eChapters

Climate change presents a formidable challenge for agriculture, particularly in regions like South Asia and parts of the Pacific. Severe flooding in Bangladesh, droughts in Afghanistan, and rising sea levels in Fiji exemplify how erratic weather patterns disrupt food production. In Pakistan, erratic monsoons damage crop cycles, while in Nepal and Bhutan, glacial melt threatens downstream water availability. Vietnam and Thailand are increasingly vulnerable to salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta, jeopardizing rice productivity. According to FAO estimates, post- harvest losses in South and Southeast Asia exceed 15% due to inadequate storage and handling (FAO, 2022). Investment in improved storage facilities, resilient farming systems, better transportation infrastructure, and post-harvest technologies is crucial to mitigating such losses. 4.2 Infrastructure Deficits Infrastructure gaps are a major bottleneck for efficient agri-food supply chains. The Regional Logistics Performance Index (LPI) average for South Asia is 2.6, compared to 3.5

Abstract: Crossandra, traditional flower crop of India, produce beautiful flowers in remarkable range of colours of almost all the year. Flowers are ideal for garland making and hair adornments. Only few species are cultivated across the world. Improvement is focused on drought tolerant ornamental types for landscape/ container use, better keeping quality, heavy yield and vivid range of flower colours, long spikes, earliness and big flower size. Breeders have created mutant cultivars and F₁ hybrids having valuable traits. Lack of fragrance and meager seed set require biotechnological interventions.

Crossandra belongs to family Acanthaceae. It is also known as Kanakambaram in Tamil or Kanakambara in Kannada and Fire cracker in English because of cracking sound during opening of seed pod. Crossandra is derived from Greek word “krossoi” meaning fringe and “aner” meaning male i.e. fringed anthers. Crossandra is an evergreen shrub and one of the important loose flower used for adornment. The flowers are commonly grown for flower adornment in the form of garlands, venis and gajras. Though it is not fragrant, flowers are very popular because of its attractive bright colour, light weight and good keeping quality. These are used for making garland, either alone or in combination with jasmine flowers. Using crossandra flowers in combination with jasmine is becoming increasingly popular in India, particularly in southern parts, because the jasmine flowers provide colour contrast and the desired fragrance. Crossandra varieties show a remarkable range of colours, varying from orange, pink, red, yellow and double coloured blue-type with white throat.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Crossandra is native to Indo-malaya region. They are all native to sub-tropoical regions including India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Madagascar.

Crossandra Salisb is a genus of about 50 species which are shrubs or herbs from Tropical Africa, Madagascar and Arabia, where it is grown as a perennial shrub. Crossandra undulaefolia Salisb. (Syn C. infundibuliformis Nees) is a native of East Indies. However, it is sometimes considered to be native of south India and Ceylon. C. guinensis is native of east Africa while C. nilotica has its origin in east Africa and Mozambigue. C. flava is a native of tropical west Africa.

The crossandra plants are distributed in tropical as well as subtropical regions of the world such as south Asia, South America, South Africa and Madagascar. In India, it is commercially cultivated in southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (Singh, 2006).

Crossandra belongs to family Acanthaceae. It is also known as Kanakambaram in Tamil or Kanakambara in Kannada and Fire cracker in English because of cracking sound during opening of seed pod. Crossandra is derived from Greek word “krossoi” meaning fringe and “aner” meaning male i.e. fringed anthers. Crossandra is an evergreen shrub and one of the important loose flower used for adornment. The flowers are commonly grown for flower adornment in the form of garlands, venis and gajras. Though it is not fragrant, flowers are very popular because of its attractive bright colour, light weight and good keeping quality. These are used for making garland, either alone or in combination with jasmine flowers. Using crossandra flowers in combination with jasmine is becoming increasingly popular in India, particularly in southern parts, because the jasmine flowers provide colour contrast and the desired fragrance. Crossandra varieties show a remarkable range of colours, varying from orange, pink, red, yellow and double coloured blue-type with white throat.

Crossandra is an important tropical flowering crop valued for its attractive flowers and continuous production of loose blooms. It has particular importance in southern India, where flowers are widely used for garlands, hair decoration and religious purposes. This chapter covers the crop’s botanical characteristics, origin, distribution, genetics and commercially important varieties. It explains propagation, nursery management, climate and soil requirements, land preparation, planting, irrigation and nutrient management. Important cultural practices and plant growth management are discussed for obtaining regular flowering and good-quality blooms. The chapter also addresses insect pests, diseases, harvesting and postharvest management, including the correct method of flower collection. It provides a comprehensive production package for growers and students.

INTRODUCTION

Crossandra is an important traditional flower crop of south India. It is small evergreen shrub that is quite hardy and has the ability to produce beautiful flowers with a remarkable range of colours almost all the year. This has made it extremely popular in southern states of India where the flowers are widely used in temple offering and for making gajras and venis to use as hair adornments.

Owing to their attractive colours, light weight and good keeping quality, crossandra flowers are ideal for garland making. Even though the flowers lack fragrance, they are widely used in garlands either alone or along with jasmine to produce charming colour contrasts. Steady market demand and assured and regular income have made crossandra a profitable venture for south Indian farmers.

Spikeborer : Helicoverpa armigera : Noctuidae

Larvae of this polyphagous moth feed on the spikelets, flowers and developing seeds. The young larvae bite holes into the spikelets and the grown up ones attack the mature spikes

Introduction

Crossandra is an important traditional flower crop of South India. The word crossandra is derived from Greek words ‘krossoi’ meaning fringe and ‘aner’ meaning male, thus word crossandra means fringed stamens. It is grown for loose flower production and commonly used in temple offering and for making Gajras and Venis to use as hair adornments. Owing to their attractive colours, light weight and good keeping quality, crossandra flowers are ideal for garland making. Steady market demand and assured and regular income have made crossandra a profitable venture for South Indian farmers.

Genetics

The genus Crossandra belongs to family Acanthaceae. The diploid chromosome number of crossandra is 2n=40. This genus consists of around 50 species of tropical plants with only a few cultivated species such as Crossandra undulaefolia, C. mucronata, C. guineensis and C. sebacaulis. Crossandra undulaefolia is an important species which is grown for commercial value across the world.

11.1 Introduction

The crossopterygians, primitive, lobe-finned, bony fishes, represent a very interesting group of fish showing many features of amphibians and other tetrapods. They possess paired fins with a large median lobe, fins covered by scales, a cosmine layer, swim bladder as lungs, nostrils that open into the mouth cavity and autostylic jaw suspension.

11.2 Taxonomic position

Crowdsourcing is a concept that involves obtaining information, ideas, or services from a large group of people, often through an online platform. This approach has become increasingly popular in recent years, particularly with the rise of social media, mobile devices, and other digital technologies. In the context of agriculture, crowdsourcing can be used to collect data on various aspects of farming, such as crop yields, soil conditions, and weather patterns. This data can be used to provide farmers with valuable insights and advice on best practices for farm management. One of the key benefits of crowdsourcing in agriculture is that it allows farmers to share knowledge and expertise with each other. By pooling their collective knowledge and experience, farmers can gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing their industry, and develop more effective strategies for overcoming them (Fig.7.1).
For example, a crowdsourcing platform might allow farmers to share data on crop yields and soil conditions. This data could then be used to create detailed maps of soil types and conditions, which could be used to provide farmers with advice on optimal planting and harvesting schedules.
Another example of crowdsourcing in agriculture is the use of mobile apps to collect data on weather patterns. By collecting data from a large number of

This cosmopolitan family of about 375 genera and over 4,060 species, occur chiefly in north temperate regions, especially in the Mediterranean region. About 50 genera and over 140 species have so far been reported from India. Some of the larger genera, along with their reported number of species from the world in parenthesis, include Draba (300), Cardamine (160), Lepidium (150), Alyssum (150), Arabis (120), Erysimum (100), Sisymbrium (90), Heliophila (75), Rorippa (70), Iberis (30) and Raphanus (8). Majority of Crucifers produce an abundance of vitamin C. Characteristic pungent odour of its members is because of sulphur compounds.
Selected Indian Genera and Species
• Vegetables: Several common vegetables of daily use belong to this family. Some of them are radish (Raphanus sativus), cauliflower (B. oleracea var. botrytis), Brussel’s sprout (B. oleracea var. gemmifera), sengri (B. sativus var. caudatus), etc.
• Oils: Fatty oil, used for cooking, pickles, bruning, massaging, etc. is obtained from the seeds of several species of this family. Mustard oil is obtained from several species of Brassica such as B. campestris var. sarson and B. campestris var. toria (Indian rape). Oil is also obtained from the seeds of B. juncea var. cuneifolia (Rai), B. alba (white mustard). The oil cake left after the extraction of oil, is a good cattle feed.

Diamond back moth: Plutella xylostella: Plutellidae
 
The adults of this moth are small, greyish brown having pale whitish narrow wings and with inner margins yellow. There are three pale whitish triangular markings on hind margins of each forewing. At rest, when both forewings come together, they form a dorsal median patch of three diamond shaped yellowish white spots that give them their name diamond back moth. Hind wings have a fringe of long hairs.

1. Alternaria leaf spot
Diagnostic Symptoms
• Spots are small, dark coloured.
• They enlarge, soon become circular & 1mm. in diameter.
• Under humid conditions groups of conidiophores will be formed in the spot.
• Spots develop concentric rings.
• Finally the spots coalesce leading to blighting of leaves.
• Pathogen is seed borne and cause shriveling of seeds and poor germination.
• Linear spots also appear on petioles, stems, pods & seeds (Fig.1).

Crust is characterized by the presence of desquamated squamous epithelial cells. The dried exudate consists of necrotic cell debris, leucocytes, RBC’s, plasma proteins and microorganisms. It is classified into serous crust (eosinophilic protein exudates), hemorrhagic crust (RBC’s), cellular crust (degenerative leucocytes mainly neutrophils), serocellular crust (mixture of serum or plasma or leucocytes) and palisadic crust (presence of leucocytic infiltration, pustules and parakeratosis organized in a horizontal manner).

Early passage cell lines are relatively unstable and go through a period of adaptation to culture. However, between 5^th and 35^th generation (human diploid fibroblasts), the culture is fairly consistent although it varies from one cell to another cell. Finite cell lines should be preserved after adaptation but before senescence (getting older). Cells should be preserved to protect cell line instability, availability in case of contamination, incubator failure or accidental loss.

Introduction

The protocol below describes the use of cell freezing methods involving an electric -80°C freezer for the cryopreservation of cell lines. ECACC routinely use a programmable rate-controlled freezer. This is the most reliable and reproducible way to freeze cells but as the cost of such equipment is beyond the majority of research laboratories the methods below are described in detail. If large numbers of cell cultures are regularly being frozen then a programmable rate-controlled freezer is recommended.

Materials

• Freeze medium (commonly 90% FBS, 10% DMSO or glycerol

• 70% (v/v) alcohol in sterile water

• PBS without Ca2+/Mg2+ • 0.05% trypsin/EDTA in HBSS, without Ca2+/Mg2+

• DMSO

Deep freezing or cryopreservation of semen refers to freezing and storage of semen at –79ºC using dry ice and alcohol or at -196ºC using LN2 as refrigerant. Cryopreservation of semen was first attempted by Parkes in 1945. But cryopreservation of semen received a boost by discovery of glycerol a cryoprotectant by Polge in 1949.  Bull semen was first successfully frozen by Stewart in 1951. Cooling rate is a vital factor determining the post thaw survival of the sperm cells. Cell death occurs in rapid freezing due to formation of intracellular and possibly extracellular ice. In contrast slow cooling rates cause cell death due to diffusion of intracellular fluid into the extender, which then become increasingly hypertonic as the extender’s water freezes causing intracellular osmotic damage as the cell dehydrates. Hence, the cooling rate needs to be balanced in a way that it is neither too fast to cause cell death due to cold shock nor too slow to result the same due to osmotic shock. Ultra rapid freezing gives excellent morphological preservation but with poor retention of functions on thawing due to large number of minute crystal formation.

A useful method for quickly preparing tissue slides for microscopic analysis is the frozen section technique. There are numerous clinical and research contexts where the frozen section technique is employed. For quick intraoperative diagnosis in histopathology, frozen sections are frequently utilized, giving our surgical colleagues direction. To ascertain the extent of excision required to remove a skin tumour, the surgeon doing Mohs Micrographic Surgery depends solely on the frozen sections. The frozen section technique is used in many scientific applications to create microscopic slides using a variety of complex morphologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular techniques. There are several uses for frozen sections, including rapid diagnosis, immunohistochemistry, enzyme histochemistry, lipid detection, cancer margin research, and more. Making frozen section slides is a difficult technical procedure that calls for the mastery of advanced technical abilities in addition to knowledge of the pathology, microanatomy, and histology of the tissues under investigation. The outcomes will depend on our capacity to produce a high-quality preparation, whether it is utilized for research or intraoperative consulting. Dr. Louis B. Wilson’s 1905 description served as the basis for the frozen section technique used in medical labs today. At the request of surgeon Dr. William Mayo, one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic, Wilson devised the procedure based on previous studies. A frozen section was also used in earlier reports by Dr. Thomas S. Cullen of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, but only after formalin fixation. Dr. William Welch, a pathologist at Hopkins, also tried Cullen’s technique, but there were no negative clinical effects. Wilson is therefore widely acknowledged as having really invented the procedure.

Etiology

Cryptococcosis (KRIP-toe-cock-co-sis) is caused by the fungus, Cryptococcus neoformans (KRIP-toe-cock-kus knee-O-for-mans). It is found worldwide and primarily affects cats and people with weak immune systems.