eChapters

2.1 Introduction

The great impact of increase in population as well as rapid economic growth has given us cause for concern about the future situation of the earth in recent years. Desertification as well as deforestation is continuously changing the landscape. Irrigated areas are being damaged by salinization. The effect to increase arable lands cannot match with the speed of these deteriorating processes. Weather is also being changed gradually by urbanization. In the new millennium, the challenges in the agricultural sector are very different from those met in the previous decades. The enormous pressure to produce more food from less land with shrinking natural resources is a tough task for the farmers. This calls for special effort to manage the key input without eroding the ecological assets and sound knowledge base to sustain agricultural productivity and profitability.

The maximum crop response depends on the level of the balanced environmental parameters. The natural environment and input availability may not be optimum for a given crop. The environmental factors which affect plant growth includes air temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration soil temperature and moisture content to the soil. The micro-climate can be artificially controlled by means of plastic covering structure like greenhouse. The plastic covered greenhouse is the only mechanism, which transmits the useful wavelengths of the light spectrum for photosynthetic activity. Further, it also reduces the air movement, which is of great importance for the plant growth and often used to control the spread of plant diseases.

As far as plant propagation is concerned sunlight provides the primary energy for photosynthesis, the food chain and all human nutrition. The expansion of crop and flower production in various types of greenhouse during the recent years has enabled the growth of agricultural products throughout the year. An agricultural greenhouse consists of frames of metallic or wooden structure covered with a transparent material preferably plastic which provide a suitable environment for the intensive production of various crops. A greenhouse is essentially an enclosed structure, which traps the short wavelength solar radiation and convert and finally stores the long wavelength thermal radiation to create a favorable microclimate for higher productivity. Open field agricultural farming has no control on the environmental parameters such as sunlight, air composition and temperature that influence the plant escalation. Hence, a large number of winter vegetables, flowers and other horticultural crops have to be transported from distant places. Future greenhouse systems in moderate climates will have to be energy efficient. Greenhouses will have decreased transmission for long-wave length radiation and increased transmission for short-wave-radiation compared with common shelters.

1.1 General

Food is basic necessity for the survival of human beings. It is derived from agriculture which traps and transfers solar energy in chemical energy in the form of biomass and end products are processed and utilized for food, feed, fibre, fertilizer, and fuel. Indian’s economic security continues to be foreseen upon agricultural sector. Agriculture supports 52 per cent of population, as against about 75 per cent at the time of dependence. Despite the focus on industrialization, agriculture remains a dominant sector of the Indian economy both in terms of contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as a source of employment to millions across the country. India occupies a leading position in global trade of agricultural products. However, its total agricultural export basket accounts for a little over 2.15 per cent of the world agricultural trade. The major export destinations are USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nepal and Bangladesh. Among agricultural commodities, basmati rice, spices, oil meals, sugar, cotton and castor oil have been leading export commodities.

Agriculture is an essential ingredient in overall development of India economic. The history of Indian agriculture in dates back to Indus Valley Civilization and even before that in some places of Southern India. India ranks second worldwide in farm outputs.

On the eve of Independence, 70 per cent of India’s nation income was from agricultural sector. Before 1947, over 85 per cent of country’s population lives in villages where livelihood completely depended on agriculture, which contributed over 95per cent of country’s income. Agricultural sector was most important sector in Indian economy facing massive stagnation and continuous determination. In the present context, around 60 – 70 per cent of Indian population directly or indirectly depends upon the agricultural sector and currently it contributes to 16 per cent of the Indian gross domestic product.

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is an internationally recognized method of identifying and managing food safety related risk and, when central to an active food safety program, can provide customers, the public and regulatory agencies assurance that a food safety program is well managed. HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. (FAO, 2003)

Mycotoxin hazard analysis and identification of possible control measures

I. Hazard Analysis

a) Identification of mycotoxin hazard

For a given commodity system in a particular location, the HACCP team need to first consider which, if any, of the mycotoxins known to constitute a food safety hazard are likely to be present. Over 300 mycotoxins are known, but only a relatively few of these are widely accepted as presenting a significant food or animal feed safety risk.

The following mycotoxins have regulatory limits set by one or more countries: the aflatoxins (including aflatoxin M₁), ochratoxin A, zearalenone, patulin, ergot alkaloids, and deoxynivalenol. Guideline limits exist for fumonisin B₁ and regulatory limits are likely to be set in the near future. The regulatory limits are taken as the target levels and should be included in the Product Description table. Mycotoxin limits can also be set by the customer in specific contracts and it is possible that these may include mycotoxins not subject to regulatory limits.

The economic loss in livestock arising due to mycotoxicosis is enormous apart from being a health risk. Indian economy is heavily affected by mycotoxins. It was estimated that 10 million dollars were lost in India’s export within a decade due to groundnut contamination with mycotoxins (Vasanthi and Bhat, 1998). Many developing countries have realized that reducing mycotoxin contamination in foods will not only improve the health and production in animal, but also increase the raw material exports (international trade) to other countries. The following strategies are to be adhered strictly to reduce the mycotoxins contamination of crops in the field.

1. Early harvesting

Early harvesting reduces the fungal infection of crop in the field. Early harvesting and threshing of groundnuts results in lower aflatoxin levels and higher gross returns of 27% than in delayed harvesting (Rachaputi et al., 2002).

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by different types of moulds which are present in soil, plant and feed ingredients. Ingestion of toxins will result in reduced growth and production performance due to reduced nutrient utilization, illness or death of animals. Analysing the presence of mycotoxin and its concentration in grain and feeds is necessary to eliminate the adverse health effects of mycotoxins in animals. Estimation of mycotoxin in feed ingredients is a challenging task because the concentration of toxin is at µg/kg or parts-per billion levels. At the same time, analysing inappropriate samples is a waste of resources. Mycotoxins are not evenly distributed in feeds or grains. If the specimen collected for analysis includes contaminated grain, the mycotoxin will be detected. If not, the mycotoxin will not be detected.

Sample collection for mycotoxin analysis

The objective of sample collection is to collect the specimen samples from as many parts of the feed lot as possible. The size of the collected specimen depends on the size of the load received. Sample collecting probes can be used to collect the samples from bags.

Different type of mycotoxins commonly present in different feed and fodder crops are produced by mould during cultivation and storage and are specific to certain region according to climatic and environmental conditions. Most of the toxins produced in crops are consumed when fed to animals. Among the mycotoxins, aflatoxin B-1 is present in highest concentration which enters rumen following ingestion of aflatoxin contaminated feed stuffs. In the rumen, AFB-1 is degraded into aflatoxicol and the remaining portion of the aflatoxin is absorbed in the digestive tract by passive diffusion and metabolized in the liver into aflatoxin M-1 (Kuilman et al., 1998). AFM-1 circulates in the blood as a stable compound until excreted in milk, urine and bile. The following are the sources of AFM-1 contamination in milk and milk products and it occurs through two modes of contamination viz., indirect contamination and direct contamination.

Mould growth in raw materials or finished feeds result in production of mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are a large group of toxic chemicals causing wide range of pathological and physiological effects in animals. Symptoms depend on the amount of toxin present in the feed, the period for which the feed is ingested, the nutritional status of the feed and the susceptibility of the animal. Feed efficiency, growth rate and production are affected in animals consuming sub-acute doses.

Ruminants are generally considered less susceptible to mycotoxins than monogastric animals because of degradation of mycotoxin in rumen by rumen microorganism. However, certain mycotoxins resist rumen degradation and cause clinical mycotoxicosis. In high yielding dairy animals, during transition period, animals who are in negative energy balance (NEB), low body condition score and decreased resistance to infectious agents cause adverse effects in animal health with exposure of mycotoxins present in animal diet.

Effect of mycotoxin in ruminants

In cattle during metabolism, mycotoxin present in stored or ensiled feeds produce microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) which are responsible for mouldy odour, reduced feed intake and increased feeding times. This insufficient feed intake further produces negative energy balance (NEB).

The ingestion of mycotoxin-contaminated feedstuffs by animals leads to adverse effect on animal health and the effects are more serious in monogastric animals depending on the species and the susceptibility to toxins within the species. Ruminants are less susceptible to mycotoxins than monogastric animals because of biotransformation of mycotoxins to non-toxic metabolites in rumen by rumen microbiota (Fink-Gremmels, 2008).

Various physical, chemical and biological factors interdependently affect the fungal colonization or production of the mycotoxin. Physical factors such as temperature, relative humidity and insect infestations create ideal environment for fungal colonization and mycotoxin production. Stresses such as drought, an increase in temperature, and an increase in relative humidity may selectively alter colonization and metabolism of mycotoxigenic fungi and thus alter mycotoxin production (Russell et al., 1991). Cool and damp weather favours the germination of the sclerotia and thus ergot alkaloid formation in fescue and ryegrass.

Biological factors are categorized into intrinsic factor such as fungal species, strain specificity, strain variation and instability of toxigenic properties. Interaction between the toxigenic fungal species and substrate affect the fungal colonization and mycotoxin production. Some plant species are more susceptible to colonization and some resistant plant species may also get infestation due to favourable environmental conditions.

Mycotoxins are the secondary metabolites produced by moulds, which grow on food and feedstuffs causing pathological or physiological changes to humans and animals. They are toxic to vertebrates in low concentrations. Symptoms depend on the amount of toxin in the feed, the period for which the infested feed is ingested, the nutritional status of the feed and the susceptibility of the animal species. Toxic effects of chronic consumption of mycotoxins in human are carcinogenicity, hepatotoxicity, oestrogenicity, genotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, immunosuppression, reproductive disorders and dermal irritation (Anfossi et al., 2010). The most extensively studied mycotoxins viz., Aflatoxins, ochratoxins, deoxynivalenol (DON, vomitoxin), T-2 toxin, zearalenone, fumoninsins, mycophenolic acid, cyclopiazonic acid and ergot toxins are produced by the moulds Aspergillus, Fusarium, Pennicillium and Claviceps (Iqbal et al., 2015).

The Fertilizer (Control) Order

The Fertilizer (Control) Order (FCO) is a set of legally enforceable executive orders issued by the Govt. of India under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 passed by the Parliament. This order came into force in 1957, essentially to regulate the sale, price and quality of fertilizers in India. Amendments are made from time to time as per the exigencies and need of the hour and therefore a large number of amendments were made over a period of time. Consequently, after an overall review of the various provisions of the order, a revised Fertilizer (Control) Order 1985, was issued, which came into effect on September 25, 1985. The FCO consists of five Schedules comprising of different activities as mentioned in Figure 8.1, besides forms of registrations and appendices.

Schedule I comprises Part A and B. While Part A contains the specifications of different fertilizers (e.g. minimum nutrient content, maximum moisture content, range of physical parameters, maximum levels of impurities/ contaminants, etc.), that can be marketed in India (no material not performs the specifications as in the FCO cannot be sold as fertilizer), Part B lists the tolerance limits in plant nutrients and physical parameters for various fertilizers. Schedule II encompasses again two parts, with Part A describing the procedures for drawal of samples of fertilizers, and Part B describing detailed methods of analysis of fertilizers.

Schedule III encompasses four parts namely, Part-A, Part-B, Part-C and Part-D. While Part-A contains specifications of different biofertilizers, Part-B contains tolerance limits of biofertilizers, Part-C describes the procedures for drawal of sample of biofertilizers, Part-D describes the methods of analysis of biofertilizers. Schedule IV also encompasses four parts. Part-A contains specifications of organic fertilizers, Part-B contains tolerance limits of organic fertilizers, Part-C describes the procedures for drawal of sample of organic fertilizers, and Part-D describes the methods of analysis of organic fertilizers. Schedule V also contains of four parts. Part-A contains specifications of non-edible de-oiled cake fertilizers, Part-B contains tolerance limits of non-edible de-oiled cake fertilizers, Part-C describes the procedures for drawal of sample of non-edible de-oiled cake fertilizers, and Part-D describes the methods of analysis of non-edible de-oiled cake fertilizers.

Fertilizers have played a pivotal role in enhancing food grain production in India especially after the introduction of high yielding and fertilizer responsive crop varieties during the green revolution era. However, there are certain problems associated with fertilizers because of their relatively low nutrient use efficiency (NUE) or nutrient uptake by crops. The fertilizer use efficiency is 30-50% for N, 15-20% for P, 70-80% for K and 8-10% for S. In case of micronutrients, the use efficiency is only 1-2%. The low NUE is typically the result of higher release rate of fertilizers than the absorption rate by plants, and/or transformation of fertilizers/ nutrients to forms that are not bioavailable to crops.

Application of N and P fertilizers at levels exceeding plant requirements due to low acquisition efficiency leads to significant environmental consequences in many parts of the world due to losses, such as nitrate (NO₃^-) leaching, NH₃ volatilization, and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission. Excessive use of fertilizer N affects the groundwater. Similarly, excessive use of N and P fertilizers leads to surface runoff which in turn causes eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems. These negative environmental consequences associated with fertilizer inputs further emphasize the need of technological approaches to improve nutrient management in modern agriculture. As such, there is great need in developing innovative fertilizers to minimize the losses of nutrients and increase their efficiencies.

In addition, current agricultural activities contribute up to 20-30% to the annual atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). Even higher contribution is being noted for N₂O (about 60%), which is a potent GHG and catalyst for stratospheric ozone depletion, with more than 300 times the global warming potential than CO₂. Its emission is closely related to mineral fertilizer input. High fertilization rates lead to N and P losses with negative impacts on atmospheric GHGs concentrations and water quality.

There is an urgent need to improve NUE in agricultural systems, and to manage biogeochemical cycles in a sustainable way. This includes the development and application of modern technology as alternatives to conventional fertilization. There is a need to reduce the use of fertilizers/nutrients in agricultural systems by increasing NUE. The recent development in smart fertilizer delivery systems including nanofertilizers or the new generation fertilizers is a good alternative to commercially available fertilizers to improve the NUE and enhance resource utilization. Smart fertilizers may be a solution to enhance food production and environmental quality.

Iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), boron (B), molybdenum (Mo) and chloride (Cl) elements are known as micronutrients. The micronutrients are also called as trace elements or minor elements as they are required very small quantities by plants. The elements Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn and Ni are known as micronutrient cations and B, Mo and Cl are known as micronutrient anions and they behave accordingly in soils. Among these elements, Fe content in soil as well as plant is the highest and sometimes higher than phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S). In plant, the concentration of micronutrients often found up to 100 mg kg^-1, except that of Fe and Mn which may go up to 500 mg kg^-1 (dry weight basis). Another element, cobalt (Co) is also regarded to be essential for the growth of certain higher plants and animals, and likely to be included in the list of micronutrients. The importance of micronutrients has been realized during the past four decades when micronutrient deficiencies were observed in most of the soils in our country, where intensive agriculture is practiced.

5.1. Importance of Secondary Nutrients in Agriculture

Secondary nutrients such as sulphur (S), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) are the macronutrients that are required in relatively large amounts for crop growth. Among the secondary nutrients, Ca is the 5^th most abundant element in the earth’s crust while, Mg and S are ranked 8^th and 13^th, respectively. The average S content of the earth’s crust ranges from 0.06 to 0.10%; whereas, Ca in soil solution of temperate region soils is 30 to 300 ppm and soils of tropical areas is 8 to 45 ppm (Tisdale et al., 1997). In case of Mg, its’ concentration ranges from 5-50 in temperate region and 120-2400 ppm in tropical region. The Ca and Mg are the most abundant cations occupying the exchange sites of the soil colloids. Thus, most soils with the possible exception of highly weathered, leached acid soils, contain enough Ca and Mg for crop growth. In soils, occurrence and reactions of S are different from those of Ca and Mg. The plant available S is SO₄^2- ion which is relatively mobile in soil solution. Like nitrogen (N), S is also subjected to chemical and biological oxidation-reduction reactions. On the other hand, Ca and Mg are much more stable and they exist in soil as Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ cations and present in association with soil colloidal fraction similar to that of K. In general, Ca and Mg are the most abundant cations occupying in the exchange site.

Secondary nutrients in soils may be lost due to several reasons such as (i) crop removal, (ii) leaching, (iii) erosion, and (iv) volatilization. The amount of Ca and Mg attain importance in areas where soils are either strongly alkaline or acidic. These soils are often deficient in Ca and Mg. The Ca deficiency is most widespread in acidic soils. The alluvial soils of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), being neutral to moderately alkaline in reaction, have sufficient bases on their exchange complex and Ca deficiency is, therefore, rarely found in these soils. However, alkali soils may contain inadequate quantities of Ca due to dominance of Na⁺ on the exchange complex. Magnesium deficiency is found in sandy soils with low exchangeable Mg²⁺, acid soils and those with high in native or applied K. Alkali soils have high exchangeable Na⁺. The Ca²⁺ is a suitable ion to replace this Na⁺ from the exchange complex when Ca²⁺ is supplied through gypsum (CaSO₄.2H₂O). The replaced Na⁺ forms Na₂SO₄ which is then leached down to remove the salt away from the root zone of the crops. Gypsum also reacts with Na₂CO₃ to form CaCO₃ and Na₂SO₄ which is leached down the profile. A thorough leaching of the soil with irrigation water should be done after application of gypsum to free it from Na₂SO₄.

Potassium is the third important essential nutrient element after nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) required by all living organisms, including plants and animals. Potassium is essential for many metabolic activities like carbohydrate metabolism, nitrogen metabolism. It is required for the activation of over 60 enzymes in plants. It controls/regulates the activities of various essential nutrients. It is vital to photosynthesis, and synthesis of carbohydrates, starch and proteins in plants. It plays vital role in controlling the opening and closing of stomata in photosynthesis. It also helps in controlling water use by plants by regulating the osmotic pressure of guard cells during transpiration. It plays a major role in transport of water and nutrients throughout the plant in xylem. Potassium improves crop yield and quality of flowers, fruits, vegetables and other field crops in terms of size, shape, colour, taste, shelf-life, and fibre quality. Potassium stimulates the growth of strong stems and provides strength to the plant against some disease by promoting thickness of the outer cell walls. It is required for translocation of assimilates. Under reduced K supply, translocation of NO₃^-, PO₄^3-, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and amino acids is hampered. It also imparts resistance against environmental stresses such as drought, cold and frost. Adequate K can reduce moisture loss from growing plants, thereby giving some drought resistance. It reduces lodging of crops and enhances their winter-hardiness.

It is taken up by the plants as K⁺. Being a basic element, it takes part in neutralization of the acidity in plants caused by several organic acids produced. It does not form organic compounds in the plant system. It is the most mobile element in the plant. Thus, it can move through all the plant system due to osmotic pressure. When any plant sample is dipped into water, some K comes out. This shows that it is highly mobile.

Potassium is also required for animal nutrition and human beings. Potassium is essential for many metabolic functions. It maintains salt balance between cells and body fluids. Adequate K is essential for nerve function and preventing muscle cramps. It is routinely added to many animal feeds. Since K⁺ is not stored in the human body, dietary replacement is required on a regular basis. Government agencies state that diets containing foods that are good sources of K and low in Na may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke.

Phosphorus (P) is the second most important essential nutrient limiting crop/ plant growth, next only to nitrogen (N). Phosphorus is an important component of nucleic acid like deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). It is needed for energy storage and transfer, which is the single most important essential function of P. Phosphate compounds act as “energy currency” within plants. The most important common P energy currency is adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The ATP transfers energy for synthesis of ADP. Life is not possible without P. It is the source of energy that powers practically all energy-requiring biological processes in plants. Phosphorus is present in plant as phospholipid such as lecithin and cephalin which appears to be involved in the structural framework of protoplasm. Phosphorus is involved in many important processes such as photosynthesis, cell division, tissue development, and growth in plant. Requirement of P by the crops is less, compared to N and potassium (K). It is present in plant tissues. It is reported that for 5-6 t ha^-1 of wheat grain yield, it removes about 100-120 kg N, 20-30 kg P₂O₅ and 150-180 kg K₂O from soil.

Phosphorus is 11^th most abundant element on the earth crust. However, it is the least mobile element among the major plant nutrients. Its complex chemistry in soil makes it highly deficient nutrient element in most of the arable soils across the globe. Only 0.1% of the total P in the soil is available for uptake by plants because of its fixation as various insoluble compounds depending upon the soil pH. About 43% of the world’s arable soil is P deficient which limits crop growth and production (Roy et al., 2018). In the Indian context, about 80% of the soils are reported to have low to medium available P content (Muralidharudu et al., 2011). Thus, application of P-fertilizers to maintain the soil fertility and sustain crop productivity becomes imperative in today’s input intensive agriculture.

Nitrogen (N) is an essential element for all forms of life because it is a major component of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, nucleic acids such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and other cellular constituents. It is a structural component of chlorophyll in plants, which is used in photosynthesis to make their food. Nitrogen ranks first among the essential nutrient elements required for plants. Its careful management is very important for crop production.

Nitrogen exists as two main stable isotopes (isotopes of a given element have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in each atom) namely, ¹⁴₇N (abundance 99.63%) and ¹⁵₇N (abundance 0.37%). These can be separated by chemical exchange or by thermal diffusion. Both ¹⁴₇N and ¹⁵₇N isotopes of N are stable isotope which do not disintegrate as in case of other radioactive isotope like ³² ₁₅P. There are four other isotopes of N viz. ¹²₇N, ¹³₇N, ¹⁶₇N and ¹⁷₇N, mostly are radioactive having very short half-life and not used in agriculture. The ¹³₇N has a half-life of about 10 min, while other three have half-life of only few sec. The ¹⁵₇N (tracer) isotope is used as a tool for determination of pathways of transformation of N in soil or plant or animal.

The major part of N comes from atmosphere (air). On the basis of volume by volume (v/v), air contains about 78-79% N₂, 20-21% oxygen (O₂) and 0.03% carbon dioxide (CO₂). Most living organisms cannot utilize N₂ gas present in the atmosphere directly because it is present as di-nitrogen form or di-atomic form (N≡N). It is called as an inert gas. Therefore, to break this triple bond, huge amount of energy is required. After breaking of triple bond of N₂ molecules, it combines with other element particularly with O₂ or hydrogen (H) to form oxides of N (NO, NO₂, NO₃ and N₂O) or ammonia (NH₃). Thus, breaking of triple bond is must for forming NH₃ which further can be used as the key material for almost all fertilizers. Therefore, the fixation of N₂ is vital for production of all nitrogenous and complex fertilizers like NP/NPK and nitrophosphates.

Plant absorbs large number of elements from the soil and other sources during their growth and development. But all these elements are not essential for plant growth. Seventeen mineral elements are known to be essential for the growth and development of all plants. A list of essential nutrients, their source and forms by which they are absorbed by plants are presented in Table 1.1.

Except carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O), all the other nutrients are obtained by plants largely from soils, fertilizers or manures. It has been seen that the number of nutrients obtained from soil is about 5 times the number of nutrients obtained from air and water. However, most of the plant tissue, in general, from 74 to 99.5% is made up of C, H and O i.e. nutrients obtained from air and water and only 0.5 to 26% of the plant tissue is synthesized from soil constituents. In ordinary (normal) conditions of agriculture, except drought, C, O and H are not limited for plant growth. It is the remaining 14 elements from soil that are usually limiting plant development and hence considerable emphasis is placed on the improvement of soil in respect of greater availability of these 14 nutrients. It may be borne in mind that all nutrients are essential for all crops even though their requirements differ from crop to crop and even among varieties of a given crop. Secondly, all nutrients are equally essential regardless of amounts required. For example, to produce one tonne of grain, wheat may absorb 25, 9, 33, 3.7, 5.3 and 4.7 kg of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulphur (S), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), respectively and 56, 624, 70, 24, 48 and 2 g of zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), boron (B) and molybdenum (Mo), respectively. If the crop (any crop) does not get the smallest amounts of micronutrients needed, it cannot make the best use of abundant NPK.

According to Liebig’s Law of minimum which he enunciated in 1855, the growth of a plant is limited by that nutrient which is in shortest supply. This law in fact lays the ground rules for balanced crop nutrition.

Introduction

Over the years, processed food industry has become the largest growing industry in the world. The convenience food industry with the state of the art technology has been proved very successful in reaching every household and have started replacing fresh and healthy foods with the processed ones (Srinivasan and Shende, 2016).

Demand for processed and convenience foods are constantly on rise and convenience food segment is rising by leaps and bounds. Changing life style, food habits, displacement of rural population to urban centres, insufficient time to prepare healthy food and changing socio economic needs have led to the industrialization of the food supply and resulted in the development of convenience foods and today a great variety of the same are available for sale to the consumer throughout the world (Tillotson, 2003).

These convenience foods are available readily, convenient, inexpensive with pleasing organoleptic quality, requires minimal or no preparation before consumption. Varieties of convenience foods which are available in the market play a prominent role in the food choice of today’s consumer, and they include frozen and canned vegetables, bakery products, soups, sauces, prepared meat and fish, chilled and frozen dairy products as well as ready to eat and shelf stable products (Tillotson, 2003).

Rapid switchover of the consumer from the traditional dining practices to fast food centres, generally feed on quick and easily made products called fast foods, often termed as unhealthy junk foods. These foods are rich in saturated fatty acids, several refined components, high carbohydrates etc., which ultimately lead to the negative impact on physical and mental health of the consumer, contributing to several chronic diseases such as cardiovascular complications, cancer, atherosclerosis, liver disease, type 11 diabetes (Veggie et al., 2018) etc.

Therefore, focussing much about the health of the consumer, there is a great need for a healthy and a balanced diet to meet the basic needs of the human body (Mendes et al 2013) with an appealing organoleptic properties and appearance.

Introduction

Recent advances in food technology have made our lives virtually easier and efficient. Changing lifestyle has led to the emergence of packaged food that provides convenience to the consumers. The authentic packaging of food implements consumers with the role of communication, containment, convenience, and protection. Any typical food package provides us with the information about the product and its nutritional fact, thus an efficient way of marketing/ branding. It protects the food product from the external environment and adulteration, thus keeps it safe. It allows the consumers to relish the food as per their convenience (reheating and direct consumption) and holds the product of any size, shape and restrains during handling and transportation (Robertson, 2006).

Food packages can be altered or modified according to one’s requirement with features like single-serving dishes and portability. However, traditional packaging is lacking adequacy to meet unending consumer demands and product intricacies. Therefore, a contemporary concept of packaging with higher proficiency is needed to meet various consumer requirements. For instance, a packaging that can - enhance product’s shelf-life with lesser or no preservatives, that maintains freshness, that meets permissible regulatory requisites and enables tracking throughout the product life-cycle. Emerging technologies like smart packaging have the expertise to invigilate a product and its milieu and pursue any modifications into these. Moreover, smart packaging helps in gaining global market recognition, and meets international food safety standards. In recent years, there has been rapid development in food packaging that includes active packaging, intelligent packaging, or smart packaging. These are the technologies that deal with the packaging of food, beverages, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products. Moreover, these terminologies are apparently identical but, each has a different function to deal with and is as follows: