eChapters

There is an increased use of Glass houses and poly houses in commercial agriculture. The glass houses and poly houses provide a controlled environment for plants throughout the year. Some of the aspects of related to the advantages of Glass houses and poly houses are highlighted in the following text:
9.1. Glass houses
Glass houses are also referred as greenhouses. The glass prevents harmful ultraviolet radiations. The glass is transparent to solar radiations of wavelengths up to 300 nm and does not allow long-wave radiations to pass through it (Fig.9.1). Therefore, the Glass houses maintain higher temperature and high relative humidity during daytime as well as nighttime and offer the following advantages:
9.1.1. Controlled Environment: Glass houses facilitate regulation of temperature,
humidity, and light intensity, creating optimum environment for growing various plant species. This is especially beneficial for tropical and sub-tropical plants that require specific conditions to grow and survive.
9.1.2. Protection from Pests and Diseases: The enclosed glass house protects
plants from pests and diseases. The glass house also protects the plants from harsh weather conditions thereby minimizing risk of infestations and environmental stresses. Fig. 9.1: Microclimate management in Glass house
9.1.3. Extended Growing Season: By maintaining stable climate, glass houses
enable cultivation of plants that may not survive outdoors in certain climates thereby extending the growing season for sensitive species.
9.1.4. Research and Conservation: Botanical gardens often use glass houses for
research purposes, studying plant growth, genetics and breeding. The glass houses will also serve as a means for conserving rare or endangered plant species by providing stable environment for propagation. The advantage of glass houses is that the structure has long life span.
9.2. Poly houses
The poly houses are constructed using polythene material. The poly houses protect the plants from wind, cold weather, hail storms, extreme temperatures, insects and pests. The polythene house farming is a popular greenhouse technology due to its low cost of construction and maintenance. Generally, heat accumulation (70 to 75 per cent of solar energy) takes place inside the polyhouse. Solar radiation is allowed to pass through the polythene material and the long wave radiation cannot escape through polythene. The benefits of poly houses are:

There is growing demand for increasing fruit production as fruits are considered to be healthy, nutritious and easy to digest. Fruits are natural foods and have export potential as well as provide opportunities for increasing employment by establishing fruit processing industries. Some of the fruits can be grown around the year where as some fruits are of seasonal in nature. Usually, the fruit cultivation is undertaken by establishing orchards. In case of orchards, wrong decisions in planting may result in huge loss and therefore right method of planting is the key factor for establishing orchards.
The fruit crops are of three types depending on the adoptability to the climate of the region and are grouped as
• tropical fruits
• sub-tropical fruits
• temperate fruits
The microclimate of the orchards depends upon
• height of the plants/trees
• horizontal spread
• canopy architecture
• spacing/plant density
• age of plantation
• seasonal weather
15.1. Tropical Fruits
The tropical fruits require higher temperature throughout the year. The crops do not require low temperature for breaking dormancy and for flowering. The plants are ever green and grow throughout the year. There plants are well adopted to regions where the minimum temperatures are more than 10°C and very sensitive to frost. There are grown in tropical regions between 23°N to 23°S latitudes. The optimum maximum temperature for growth and development ranges from 30 to 37°C.
15.2. Sub-Tropical Fruits
The sub-tropical fruits perform better between temperate and tropical climates as the plant requires both high and low temperatures. Some of the fruit crops are green and some of those are deciduous. The temperate fruit crops are very sensitive to frost. The sub-tropical fruit plants break dormancy of flower buds

Microclimate under irrigated conditions and dryland conditions can differ significantly due to variations in water availability, which influences several environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and vegetation cover. The crops are grown both under irrigated and dryland / rainfed situations. The major difference between irrigated and dryland conditions is availability of water. In irrigated areas, the crops are regularly provided with water through irrigation at regular intervals. Under dryland situations, the water availability to the crops depends upon the rainfall and/or stored soil moisture. Under irrigated situations, there are two different possibilities as indicated below:
• vast stretch of irrigated areas
• isolated pockets of irrigated areas in predominantly dry areas. In dryland areas the following possibilities exist:
• humid and moist sub-humid areas where predominantly rice based cropping systems are adopted during rainy season
• per-humid areas where plantation crops and rice grown during rainy season.
• dry sub-humid areas with rice based cropping systems in low lands and finger millet, maize based cropping systems in upland areas
• semi-arid regions where kharif crops are grown during rainy season.
• rabi-crops grown under conserved moisture conditions during post rainy season.
• arid regions where pearl millet based cropping system are practiced during rainy season.
• hill agriculture
The microclimatic conditions are likely to vary between irrigated and rainfed conditions due to different agro-ecological settings. The comparative analyses of microclimatic variation under both conditions are given below:

Modifying microclimates in agriculture involves altering the local climate conditions surrounding crops or plants to create a more favorable environment for growth. This can be achieved through various techniques when the crops are subjected to weather related stresses.
14.1. To Mitigate Moisture Stress during Droughts
When the crops are under moisture stress, the principles involved are conservation of soil moisture and reduce the evapotranspiration from crops. The moisture conservation can be achieved by suppressing soil evaporation using mulches (Fig. 14.1). The evapotranspiration can be reduced using anti transpirants. These are chemicals sprayed on crops. Some antitranspirents close the stomata of the leaves to reduce evapotranspiration. Some chemicals increase the reflectance of radiation from the crops, thereby reducing heat load on crops. When crops are grown under irrigation in isolated patches, micro shelter belts can be provided across the predominant wind direction to reduce the increased evapotranspiration from advection. Advection is phenomena of horizontal transport of heat due to strong hot and dry winds.

Modifying microclimates in agriculture involves altering the local climate conditions surrounding crops or plants to create a more favorable environment for growth. This can be achieved through various techniques when the crops are subjected to weather related stresses.
14.1. To Mitigate Moisture Stress during Droughts
When the crops are under moisture stress, the principles involved are conservation of soil moisture and reduce the evapotranspiration from crops. The moisture conservation can be achieved by suppressing soil evaporation using mulches (Fig. 14.1). The evapotranspiration can be reduced using antitranspirants. Some antitranspirents close the stomata of the leaves to reduce evapotranspiration. Some anti-transpirants increase the reflectance of radiation from the crops, thereby reducing heat load on crops. When crops are grown under irrigation in isolated patches, micro shelter belts can be provided across the predominant wind direction to reduce the increased evapotranspiration from advection. Advection is phenomena of horizontal transport of heat due to strong hot and dry winds.

1. INTRODUCTION

Many food components are encapsulated and stabilized by nature inside plant cells, but, with the growth in use of functional ingredients and product fortification with vitamins, antioxidants and nature-identical synthetic compounds, there is a need to stabilize and protect these ingredients from the rigours of processing and degradation during storage.

Many food products whose development was thought to be technically unfeasible are possible today because of the wide availability of encapsulated ingredients. Such ingredients are products of a process that totally envelops the ingredient in a coating or ‘capsule’ thereby conferring many useful and otherwise unusual properties to the original ingredients.

Encapsulation is a technique that is applied to preserve and/or protect numerous ingredients. In the flavour industry, the encapsulation process is used chiefly to convert liquid flavour materials to free-flowing, dried powdered products. In a broad sense, encapsulation technology includes the coating of minute particles of ingredients (e.g., acidulants, fats, and flavours) as well as whole ingredients (raisins, nuts, and confectionery products) that may be accomplished by microencapsulation and macro-coating techniques, respectively.

Micronutrient deficiency

Micronutrient deficiencies are the cause for widespread health problems, especially in developing countries. The deficiencies in vitamin A, iron, and iodine have been identified as the greatest concern, as they affect over one third of the world’s population (WHO, 1995). In addition, these micronutrients interact with each other, i.e., synergistic effects between iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA), or between vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and IDA to deepen their negative impacts (Lonnerdal, 2004; Lynch, 1997; Zimmermann et al., 2004). Deficiencies typically coexist in children in developing countries (Zimmermann et al., 2000).

70% of people in India do not consume enough micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. About 70% of pre-school children suffer from anaemia caused by iron deficiency and 57% of preschool children have sub–clinical Vitamin A deficiency. Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) are the most common congenital malformation with an incidence that varies between 0.5-8/1000 births. It is estimated that 50-70% of these birth defects are preventable. One of the major causes is deficiency of folic acid. Thus, micronutrient deficiency also known as “hidden hunger”, is a serious health risk. Unfortunately, those who are economically disadvantaged do not have access to safe and nutritious food. Others either do not consume a balanced diet or lack variety in the diet because of which they do not get adequate micronutrients. Often, there is considerable loss of nutrients during the processing of food.

Introduction The Indian culinary world may have just recently embraced the concept of edible flowers, but they have been a part of traditional Indian cuisines since the beginning. Flowers have been used in human diets and gourmet preparations for thousands of years (Fernandes et al., 2020). However, due to increased consumer knowledge about the effects of nutrition on human health, there is a growing trend in utilizing flowers for edible purposes (Chatzopoulou et al., 2020). Edible flowers were used as a relish and flavour enhancer in many savoury and sweet meals in ancient Rome and Greece. In China’s ancient texts and classics, the words and phrases regarding edible blossoms were also recorded by Zhao et al. (2017). Edible flowers come in a wide variety of colors and cooking ways in different nations. Flowers, such as Osmanthus fragrans Lour and Flos Sophorae, have been employed as basic ingredients in a range of Chinese cuisines (Cunningham, 2015). The people of Rome used flowers in cooking. They make salads using violets and roses and sauces using lavenders. Flowers from pumpkin and squash plants have long been used as ingredients in the United States. People consume aromatic flower buds and unopened blossoms in El Salvador and Honduras. Blossoms are frequently used to garnish food at aristocratic banquets and feasts across Europe. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) flowers are also added to beverages and salads in many parts of the world.

Introduction

Encapsulation may be defined as a process to entrap one substance (active agent) within another substance (wall material). The encapsulated substance, except active agent, can be called the core, fill, active, internal or payload phase. The substance that is encapsulating is often called the coating, membrane, shell, capsule, carrier material, external phase, or matrix. In the food industry, encapsulation process can be applied for a variety of reasons. Encapsulation is a useful tool to improve delivery of bioactive molecules (e.g. antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, phytosterols, lutein, fatty acids, lycopene) and living cells  (e.g. probiotics) into foods [1]. In most cases, encapsulation refers to a technology in which the bioactive components are completely enveloped, covered and protected by a physical barrier, without any protrusion of the bioactive components. Also, encapsulation has been defined as a technology of packaging solids, liquids, or gaseous materials in small capsules that release their contents at controlled rates over prolonged periods and under specific conditions. Produced particles usually have diameters of a few nm to a few mm.

ABSTRACT

Wood apple is a hardy tree grown in arid and semiarid regions of the country. It is generally propagated through seeds. The traditional methods like budding and inarch grafting require 9 to 12 months for the root stock to come buddable size and thus 1½ to 2 years to become ready for transplanting. The present study was initiated to prepare a grafts within eight months by adopting the micrografting technique. The seeds were sown in the month of April in polybags filled with FYM, sand and soil in equal proportions with a pinch of blitox. The micrografting was done on 1½, 2, 2½ and 3 month old seedling root stock having a diameter of 0.13 to 0.15 cm, 0.17 to 0.19 cm, 0.20 to 0.22 cm and 0.23 to 0.26 cm, respectively. The seedling root stocks were decapitated with the surgical blade and 1 to 2 cm deep split was made. The scion micro bud (1 to 2 cm length and 1 to 2 mm width) of previous season’s growth was inserted in the split. The micropipette cap (0-200 μl) was inserted on the grafted portion. After sprouting of the micro bud, the micro pipette cap was removed. The study revealed that, micro bud grafting success was significantly influenced by the root stock age. Early bud take was observed when the micrografting was done on 2½ month (10.73 days) and 3-month (11.00 days) old root stock. The percent bud take on 3-month old root stock was significantly higher (99.33 per cent) than the rest of root stocks. Micrografting done on 3-month old seedling root stocks in June-July is suggested for quick multiplication of woodapple.

Purpose of Growing Microgreens in Space Farming

Microgreens are a perfect dietary ingredient in space because of their special benefits, which have been explained in earlier chapters. In an atmosphere of a spaceship with limited water and electrical power for artificial illumination, their comparatively low light and water consumption are advantageous. Furthermore, because spaceships and shelters have limited capacity, microgreens' tiny size might be advantageous. Given the right sanitization procedures, microgreens may be harvested fresh and consumed right away. Their striking colour and robust flavour may also improve meal presentation and pique astronauts' appetites. 

The science dealing with the measurement of size of any microscopically visible microorganism is known as micrometry which is based on the principle of physics. Before measuring a cell, the diameter of the microscopic field must be established by means of optic devices, namely an ocular micrometer and a stage micrometer.

a)Ocular micrometer : It is a circular disc that is placed in the eyepiece. The disc is graduated in to several small divisions marked from 0 to 100.It is placed inside the eyepiece of the microscope. The distance varies according to the objective of the microscope which can be easily determined by using a stage micrometer.

b)Stage micrometer : It is a glass slide graduated in 1 mm. Again 1mm is divided into 10 large divisions and 100 small divisions (10 x 10 = 100 divisions). These divisions are equally placed therefore 1 small division is equal to 0.01 mm or 10 μm.

The induction of mutations in polygenes controlling quantitative characters can be detected by the estimation of mean and variance of progenies from normal looking mutagen treated populations. Induction of micromutations in different crop plants have been reviewed by various investigators like Gregory (1955, 1968) in peanut, Rawlings et al. (1958) in soybean, Oka et al. (1985) in rice, Brock and Latter (1961) in Trifolium, Borojevic (1966) and Scossiroli (1966) in wheat, Gaul (1961a, 1966), Astveit (1966) in barley and Brock (1967) in Arabidopsis.

Though more reliable results can be obtained from the study of quantitative variation in the advanced generations than in M₂ (Aastveit, 1968, and Scossiroli, 1977), an estimation of the extent of induced genetic variability in quantitative traits in M₂ itself will be valuable in providing information for future selection programme. It was therefore considered worthwhile to study the shift of mean values and to gather information on induced genotypic variance heritability and genetic advance for different quantitative traits from families of M₁ from different mutagenic treatments.

12.1 Introduction

Micronization is a size reduction in which particles are reduced down to micrometer resulting in particle-size distribution is less than 10 microns. Acceleration of particles has been involved for particle-to-particle impact or impact against a solid surface. Micron technology is an emerging technology which has a great potential in nutraceuticals and functional foods. By increasing the surface area per unit mass, compared with larger-sized particles of the same chemistry, tiny particles are made more biologically active. A lot of attention has been gained by micronization in food research and development. Functional properties, surface areas and structures gets altered by reduction in particle sizes of different materials (e.g., metal salts, metal oxides, chitosan and organic compounds) by micronization or nanotechnology to micro- or nano-sizes and bring some new applications in the academic world as well as in food industry.

They absorb a large concentration (10-40 wt %) of C0₂ that either swells the polymer or melts it at a temperature below (10 to 50 °C) it’s melting/ glass transition temperature hence, this technique is useful for micronization of especially for polymers. Active substrate(s) in a polymer or other carrier substance can be used with suspensions for micronization process. In manufacturing advanced pharmaceuticals, coating materials, micro sensors, polymers and many other chemicals particle design has been gaining importance. Formulation homogeneity and control particle size can be improved by micronization. Moreover, bioavailability of poorly soluble APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredient) by increasing particle surface area and accelerating dissolution rates can also be improved. Because of the high impact velocities possible as a result of particle acceleration in a fast gas stream, fluid energy mills are used for micronization. Particle velocities in a jet mill are in the range of 300 to 500 meters per second, compared to 50 to 150 meters per second in a mechanical impact mill, in many industrial fields like food technology, pharmaceuticals, catalysts, pigments, and biopolymers, for example, are some categories of products that can be used as micro-sized particles, micronized powders are of great interest. High-temperature reactions that require high energies, on jet milling that is characterized by low efficiencies and mechanical stress, and on liquid solvents precipitation that has a poor control on particle size and can pollute the product comes under the traditional techniques for producing micronic powders. Generally, the control of the powder size and the span of its distribution are still very approximate. In recent years, many supercritical fluids-based techniques have been developed for the production of micronic and nanometric particles. Some particular properties of gases at supercritical conditions such as enhanced solubilization modulation and its power, large diffusivities, organic solvent reduced operation, and the connected possibility of controlling powder size and distribution resulted from this process. Important characteristics of powders like particle size and size distribution have significant effects on dissolution properties, flowability and release kinetics. Therefore, particle engineering is the most important step during processing of powdered foods. Lower micrometer range and sizes are needed for many applications particles with special requirements. Processes like jet milling, pearl milling or high pressure homogenization are used for micronization.

Genotoxicity potential of any environmental pollutants can be investigated using the micronucleus (MN) test. It is among the most sensitive DNA damage indicators and it has been applied to several organisms and tissues for evaluation of environmental contaminants (Lemos et al., 2011). Micronuclei (MN) assay is more rapid and simpler than chromosomal analysis (Gandhi et al., 2003). Compared to the chromosome aberrations, the final result is relatively easily scored and thus requires less time to make an assessment of the clastogenicity of a chemical (Garriott et al. 2002). An in vitro MN assay can detect the clastogens and aneugens as well as mitotic delay, apoptosis, chromosome breakage, chromosome loss and non-disjunction (Corvi et al., 2008). Although, micronuclei constitute well-characterized biomarkers of chromosomal damage (Salazar et al. 2009) but in vitro MN test does not provide information on the origin of micronuclei (Corvi et al., 2008).

Experimental Procedure

Micronuclei assay is carried out in PMNC and splenocytes as per method of Hayashi et al. (1983).

Equipment

1. Adjustable pipette.
2. 20-ml glass beaker.
3. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer.

Micronutrients are those elements essential for green plants but required in very small quantity for their growth and development. There are altogether eight micronutrient elements in soil consisting of iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron, molybdenum and chlorine with the recent addition of nickel. These together with large number of other elements usually present in plants with small concentrations are formed as trace elements. Another element, cobalt is known to be required for microorganisms concerned mainly with nitrogen fixation in legumes affects indirectly the growth of many higher plants, thus, may be considered to be included in the list of essential micronutrient element. Similarly, Vanadium and sodium although present as beneficiary elements for plant growth may also have the possibilities to be enlisted into this group of elements.

Abstract

Micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) deficiencies affect more than 2 billion people worldwide and are especially prevalent in developing countries including India. Conditions due to vitamin mineral deficiencies account for 7.3 percent of the global disease burden.Iron deficiency (anemia), vitamin A and iodine deficiency disorders continue to be a grim public health problem. Thus, elimination of vitamin and mineral deficiencies is essential to improve the overall health of the masses as well as to sustain economic growth and national development. Food fortification is an effective intervention to deliver vitamin and mineral rich foods to large populations. In addition to the prevention of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, food fortification is an effective measure to raise vitamin and mineral levels by moving the population towards consuming recommended dietary allowances for most micronutrients-making it a long–term and a sustainable strategy. India is the largest producer of milk in the world with 146.3 million tonnes and the consumption rate of milk and milk products by all age groups of people are high.Therefore, fortification of milk with mineral and vitamins could be a safe and effective strategy to fight these micronutrient deficiencies.

Micronutrients are required in small quantities but are essential for normal plant growth and crop productivity. Their availability in irrigated soils can vary considerably because of changes in soil pH, moisture conditions, organic matter, texture and interactions with other nutrients. This chapter introduces the concepts of micronutrient deficiency and toxicity and discusses critical limits used for evaluating micronutrient status. Particular emphasis is placed on boron and zinc. Boron content, deficiency in Indian soils, availability and leaching are examined, together with the influence of soil texture, pH and moisture. Boron indicator plants, correction of deficiency, sources, crop response and frequency of application are also discussed. Interactions between boron and other nutrients receive attention. The chapter then considers zinc content and zinc deficiency in soils and examines the influence of pH, phosphate level, organic matter and adsorption by clay minerals on zinc availability. Methods, timing and rates of zinc application and crop responses are presented to support effective micronutrient management.