eChapters

Scientific name: Cymbopogon spp.
Family: Poaceae
Citronella was first introduced in India in 1959 from Indonesia, specifically from Java Island, which is why it is also known as Java citronella. This fragrant grass, belonging to the Poaceae family, yields essential oils when steam-distilled. The resulting citronella oil (Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt) is widely used globally in various industries, including flavoring, soap, perfumery, and cosmetics. There are two main types of citronella: Ceylon and Java. The species C. nardus yields Ceylon-type oil, while C. winterianus yields Java-type oil. Java-type oil
is preferred over Ceylon-type oil due to its higher citronellal content, ranging from 30-38% compared to 20-25% in Ceylon-type oil.
Origin and distribution
Citronella originated in tropical Asia, specifically in Indonesia (Java Island) and Sri Lanka. Today, it is cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. In India, citronella is grown in several states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. It is also cultivated in other parts of Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Citronella is also grown in Africa, Central and South America, and the Pacific Islands, where the warm and humid climate provides ideal conditions for its growth.

1. Gummosis.
Diagnosic Symptoms
• First symptoms are dark staining of bark which progresses into the wood.
• Bark at the base is destroyed resulting in girdling and finally death of the tree.
• Bark in such parts dries, shrinks and cracks and shreds in lengthwise vertical strips.
• Later profuse exudation of gum from the bark of the trunk (characteristic symptom).
• The infection spreads both upward to the leaves and even fruits and downward to the roots causing fibrous root rot.
• The fibrous root rot destroys a major portion of the root system.
• However, the trunck and root infections may usually result in ultimate drying of the tree (Fig-1).
Etiology
Scientific Classification
Kingdom : Fungi
Division : Eumycota

Citrus butterfly: Papilio demoleus, P. polytes : Papilionidae

The pest is distributed all over the world and has a host range that includes citrus and other rutaceae plants like Aegle marmelos. Adult has the head and thorax black with a creamy-yellow coloration on the underside of the abdomen. Wings are dull black, orna-mented with yellow markings and a distinct red patch on the hind wing. The underside is orange and yellow coloured and can be seen when it flirts for honey collection or just before egg laying. The Antenna is black and clubbed.

Citrus is one of the most important fruit crops of the world. The most important commercial citrus fruits in India is mandarin oranges followed by sweet oranges, lemons and acid limes. Citrus fruits are used for fresh fruit juices, processing into squashes, marmalades and its essential oils from peel are widely used in flavouring, perfumery and cosmetic industry. The citrus peel is one of the important sources for manufacture of pectin.

It is believed that most of the species under the genus citrus are native to tropical and subtropical regions of South-East Asia, particularly India, China and in the region between these two countries. The north-eastern region of India is considered as one of the natural homes for few species of citrus. The other major citrus producing countries of the world are Brazil, USA, India, China,Mexico, Spain, Egypt, Italy, Indonesia and Trukey.

Sweet Orange (Cirus sinensis Osbeck) or Mosambi

Sweet orange is one of the most widely favored citrus fruit of of the world. Its scientific name is Citurs sinensis Osbeck. The sweet oranges are generally round to oval in shape; tight skinned with solid central core. The skin is yellow to orange in colour, smooth and pulp is yellow to orange or reddish. The segments are tightly attached to one another. The commercially important varieties are Malta (Blood Red), Mosambi and Satgudi. Other exotic varieties like Valencia, Washington Navel of USA and Shamouti of Isreal.

Citrus crop includes lime, lemon, sweet orange, mandarin orange, Kamala orange, grapefruit, malta and pomelo etc. The disease which attacks one species of citrus mostly attacks other species also.

Subtropical and Tropical Fruits

Most of the area of India experience subtropical and tropical climate. Subtropical and tropical fruits contribute maximum to the overall fruit production. Major fruit crops cultivated in subtropical and tropical region are citrus, mango, litchi, guava, sapota, pomegranate, banana, ber, sapota, grapevine, papaya etc. Various pests affect the fruit production by infesting at various stages of the tree growth quantitatively as well as qualitatively. The pests of these crops are described fruit wise.

Citrus

Most of the area of our country is tropical and subtropical, where the citrus, Citrus spp. cultivation is practiced and main citrus growing areas are in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Gujarat. As for as the ranking in the world

3.1 Introduction

Genetics deals with genes and cytogenetics with chromosomes that harbour genes. On the other hand, plant breeding strives to upgrade the genotypes of crop plants. So, the plant breeding methods should be based on genetic principles. Dear students, you should have clear understanding of genetics in broad sense so that you can appreciate the applicability of breeding methods. As I have already pointed out that you have been taught the course ‘Principles of Genetics and Cytogenetics’ in the first semester, only a brief discussion is followed for your review and better understanding.

3.2 Character

When we call ‘character’ or ‘trait’ in genetics, we mean any morphological, anatomical, biochemical or behavioural feature of an organism. For instance, flower colour, blooming period, leaf size, size of guard cells in stomata, vitamin C content, disease resistance etc. A single gene or a number of genes may govern the development of a character and, often it is influenced by the environment. Characters may be qualitative or quantitative.

6.1 Introduction

Plant breeding is the indispensible component of elevating production and productivity of spices by evolving high yielding and/or with good quality type. Thereby, the practice of identification and selection of desirable traits and introgression of those characters in a single plant is being done since the beginning of organized agricultural activities by humankind. The act of plant breeding was reshaped and got a momentum with a scientific basis after the discovery and rather rediscovery of Mendel’s laws. Worldwide, humankind could enjoy the direct benefits of methodical plant breeding during green revolution. Manipulation of genetic architecture for creating variation in the population and successive selection is the basic of all kinds of crop breeding. But the process of creation of variability and selection differs from crop to crop depending on their mode of reproduction. It is comparatively easier to get a new homogeneous population in self pollinating plants. Therefore, segregating generations are handled differently in these two categories of self and cross pollinated crops.

Though more than 1500 species contain volatile aromatic principles, only around 50 species serve as commercial source of essential oil and aroma-chemicals. Among these, aromatic crops under large-scale cultivation hardly exceeds two dozens. Important aromatic plants of world are classified according to economic part used, growth habit, habitat, crop duration and propagation method besides usual botanical classification.

Plant diseases are caused by different etiological agents like Fungi, Bacteria, Viruses, Viroids, Phytoplasmas, Rickettsia like bacteria, Nematodes, Algae and Protozoan parasites. To control these specific pathogens and the diseases caused by them, a specific group of medicine/chemical molecule is required.

Classification is system of placing an individual or a member in various groups or to categories them according to particular plan or sequence which is in conformity with the nomenclature. From time-to-time for purposes of convenience plants or fruits have been classified in various ways that makes possible to refer them to a large number of kinds under a group name without enumerating or specifying individually. The basis of these groupings varies according to the features of fruits or growth of the fruit plants that have been under classification at the time.

Knowledge of classification of horticultural plants is very useful to the horticulturists because it serves: (1) to identity and name them, (2) to afford at least some idea of the closeness of their relationship i.e. line of descent to other kinds, (3) to suggest with what other kind they possibly may or may not be interbred or crossed, (4) to suggest the kinds with which they possibly may or may not be inter-grafted, and (5) often to suggest certain soil and the cultural requirements, climatic adaptations etc. However, the classification of fruit trees or fruits and vegetables on the basis of consumer’s rating also gained attention in recent years. The consumers’ rating is mainly based on the size, shape, nutritive value and marketability of them. Each of these classifications is quite different from the other classification or groupings.

Basically, the fruit trees, as suggested by many authors, have been classified on the basis of their botany comprising of taxonomic ancestry, morphologic features, physiological functions, adaptability etc. or on the basis of agricultural and horticultural requirements. But the consumers’ rating has not been properly covered in the earlier classification. Generally based on botanical relationship the plants are classified as under.

Grouping plants in different categories on the basis of similarities and dissimilarities is referred to as classification, which helps for study of these crops in various perspectives. India is endowed with a rich diversity of horticultural plant wealth due to varied agro-climatic conditions. Number of fruits, vegetables, ornamental crops, spices, condiments, plantation crops, etc. is under commercial cultivation in different parts of the country under different sets of growing conditions.

The systematic study of all these crops becomes a difficult and more repetitive part. To avoid it; classification of horticultural crops on different aspects has been made to deal with all these plants separately. Classification of horticultural crops has been made in different groups on similarity or dissimilarity of attributes. Plants having similarity in either of the traits are placed under one group. The overall objective of the classification is to categorize the horticultural plants and make the recollections very easy and convenient.

Objective

1. To classify the various spices and condiments.

Types of classification: spices and condiments are classified on the following basis:

1. Classification on the basis of economic importance
2. Classification on the basis of parts used
3. Classification on the basis of climatic requirements
4. Classification on the basis of life cycle
5. Classification on the basis of taxonomy
6. Botanical classification

1. Introduction

Cleaning and grading are the first and vital post harvest operations undertaken to remove foreign and undesirable materials such as crop seed, chaff, mud, stones, straws, immature grains, dust, husk and even iron and steel particles from grains as well as fruits and vegetables and to separate the products into various fractions. Generally, the hand threshing and the traditional handling used in most developing countries cause a larger percentage of foreign matter with these crops. Thus, more cleaning is required. Cleaning is essentially a separation process, in which some difference in physical properties of the contaminants and the food units is exploited. 

1. Introduction

To maintain good quality of product & shelf life, it is very important & essential to concentrate on Cleaning & Sanitization process at plant level & to follow the CIP process properly. An attempt is made in the current chapter to present details pertaining to cleaning in fluid milk and milk products manufacturing & processing plants. This chapter will be helpful the students of Food & Dairy Technology for better understanding the process milk plant cleaning & sanitation technology.

Growth and development of any horticultural crop is mostly depending upon two chief natural factors i.e. climate and soil, which decides success or failure. Therefore, understanding about climate and soil requirements for different horticultural crops for optimum growth and development is a prerequisite for profitable farming.

There is often confusion between weather and climate. Weather describes the condition of the atmosphere over a short period of time e.g. from day to day or week to week. It is current atmospheric conditions including temperature, rainfall, wind, humidity, sky condition at a given place. Climate on the other hand, is the average condition of weather over a longer period of time. Climate is the sum of all the statistical weather information that helps to describe a place or region.

Climate includes different factors namely temperature (minimum & maximum),

The State of Kerala under the Humid Tropics is one of the wettest places in the Humid Tropics where annual rainfall is of the order of 3000 mm, ranging from less than 1000 mm to greater than 5000 mm. About 68 per cent of the rainfall is obtained during southwest monsoon while 16 per cent in post monsoon and the rest from summer (14 per cent) and winter rainfall (2 per cent). Bi-model rainfall pattern is noticed towards southern districts due to influence of both southwest and northeast monsoons while uni-model rainfall pattern towards northern districts of Kerala. Coconut productivity is better towards south despite dreaded disease of root-wilt when compared to that of northern districts due to less dryspells during summer. Floods during monsoon adversely affect paddy production in the State while prolonged droughts during summer in the absence of post monsoon rainfall adversely affect plantation crops’ production to a considerable extent. The wetlands in Kerala are rich sources of water during summer and act as sink during monsoon season. Such wetlands are fast declining in Kerala and converted as garden lands. Decreasing wetlands might be one of the reasons for frequent floods and droughts in Kerala in recent years. The forest cover of Kerala also declined from 70 per cent to 24 per cent over a period of one- hundred- and - fifty years due to deforestation and forest fires.

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.), famous as “Black Gold” and also known the “King of Spices” is the most important agricultural commodities of commerce and trade in India. It is the most important, most popular and most widely used spice in the World. Of the total spices traded internationally, black pepper accounts for 34 per cent. South West India is the traditional home of this important spice, particularly the Malabar Coast. Black pepper is also grown in tropical zones such as the Asia Pacific Region, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China, Vietnam and Cambodia. Outside the Asia Pacific region, the crop is distributed in Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, etc., totaling about 26 countries. It is grown successfully between 20°N and 20°S latitude and from mean sea level to 1500 meters above sea level. World’s black pepper production varies in the range of 2.7 to 3.35 tonnes annually.

Small cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton), popularly known as the “Queen of spices”, occupies an important position among the foreign exchange earning commodities. Cardamom is cultivated on a commercial scale in Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Tanzania and Papua New Guinea. Guatemala is the largest producer of cardamom in the World. In India, it is confined to the States of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, accounting for an area of 41588 ha, 25021 ha and 4561 ha, respectively (Spices Board, 2009). Among these States, Kerala accounts for the major portion of production (58.4 %), followed by Karnataka (35.2 %) and Tamil Nadu (6.4 %). In Kerala, Cardamom is mainly grown in the erstwhile Travancore area in the present Idukki district and it is known as the Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR), which was specially reserved, denotified and removed from the control of forest development by the orders of the Travancore Government. By a Royal Proclamation in Medam 997(ME) 334 square miles (86,506 ha) area in Devikulam, Udumbanchola and Peermedu taluks of the present Idukki District was declared as CHR for the promotion of cardamom cultivation (Miniraj and Nybe, 2007). Cardamom is a native of the moist evergreen rain forests of the Western Ghats of South India and is grown extensively in the hilly regions at elevations of 700 to 1300 metres as an under crop in forest lands. Cardamom thrives well within certain thermal regimes. It is believed that diurnal symmetries in temperature trends, if any, have close links with the changes in cloudiness, humidity, atmospheric circulation pattern, winds and soil moisture (Kumar et al., 2002).

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is a very important horticultural crop which fetches considerable foreign exchange to India. The crop is a native of Brazil and was introduced in India by the Portuguese during 16^th Century. It is grown in India, Brazil, Vietnam, Tanzania, Mozambique, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other tropical Asian and African countries. The crop is grown within the latitudinal belt of 27°N and 28°S of the equator experiencing a tropical temperature for its growth and development (Rao and Gopakumar, 1994). The trend in productivity has a phenomenal bearing to the distance from the equator. The world production of cashew is estimated to be around 20.8 lakh tonnes. The global productivity level of cashew is 690 kg/ha. Since 2000, the world raw cashewnut production registered an increase of 40 per cent. India’s share in the world raw cashewnut production accounts to about 25 per cent. In recent times, India is facing tight competition from Vietnam and Indonesia in international cashew trade. Since its introduction in the Country, cashew has well adapted to the Indian climatic conditions and is grown in the East and West Coasts of India. Now, India is the largest producer, processor, consumer and exporter of cashew in the world (Bhat, 2009 a). In India, cashew is grown mainly in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala along the West Coast and Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal along the East Coast.

The Coconut palm, also known as the Cocos Nucifera L., is one of the most fascinating and beautiful palms in the world. Epigraphical, literary and sculptural evidence provide proof that coconut has served humanity for more than three millennia. The palm is looked upon with reverence and affection and is referred to by such eulogistic epithets as “Kalpavriksha”, tree of heaven, the tree of abundance, nature’s super market, king of palms and the tree of life. The coconut is believed to have originated in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines) or Micronesia (Harries, 1977; Purseglove, 1968 and 1972). Coconut has been cultivated in India since ages and plays an important role in social, economic and cultural activities of the people. The palm is amenable to both plantation and homestead management and it can be either a major crop or a minor one in a homestead garden of mixed crops. While responding favourably to scientific management, the palm also tolerates negligent farming to a certain extent. Thus, it can adapt to the divergent farming situations and management practices that are prevalent in different agro-climatic regions. The coconut palm is usually found near the sea on sandy beaches where it can tolerate salt spray and brackish soils. It is also grown under different soil types such as loamy, laterite, coastal sandy, alluvial, clayey and reclaimed soils of the marshy low lands. The ideal soil conditions for better growth and performance of the palm are proper drainage, good water-holding capacity, and presence of water table within three metres and absence of rock or any hard substratum within two meters of the surface. The coconut palm can also grow well inland, within altitudinal limit of 600 m to 1752 m in the Tropics. It requires an equatorial climate with high humidity. A year-round warm and humid climate favours the growth of coconut. The ideal mean annual temperature, which can be tolerated by coconut palm, is around 27ºC with 5–7ºC diurnal variation. The palm does not withstand prolonged spells of extreme weather/climate variations under rainfed conditions. A well-distributed rainfall of 1300–2300 mm per annum is preferred. It is known as a coastal tree since it is grown along the Coasts and Islands and does not tolerate high temperature range, that is the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures.

Introduction

Climate resilience is the capacity of a system, community, or person to foresee, prepare for, react to, and recover from the consequences of climate change while simultaneously preserving critical functions and minimising long-term harm. This ability is described as the ability to adapt to climate change. In order to handle the issues that are brought about by a changing climate, which include increasing temperatures, severe weather events, rising sea levels, and altering weather patterns, it is necessary to take a proactive approach.

Global warming and climate change are becoming major challenges in the front of global community to deal with. Climate change is no more a myth but it is reality. The IPCC, 5^th assessment report clearly stated that “evidence of climate- change impacts is strongest and most comprehensive for natural systems”. Natural and human systems of almost all continents in the world have been affected by climate change in recent decades (IPCC, 2014). Agriculture is essential for sustainability of human life on earth but change in climate is threatening its sustainability. In recent decades all aspects of food security has been potentially affected by climate change, including food access, utilization, and price stability. It has been projected that in absence of adaptation measure, increases in local temperature by 2°C or more above late-20^th-century levels will negatively impact production of the major crops in tropical and temperate regions.

Agriculture is one of the major economic activities responsible for food security and livelihood for millions of people. Success, production and productivity of agricultural crops are highly dependent on climate, soil and water. Thus climate change will have adverse effect on agricultural crops. High atmospheric temperature, unpredicted erratic rainfall, rapid soil degradation and evolution of new insect and pests due to climate change will offer new challenge to sustain agriculture. Many part of the world and India is already experiencing impact of climate change on agricultural crops (like early maturity, geographical shift and occurrence of new pests) and these impacts are predicted to increase rapidly in future. The increasing concern about adverse impact of climate change on food security has led to extensive research and documentation of impact of climate change on field crops like rice, wheat and maize. While the clear and holistic idea about impact of climate change on horticultural crops like vegetables and fruits are not well documented especially in developing countries like India.

Coffee is grown at higher elevation across the Western Ghats between 750 and 1200 m amsl. It requires a certain degree of shade for its better performance. The annual rainfall over the coffee growing tracts varies between 1400 and 2600mm, having uni/bi-model rainfall with prolonged dryspell from November to May. It is more so over North of the Western Ghats. The mean annual maximum temperature varies between 24 and 30⁰C while the minimum between 15 and 18⁰C. The difference between maximum and minimum temperatures (temperature range) varies between 5 and 16⁰C across the coffee tract. The ‘Monsooned Malabar Coffee’ is a specialty coffee produced from the erstwhile ‘Malabar Region’. It undergoes certain changes in physical and biochemical characters when the coffee beans are processed during the summer monsoon (June to September). It is processed at Mangalore, located in Coastal Karnataka. The processing location experiences heavy rainfall of more than 1000 mm in July, followed by 950 mm in June and 600 mm in August. Out of 3264 mm of annual rainfall, 2852 mm is received during the monsoon period. It accounts more than 80 per cent of annual rainfall. The maximum temperature during the monsooning varies between 28 and 30°C while night temperature revolves between 22 and 24°C. Being located in the tropics along the West Coast, the crop processing environment in terms of surface air temperature is relatively uniform and moderate with a characteristic feature of heavy clouds and continuous rainfall during the monsoon period.

Rice is one of the major staple food of the world’s population. About 114 countries grow rice and more than 50 have an annual production of 100,000 tonnes or more. Asian farmers produce about 90 per cent of the total, with two countries, China and India, growing more than half of the total crop. For most rice producing countries where annual production exceeds one million tonne, rice is the staple food. In Bangaldesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmer, Thailand and Vietnam, rice provides 50–80 per cent of the total calories consumed.

India is the seventh largest country in the world with 17 per cent of the world’s population and with a total geographical area of 329 Mha, extending from 8°4’ to 37°6’ in the North and 68°7’ to 97°25’ in the East. It is bounded by the World’s highest mountains- the Himalayas in the North and surrounded by the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal in the South. The Indian Coastline along the southern part of the Country is over 7500 km long. The Country includes vast plains like the Indo-Gangetic Plains, and the Central Deccan Plateau, bordered by the Western Ghats on either side in the West and the South. The biodiversity in the terrain leads to a wide variety of climatic conditions, ranging from tropical to temperate climates across the Western Ghats. These range from permanent snowfields to tropical coastlands; areas of virtual desert in the northwest to fertile intensively cultivated rice fields in the northeast. A large proportion of India’s population continues to live in rural areas and depends heavily on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, animal agriculture and forestry for its livelihood. Agriculture is the mainstay of Indian economy. The Indian climate is dominated by the great wind system called the Monsoons, on which the Indian agriculture is dependant. The southwest monsoon is critical to the kharif crop (first crop), which accounts for more than 50% of the foodgrains production and 65% of the oilseeds production in the Country. The inter-annual monsoon rainfall variability in India leads to large-scale droughts and floods, resulting in a major effect on Indian foodgrain production (Parthasarathy and Pant, 1985; Parthasarathy et al., 1992; Selvaraju, 2003; Kumar et al., 2004) and on the economy of the Country (Gadgil et al., 1999a; Kumar and Parikh, 2001). Climatic variability and occurrence of extreme events are major concerns for the Indian subcontinent as they are inbuilt features under the projected climate change scenario. All the projections on climate change are based up on the General Circulation Models (GCMs). All the models project increase in temperature over the Country under different GHG emission scenarios. Rainfall variability is felt in different sub-meteorological divisions across the Country. Though the GCMs have been successful in depicting the gross features of the observed large scale climatological features, there is large uncertainty associated with these projections on regional scale, since the GCMs are yet to realistically reproduce the observed features at regional scale, particularly over the monsoon region (Kumar, et al., 2002). Several downscaling approaches are being used to derive the regional features from large scale model simulations. Under the projected climate change scenario, India will be one of the Countries facing the adverse impacts of climate change as agriculture is the mainstay of people of India. Hence, understanding of rainfall and temperature variability across the Country deserves attention in the projected climate change scenario.

Kerala, popularly known as the God’s own country, is situated at the southern tip of India between latitude range 8°15‘ N to 12°50’ N and 74°50’ E to 77°30’ E longitude. The State is graced with 44 rivers and numbers of streams and has rich biodiversity and tropical rain forests spread in 13 agro-ecological zones under humid tropics. Kerala is the Gateway of monsoon in India. Though Kerala is identified as Plantation State, the major staple food is rice. The annual rainfall in Kerala is about 2.7 times the national average. More or less assured amount of rainfall is being received in almost every year over the State, though inter-annual variability is felt more in recent decades. Uncertainties in rainfall are also felt much in the recent decades. Droughts during summer and floods during rainy season are frequent. Natural disasters like landslides/mud slips during rainy season are common across the mid and high lands of Kerala as the intensity of rainfall is high. Atmospheric temperature across the State is increasing. 1983 was a disastrous drought year in Kerala. The severe summer affected the State’s plantation crops economy to a considerable extent. Insignificant rainfall led to the severe summer drought during 1982–83.

Climate Change: Understanding our Earth and Atmosphere

Our Mother Earth is the fifth largest planet in the solar system and the third from the sun. It is also the sole planet whose name comes from old English language only, and not from names of any other celestial bodies, whose names originated mostly from Greek/Roman mythology. Earth has a diameter of 6378 km, of which the earth crust (uppermost skin) is only 24 km. Earth is the only planet where water exists as liquid and 71% of its surface is covered by water. The earth’s atmosphere is made up mostly of nitrogen (77%) and oxygen (21%) gases. CO₂ consists of a very small (trace) fraction (0.03%) of atmosphere, but is most vital for the life cycle. When earth was created, it has got much higher CO₂ than today, and all of them have been sequestered in rocks as carbonates and dissolved in oceans and a negligible amount is distributed in plant communities. This extremely small quantity of CO₂ is keeping life on earth, by maintaining earth’s temperature at a comfortable 14°C (without CO₂, earth’s temperature would have been -21°C). This effect is called the ‘greenhouse effect’, revolving which all issues of climate change exist. It is also to be noted that water vapour is also an important greenhouse gas (GHG). It is to also to be noted that in spite of substantial increase in solar constant, earth’s average temperature has remained stable for billions of years. It is understood that this was possible through variation in CO₂, and it is the biological processes (Earth biosphere) that controlled the environment over years (Gaia hypothesis).

The global economy has adversely been affected to a considerable extent due to weather related disasters which are not uncommon in the recent past due to global warming and climate change. It is true in the case of the Indian economy too. The year 2010 was the warmest year ever recorded, followed by 2009 in India. The year 2015 was the warmest year globally. Model simulations indicate that a marked increase in rainfall and temperature over India would be seen during the current century. The maximum expected increase in rainfall is likely to be 10–30% over the Central India. Temperatures are likely to increase between 2 and 3^oC by the end of 2100 A.D. Greater number of high surges and increased occurrence of cyclones in post monsoon period along with increased maximum wind speed are also expected along the East Coast of the Country. As a result, the occurrence of floods and droughts, cold and heat waves adversely affected the foodgrains production to a large extent across the Country in one or other region as seen in 2014, 2012, 2009, 2004, 2002 and 1987. It is true in the case of plantation crops also, which are predominantly grown in the Humid Tropics like Kerala (8°15` N and 12°50`N latitudes and between 74°50`E and 77°30`E longitudes). As seen in previous chapters, summer drought and heavy rains including waterlogging during monsoon period is a threat to plantation crops production in the Humid Tropics to a considerable extent. Waterlogging and floods due to excess rains could be minimised by providing surface and subsurface drainage facilities in plantation gardens which will improve the soil health and nutritional status, in turn yields can be increased in plantation crops.

The global production of cocoa is around 36.49 lakh tonnes against the demand of 37.37 lakh tonnes. Ivory Coast leads in cocoa production in the world with a contribution of 38 per cent, followed by Ghana and Indonesia. Unlike in other crops, it appears that the production and demand of cocoa at the global level match each other to a large extent. However, the recent trends in the world production of cocoa beans indicated that there was a drop of nine per cent in 2006–07, declining from 3.8 million tonnes in 2005–06 to 3.4 million tonnes in 2006–07 (Table 9.1). It was attributed to unfavourable conditions in many cocoa producing areas. West Africa, the main cocoa producing region, was hit by a severe harmattan (dusty dry wind from November to March) and its inherent dry weather, which lasted from the end of 2006 to February 2007, had a strong negative impact on global cocoa production. In Asia and South America, El Nino- related weather conditions developed in September 2006 and continued until the beginning of 2007. It led to relatively low cocoa production in 2007–07. However, it was rebounced in 2007– 08 to some extent though it was low (36.49 lakh tonnes) when compared to that of 2005–06. The favourable weather which prevailed over most of the cocoa growing regions during 2002–03 and 2003–04 helped to achieve better production during the above years while dip in the global production in 2006–07 due to unfavourable weather. It reveals that the weather abnormalities like floods, droughts, cold and heat waves across the cocoa growing regions of the world adversely affect the Coca production and the cocoa industry is likely to suffer.

Food security is one of the most important issues during this century under the projected climate change scenario. The world is facing severe food crisis due to weather vagaries as a part of global warming and climate change. One sixth of world’s population is under starvation. It is estimated that 300 million people in the world do not get food three times a day. About 18,000 children die every day due to malnutrition. Many Asian-African countries are under severe food crisis. It is also estimated that out of the World’s most hungry people, 29 per cent is in India. 47 per cent of children below three years of age are suffering from malnutrition problem. 75 per cent of world’s population is dependant on agricultural activities for their livelihood. Therefore, there is an urgent need to produce more and more foodgrains at the global as well as national levels to meet the food requirement of growing population under the projected climate change scenario. There has been a major decline in world rice production since late 2007 due to various reasons including global warming and climate change in top rice producing countries. Deficit monsoon over India during 2009 resulted to poor foodgrains production including rice as the area under rice cultivation was less. There were also devastating floods in southern States of India viz., Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Andhra Pradesh, one of the major rice producing states of India, was affected first by drought and then by floods. Thus rice production decline in India was a real set back in 2009. Similar was the case in 2010 due to excess rain during monsoon and floods during NE monsoon across the rice growing regions. At the same time, Philippines got hit by two major typhoons in September-October, 2009 causing damage to rice crop on ground. Approximately one million tonnes of rice in storage also got damaged. These events resulted to low world rice production over the country in 2009. The immediate impacts of global warming and climate change on rice production systems and food security will be felt in the form of adverse effects of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, heat and cold waves, hailstorms and cyclones on rice production. Less immediate but significant impacts are anticipated due to changes in mean temperatures, increasing weather extremes and sea level rising.

The natural habitat of rubber (Heavea brasiliensis) is rain forests of the Amazon basin, situated within 5° North and South at altitudes below 200m. The climate of this region is equatorial monsoon type characterized by mean monthly temperature by 25 to 28°C, well distributed rainfall and no marked dry weather. Though it is originated in the Amazon basin, it is now predominantly grown in the tropics where an equatorial monsoon type climate prevails. Regions between 8°N and 10°S which includes Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, southern part of Sri Lanka and some other Islands, are better suited to rubber cultivation. The production of natural rubber in the country was 8.65 lakh MT in 2008–09, registering a 4.74 per cent growth compared to the previous year.

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most important beverage crops in the World and the second most commonly drank liquid on earth after water. It has numerous medicinal benefits mainly due to its antibacterial and antioxidant properties. The major tea growing regions of the world are South-East Asia (India and Sri Lanka), Eastern and South Africa consisting of Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique. All these countries are producers of black tea. China and Japan are the major producers of green tea.

Climbers

Climbers are group of plants which have weak stems and ability to climb up the support with the help of modified organs for sunlight and air, twiners differ from climber in the way that they do not posses such modified organs but twine around the support cover it and reach the top. Climber are woody or herbaceous plant which climb up the trees and other tall objects with the help of support of their special modified organ, such as tendrils, root, thorns, rootlets, hooks etc.

Tendrils- Bigonia gracilis, Clematis paniculata etc.

Thorns- Bougainvillea species, Climbing roses etc.

Rootlets- Ficus repens etc.

Hooks- Gallium aperine, Rubus australis etc.

Climbers and twiners are important group of plants. Climbers and twiners add the beuty, colour or fragrance in the garden and artificial structure like garden wall, topiary, arches, pergola etc. are made with the help of climbers.

ABSTRACT

Astudy was conducted to establish the regeneration capacity of pseudobulb segments of a Dendrobium hybrid orchid (D. nobile L. x D. chrysotoxum L.) in vitro on full strength (MS) and half strength (½ MS) Murashige and Skoog medium. Pseudobulb segments having 0.3-0.5 cm length cut from the in vitro maintained hybrid orchid were inoculated on both media supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of NAA, BAP and Kn. On MS medium the pseudobulb segments failed to respond, however, in ½ MS medium the explants responded well. Responding explants were maximum (35%) on the medium ½MS + 0.1 mgl^-1 NAA + 0.5 mgl^-1 BAP. An average of two (2) shoot buds per explant were regenerated on ½ MS + 2.0 mgl^-1Kn and ½ MS + 0.1 mgl^-1 NAA + 1.0 mgl^-1 BAP. The regenerated plantlets grew healthily on subculture after separation from the pseudobulb segments.

ABSTRACT

There has been conscious effort to discover and apply biological pesticides for the control of insect predation. Insecticidal proteins/ genes from Bacillus thuringiensis have been deployed as sprays and through transgenic route for crop protection against insect attack and have been successful in protecting the crop damage and environment pollution. However, impending fear of development of resistance to Bt proteins by insects has prompted search for new insecticidal proteins. In this context we are exploring and analysing components of insect immunity as targets for restricting insect feeding behaviour. Insects encounter several microbes during different stages of growth and development. Incidental entry of these microbes elicits a host defense response, which mainly consists of a phenoloxidase (PO) pathway. The invasion of the microbe is recognized by a specific protein, which activates the PO pathway consisting of prophenoloxidase (PPO) & prophenoloxidase activating enzyme (PPAE). Understanding the mechanism of insect immunity will allow us to discover potential targets for inactivating the mechanism of immune action in insects and make them vulnerable to natural microbial infection.

An agronomically important polyphagous pest, Heliothis armigera (Bollworm) was chosen in the present work for studying the components of insect immunity. H. armigera is the most important insect pest of the developing world accounting for heavy damage on various crops including cotton, vegetables, tobacco, potato, groundnut, chickpea and pigeon pea. We have isolated full-length cDNA encoding prophenoloxidase (PPO) and a partial cDNA encoding PPAE from haemocytes of 5th instar larvae of H. armigera. The open reading frame (ORF) of PPO gene is 2.1 kb, which encodes for a 698 amino acid protein with a molecular mass of 77 kDa. Computer-assisted analysis revealed the presence of 60 amino acid long propeptide at the N terminus of protein and 2 copper binding motifs but no signal peptide was detected. The gene was cloned and expressed in a bacterial expression vector pET43b under the induction of IPTG. The SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the protein is expressing in the supernatant in its native form. The expressed enzyme is catalytically active on 4-Methylcatechol upon activation by cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC). The regulatory role played enzyme in insect immunity is being examined.

ABSTRACT

Production of cardamom in India has been greatly affected by Cardamom mosaic virus (CdMV). The conventional breeding program to develop resistance is a lengthy process. An alternative approach is to develop transgenic cardamom through introduction and expression of viral sequences in the plant. The coat protein (CP) gene of all the CdMV isolates have been cloned in pGEMT vector and sequenced. Sequence comparison studies of the eight isolates of CdMV in their CP and 3’UTR showed that, Kursupara isolate is highly variable from the rest of the isolates (Jacob et al., 2003). Hence the present study was undertaken to introduce the Kursupara CP gene of CdMV into cardamom plants in order to develop pathogen-derived resistance in cardamom. The CP gene of the Kursupara isolate of the virus was amplified with and without the 3’untranslated region (3’UTR) from the viral clone. These PCR products were cloned into the pXcmkn12 vector and sub cloned in to a plant expression vector (pAHC17) at the BamHI site, under maize ubiquitin promoter. Work is in progress towards the biolistic transformation of cardamom with these constructs.

ABSTRACT

The cry1A genes of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely used to engineer lepidopteran insect resistance in crop plants including horticultural crops. Continuous exposure of a single kind of Bt toxin can lead to resistance development in insect pest. Due to the difference in structure and unique insecticidal mechanism, cry2A genes are promising candidates for management of resistance development. Since India is rich in biodiversity and genetic resources, indigenous Bt strains are valuable tool for identification of novel cry genes. The present study describes the cloning of cry2Ab from a new indigenous strain of Bt, 14RI. The presence of cry2Ab gene in Bt strain 14RI was confirmed by PCR with primers specific to its internal region. Primers corresponding to the flaking region of cry2Ab were used for amplification of cry2Ab orf from the Bt strain 14RI. The amplified cry2Ab orf was first cloned into the T/A cloning vector, and then fused to the downstream of the cry2Aa promoter along with its orf1 and orf2 in the Bt shuttle vector pHT1301. Acrystalliferous Bt strain 4Q7 has been transformed with recombinant pHT1301 to express the cry2Ab of Bt strain 14RI.

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to screen fungal isolates for chitinolytic activity and to clone full-length endochitinase gene from fungus. Among the ten isolates tested (Trichoderma harzianum 1, 2, 3, Trichoderma koningii, Trichoderma virens, Trichoderma viride, Aspergillus oryzae Metarshizium verrucasia, Bauveria bassiana, Nomuraea releyi), Trichoderma koningii showed higest colloidal chitin hydrolysis when screened in Mandels and Reese (1969) salts supplemented with colloidal chitin as the sole carbon source followed by Aspergillus oryzae. Nomuraea releyi showed least chitinolytic activity. Other isolates were on par with each other. The use of diagnostic primers showed specific amplification of 260 bp in Trichoderma harzianum isolates 1,2 and3, Trichoderma koningii and Trichoderma virens, which confirmed presence of endochitinase gene.

Attempts were made to clone full-length endochitinase gene from isolates showing chitinolytic activity. A unique amplicon of 1.7Kb from Trichoderma virens was cloned into linear pTZ57R/T vector with T over hangs. The confirmation of clones was made through blue/white colony assay, plasmid mini-preparation and PCR amplification of these plasmids, sequencing and BLAST search at NCBI. Among the clones confirmed, pSAV804 was sequenced that showed 98% homology with other reported endochitinase genes from Trichoderma spp at DNA and protein level. 85.7% of the protein is conserved. The ORF of the sequence comprises of 822 bases, which deduces 274 amino acids. The position of primer sequence in the insert and BLAST results confirmed the reverse orientation in the vector. The endochitinase gene now needs to clone into the expression and plant expression vectors for further studies.

Clove bean is christened so because of the resemblance of its thickened pedicel to the cloves of spice grown in isolated pockets of Kerala. This crop is neglected so long and remained unexploited though it has good potential for development. The tender and swollen pedicel of the fruit is used as a delicious vegetable vernacularly known as michi in Hindi and Bengali, garyo in Gujarati, kattuthali in Tamil, gariya in Marathi and nithya vazhuthana in Malayalam.

This vegetable grows from sea level as in Western Coasts of Kerala to an altitude of 1700 m amol in the Himalayas (Kirthikar and Basu 1935). The crop grows in the Gangetic plains and in Deccan hills. It is distributed in warmer parts of South and South East Asia including Upper Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China and Japan. (Raizada and Saxena 1978).

3.1. Origin and distribution

• Native to the Moluccas Islands of Indonesia.

• Although Indonesia is the largest producer of cloves, Zanzibar and Madagascar are the major exporters,

• In India, grown in the hilly tracts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

3.2. Economic importance

• Clove taste is imparted by eugenol and quantity of pice required is small.

• Pairs well with cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, red wine, basil, onion, citrus peel, star anise, and pepper corns.

Stem-borer: Sahyadrassus malabaricus: Hepialidae

Presence of the pest is understood when chewed tissue is seen at at the col­lar region. The mouth of the tunnel in which the borer feeds show pieces of bark, wood and frass particles held together by silk. The saplings break off at the point of injury. When the main stem is attacked, there is mat-like frass at basal region of stem. Larvae girdle main stem and bores downward killing the tree.

Adult moth is peculiar and hangs vertically down by the support of two pairs of legs. Egg period is for 7-10 days, and larvae live for about 10 months inside the larval tunnels. They pupate for 3-5 weeks.

English name : Clove
Botanical name : Syzygium aromaticum Merr &Perry
Family : Myrtaceae
Chromosome number : 2n = 22
Centre of origin : Indonesia
Clove of commerce is the fully grown but unopened dried flower bud of tree Syzygium aromaticum Merrill and Perry, belonging to the family Myrtaceae. The English name “clove” is derived from the Spanish word clavo or the Latin clavus, both meaning “nail,” referring to the shape of the dried clove bud commonly found in the market. Clove is among the orient’s oldest and most valued spices, known as early as the 1st century BC. It is prized both as a spice and for its essential oil. The chemical composition of clove varies based on agroclimatic conditions and post-harvest processes.
The dried clove bud contains approximately 5.4% moisture, 6.3% protein, 13.2% volatile oil, 15.5% non-volatile ether extract (fat), 11.1% crude fibre, 57.7% carbohydrates, 5.0% mineral matter, and 0.24% ash insoluble in HCl. Additionally, it has 0.7% calcium, 0.11% phosphorus, 0.01% iron, 0.25% sodium, and 1.2% potassium. Its vitamin content includes 0.11 mg of B1, 0.04 mg of B2, 80.9 mg of vitamin C, 175 I.U. of vitamin A, and 1.5 mg of niacin per 100 g, providing a calorific value of 430 calories per 100 g. The volatile oil extracted from clove buds consists of eugenol (80-90%) and caryophyllene (4-8%).

Cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] popularly known as guar is a drought hardy, deep-rooted, summer annual legume, grown as feed, fodder, green manure, vegetable and seed in the dry habitats of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab and to a limited extent in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In addition to its major cultivation in India, the crop is grown as a cash crop in different countries like Australia, Brazil and South Africa. The crop is exceptionally known for its higher adaptation towards poor and erratic rains, low inputs and less care. Its other multi uses are soil enrichment in cropping systems, industrial uses, social and dietary uses. These qualities have made it as the most favoured crop of marginal farmers in the arid areas. Being a leguminous annual, its primary use is soil health enrichment through atmospheric nitrogen fixation; on an average basis it is estimated to be  30 kg N ha-1. The young pods of Cluster bean are a source of delicious vegetable from late summer to middle of rainy season. The pods are sweet and can often be cooked as those of Phaseolus bean pods and are a very good source of vitamin A, calcium, iron, phosphorus and ascorbic acid with enriched nutritional value.

ABSTRACT

Albizzia lebbeck is commonly called as “vagai” in Tamil belonging to family Mimosaceae, is a large deciduous tree commonly seen throughout India. Our present aim, was to study the CNS depressant activity of Albizzia lebbeck in wistar albino rats. The bark and leaves of Albizzia lebbeck were shade dried and coarsely powdered. About 500 gm of powder was extracted using petroleum ether, chloroform and alcohol by cold maceration process. The depressant activity was accessed using actophotometer. It was claimed that in indigenous system of medicine the drug has anti-inflammatory, opthalmopathy, leucoderma, leprosy, wounds, ulcers and CNS depressant activity.

7.1. Origin and distribution

• Native to Tropical America, the Amazon Basin.

• Domesticated in Mexico and Central and South America.

• Cultivated in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu mainly as intercrop and multi-storey crop with arecanut and coconut from 1970 onwards.

7.2. Economic importance

• Cocoa is a cauliflorus beverage crop.

• Chocolate, hot chocolate, cocoa powder and dry powder are made

• Cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted.

• Used in Mesoamerican foods including tejate and Mexican drink that also includes maize.

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is the third important beverage crop grown for its seeds known as beans, used mainly in chocolate industry. It is the source of cocoa butter and cocoa mass.

Botanical Name:  Theobroma cacao L. 
Family :   Sterculiaceae
Origin :  Central and South America.
Chromosome No :  2n=20
Type of fruit : Drupe.
Type of Inflorescence : Dichasial (cyme)
Useable Part : Seed