eChapters

Nutrition affects the development of human body immune system, playing a vital role in modifying the threat of exposure and susceptibility to infectious patho gens, acuteness of morbidity and success of treatment. Keeping in view the pres ent pandemic and emerging viruses such Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Hantavi ruses, Nipah viruses for which no effective preventive and curative treatment is in hand, a healthy immune system could be one of the most important defences to f ight off (El-Gamal et al., 2011). Vegetables are rich source of essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and dietary fibres; however, certain vegetables hold more significance in view of boosting immunity.

Ecological engineering has recently emerged as a paradigm for considering pest management approaches that rely on the use of cultural techniques to manipulate farm habitat and to enhance biological control. In contrast to the intensive use of ecosystems, these days to enhance productivity can affect agro-ecosystems through soil and water depletion, biodiversity loss, challenging pest problems and disruption in flow of ecosystem services. Ecological engineering for pest management mainly focuses on increasing the abundance, diversity and function of natural enemies in horticultural crops habitats by providing refuges and alternate or supplementary food resources and also attracts different kinds of pollinators like honeybees.

Arecanut is an important traditional plantation crop of India and South-Eastern Asia. Also known as “betel nut”, the kernel is obtained from its fruit. It is mostly used by the people as masticatory and is an essential requisite during several religious, social and cultural functions of India. Arecanut has been widely used in East Africa, South-East Asia, and the Pacific Ocean islands, providing economic security for millions of people and for many sole means of livelihood in the Indian sub-continent. Arecanut is commercially cultivated in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Its current world production is 17.96 lakh tonnes from 12.26 lakh ha (FAO STAT, 2020).

Plant tissue culture is the process in which mass multiplication is possible from the somatic cells of the plant by utilizing the principle of totipotency. Each plant cell can grow into a plant by converting the somatic nature of the cells to embryogenic ones. In tissue culture, plantlets can be produced either directly through organogenesis or indirectly by somatic embryogenesis. Organogenesis is the process in which shoots develop from the explants directly and then rooting is induced. In indirect somatic embryogenesis, the explant cells pass through a callusing stage where the cells get multiplied. These cells then obtain embryogenic potential and develop somatic embryos. These somatic embryos later germinate and develop into plantlets

Vertical farming is a system of growing crops in multiple layers in skyscrapers, to maximize the use of land by having a vertical design, whereby plants, animals, fungi and other life forms are cultivated for food, fuel and fibre by artificially stacking them vertically above each other (Despommier, 2009; Kalantari et al., 2017). It is estimated that nine acres in a horizontal farm is equal to 1 acre in a vertical farm. The concept of vertical farming started during the mid 90s by Dr Dickson Despomier, professor of Public and Environmental Health at Columbia University

An emerging, promising, affordable, and sustainable method of providing micronutrients to a large population with limited access to varied meals and other micronutrient therapies is referred to as biofortification. The biofortified tuber crops, particularly sweet potato, cassava, yam, and taro, are giving the targeted people adequate amount of nutrients. When genetic diversity is present in a gene pool of targeted crop, biofortification through conventional breeding approaches has been most successful. The breeding strategies used to elevate micronutrients include pre-breeding, large-scale germplasm screening, molecular marker development and understanding genetic control and Genotype x Environment interaction (GxE).

Pandemic brought in tough times, especially for different business sectors. However, the floriculture business was one such sector that people embraced, especially in India. In the current scenario, the floriculture industry in India has emerged as a huge trend setter and a survivor, albeit with a drop in earnings and the convenience of working from home. Flower Market report summarizes top key players overview as Syngenta, Floret Flowers, among others. The Indian economy has been starved of sustainable ideas, especially when the outbreak of COVID-19 saw the loss of jobs and the reverse migration of rural people. The floriculture business provided a vast opportunity that involves specific technical know-how and provided flower and allied business as a medium to earn income and generate opportunity for others.

Floriculture is most diversified and potential component of horticultural industry in India. It is one of the fastest growing sectors in domestic and international trade markets and holds high business potential and prospects for trade. In ancient era, the flowers were used mainly for religious offering but now floriculture sector has emerged as a commercial venture. There is a dynamic shift from sustenance production to commercial production in this era and thereby significant increase in trade of flowers at domestic level because of rapid urbanization, increase in income level, etc. Flower business is considered as a most profitable business as commercial floriculture has higher potential. The cut and loose flowers have opened various avenues for establishment of flower business.

Hydroponics is a technique of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions with or without the use of an inert medium such as gravel, soil, vermiculite, rock wool, peat moss, saw dust, coir dust and coconut fibre-provide mechanical support. The term Hydroponics was derived from the Greek words ‘hydro’ means water and ‘ponos’ means labour and means water work. The word hydroponics was coined by Professor William Gericke in the early 1930s; describe the growing of plants with their roots suspended in water containing mineral nutrients. Researchers at Purdue University developed the nutriculture system in 1940. During 1960s and 70s, commercial hydroponics farms were developed in Arizona, Abu Dhabi, Belgium, California, Denmark, German, Holland, Iran, Italy, Japan, Russian Federation and other countries.

Microgreens, popularly known as “vegetable confetti,” are tender young greens that are grown from seeds of cereals, vegetables, and herbs. These shoots are typically harvested 7-21 days after germination when they are just (2.5-7.5 cm tall. At this stage, microgreens have a central stalk, two mature cotyledon leaves, and a second pair of tender true leaves. Compared to baby greens and sprouts, they are bigger than sprouts and smaller than baby greens. Their distinctive color, texture, and flavour can be either sweet or spicy.). Microgreens are especially important because of their high amount of micronutrients and bioactive substances.

India is the second-largest producer of vegetables in the world (FAO, 2021). Its diverse soil and climate condition provides ample opportunity to grow a variety of crops (be it tropical, semi-temperate, or temperate type). Vegetables form a significant part of the total agricultural production of the country. India grows vegetables in an area of 10.86 mha with annual production of 200 million tonnes (NHB, 2021). Vegetables alone contribute 66.97 % of the total horticultural production (341.63 million tonnes). During 2021-22, India exported vegetables worth Rs. 5,745.54 crore. The growth in vegetable production is largely due to an increase in productivity of average productivity is 18.18 tonnes per hectare, The increase in productivity has led to improved per caput availability of over 250g.

Nursery is a place where planting material, such as seedlings, saplings, cuttings, etc., are raised, propagated and multiplied under favourable conditions for transplanting in prepared beds. In other words, “A vegetable nursery is a place or an establishment for raising or handling of young vegetable seedlings until they are ready for more permanent planting.” There are some vegetables whose seed need to be sown directly in the main plot such as cowpea, okra, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, pumpkin, sponge gourd, ridge gourd, peas, beans, and similar others. Similarly, certain vegetables cannot grow by seeds directly and need to multiply by vegetative means like pointed gourd, ivy gourd, kakrol, kartoli, garlic, zinger, colocasia, Aravi, water chestnut etc.

Underexploited

Unexploited fruit crops, jackfruit, tamarind, jamun, karonda, star fruit, etc having high nutritive value, are gaining popularly among the people. Similarly, many exotic fruits, Dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp), Avocado (Persea Americana Miller), Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.), Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L), Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims), Durian (Durio zibethinus L.,) Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour) have been introduced in India. Exploitation of their genetic diversity could provide nutritional and livelihood security. There is a need to know about nutritional composition and health significance of these crops. Therefore, efforts have been made to know their potential nutritional and health benefits

Precision viticulture aims to optimize vineyard management, reduce use of resources, reduce environmental impact and maximize yield and quality of grapes. New technologies as UAVs, satellites, proximal sensors, variable rate machines (VRT) and robots are being developed and used more frequently in some parts of the world in recent years. Developments and abilities of computers, software and informatic systems to read, analyze, process and transfer a huge amount of data are major milestones in precision viticulture. In addition, different decision support systems (DSSs) for making better crop management decisions at the right time also assist vine growers.

India is floristically extremely rich with about 33 per cent of its botanical wealth (over 15,000 species of higher plants) being endemic. There are about 141 endemic genera distributed over 47 families (Nayar, 1980) the 4,900 endemic species, a large number are localised in the Himalayas (about 2,532 species), compared with the peninsular tract (1,788 species), and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (185 species). Indian region is a major centre of domestication and diversity of crop plants (Zeven and de Wet, 1982; Arora, 1991). About 33 per cent of the cultivated plant species have theirorigin in this region (Damania, 2002). The Indian sub continent is a centre of domestication and diversification of several economically useful wild plant species comprising about 3,000 plants of edible value, 4,000 species having known reputed medicinal value, 700 plants of traditional and social significance, 500 fibre-yielding species, 400 fodder plants, 40 plants having insectivorous uses, 300 gum and dye yielding plants and 100 aromatic and essential oil-yielding species (Arora, 1991).

Agriculture is biggest user of water, accounting 70% of all withdrawals. It is major water-consuming sector due to intensification of agriculture (CWC, 2021). With changing climatic condition, demand of water will increase. Hence, conservation and efficient management of limited water has become the need of the hour for sustainable fruit production. Since per unit returns from horticultural crops are higher, their production system improves the net return of farmers and would impart resilience to aberrant weather (Meghwal et al., 2018). Therefore, immense opportunities for quality production of water-economizing horticultural crops. In arid and semi-arid regions, uncertain, erratic and scanty’ rains coupled with meagre irrigation facilities leads to low and unstable yields.

A large number of arid and semi-arid fruit crops are used by the local inhabitants. These fruits are better known as protective food as cultivation is restricted and are grown mainly as wild. Being tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses, these fruit crops are suitable for growing in drought prone areas. Semi-arid fruits are the oldest fruit tree crops with wide distribution, reflecting their adaptation to a wide range of edapho-climatic conditions. Development of viable agro-techniques, propagation methods, canopy management, and biotic and abiotic stresses management are equally important for improving productivity and quality of arid and semi-arid fruit crops.

Prevailing climate and weather conditions play crucial role in production and quality of various fruits including mango (Mangifera indica L.). In India, mango has 2.3 million ha area with annual production of 20.5 million tonnes and average productivity of 8.9 t/ha. However, erratic precipitation and high temperature during flowering and fruit setting induced mainly due to climatic disturbance in the recent past had adversely impacted the production potential of mango in subtropics. Analysis of twenty years (2001-02 to 2021-22) weather data of ICAR CISH, Lucknow, indicated that average annual rainfall of the region is 956.41 mm spread over 25-30 number of rainydays.

Perennial fruit crops are largely cultivated under borderline conditions leading to various physiological disarrays. An environment-friendly technique for escaping or reducing losses in production due to biotic and abiotic stresses is their propagation onto rootstocks, which can reduce the adverse effects of external stresses. The scion and rootstock grow together, although genetically different but working infusion and grow as a single entity. The rootstock provides the root system, thus anchoring the tree and acts as an absorbing organ for water and mineral nutrients. The rootstock also influences the tree size, precocity in bearing, fruit quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.

Indian subcontinent is a mega-center of crop plant diversity, as well as wild relatives and other useful taxa (Zeven and de Wet 1982). Diverse agroclimatic conditions, agricultural practices, and ethnic diversification have resulted in the development of a rich diversity of crop plants among native and introduced taxa (Arora 1991). Fruit crops contribute significantly to nutrition and health because they are high in dietary energy and contain a significant amount of vitamins and minerals (Pareek et al., 1998). Most of these species serve multiple functions, such as food, shelter, timber, fuel, medicine etc. As a result of their numerous applications, tropical fruits significantly contribute to food and nutritional security, income generation, ecosystem and environmental sustainability.