So, in order to overcome these challenges and to increase the profitability of pomegranate stakeholders, we need to focus on scientifically sound cultivation practices to reduce the cost of cultivation, breeding for improved varieties, improved packaging, transport, storage, marketing, supply chain management, facilitating and encouraging export, practicing and promoting climate resilient horticulture, formation of farmers’ cooperatives and farmers producers organization (FPOs), processing and value addition with the aim of total utilization and use of information and communication technologies. This article deals with opportunities and strategies in pomegranate for doubling farmers’ income through nursery management; improved horticultural practices; integrated disease, insets pests and nutrient management; use of information and communication technologies; creation of FPOs; processing and value addition.

Introduction

Dry-land horticulture has immense potential in providing nutrition rich food, social security and eco-restoration for the inhabitants of desert or rainfed and tribal land-areas of the north-western parts of India. Most of the recent past advances in Indian Horticulture are with production technology for favorable agro-climate, however, the vast and diverse land-scape of hot desert, arid, semiarid and tribal area is yet not getting logical thought for resource based horticultural development. The native crop–plants both annual and perennial are equally playing vital role for food, fodder as well income especially in the hot arid and sem-arid areas of Rajasthan where animal husbandry is also an integral component of the farming system. The monsoon supported arid zone crop-plants are drought tolerant and even the harvest failure in kharif season/ conventional cropping is very high and it is estimated 50–60% in most of the years only because of uncertainty in rain’s pattern. Based on my research experience and SWOT analysis over 25 years, it is accomplished that this hot arid zone has excellent horticultural potential with wide and varied opportunities of crop production, utilization of resources and eco-restoration (Samadia, 2016).

Introduction

Climate change has become one of the biggest challenges for the sustainable crop production. Prolonged droughts and desertification are among the issues faced by Indian hot arid zone where the rural poor and smallholders are most heavily affected. If people are to survive in these ever harsher conditions, their crops need to withstand drought, high temperatures and poor soils. Cactus crops are gaining increasing interest across the globe, in particular cactus pear or prickly pear {Opuntia ficus indica (L) Mill.} because of its unique characteristics which provide resilience to the harsh ecological conditions. Cactus pear is able to grow on land where no other crops are able to grow; it can be used to restore degraded land. It is the only crop that can be relied on when everything else fails. Cactus pear is grouped as CAM plant (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism), a photosynthesis mechanism evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions. In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Introduction

Harvesting and handling are the equally important activities as the entire production system as an individual activity. Therefore, proper harvesting and handling is essential to assure the farm income. There are various factors which directly affect the storage life of fruits and vegetables as below. The natural limits to the post -harvest life of all types of fresh produce are severely affected by other biological and environmental conditions.

Temperature: An increase in temperature causes an increase in the rate of natural respiration of all produce and food reserves and water content become depleted. The cooling of produce will extend shelf-life by slowing the rate of respiration.

Transpiration and water losses: High temperature, low humidity in the store and injuries to produce can greatly increase the loss of water from stored produce beyond that unavoidable lost from natural causes. Maximum storage life can be achieved by storing only undamaged produce at the lowest temperature tolerable by the crop and at the relative humidity appropriate for the produce.

Mechanical damage: Damage caused during harvesting and subsequent handling (i.e. injuries, impact bruising) increase the rate of deterioration of produce and renders it liable to attacks by decay organisms even under refrigerated storage. Mechanical damage to root crops will cause heavy losses owing to bacterial decay and must be remedied by curing the roots or tubers before storage. Curing is a wound –healing process.

Decay in storage: Decay of fresh produce during storage is mostly caused by the infection of mechanical injuries provoked by micro organisms, mostly bacteria and fungi. Furthermore, many fruits and vegetables are attacked by decay organisms which penetrate through natural openings or even through the intact skin. These infections may be established during the growth of the plant in the field but lie dormant until after harvest, often becoming visible only during storage or ripening.

Introduction

The Indian arid zone covers nearly 31.8 million ha of the country’s geographical area. It mainly spreads over parts of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan states of India. Six of the eleven districts in Western Rajasthan i.e. Barmer, Bikaner, Churu, ShriGanganagar, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur lie wholly in the arid zone. High temperature, low precipitation and high velocity winds are some of the main culprits of Arid zone which limit the scope for higher crop productivity in these areas. Under this situation, arid horticulture based farming practices has ample scope to raise the productivity and living standard of peoples of the hot arid and semi-arid regions. Arid horticulture based farming practices greatly favour the development of high quality produce in many fruit and vegetable crops. Horticulture based farming practices are now considered to be the most ideal strategy to provide food,nutrition and income security to the people especially in arid and semi-arid region of the country (Chundawat 1993; Chadha 2002).

Today India is the world largest producer of many fruits and vegetables. Wastes and by-products generated from fruits and vegetables are organic in nature and contribute a major share in soil and water pollution. Also, accumulated fruit and vegetable wastes (FVWs) cause greenhouse gas emission which is a matter of serious environmental concern. Proper disposal and handling of these wastes can help reduce pollution risks, at the same time be a source of several useful and commercially valuable by-products. Organized processing of wastes can help farmers achieve higher incomes.

Introduction

Any project is undertaken and an investment is made with expectation of realizing benefits out of it. This applies to projects both in the private domain as also in the public domain. Hence, it is imperative to assess the benefits derived from the project investment over its entire economically viable. The extent to which project contribute to various aims of development (benefits) and make use of scarce resource (costs) can differ widely. A proper project preparation requires an assessment of the various benefits and costs associated with execution of a project. Methods to determine, analyze and assess the relevant benefits and costs of a project are known as cost-benefit analysis. The cost- benefit analysis ensures that all the relevant factors that contribute to a project’s net benefits are systematically taken into account, whether they relate to an individual, a firm, a social group, the public sector or the country as a whole.

There are many tools or criteria for the financial evaluation of projects. However, the important and commonly used evaluation criteria are simple Rate of Return, Payback Period, Net Present Worth, Benefit- Cost Ratio and Internal Rate of Return.

Economic appraisal and evaluation helps the decision makers who are saddled with the responsibility to prioritize measures in a situation with enormous needs and quite limited resources. Government planners as well as donor agencies are all in need of enough data in order to make rational choice or decision in selection of investment alternatives. Most of the economists believe that economic analysis cannot give the final answers. There will always be lack of data, uncertainty about the future, disagreement on the methods, and similar issues. However, economic analysis, if properly done, can indeed be of much help to decision makers.

Introduction

Some historians of agriculture believe that it was women who first domesticated crop plants and there by initiated the art and science of farming. While men went out hunting in search of food, women started collecting seeds from the native flora and began cultivating those of interest from the point of view of food, feed, fodder, fiber and fuel. This view is strengthened by the fact that women have been traditionally seed selectors. Even today this tradition has continued in many parts of the developing world. Women have played and continue to play a pivotal role in the conservation of basic life support system such as land, water, flora and fauna. They have protected the health of the soil through organic recycling and promoted crop security through the maintenance of varietal diversity and genetic resistance. In many remote areas agriculture is largely in hands of women. Men tend use to go to towns and cities in search of salaried jobs for fulfillment of family income. Therefore, without total intellectual and physical participation of women, it will not be possible to popularize alternative systems of land management for shifting cultivation, arrest gene and soil erosion, and promote the care of the soil and the health of economic plants and farm animals. Women also tend to look at problems in their totality from the sowing of the crop to its ultimate utilization either as food, feed or raw material for industry. Since they are usually incharge of marketing, they generally possess a clear understanding of market preferences and prejudices. Therefore, for an economically and ecologically sustainable agriculture the involvement of women farmers and farm women (agriculture farmers with and without assets) in the process of modernization of farming practices and village industries is absolutely essential. Horticulture is a major part of Indian agriculture, natural foods of man, fruits and vegetables provide protective nutrients like vitamins and minerals besides, some high quality sugars, proteins, oils and fats. Although belated, their importance has now been recognized in India not only to provide the much needed balanced nutrition and gainful occupation to our populace but also to develop viable internal and export trade. Fruits like banana, mango and minors fruit like mahuva, chironji, rayan etc. vegetables like potato being energy rich are considered prominent food crops e.g. banana can produce as high as 37 million calories per hectare. Unfortunately the component of fruits and vegetables in Indian diet is hardly six percent which should be raised at least five times so that the per capita per day consumption becomes 85 g. fruits, 75 – 125 g. leafy vegetables 85 g. other vegetable and 85 g. roots and tubers. To achieve this present production of fruits and vegetables would need to be pushed up considerably by increasing production levels and the area under fruits and vegetables would need to be pushed up considerably by increasing production levels and the area under fruits and vegetables (Lata and Singh, 2010).

Introduction

The hot arid regions of India are spread over 32 million ha (0.32 million Sq.Km.) in the state of Rajasthan (61%), Gujarat (20%), Andhra Pradesh (7%), Punjab (5%), Haryana (4%), Karanataka (3%), and Maharashtra(0.4%) which are characterized by hostile agro-climatic conditions and fragile eco-system. Out of total hot arid area of the country (India), more than 60% area falls under the state of Rajasthan which covers 12 districts viz., Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Churu, Sikar, Jhunhjunu, Naguar, Jodhpur, Pali, Jalor, Sriganganagar, and Hanumangarh of the state. In general, the hot arid region of Rajasthan receives very low rainfall, varies from 100 mm annun^-1in north-western district of Jaisalmer to 450 mm per annum in the eastern boundaries of arid district of Rajasthan. The potential evapo-transpiration varies from 2063 mm in Jaisalmer to 1503 mm in Sikar districts of Rajasthan. The rainfall is very erratic and often experienced prolong drought. The ground water table is very deep and often brackish in nature. The extremes of temperature having severe winter during December-January with temperature as low as -4 °C and very hot summer during May-June with temperature as high as 48-50 °C is another important characteristic of the hot arid regions. The solar radiation is very high. Atmospheric vapour pressure deficit reaches as high as 30 mb during summer (May-June). The wind velocity in June is very high which leads to heavy wind erosion and formation of sand dunes. Some time strong sand storms of very high speed (60-0 km h^-1) with huge amount of sand particles also occurs. The soils are coarse textured with low silt, clay and humus content and water holding capacity is very low and infiltration rate is very high. The soil fertility is very poor having low organic carbon (0.02-0.06%).

Introduction

The hot arid zones in India are spread over nearly 31.7 million hectare area of which 41.5 per cent is arable and 19 per cent is cultural wasteland. These zones are perpetuated mainly in North –West and Southern part of the country. The major parts of the country under hot arid climatic conditions are Western Rajasthan (19.62 Million ha), North-western Gujarat (6.2 M. ha), South-western Punjab (1.45 M. ha), South-western Haryana (1.28 M. ha), Andhra Pradesh (2.16 M. ha), Karnataka (0.86 M. ha), and Maharashtra ( 0.13 M. ha). These areas/ zones are characterized by hostile agro-climate and fragile eco-system, an annual rainfall between 100 – 500 mm with a coefficient of variation (CV) varying from 40 – 70 per cent, low and erratic rainfall combined with extremes of temperature (450-500 cal/cm²/day); low relative humidity; high potential evapo-transpiration value ranging from 1600 mm in eastern part and 1800 mm in western part of the hot arid zones. Other important characteristics of the hot arid regions are hot winds with high velocity, poor soil condition, poor ground water with brackish and saline in reaction, poor vegetation, frequent occurrence of drought and frost, difficult to execute agro-techniques, difficulty in post harvest handling and marketing owning to limited and inefficient transportation and marketing facilities, etc (Yadav and Soni, 2008).

Precise collection and processing of soil sample is the first and foremost step for carrying out any soil study, therefore it is essential to collect the coil sample very accurately keeping in view the variations in slope, colour and texture of the soil management aspects. Soil sampling should be avoided from non-representative sites like recently fertilized plots, bunds, channels, marshy tracts and spots near trees, wells, compost piles etc. It should be kept in mind that erroneous samples will never yield accurate result in spite of very improved method of analysis. The depth of sampling may vary according to the need of soil study and extent of rhizosphere. However, in general the sampling depth for field crops is the plough layer (0 - 15 cm) but it could be up to one meter or as per the purpose of the study. Soil samples in dry farming areas should be taken depth wise as the roots of the crops in this conditions reaches to deeper layers in search of water and nutrients.

Mainly two types of soil samples (disturbed and undisturbed) are used for determining the physical properties of soil. The disturbed soil samples are used for determination of particle size distribution, particle density, aggregation, column studies for diffusion-dispersion coefficients and soil-water diffusivity. Whereas, undisturbed (core) soil samples are used for the estimation of bulk density, porosity, retention and transmission characteristics of air and water.

Particle-size distribution is one of the stable soil characteristics, being little modified by agricultural management practices. The particle-size distribution expresses the proportion of various size particles in a soil, especially sand, silt and clay that determine soil texture (Hillel, 2004). Soil texture is closely related to soil physical properties such as water retention and release characteristics, surface area, swelling and shrinking, soil strength and tillage properties. There are two common methods being employed for particle-size (<2.0 mm) analysis namely international pipette method and the hydrometer method. Both the methods are based on Stokes’ law which establishes a relationship between particle size and the rate of sedimentation. Thus, particles are assessed by their settling velocities from suspension in a water solution that can be used to quantify particle size. Size range of soil particles (sand, silt and clay) according to two most adopted systems i.e. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) formerly known as International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) are given below: