eChapters

Plant genetic resources are the most valuable and essential basic raw material to meet the current and future need of crop improvement programme. A wider genetic base assume the priority in plant breeding research aimed as developing new varieties for increased crop production. PGR for food and agriculture are a reservoir of genetic adoptability, which act as buffer against environmental changes and economical challenges. The erosion of these resources results in a severe threat to the world long term food securities. The fundamental objective of the genetic resource conservation is the maintenance of genetic diversity within each of the species. In general PGR include all species which contribute to people by providing food, medicine, feed, fiber etc. PGR is our heritage which needs conservation for prosperity.

Genetic resources management is a complex process starting from the identification of a target gene pool for conservation to the use of genetic resources. Many of these activities not only generate but also require geo-referenced data (Spatial data). Analysis of these data can lead to a greater understanding of the eco-geographic representation of existing collections, increasing the efficiency of conserving and managing genetic resources and broadening our understanding of the distribution of genetic diversity. Genetic resource databases could potentially serve as an information resource to a broader scientific community, providing relatively independent global data sets to meet the unique needs of researcher. GIS can merge genetic diversity information with other georeferenced data such as population density, climate, topography and soils, adding value to genetic resources. GIS analysis can help develop conservation strategies, monitor genetic diversity, select potential collecting sites, design in situ reserves and enhance genetic resources use. Currently, GIS use is constrained by limited georeferenced information.

GUINEA PIGS

Guinea Pigs are herbivores and they can be fed with green grass, vegetable wastes, sprouted grains and commercially available diet and diets made of locally available cereals, pulses. Guinea Pig are not able to synthesize vitamin C. So it has to be supplemented externally through diet and supplementation should be 120 mg of body weight.

Guinea Pig are highly fastidious animals (strict about their diet and their requirement i.e., they are choosy in their diet).

Minimum Requirement

Pr - 16-20%

Fat - 4%

CHO - 30-35%

Fibre - about 10%

Introduction

Poultry diseases pose a significant threat to commercial poultry production, often resulting in substantial economic losses due to high mortality and morbidity. Early diagnosis and effective management of these diseases are crucial, as many diseases share similar symptoms, making timely and accurate identification challenging. Poultry diseases can be broadly classified into bacterial, viral, fungal, protozoan, parasitic, and nutritional deficiency diseases. The following table provides an overview of these diseases, their causative agents, symptoms, and prevention and control measures.

Herbicides are applied to the soil in hopes of obtaining season-long weed control. It is desirable for the chemicals to control weeds during the season of application, but they should not remain long enough to affect subsequent crop growth.

    1.    Selection of herbicides: The type of herbicide and the method of application can influence the extent of the residual carryover. Herbicides differ in their physical and chemical properties such as water solubility, volatility and susceptibility to breakdown by sunlight, and microbes. When applied at recommended rates, most herbicides breakdown within a few days or weeks after application and impose no restrictions on cropping options in the next year. Some herbicides however do not degrade quickly and can persist in the soil for weeks, months or years following application. The use of residual herbicides can be beneficial as the residues prevent growth of sensitive weed species throughout the season. These residues however can restrict the crops that can be grown in rotation. Some herbicides can remain active in the soil for weeks, months or years. This can be an advantage as it ensures good long term weed control. However, if the herbicide stays in the soil longer than intended, it may damage sensitive crop or pasture species sown in subsequent years. For example, chlorsulfuron is used in wheat (Triticum sp) and barley (Hordeum vulgore), but can remain active in the soil for several years and damage legumes and oilseeds.

Introduction

A forest is a complex ecosystem, predominantly composed of trees and shrubs, which usually form a closed canopy. They form a storehouse of a large variety of life forms such as plants, mammals, birds, insects, reptiles etc., besides being the most important habitat of the microorganisms and fungi, which do the important work of decomposing dead organic matter, thereby enriching the soil. Nearly 4 billion hectares of forests cover the earth’s surface, roughly 30% of its total land area. The forest ecosystem has two components- abiotic and biotic. Climate and soil type form a part of the non-living component and the living component includes plants, animals and other life forms. Plants include the trees, shrubs, climbers, grasses and herbs in the forest.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy in different developing countries and it is not only nourishing the population, but also contributing a major share in country’s gross domestic product (GDP). During the second half of the twentieth century and after, modern agriculture encouraged intensive cropping with high cost and consumption of fossil-fuel based energy. Yield enhancement was achieved by adoption of modern technologies, but that was at the cost of ecological unbalance.

Abstract

The major objective of this chapter is to examine how knowledge management initiative can bring competitive edge and help organizations to compete in a knowledge era. People now viewed as being the most valuable asset and ‘people management’ being a pertinent issue in knowledge management, the pivotal role of HR is being increasingly recognized by the organizations in a knowledge economy. The chapter starts with a discussion on the nature of knowledge management, theory, and process and then explores the role of human resource practices in facilitating the KM process in organizations. The author examines how different HRM practices like talent management, performance management, training and development, fostering trust, reward systems, institutionalizing learning systems and leadership can be linked with the knowledge management process to achieve competitive advantage.

Introduction

India is the seventh largest having 329.73 million ha of geographical area and second most populous country having more than a billion population in the world. There is no other substitute other than to use every square inch of land and every drop of water effectively and efficiently. Though there was markedly increase in annual food grain production from 51 (195051) million tones t0 206 million tones (200001), still the death on hunger is visualized.

The demand for food is increasing with everincreasing population growth rate. So there is no option other than to increase food production. There is very little or no scope of horizontal expansion due to land limitation, the question of vertical expansion is the only way to fit with the situation. Genetically improved crop variety, hybrids, mechanized agriculture, higher rate of fertilizers and chemicals application may give one or two more green revolution, but the question lies how far it can sustain greenness?

Adoption of improved crop cultivars, cropping system, increasing cropping intensities, precision farming can hold good to get out of this situation where whole system is to be considered.

The cropping intensities in the states like Assam, Bihar, MP, Orissa, UP and West Bengal are 137.7, 137.8, 125.6, 154.6, 148.6 and 159.6 percent, respectively (FAI, 199495). This indicated that a vast majority of lands remain fallow during dry season due to lack of proper technologies, which are under rainfed conditions, neglected. Except West Bengal, more than half of the arable land remains fallow during rainless period. Increasing cropping intensities in rainfed uplands is not easily achievable but there is great potential of intensification of cropping in rainfed lowland by utilizing natural resources and conserved residual moisture. Pulses like black gram, green gram, lentil, lathyrus, chick pea and oilseeds like linseed, groundnut, rapeseed could not only increase the cropping intensities but also come forward to increase national productivity.

The vegetables and fruits are largely consumed fresh and day by day, their market demand is increasing due to nutritious quality. However, market supply is not sufficient to meet public demand throughout the year as production is inadequate because crop production has not increased substantially in recent years due to climatic changes. Another important reason for low production is the economic losses incurred due to damages of insect pests and plant diseases.

Since ancient times, reduction in pest and disease incidence is sought by spraying of pesticides including conventional preparations such as tobacco decoction, Bordeaux mixture, neem leaf extract etc. During the green revolution years, the synthetic pesticides were greatly recommended for pest and disease control and thereby increasing crop yields many-fold. Having experienced the spectacular improvement in both yield and quality of marketable produce, farmers were solely dependent on synthetics and ultimately abandoned other control measures.

Protected cultivation structures such as greenhouses, polyhouses, and net houses represent significant advancements in agricultural production, offering growers the ability to create an environment that is partially or fully isolated from external weather conditions. These structures are vital tools in modern horticulture and floriculture, especially in areas experiencing unpredictable weather patterns, water scarcity, and heightened pest pressures. The core objective of protected cultivation is to optimize the internal microclimate to meet plants’ physiological needs, ensuring higher yields, improved quality, and year-round cultivation. Achieving these outcomes requires a deep understanding and management of various microclimate factors, such as temperature, relative humidity, light intensity and quality, carbon dioxide (CO?) concentration, and air circulation. Each of these elements plays a crucial role in influencing plant health, photosynthetic efficiency, nutrient uptake, resistance to pests and diseases, and overall productivity.
Effective management of the microclimate begins with controlling temperature, which is arguably the most important factor affecting plant growth. While optimal temperature ranges vary by crop, even small deviations can disrupt essential physiological processes like germination, transpiration, and flowering. To maintain ideal temperatures in protected environments, growers employ a combination of passive and active strategies, such as utilizing roof and side vents for natural ventilation, applying shade nets during periods of intense sunlight, using fogging systems for evaporative cooling, and installing heaters or thermal blankets during colder months. These tools are often automated with sensors and climate controllers, making the system responsive and energy-efficient. In addition to temperature, managing relative humidity (RH) is essential.
Excessive RH can encourage the growth of fungal pathogens, while low RH can lead to water stress and hinder pollination. Maintaining RH between 50% and 70% is ideal for most vegetable and ornamental crops. This can be accomplished

5.1 Foliar nutrition of fruit crops

Foliar application of nutrients is gaining importance in horticultural crops in general and fruit crops in particular. The important criterion of the effectiveness of nutrient spray is the rate at which the foliar applied nutrients are absorbed by the leaves and translocated within the plant. For getting optimum yield, foliar fertilization should be carried out when the plant’s requirements are particularly high and the nutrient uptake through the plant roots is restricted. The restriction may be due to either plant or soil limitations.

Introduction

Modern libraries have evolved from paper-based storehouse of books and journals into network of digitized information and knowledge, now known as digital libraries. Libraries these days have consortia, and use electronic resources and databases so that they can provide better services to the users. Librarianship has shifted from use of printed and manually operated system to world wide access to information. Modern academic library is a conglomeration of printed books and journals as well as electronic resources where both forms of the documents can be stored, retrieved and delivered as and when required.

(1) Striga
 
Striga, commonly known as witchweed or witches weed, is a genus of parasitic plants that occur naturally in parts of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Witchweeds are characterized by bright-green stems and leaves and small, brightly colored and attractive flowers, Striga has been given the common name of “witchweed” because of attaching to the roots and robbing the host of water and nutrients. The genus Striga (Family: Scrophulariaceae) includes a large number of tropical parasitic or hemi-parasitic plants as follows

Introduction

Cucumber is one of the most popular vegetable of cucurbitacae family and grown worldwide for its freshly harvested fruits. Fruit yield in cucumber is suppressed due to its fruiting habit. Fruits developing from the first pollinated flower inhibit the development of subsequent fruits. This phenomenon is broadly known as crown fruit dominance or first fruit inhibition. Therefore, in mechanical once over harvest of seeded cucumber, only one to two fruits per plant are developed. Fruit set inhibition is less in seedless cucumber when compared to its seeded counter part. Parthenocarpy is the development of fruit without fertilization. This phenomenon was first studied in cucumber byNoll (1902) who introduced the term parthenocarpy. In parthenocarpic lines, a larger proportion of photosynthates could be diverted to fruit tissue instead of producing seeds. Partheonocarpic habit has become indispensable to greenhouse cucumber production because it alleviates the need for bees. Individual plants in the greenhouse produce many fruits simultaneously, with many fold higher yield in comparison to field grown crop.

Greenhouse or parthenocarpic cucumber production is very popular in many areas of the world. The fruits of parthenocarpic cucumber are mild in flavour, seedless and have thin edible skin that requires no peeling. Fruits are generally 10-14 inches in length and 200 g in weight. The parthenocarpic varieties require no pollination for fruit setting. If pollination occurs, the fruit will form seeds, shape of fruit will be destroyed and develop bitter taste. It is therefore essential to prevent bees and other pollinators entering the green houses. Cucumber cultivars are selected for commercial use based on quality and yield characteristics. An important quality factor is the shape of the cucumber referred to as the length to diameter (L/D) ratio. This becomes important to meet specifications of the number of whole cucumber units per container. The cool marine environment causes the L/D ratio of many cultivars to be undesirably long and therefore many of the useful cultivars for other production regions have been eliminate. The presently available parthenocarpic cucumber cultivars have been bred and developed in Europe under similar climatic conditions and produce fruit with desirable L/D ratios. The parthenocarpic cultivars have potential for improvement of both the L/D ratios and fruit interior quality.

MANAGEMENT

Management includes housing, feeding, disease control.

India is rich in bird population → 8650 species distributed through more than 2000 species are found in India alone. This is due to diversity of habitat and favourable climate condition.

Birds population is restricted to Rajasthan and Himalayan region i.e., in desert, hilly region, forest and also in grass lands → habitat.

Diversity of habitat → mentioned in Rig Vedic period. Even people are distributed among different regions.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Plant parasitic nematodes are among the major soil-borne crop pests that cause significant economic losses to a wide variety of crops. They cause an estimated annual crop-yield loss of US$78 billion worldwide which warrants for effective control strategies (Sasser and Freckman, 1987). Nematodes have the greatest impact on crop productivity when they attack the roots of seedlings or young plantlets (Ploeg, 2001). Nematode feeding also creates open wounds that provide entry to a wide variety of plant-pathogenic fungi and bacteria. These microbial infections are often more economically damaging than the direct effects of nematode feeding.

Introduction

In classification of irrigation water, it is assumed that the water will be used for average conditions with respect to soil texture, infiltration rate, drainage, quantity of water used, climate and salt tolerance of the crop. Large deviations from the average for one or more of these variables may make it unsafe to use what, under average conditions, would be a good water; or may make it safe to use what, under average conditions, would be a water of doubtful quality. The relationship to average conditions must be kept in mind in connection with the use of any general method for the classification of irrigation water.

However, the quality of irrigation water is evaluated, mainly by the quantity of dissolved salts, proportion of anions, monovalent and divalent cations, sodium adsorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, potential salinity, specific ion toxicity, proportion of magnesium, calcium in water etc.

In India, the total losses of vegetables due to inadequate post-harvest handling, transportation and storage facilities have been estimated at least 25-40%. However, in some vegetables, the post-harvest losses may be as high as 80-100%. Being highly perishable nature of the vegetables, the losses always increase as the produce moves from harvesting to the consumer. Vegetables with a loss of as little as 5% in fresh weight show shrivelled, wilted and staled appearance, which makes the vegetable tissues tough, non-crispy and unpalatable, and eventually, lowers their saleability and consumer acceptability considerably.

Improper harvesting, handling, transportation, storage and distribution of vegetables result in significant post-harvest losses. In such situations, the reduction in post-harvest losses of perishables becomes more essential in countries like India. If these losses are minimised by handling and storing the produce carefully, the following gains can be realised:

Protozoan parasites are Trypanosomatids of the class Kinetoplastida predominately restricted to invertebrate hosts (i.e. possess a monoxenous lifecycle). However, several genera are pathogenic to humans, animals and plants, and have an invertebrate vector that facilitates their transmission (i.e. possess a dixenous life-cycle).

There are three sizes of rabbit farms: small, medium, and giant. Initially, their owners typically had a small number of does and a stock of growing bunnies for their personal use. Rabbit farms began expanding and selling animals when butchers began to sell rabbit meat. Breeds, housing conditions, feeding practices, and management strategies were all developed in accordance with the increase in does. In Europe, backyard stock owners have a mediocre interest in expertise.