eChapters

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).

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.

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.

For the protection of all the factors of environment, laws were formed and amended from time to time as per the requirement. There are many acts according to the main factors and separate laws, for the enforcement. Also, the are some control acts, which can be implemented by states for the local environmental problems.

5.1 Concept of Ecosystem

Ecosystem is the basic functional unit in ecology, since it includes both biotic and abiotic environments influencing each other for maintenance of life.

A.G. Tansky in 1935 first proposed the term ecosystem. According to him, it is defined as the system resulting from the integration of all the living and non-living factors of the environment. In a simplest form, an ecosystem can be defined as a self-sustained community of plants and animals existing in its own environment. The term ecosystem is composed of two terms, “eco” means environment and “system” means an interacting and interdependent complex. It is otherwise known as bio system.

9.1 What are Natural Disasters?

The natural disasters are earthquakes, floods, droughts, famines, heat waves, cyclones, wild fire, volcanic, aerosols (small particles), and landslides.

9.2 Disaster Management

Both physical solutions and institutional strategies should be developed to manage natural disasters. For flood disaster control the water flow should be checked. Institutional strategies do not rely on physical barriers and include flood plain management, flood and disaster warning systems, education and preparedness programmes.

Introduction

Solar air heating is the conversion of solar radiation to thermal heat. The thermal heat is absorbed and carried by air which is delivered to a living or working space. The transparent property of air means that it does not directly absorb effective amounts of solar radiation, so an intermediate process is required to make this energy transfer possible and deliver the heated air into a living space (Fig.10.1). The technologies designed to facilitate this process are known as solar air heaters. Solar air heating technologies use only free, renewable and clean energy and can help defray the rising cost of conventional energy.

Life cycle cost analysis

Economics of solar energy devices can be calculated through life cycle cost (LCC) analysis. Total life cycle cost of a device is comprised of capital cost, maintenance cost, replacement costs for damagaed components and operational cost. Before adding these above costs, all future costs (C) are converted to present worth considering the relative rate of inflation (i) and discount rate (d).

Where, PW is the present worth of any future cost, i is the relative rate of inflation and d is the discount rate per year and n is the time period in years. Relative rate of inflation accounts for the escalted increase or decrease in prices of a commodity in comparison to general inflation rate. For any commodity, if the price escalation is expected as per the general inflation rate then relative rate of inflation is considered zero. In general case, relative rate of inflation is considered zero. Discount rate accounts the real value of money in future and in most of the economies of the world it is about 8-12%, and therefore 10% is considered in most analyis. The discount rate also refers to the interest rate used in discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to determine the present value of future cash flows. The discount rate in DCF analysis takes into account not just the time value of money, but also the risk or uncertainty of future cash flows; the greater the uncertainty of future cash flows, the higher the discount rate. A discount rate of 10 % per year would mean that in real terms it makes no difference to a farmer whether he has ? 100 now or ? 110 in one year’s time. Conversely, a cost of ? 110 one year from now has a present worth of ? 100. For a future single cost in n^th year, the present worth of that cost is calculated using Eq (1). However, for future multiple payments, costs are to be converted to present worth for each year and then needs to be cumulated. For calculation of annualized life cycle cost (ALCC) of solar devices, annuity factor (AF) needs to be calculated for a period of life cycle of the device as follows:

The Renewable energy (also called green energy) is generally defined as energy that comes from resources which are naturally replenished on a human timescale. In other words, Renewable energy is energy derived from natural sources that are replenished at a higher rate than they are consumed. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind energy,biomass energy, and hydroenergy.
India has made significant progress in the renewable energy sector, with renewable energy accounting for 43.12% of the country’s total installed power generation capacity. Globally, India ranks 4th in overall renewable energy capacity, 4th in wind power with 46.65 GW, and 5th in solar photovoltaic power with 85.47 GW. The country has surpassed 200 GW of non-fossil fuel energy capacity which includes 85.47 GW of solar power, 46.93 GW of large hydropower, 46.66 GW of wind power, 10.95 GW of biopower, 5.00 GW of small hydropower, and 0.60 GW of waste-to-energy capacity.
Presently India has set ambitious renewable energy targets. By 2030, the country aims to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy capacity and meet at least 50% of its total energy requirements through renewable sources. These efforts position India as a global leader in the transition towards sustainable and clean energy.
In recent years, India’s renewable energy capacity has grown rapidly. As per the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE, 2025), the country’s total installed renewable energy capacity (excluding large hydro) reached 220.10 GW by March 2025. When large hydro and nuclear power are included, the non-fossil fuel capacity has crossed 242.8 GW, representing over 50 percent of India’s total

2.1 Energy Consumption Pattern and Energy Resources in India

Energy is vital commodity in economic development of the world and any country. India also experienced a greater shift from non-commercial to commercial energy use after independence over the period. Industrialization and increased population has increased the consumption of commercial energy sources. The mechanization in agriculture and access to clean energy for household application also increased the consumption of the energy. however, the per capita energy consumption remains lower compared to the developed countries. In broader view, the energy used can be categorised in Non-commercial and Commercial energy sources that are used in India.

Proximate Analysis of Biomass
Objective
To determine the key compositional parameters of biomass, including moisture content, volatile matter, ash content, and fixed carbon, using standardized analytical procedures.
Principle
Proximate analysis of biomass is a standardized method used to determine the basic compositional components of biomass materials. It provides essential information about fuel quality and conversion characteristics. Biomass can serve as an energy source either directly through combustion or indirectly through conversion into gaseous, liquid, or solid fuels for more efficient utilization. These transformations occur through thermochemical processes (combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis) and biochemical processes (anaerobic digestion and fermentation).
Common biomass materials such as agricultural residues, cattle dung, poultry litter, and paddy straw are analyzed for parameters including total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), ash content, total organic carbon (TOC), moisture content, and total sugars. These parameters are typically estimated using AOAC (2000) and other standard protocol.
Requirements
Biomass samples (such as agricultural residues, cattle dung, poultry litter, paddy straw and others materials from living organisms but now dead), silica crucible, hot air oven, desiccator, muffle furnace, weighing balance, 5% Phenol, concentrated H2SO4, UV-VIS spectrophotometer, vortex mixer, glassware like beaker and test tubes

One of the most significant natural resources is water. The water cycle sustains hydrological systems, which give rise to rivers and lakes and a range of aquatic habitats, through evaporation and precipitation. Only 3% of the water on Earth is freshwater, although making up 70% of the planet’s surface. Just 1% of this is useable water found in rivers, lakes, and subsurface aquifers, while 2% of it is represented by polar ice caps. Approximately 25% of water is used for industry globally, 70% of it for agriculture, and only 5% for residential consumption. In India, 7% is used for industry, 90% is used for agriculture, and 3% is used for household use. World Water Day is on March 22nd.
There are five oceans on Earth. oceans: the Pacific, Indian, Atlantic, Arctic, and Southern. One of the main saltwater bodies in the hydrosphere is called an ocean. The average salinity of the ocean is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt), or 3.5%. A river is a naturally occurring waterway that is longer than 18 meters (60 feet), usually freshwater, that flows toward one or more rivers, lakes, seas, or oceans. A component of the hydrological cycle are rivers.
A steam is a current-filled body of water that is contained between the banks of a stream and a bed. Typically, the watercourse’s width is under eighteen meters. It reunites disparate environments. Creeks are tributaries of streams that join rivers or other streams but do not flow into the ocean.
A lake, derived from the Latin lacus, is an inland body of water that receives waterfrom a river and is deeper and larger than a pond.

The Resource of Land
One limited natural resource is land. The resource-generating regions found in terrain forms such as hills, valleys, plains, river basins, and wetlands are essential to the livelihood of the inhabitants. An ordered combination of minerals, organic matter, living things, air, and water is called soil. The soil is bound together by grass and tree roots. Land becomes unproductive and turns into wasteland when trees are reduced in size or grasslands are overgrazed.
Land is a valuable resource because it supplies the necessary substrate for the growth of vegetation, forestry, agriculture, and other industries. Approximately 54% of India’s land is used for agriculture. Land is necessary for man to construct dwellings, cultivate food, maintain pastures for domesticated animals, create towns and cities to support industries, and develop industries to produce things.
Degradation of Land
It can be characterized as any alteration to the land that lowers its quality or condition and, consequently, its capacity for yield. It happens anytime human activity alters the natural equilibrium of the environment through abuse or overuse. The main issues with land degradation are:
• Erosion by wind
• Water erosion including large-scale hillside movement
• Salinity of dry terrain
• The salinity caused by irrigation
• Surface scorching of soil
• Logging using water

Introduction

Water is one of the most complex natural resources demanding a comprehensive understanding of its inherent features in occurrence and distribution for an integrated planning aimed at optimum development for agriculture, health, industry, power, etc. The well being and development of our society is dependent on the availability of water. An increase in groundwater development and utilization for industries and urban water supply has created improper disposal of liquid waste. Defective well constructions, sewage and waste disposal in man made lakes within city, open quarries with water and failure to seal the abandoned wells in city area have provided possible openings for downward movement of polluted water into subsurface formations without undergoing the process of natural filtration.

Introduction

In addition to role of iron oxidation in commercial point of view there are certain implication of iron oxidation on environment. Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) is one of the example of environmental pollution. Coal and various metal ores are enclosed in geological formation of reduced nature. Coal, is often associated with pyrite (FeS₂).When mining activities expose this material to atmospheric oxygen, a combination of auto oxidation and microbial iron and sulfur oxidation produces large amounts of acids. The iron-rich acidic mine drainage kills aquatic life and renders the contaminated stream unsuitable as a water supply or for recreational use.

Introduction

It has been observed that the surface waters are getting polluted due to improper disposal of domestic and industrial wastewaters. Most of the River basins which are major supply of water for human activities are polluted. Even the groundwater in not spared because of the incessant growth of the population in India. In Maharashtra the number of bore wells has been increased to 5 Lakhs from 1 Lakhs from few decades only. Out of total area of Maharashtra, 82% is covered by the basaltic rocks made up of lava. That’s why the quantity of the groundwater is comparatively less than the Indo-gangetic plane.

Groundwater in the north region of the Tapi River is found to be hard, unfit for the human consumption. The residences of district like Buldhana, Jalgaon and Dhule have to use hard water for consumption. Rampant extraction of the groundwater for agriculture might have caused alternation in chemical qualities of the groundwater. It has been also well documented that in Marathwada region, groundwater content higher concentration of fluoride and total Hardness.

Fluorine the most electro-negative element is of great interest and importance to human health because of its curative and harmful effects. Fluorides are released by various natural sources and anthropogenic activities into the aquatic environment (that is surface as well as groundwater). Fluoride can enter the human body through drinking water, food, toothpaste, mouth rinses and other dental products, drugs and fluoride containing salts and hydrofluoric acid. It may cause Fluorosis – a crippling and painful disease such as dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis and non-skeletal fluorosis.