eChapters

The world ‘‘Unfruitfulness’’ means a state or character of being unfruitful or barrenness. It is a vital constraint in so many fruit crops leading to a great loss to the farming community. In contrary, ‘Fruitfulness’ is the state where a fruit plant is not only having the ability of flowering and fruiting, but also carry on these fruits up to maturity. The inability of the plant to do so is known as ‘unfruitfulness’ or ‘barrenness’. Despite of profuse flowering, poor fruit retention in an orchard has been found owing to poor fruit setting at initial stage and subsequently abscission of the fruitlets. All the trees of an orchard do not bear flowers and fruits in the same extent or regularly and sometimes fail to bear flowers and fruits under similar conditions while other trees bears heavily. Such type of characteristics of trees may be attributed to unfruitfulness. Thus, all the problems affecting fruit retention upto final stage can be considered under unfruitfulness of a tree. Therefore, it is a very complex problem of an orchard and needs proper understanding for economical and effective management to maintain sustainable production of fruit crops.

CAUSES OF UNFRUITFULNESS

There are innumerable causes perceived behind unfruitfulness. Majorly, It may be due to poor root shoot ratio, lack of balance between vegetative and reproductive (fruiting) growth, heavy crop load which leads to restriction of fruit bud production and finally short of the crop in the following years.

Unfruitfulness is a major problem in many fruit crops and their varieties. ‘Fruitfulness’ refers to the state, where a plant is not only capable of flowering and bearing fruit but also takes these fruits to maturity. The inability of plant to reach the fruits to maturity is known as ‘unfruitfulness’ or ‘barrenness’. In spite of adequate flowering, low fruit yields in orchards have been experienced because of low initial fruit set and subsequently higher fruit-let abscission. In an orchard, all the trees do not bear fruits equally or regularly and sometimes fail to flower and bear fruit under similar conditions, where another fruit tree bears heavily. This failure to fruit may be attributed to unfruitfulness. It is associated with internal and external factors.

Internal factors: These are as follows.

4.1. Introduction

Food occupies first position among the basic needs of human beings. Food processing dates back to the prehistoric age when crude processing including various types of cooking, such as over fire, smoking, steaming, fermenting, sun drying and preserving with salt were in practice. These crude processing techniques remained essentially the same until the advent of the industrial revolution. However, the change in food habits and the quality consciousness of the consumers in the developed world raises the need of advancements in development of food processing like spray drying, juice concentrates, freeze drying and also introduces dried instant soups, reconstituted fruit juices, and self cooking meals such as ready-to-eat food rations etc., during 20th century.

1.1. Origin and distribution

• Originated in Peru, Ecuador, Bolvia of South America and name came from Aztec word Tomato.
• First report from Italy in 1544.
• Leading producers in India - UP, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab and Bihar.

1.2. Economic importance

• Rich source of minerals like calcium, sodium, trace elements like copper, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B complex (thiamine), essential amino acids and healthy organic acids like malic, citric, formic, oxalic and acetic acids.
• Attractive red colour due to lycopene and yellow colour due to carotenes.
• Peculiar flavour due to presence of ethanol, acetaldehyde and volatile flavour in fruit.

1.1. Origin and distribution

• Most species are native to Asia, with smaller numbers are native to Europe, North America and North Western Africa.
• China roses are the ancestor of the present day popular roses.
• Native of Himalayan regions, Asia, China, Japan, Europe and North America.

1.2. Economic importance

• King of flowers
• Symbol of beauty, fragrance and used to convey of love.

Introduction

A subfield of horticulture known as “urban horticulture” is concerned with the care, maintenance, and use of plants in urban settings. Urban gardening encompasses a broad range of plant life, from ornamental plants to trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables, and even fruit trees.

Plants, both ornamental and edible, are the specialty of urban horticulture, a subfield of horticulture concerned with their care and production in urban and peri-urban settings. Horticulture is the study and practice of growing plants for their aesthetic and functional value in urban and suburban settings.The practice of urban horticulture includes all aspects of creating and maintaining urban gardens, parks, and other green areas. The practice of urban horticulture entails improving the visual, ecological, and recreational qualities of built environments through the deliberate selection, placement, and ongoing care of plants.

India has experienced rapid urbanization as well as industrialization since independence. Though, the country has achieved considerable progress in industrial growth as well as expansion of urban and town spread, the land available in urban periphery as well as near big rivers are being utilized for non agriculture purposes. Similarly, for the development of road, rail as well as irrigation infrastructure, the government reserved huge land, which was under cultivation of various crops. The non agricultural businesses became more remunerative near cities and has increased the value of land near cities; which is not affordable for agriculture production. Considering the limitation of land for production purposes in urban areas, the concept of Urban Horticulture was conceived.

Bougainvilleas is a multipurpose plant due to the variation in habit, growth and colour pattern of different cultivars and are grown as pot plants, standard, hedges, bush, climber, bonsai, landscape, as an espalier, factory gardens, institutional gardens, municipal gardens, terrace garden, wind curtain, topiary, pergola and various other multipurpose. Bougainvillea in an urban landscape trained as a “standard”. It is used as an accent plant, a specimen plant, in hanging baskets, in containers, and for bonsai. Bougainvillea is used to decorate all public, home gardens, play ground and office corridor. About 300 cultivars (150 of which were bred in India) have been derived from 4 species, viz. Bougainvillea peruviana, B. glabra, B. X buttiana and B. spectabilis,through hybridization and natural or induced mutation. Indian-raised cultivars are listed in categories for growing as climbers, bushes, hedges, standards and pot plants and are also grouped under bract colour  (Nagpal 1990, Singh 1990, Singh et al. 2015, Sharma et al. 2015, Kumar et al. 2007, Mathur 2000, 2001, 2007, 2015, Richard and Erin 2002, Simon 2005). It is tolerant to a number of adverse conditions like dry soil, saline soil, pollution etc. Bougainvilleas are sprawling climbers and shrubs. They naturally bloom in the spring and seem to bloom harder in drier years. It is very good plant for desert gardens. It can be used as vines, shaped into bushes, into ground cover. Most suitable for landscaping.  Bougainvillea plants can grow easily on walls. Internode length has a strong influence on bougainvillea growth habit and characteristics in the landscape. They are pollution and drought tolerant and very ideal for landscaping of industrial region as well as for road dividers. They are very hardy plants and specially suitable for growing in rocky and arid areas where other ornamental floweing plants do not  easily thrive well (Fig. 10).

Different basic as well as advanced laboratory equipment need to be used in a laboratory while conducting experiments. Many of them like pH meter, laminar air-flow hood, viscometer, thermometer, magnetic stirrer, microwave ovens, incubators, sand-bath, water-bath, oil-bath, etc. are the basic and simple equipment which require to be used routinely while conducting experiments in a laboratory. However, basic knowledge of their operation, handling procedure, when to be used, how to be used, and more importantly what not to be done with it, etc. are essential for keeping them in serviceable condition as well as for the accuracy/precision in their operation. In this chapter, we will discuss about some of the routinely used laboratory equipment along, while some other sophisticated equipment will be discussed in other chapters.

pH Meter

A pH meter measures exactly the H+ concentration of a solution; thus indicates acidity or alkalinity of a solution with greater precision. Actually, it measures the difference in electrical potential between a pH electrode and a reference electrode, and display the results converted into the corresponding pH value. Electrode is the key part (rod-like structure, usually made of glass) of a pH meter, having a bulb at the bottom containing a sensor. The pH meters range from simple and inexpensive pen-like devices (portable/pocket pH meter) to complex and expensive laboratory instruments with computer interface (Figure 5.1).

Frequent calibration of a pH meter using the solutions of known pH (standard solution of pH 4.01, 7.00, 10.01, Figure 5.2), generally before each use, ensures the accuracy of the instrument. For very precise work the pH meter should be calibrated before each measurement. For normal use calibration should be performed at the beginning of each day. This is necessary because the glass electrode does not give a reproducible measurement over a longer period of time.

Introduction

To accomplish experimentations in laboratories, sometimes we need microscope to test/validate our ideas/findings. A microscope is needed to examine objects which are very small which cannot be visualised by naked eyes. However, microscopic study requires some expertise in operating the microscope, particularly the sophisticated microscopes, as well as to prepare (peeling, sections, cutting, fixation, staining, dehydration, mounting, etc.) the sample, so that it can be appropriately examined for the anticipated details.

According to the scientific requirements different types of microscopes are used in the laboratories for research purpose. In this chapter, our aim is to acquaint you with the basics of using and handling of microscopes, particularly a compound microscope that is commonly used by the graduate and post graduate students for basic research.

Microscopy is often designated as the scientific investigation that is employed to review and analyse minute structures and objects using a microscope. The term “microscope” has been derived from ancient Greek words “micros” meaning “small” and “skopeîn” meaning “to look at or see,”.

Microscope

A microscope is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects (biological specimens) which are too small to be seen by the naked eye. The microscope must accomplish three tasks:

• Magnification- to provide a magnified image of the specimen.

• Resolution- to separate the details in the image.

• Contrast- to render the details clearly visible to the eyes.

Although we will tnroduce to you the different types of microscopes used for different speciments, our main focus is to discuss about compound microscope, which is commonly used in the laboratories. Compound microscope was developed around the beginning of 17th century.

A variety of glassware like burettes, pipettes, measuring cylinders, flasks, separating funnel etc. are used for experimental purposes in a laboratory. All of these need to be used and handled correctly, otherwise the chances of experimental error and damage to the glassware increase significantly. Being made of glass, they need special care while washing and using in experiments because even a minor mistake in handling of glassware may result in breakage of the apparatus. With this precautionary note, let us discuss about some of the specific glassware used in the laboratories.

Burette

Burette is a long graduated glass tube with a stopcock at one end for delivering a known/desired volume of a liquid, especially in titration experiments. It contains a stopcock at the lower end and a tapered capillary tube as the stopcock’s outlet. The flow rate of liquid from the tub stopcock’s outlet can be controlled with the help of stopcock valve. Burette is used for measuring the volume of a solution/chemical added in a quantitative (titrimetric) estimation experiment.

Procedure of using a Burette

The burette reading must be noted before and after delivering the chemical/ solution from the burette. The difference in these two readings is the volume of the chemical/solution released out of the burette. The solution should be released slowly/drop-by-drop to avoid any experimental error/mistake. If the solution/chemical is allowed to pour out too fast, the wall of the burette will not drain properly and some liquid may remain sticking to the surface of the walls. Moreover, excessive amount of chemical may be released/dropped during the experiment, particularly during the titration experiment wherein we need to know the exact amount of acid/base needed to get neutralization point. Thus, any minor mistake may lead to get a faulty reading. The measuring capacity of a burette usually used in a laboratory is 50 mL.

Since mouth pipetting of liquid reagents in a laboratory is not advisable, different tools are needed for safe, easier, and precise dispensing of liquid reagents. This chapter is devoted to make you aware of the tools like vacupette and micropipette which can be used for the handling of liquid reagents in a safe and precise way.

Vacupette

Glass pipettes have been traditionally used by sucking liquid solvent/solution directly using mouth. For safety reasons, mouth pipetting is no longer permitted in a laboratory. Hence, to fill a pipette vacupette is used by placing it on the top of glass or plastic pipette. It acts as a device to create vacuum for filling reagent in the pipette as well as for releasing the reagent with mechanical regulation on the flow out of the liquid. Vacupette can be of different types.

1. Rubber Bulb Vacupette

Rubber bulb vacupette is often used to transfer (pump up and discharge) liquid using a pipette when a larger quantity of chemicals is to be transferred. Small/tiny rubber bulb is attached to glass/plastic pipette for drawing little amount of reagents. Small vacupette is used to precisely discharge smaller volume/ drops.

Handling of Vacupette

• Insert the top of a pipette in the bottom of the rubber bulb vacupette (Figure 6.1).

• Remove air from the pipette by squeezing valve “A” at the top of the vacupette while simultaneously squeezing the rubber bulb. The amount of air released depends on the size of the rubber bulb.

The term bio-fertilizer is related with such microorganisms that they add, conserve and mobilize the plant nutrients in the soil. Excessive use of nonrenewable exhaustive petroleum product based chemicals in horticultural production system has residual effect on soil, environment and human health. Use of biofertilizers is ecofriendly, cost effective and organic based inputs such as botanical pesticides, FYM, vermicompost, biogas slurry, disease and pest resistant varieties in cultivation of horticultural crops for safeguarding soil health and quality production.

Biofertilizers are microorganisms, which are capable of mobilizing nutrients from unavailable form to available form through biological process. They are not only cost effective but also inexpensive source of plant nutrients. They do not require non-renewable source of energy during their production. Besides, improving crop growth and quality of the product by producing plant hormones and help in sustainable crop production through maintenance of soil productivity. They are also useful as biocontrol agents, as they control many plant pathogens.

At present, approximately 1.4 million of the world’s species are described, but  majority are still unknown to science. Plant genetic resources have gained global attention in  recent past by agricultural and environmental institutions. Conservation and use of genetic resources attracted considerable attention. Value of biological diversity in economic terms is very important for human society. India is one of the major centers of diversity in world. A small part of plant and their culture is considered as floriculture. India is bestowed with varied types of agro-climatic conditions conductive for growing a wide variety of ornamentals including flowers. India has a rich heritage of ornamental floriculture.

In rural and hilly areas there are different types of colourful flowers and foliage at different seasons round the year. All these colourful flowers and foliage are wasted under natural process. In spite of aesthetic beauty, all these natural resources are totally unutilized due to unawareness of their use. All these flowers are available in wide range of colours but mostly dominated by yellow. The entire seasonal colourful vegetations can be converted into value added products by using simple dehydration technique developed at National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow. The technique is  suitable for dehydration of flowers and foliage. Present chapter will highlight how dehydration techniques can be utilized for preparation of value added products from seasonal unutilized floral vegetation of rural India.

Essential oil obtained from aromatic plants is a mixture of several naturally arising biochemical compounds that occur in some plants which have scented flowers, leaves, bark, seeds, stem wood, or roots. As per the
biochemical view, the active ingredients of essential oils are tranquil of oxygenated hydrocarbons and several other types of hydrocarbons which may be clustered conferring to their biochemical structure into esters, terpenes, aldehydes, alcohols, phenols and ketones etc. Carbon is considered as the basic element for all kinds of essential oils. Majority of essential oil compounds are made of C, H, O, N and S atoms. The atom of these different kind of elements are joined to each other to make the essentia oil molecules. These biomolecules are made up of five carbon atoms is named isoprene. All essential oil compounds mainly consist terpenic compounds having two or more than two isoprene units (C5). These Isoprene units (C5) are generally attached to each other in head to tail fashion, hence ‘isoprene rule’ is followed. When two units of isoprene (10 C) are joint together, they form what is known as monoterpenes. Likewise, when three, four, five, six and eight units are united, they are called sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, sesterterpenes, triterpenes and tetraterpenes, respectively. These terpenes are colourless liquids and are generally lighter than water. They are highly refractive and insoluble in water. The ‘terpene’ term is usually restricted to hydrocarbon but on addition of oxygen in it, these are called terpenoids. These include menthol, cirtral, linalool, geraniol, carotenes, camphor, thymol, menthone etc. (Maheshwari, 1995).
Generally, the essential oil is extracted from aromatic plants through various methods but for production of essential oil for aromatherapy, the only suitable methods are those that are non-toxic. This contains cold pressing, distillation, and, in some cases, extraction by using the non-toxic solvents.

Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most valuable and popular fruit crops all over the world (Mohsen, 2021). In India, grapes are mainly grown for table, raisin and wine making. Major grape producing countries are China, Italy, France, Spain, USA, Turkey, and India while, major wine producing countries are France, Italy, Spain, and USA (OIV, 2024). According to an estimate, grapevine is spread on an area of 1.71 lakh ha and production was 37.81 lakh MT in the country during the year 2023-24 (NHB, 2024). India ranks first in world for grape productivity and 7th for grape production during 2023-24 (APEDA, 2024).
Traditionally, grapes are grown on their own roots. However, due to deteriorating soil and water conditions, the use of rootstocks has become essential in the tropical climate of India to maintain production (Singh and Sharma, 2005). The grape industry which is important to produce wine and table grapes is facing  significant challenges due to changing climatic conditions. Climate change has led to increased temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events, all of which can adversely affect grapevine health and productivity. To combat, the role of grape rootstocks has become increasingly vital for maintaining sustainable viticulture. Grape rootstocks are the belowgraft joint part of the grapevine onto which the scion variety is grafted. These rootstocks are typically derived from species of Vitis genus other than Vitis vinifera, the primary species used for grape production.

The plant growth regulators are the organic compounds other than the nutrients, which accelerate, inhibit or modify the various physiological processes in the plant system, when applied at low concentration. These growth regulators are readily absorbed and move rapidly in the tissues, when applied to the plant system and regulate its life processes in some beneficial ways to enhance the yield and improve the quality of the fruits.

The word hormone is derived from Greek, meaning set in motion. The five major phytohormones are auxins (indole-3-acetic acid and its derivatives), gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid and ethylene. The key difference between plant hormones and plant growth regulators is that plant hormones are natural, while plant growth regulators are artificially synthesized and are applied to plants. Plant hormones are also called phytohormones. Plant hormones are the organic chemicals, which are synthesized by plants themselves naturally during the metabolic processes.These are synthesized at the given site and translocated to the site of action.

Taxonomy, also known as systematics, is the study of classifying organisms into logically related groups. Historically, taxonomy was performed by examining physical characteristics of organisms and classifying species based on the most commonly held traits. Unfortunately, this method of classifying plants and animals assumes that because they share physical characteristics, they must have shared ancestors. Markers are used over the years for classification of plants. Markers are any trait(s) of an organism that can be identified with confidence and relative ease, and can be followed in a mapping population. They can be defined as heritable entities associated with the economically important trait under the control of polygenes. Molecular markers are any kind of molecule indicating existence of a chemical or a physical process. Molecular markers include biochemical constituents (e.g. secondary metabolites in plants) and macromolecules (e.g. proteins and deoxyribo-nucleic acid). These macromolecules show easily detectable differences among different strains of a species or among different species.
The prerequisite for the improvement of any plant species are germplasm collection and its characterization to find out the diversity among the accessions. Characterization can be done by several ways which include morphological, enzymatic and genetical methods. The best way to assess the diversity is based on DNA markers which allow differentiation among genotypes without any environmental influences. These markers have a great potential to identify genetic diversity within and among accessions which help in successful implementation of pre-breeding approaches. Molecular
markers are considered the best tools for determining genetic relationships diversity as they are unlimited in number, show high polymorphism, provides more reliable information, detect more variation than morphological and biochemical markers; and are stage independent, not affected by environment and simply inherited. Molecular markers are ‘tags’ that can be used to identify specific genes and locate them in relation to other genes. They help in ensuing a desired beneficial trait to be maintained or an undesirable trait to be eliminated.

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) are free-living bacteria  having beneficial effect on plants by root colonization. They stimulate plant’s growth. Intensive research work is carried out on use of various PGPR as plant growth promoters on various crops. There are reports which show that PGPR promoted growth and reproductive parameters of cereals, pulses, ornamentals, vegetable crops, plantation crops and even  tree species. The important PGPR used in vegetable crops are Azospirillum, Azotobactor, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Phosphate Solubilising Bacteria (PSB) and Bacillus subtilis.

Plastic has now become an integral part of horticultural production at various stages from nursery to marketing at consumers’ door during the last two decades. It is used at each and every stage of horticultural life cycle right from seeds packaging, nursery seedling raising, planting, propagation, mulching, irrigation, harvesting, fruit packing, preservation and marketing. The application of plastics in the agriculture sector is popularly known as Plasticulture.In 1948 Professor E.M. Emmert built the first plastic greenhouse, a wooden structure covered with cellulose acetate film. He later switched this to a more effective polyethylene film. After the introduction of plastic film to agriculture, it began being used at a larger scale around the world by the early 1950s to replace paper for mulching vegetables. By 1999 almost 30 million acres worldwide were covered in plastic mulch.

Dry Flower Products

Dry flowers are aesthetically beautiful and they enhance the décor and liveliness of any room. They bring the fiery warmth and bounty of the season into the home with ease every fall. Much of fall’s beauty lies in the glorious changing colors of autumn leaves. These flowers are dried to use them in a wide range of products. Dried floral products are widely used for decoration and for adding zest to a room. Apart from that they are also used as an essential component of many products. They are widely used to make handmade paper, lampshades, candle holders, jute bags, photo frames, boxes, books, wall quilts, topiary, cards and several gifts. The use of dry flowers in the making of these products enhances the appearance and beauty of these products. They look sophisticated when gifted to someone or used as a décor of your own home.

India is bestowed with diverse agroclimatic zones which aids in the cultivation of large number of commercial flowers like rose, gladiolus, chrysanthemum, tuberose, jasmine, marigolds, orchids, lavender, lily, anthurium, gerbera, potted plants, cut foliages, bedding plants etc. In floriculture trade, value addition takes place at every step to create a novel product and to cater the demand of heterogeneous consumers. In the international floriculture trade, besides floriculture and pot plants, many other value added products include artificial colouring of the flowers to create novelty, aqua-packing for better presentation and attraction, three dimensional window packing of flowers for greater visibility, garland, venis, bouquets, flower arrangements etc.

Orchids comprise the largest family of flowering plants with 25,000 to 35000  species belonging to 600-800 genera. They are prized for their incredible diversity in the size, shape and colour and attractiveness of their  flowers and high keeping qualities even upto 10 weeks. In the international trade, among   top ten cut flowers, orchids rank the sixth position and among orchids Cymbidium ranks the first position and in floricultural crops it accounts for 3% of the total cut flower production. In India, it comprises 140 genera and 1300 species which grow upto an elevation of 5000m. Indian terrestrials are located in humus rich moist earth under tree shades in North Western India.  Western Ghats harbour the small flowered orchids. Epiphytic orchids are common in North eastern India which grow upto an elevation of 2000m from sea level.

Annual plants complete their life cycle within the space of one year are called annuals. They have multipurpose uses like as cut flowers, a wealth of bloom through out the summer and early autumn months; as component in herbaceous border, to make colour scheme, for window boxes and porches, as pot plants in green house or conservatory, for edging, for drying and herbal medicines.

Aquatic plants are essential to maintain water balance. They also keep out the dreaded algal bloom. Aquatic plants absorb the minerals and carbon dioxide in the water. Pond plants are classified into four groups: oxygenators, marginals, floaters and aquatic. Oxygenators such as buttercup and water violet supply lots of oxygen in the water. Marginals are ornamental pond plants and planted in pots or baskets in the edge of the ponds to provide space for fishes or frogs, e.g., Primula. Floaters like water hyacinth help in keeping algae at bay and also provide enough cover for tadpoles or small fish.

Bulbous plants are herbaceous perennial or biennial ornamental plants which produce fleshy storage organs including true bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes and tuberous roots. These underground organs have capacity to store moisture and nutrients are utilized by bulbous plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat in a dormant state.

Cacti

Cacti belong to the family Cactaceae comprising of 130 genera and 2000 species and bear a complex organ, a cushion like structure spirally arranged over the stem called ‘areoles’ from which spines, hairs, flowers and shoots develop. In tribe, Pereskieae, the plants are leafy bushes or shrubby and characterized by areoles on the stem and by the typical flower borne in clusters, e.g. Maihuenia, Pereskia and Rhodocactus.

Rose
Rose is a perennial erect shrub, climber or trailing plant  belonging to the genus Rosa within the  family Rosaceae. The plants bear large and showy flowers of white, yellow, red, pink, orange and various shades. Most of the species are native to Asia.

Valuable Genetic Resources

Shrubs are group of plants having woody stems and multi-branching from the base of the plant. These plants are useful to build up the framework of the planting scheme for screens, ground covers, flowers and hedges. They vary in blooming time, colour, size, growth habit, fragrance as well as situations.

Herbaceous perennial flowers complete their life cycle in more than a year and usually bloom during a specific time period every year during the growing season. These flowers are hardy and herbaceous. They are popular in their dried form for beautiful and exotic dried flower arrangements. Besides, perennials are used as ground covers, mixed with annuals, grown as potted plants and used as accents or specimen plants. Some important perennial flowers are Baby’s Breath, Bells of Ireland, Blue Globe Thistle, Carnation Flowers, Daisy Flowers, Flax, Hibiscus, Hollyhock, Iris, Ladys Mantle,Larkspur, Lavender, Lily Flower, Monkshood, Pearl Everlasting, Rose Flowers, Statice, Sunflower, Yarrow.

Foliage or house plants are mostly those with attractive foliages or flowers and are able to survive and grow under indoor conditions. They are mostly used for interior decoration or interior plantscaping. Foliage plants of world’s importance include Aglaonema, Dieffenbachia, Dracena, Epidendrum, Ficus, Peperomia, Philodendron, Sansevieria, Syngonium, Schfflera, ferns, Anthurium, Codiaeum. Florida shares more than 55% in foliage industry.

India is bestowed with varied agroclimate ranging from mild tropical zones to alpine zones and congenial for several types of ornamental plants in different seasons. Worldwide China and India have large total areas under flower cultivation. Among top ten cut flowers, rose ranks the first position followed by spray chrysanthemum, tulip, lily, gerbera, cymbidium, freesia, chrysanthemum, anthurium, alstroemeria and carnation. In view of rapid changing global competition, diversification into lesser known potential new ornamental plants play key role in fetching premium prices. Most of the potential exotic ornamentals plants have been introduced from Australia, South Africa, Israel, New Zealand and Eastern USA. There are about more than 60 types of new ornamentals reported to be hold potential for commercial importance. All these newly introduced ornamental plants require the following stages of research and development.

Aerides

Aerides consists of more than 60 species. These are monopodial epiphytic orchids grown on trunks or branches of trees.  The stems are round, leafy and branched with aerial roots. The strap leaves are thick, leathery and bilobed. The inflorescence is auxillary and drooping. The flowers are many and 2cm in diameter closely set on the inflorescence and generally fragrant.

1. Introduction

Spices play an important role in human life since time immemorial. Mainly in India, it is not only important as dietary or health product but few spices also have its religious significance. India is being not only largest producer and consumer but exporter of spices also and hence having potential to enhance the economic value of spices. According to Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Spices production in the country grew from 67.64 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 to 106.79 lakh tonnes around 2020-21 having annual increase of 7.90%, along with increase in area from 32.24 lakh hectares to 45.28 lakh hectares. With this increase in production and increasing demand of spices because of their health benefits, spices do have economic benefits and farmers can earn better through it.

1. Introduction

Underutilized vegetables are essential to the lives of the poor in rural and urban areas, as they provide poverty reduction and environmental sustainability for healthy societies. Traditionally, underutilized vegetables have been known to play an important role in the nutrition of rural communities, especially during droughts, famines and the dry season. Some of these undeveloped resources have been domesticated, but most are still wild and worthless. The potential of these underutilized vegetables has been overlooked as modern agriculture has progressed. These vegetables are also called by different names including minor crops, orphan crops, neglected species, Underused Vegetables, under developed vegetables, local traditional, alternative vegetables and also promising species. Underutilized species have a lot of genetic variety, and they’re tied to a lot of indigenous knowledge. 

Vanda is a genus in the orchid belongs to family Orchidaceae. The name Vanda is derived from the Sanskrit name for the species Vanda tessellate. The name Vandas will be used here to cover all vandaceous orchids including Vanda, Ascocentum, Aerides, Renanthera, Rhynchostylis, etc. and hybrids between them. Although there are some vandaceous orchids that originate in mountainous areas most are low-level plants that love warm temperatures. This has contributed much to the work of hybridists producing flowers for the cut flower market. It is one of the five most horticulturally important orchid genera because it has some of the most magnificent flowers to be found in the entire orchid family. It is highly prized in horticulture for its showy, fragrant, long lasting and intensely colourful flowers.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Vanda was discovered in 1613 by Alvin Semedo, who called it ‘tiao hua’ or ‘air plant’. It is originated from the warm islands of the South Pacific. Places like Malaysia, Thailand, Borneo and the Philippines are natural home to these orchid species. These are mostly epiphytic but sometimes lithophytic or terrestrial orchids. These orchids were distributed in India, Himalaya, S.E. Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, southern China and northern Australia. About 7 species of Vanda exist in the forest of Nagaland (Changkija et al., 1992). These species are described in Table 1.

1. Introduction

Spices are a high-value, low-volume commodity traded around the world. Spices have played a significant part in civilisation, exploration, and commerce throughout history. Since ancient times, India has been known as the spice capital of the world, with over a hundred different types of spices grown. India has long been a traditional producer, consumer, and exporter of spices, with nearly every state producing one or more of them. India has a total area under spice production of 39,27,430 ha, which produced 95,99,900 MT in 2017-18. (Spices Board, 2020a). Due to their rich aroma, texture, and flavour, Indian spices are in high demand around the world.

10.1 Introduction

Plant breeders come across two categories of characters (traits) for improvement, namely, qualitative characters and quantitative characters. Red vs white flower, round vs wrinkled seed, determinate plant growth vs indeterminate plant growth etc. are examples of qualitative trait differences. There is no overlapping of characters and no confusion during classification. Such trait differences are usually governed by one or two gene pairs, each with large effect that can be measured even in the presence of segregation at other loci and even in the presence of effects of environmental factors. These characters are very less influenced by the environmental factors.

On the other hand, most of the traits of economic importance like yield of fruits of vegetable and fruit crops, yield of vegetative parts in fodder crops, yield of lint in cotton, yield of grains in cereals, pulses, oilseeds etc., plant height, days to maturity etc. are examples of quantitative characters. Variation observed for such traits is continuous. Again, there is overlapping of trait differences. So, one cannot assign individuals to a specific class unambiguously. Such characters are influenced by environmental factors, such that phenotypes are not same when grown over locations and/or seasons.

When different plants/lines of a species exhibit trait differences, it is called variation. Variation is essential for any improvement in a crop. It may be present in the population to be improved or else it may be created by different means such as hybridization, mutation, polyploidy, domestication, plant introduction, somaclonal variation, genetic engineering etc. Now, we shall discuss the types and estimation of variation.

Concern for improvement of nutritional quality of vegetables has arisen in the context of providing nutritional security to our ever-increasing population. Nutritional security denotes the consumption and physiological use of adequate quantities of safe and nutritious food by every member of the family and encompasses the process of equitable distribution among members of household and communities (Nandi and Bhattacharjee, 2002). This would entail the need to ensure a varied food intake, comprising all the essential macro-and micronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins), plant pigments (lycopene, beta-carotene, anthocianin, lutein, capsanthin, zeaxanthin, etc.) and other functional phytochemicals (secondary metabolites, like flavonoids, isothiocyanates, glucosinolates, etc.) through a diversified diet. In this regard, production and consumption of vegetables that are the valuable source of micronutrients, beneficial phytonutrients and highly functional phytochemicals hold the key in assuring nutritional security.

Implication of vegetables in diet has been well conceived among the high-income group in the world since human health in recent years has assumed an unprecedently important status. Increased interests in nutrition, fitness and beauty have exaggerated concerns over diet and human health. A new diet-health paradigm is evolving which places more emphasis on the positive aspects of diet. Foods have now assumed the status of functional foods, which should be capable of providing additional physiological benefits, such as preventing or delaying the onset of chronic diseases as well as meeting basic nutritional requirements so with high-income elasticity, the demand for vegetables and perception of diversified diet have been growing steadily, hence, both access and consumption of vegetables have been increasing in the urban and peri-urban population groups. However, meeting the requirements for macro- and micronutrients for most of the population groups in households and communities of South Asia, Latin America and African countries seems far off because of meager presence of vegetables in the diet. In south Asia where meat intake is low, ascorbic acid emerges as one of the most important enhancers of iron absorption. This is attributed to the fact that foods containing vegetables may provide an optimal mix of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, dietary fibers and other non-nutrients bioactive compounds.

Plant breeding/genetic improvement aims at altering plant genotypes in a way that they suit human needs for food, feed and industrial raw products and support sustainable plant production. In that sense, plant breeding may be regarded as the evolution of plant type by the will of mankind. Plant breeding/genetic improvement is important because an improved cultivar is the most-economic and least laborious input for farmers.

Plant breeding is one of the early accomplishments of humankind. Many of the cultivated plants are the result of slow and involuntary improvement from wild progenitors by human being over centuries. In fact, the process of domestication of wild plants is one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of humankind. Concept of plant breeding came in the being through domestication as it involved selection of the most desirable types. Among the ancient domesticates, some of the vegetable crops are front-runners, like peas, radish, muskmelon, watermelon, etc. Other present day popular vegetable crops were domesticated later in the Neolithic times. Some species including certain vegetables are still undergoing the domestication process. However, for all practical purposes, the breeders have given up domestication of wild relatives of the cultivated species. Today, breeders often incorporate important characters, like resistance to biotic stresses, adaptability to environments, etc. to the cultivated forms from their wild relatives.

Selection from the available variations is the oldest and the most effective breeding procedure. However, genetic recombination at present forms the basis of modern plant breeding approach. In this respect, Josef Kolreuter’s extensive crossing experiments between 1755 and 1806 were essentially the first attempts to scientifically-reconstruct naturally occurring species and types by combining their characters. Any way, no matter what method is adopted in the breeding approach, it inevitably involves selection, which is the most difficult part of overall breeding process.

The industrial revolution in Western Europe and concomitant flourish of capitalism and increasing commercial agricultural production stimulated breeding activities as a profitable venture of capitalistic economy. Throughout the 19th century, thousands of large and small seed companies were developed in Germany, England and the United States out of this impetus.

The purpose and the mode of marketing of vegetables determine the type of vegetable gardening. The various types of vegetable gardening are as follows.

Home or Kitchen gardening

Market gardening

Truck gardening

Processing gardening

Vegetable forcing

Seed production gardening

Floating vegetable gardening

Seedlings of several vegetables are first raised in well prepared nursery beds, followed by transplanting in the field. Raising of seedling in the nursery beds is economical as well as easier to take care of young, tender seedlings against pest and diseases. Further, raising of seedlings in nursery allow more time for land preparation.

Site and soil for nursery

In selecting a site for nursery beds, following points should be considered viz sunny situation, good drainage and irrigation facilities. Sandy loam soil with plenty of organic matter are ideal for starting nursery beds. In case of heavy soils it is desirable to add coarse sand to modify the soil condition. Before sowing seed it is essential to sterlize the beds by steam or formaldehyde or any other chemical to do away with problem of damping-off disease. Burning of leaves or straw in the beds is quite helpful in controlling certain soil borne diseases and pests.

R aising of healthy vegetable seedlings is most important aspect in vegetable production, because, up to a large extent it determines the productivity and profitability. Nursery raising under open field conditions suffers by a number of biotic and abiotic factors like, continuous rains, too low and too high temperatures, disease and insect-pest etc. For the early establishment in the field and to reduce the cost of production, vegetable seedlings are being raised in plug trays under controlled conditions round the year. Under this system, each transplant grows in an individual cell to reduce the competition among transplants and maintain the uniformity. Plug transplants establish better in field because roots are not damaged in pulling, transplants often result in better stands, and their growth can be controlled more easily through fertility and water management. With the passage of time, a lot of advances have been made in this direction and a number machines have been developed like media sterilizer, media mixer, plug trays filling, seed sowing machine, growth chamber etc. by which the raising of seedlings under controlled environment becomes easier and labour intensive.

The growth is insulated to allow for heating or cooling according to specific germination needs of the seed. This technique reduces fluctuations in temperature and moisture that can occur in an open house. The growth chambers are usually an insulated room in which temperature and relative humidity can be maintained at a precise level. Air circulation is important to ensure uniform temperature and humidity throughout the chamber. Grafting in vegetables is a recent practice to control soil-borne diseases and nematodes, for both field and greenhouse grown crops. In addition, grafted vegetables can produce higher yields and have improved tolerance to environmental stresses, soil salinity and low soil temperatures which is only possible under protected conditions. Thus under present scenario, raising of seedlings under controlled environment offers opportunity to go for commercial nursery with different machines.

Rajasthan has geographical area of 3.42 lakh sq. km has attained the status of being the largest state of India. The state represents 10.4% land surface area with 5.5% population of India, 66% is dependent on agricultural for their livelihood. The state is divided into 33, districts, which are further subdivided into 338 Tehsils and 295 Panchayat Samitis. The total cultivable area is around 220.00 lakh ha. The average rainfall of the State is 575 mm, out of which about 532 mm precipitation occurs in the rainy season i.e. June to September. The average rainfall of eastern Rajasthan is about 704 mm and that of western Rajasthan is about 310 mm which reflects a vast variation. Rivers in Rajasthan are non-perennial except for Chambal and Mahi rivers. The State is presently divided into 33 administrative districts and has 10 agro-climatic zones. Agriculture in Rajasthan is primarily rain fed covering country’s 13.27 per cent of available land. Groundwater is getting depleted as well as polluted. In general, every third year is a drought year. Despite these, the State has made significant achievements since independence and has attained self-sufficiency in food- grains. Rajasthan is located in the north-western part of the subcontinent. It is bounded on the west and north-west by Pakistan, on the north and north-east by the states of Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, on the east; in the south- east by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and on the south- west by the state of Gujarat. The Tropic of Cancer passes through its southern tip in the Banswara district. In the west, Rajasthan is relatively dry and infertile: this area includes some of the Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert. In the south-western part of the state, land is wetter, hilly, and more fertile.

Abstract: Verbena, popular annual is suitable for landscapes, hanging baskets and ground cover as bedding type. Due to seed propagation and out crossing, progeny can segregate widely for traits due to heterozygosity. Important traits for landscape use include flower colour and extended bloom time, large and highly showy flowers, plant architecture (matting habit), environmental adaptation to stressful condition (heat tolerance) and disease resistance. Genetic information and trait heritability is almost unknown for this crop. The use of interspecific hybridization, polyploid, breeding for disease resistance and mutation breeding are presented. Tissue banks and genetic evolutionary race history have been maintained. Transgenic plants have been developed.

Keywords: Phylogeny, breeding, F₁ hybrids, transgenic.

A family of about 86 genera and 3,000 species distributed chiefly in tropics and sub-tropics. About 22 genera and over 30 species have been reported from India. Some of the genera along with their number of approximately reported species and common names of them are Clerodendron (400, glory-flower), Verbena (250, vervain), Vitex (250, chaste tree), Lippia (220, Frogfruit), Lantana (150), Callicarpa (140, beauty-berry), Stachytarpheta (100) and Tectona (3, teak).
Verbena is popular ornamental plant suitable for flower gardens, hanging baskets, and balcony boxes. They are excellent both as ground cover for rockeries, and as bedding types. These plants abundantly flower in the seedin year and, thus, are grown as annual plants.
Selected Indian Genera
Clerodendron, Duranta, Lantana, Tectona, Verbena, Vitex.
Economic Importance
1. Timber yielding plants: Teak, one of the most famous timber-yielding plants of the world, belongs to Verbenaceae. It is used for high quality furnitures, heavy constructions, ship building, musical instruments and several other similar purposes. Some other timber-yielding plants are Gmelina arborea, Premna benghalensis and Vitex altissima.

Introduction

Earth worm bring about fertility in the soil was first highlighted by Charles Darwin in 1881 when he published his book on the “Fermentation of vegetables mould through the action of worms. Since then, the vermiculture has become an important aspect of biological or organic farming. Vermicompost aspect involves the use of earthworm as multifaceted bioreactors which effectively recycle the nontoxic organic wastes into the soil. They effeciently utilize the friendly soil microflora, demolish the soil pathogens and converts organic wastes into valueable products such as biofertilizers, biopesticides, vitamins, enzymes, antibiotics, growth hormones and proteinaceous biomass. Earthworms play an important role in soil farming in different ways as:

1) They influences soil pH.2) They act as agents of physical decomposition. 3) They promote humus formation in soil. 4) They improve soil structure 5) They enrich the soil. Vermicompost is the excellent form of organic manure and is practically 100 percent humus.

Vermicompost is the product of the decomposition process using various species of earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing bedding materials and vermicast.

This process is called vermicomposting, while the rearing of worms for this purpose is called vermiculture. Vermicast is also called worm casting, worm humus, worm manure or worm faeces and are the end product of the breakdown of organic matter by earthworms. It is a mesophilic process and certain species of earthworms are used to enhance the process of organic waste conversion and produce a better end product. Vermicompost is an excellent organic fertilizer having water soluble macro as well as micronutrients, growth promoters, enzymes and soil conditioner, helpful for growth and development of plants. It helps to improve biological, chemical and physical properties of the soil.

This is a special kind of garden made with help of vertical structures and plants are grown / trained in special manner. Besides, roofs can also be converted into green roof. Restricted availability of ground space, modification of residential places and quest for growing plants have given birth of vertical gardening. Practically, this type of gardening has widened the scope of growing plants. Small spaces can also be converted into a lively place with proper design. Even bare walls can be converted into an attractive green wall with proper structure and designing with plants.

Advantages

Vertical gardening is ideal for urban areas especially for people living in the apartments. Following advantages have been recorded.