eChapters

Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) is the most popular leafy vegetable grown in India throughout the summer and rainy season, and is known as chaulai in Hindi. Amaranth’s leaves and tender stems are high in protein, minerals including calcium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and potassium, as well as vitamins like vitamin A (carotene), vitamin C, folic acid, thiamine, niacin, and riboflavin. The leaves have a crude protein value of 20-32 percent on a dry weight basis and are commonly grown as a leafy vegetable in Southeast Asia. Amaranth plants are usually annuals or perennials with a short life span. The stems are usually reddish in colour and sometimes have spines; they have simple alternately arranged leaves and a pinkish taproot.

Amaranth is one of the oldest food crops in the new world, with evidence of cultivation reaching back as far as 6-700 BC. This is probably due to the ability of these plants to adapt to new environments, an extremely broad climatic adaptability and their competitive ability, which permits culture with minimum crop management, thus making it an easy crop to cultivate and domesticate.

The adaptability of Amaranths could lead to cropping systems in these semi-arid regions of South Africa, so providing a very nutritious vegetable dish to the people’s diet.  Careful attention should be paid to the variety planted if it is to be successfully grown as a commercial crop so as to choose one which is palatable. The economic viability of growing amaranths should also be considered against its background as a food, particularly in areas of low rainfall, as it will still produce a yield, even under low rainfall and high temperature regimes.

It is clear that this crop has the potential to address malnutrition problems, earn money for farmers, decrease environmental damage, reduce poverty in communities and increase supply of food. Our fresh water supplies are decreasing, climatic change is increasing occurrence and severity of drought and heat. There is no doubt that these underutilised crops have the sufficient untapped potential to address a number of agricultural challenges, we are facing in the world today.

Amaranthus stem weevil: Hypolixus truncatulus :Curculionidae
 
It is an important pest of amaranthus and is widely distributed in India. It attacks both wild and cultivated amaranthus, especially the leafy varieties with large leaves. Hence, management involves destruction of unwanted, weedy wild amaranthus plants, to reduce the breeding place for the weevil. Adults are ash-grey in colour, with elbowed antennae and brown elytra. Females lay eggs singly in holes made on the stem, branches, petioles or midribs. Eggs are smooth, oval and pale yellow in colour. Incubation period is 3 to 8 days.

Amaranthus is one of the main genera of large and taxonomically diverse group of leafy vegetables. Amaranthus is the cheapest dark green leafy vegetable because of low production costs and high yield. It is often described as poor man’s vegetable.

Origin and Distribution: The main vegetable type Amaranthus tricolor L. originated in South or South East Asia, particularly in India. Budhist monks and Muslim invaders took the crop to neighboring countries. Another vegetable type A. dubius shows diversity in Central America, Indonesia, India and in Africa. A lividus is a popular leafy vegetable in Southern and Central Europe. Amaranthus included 50 to 60 species.

Many horticulture schemes have been launched by the Government. The main aim is to expand the area under horticulture with better productivity. These ambitious schemes are as follows.

A. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH): Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is a centrally sponsored scheme from 1st April 2014 for the holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo. Under MIDH, Government of India (GOI) contributes 60% of total outlay for developmental programmes in all the states except states in North East and Himalayas, 40% share is contributed by state governments.

Spotted boll  worms/ Shoot and fruit borer: Earias vitella (=E.fabia), E. insulana: Noctuidae

This is a pest on cotton, bhendi, hibiscus, holly hock and other malvaceous vegetables. Moths lay eggs singly in leaf axils, bracts and leaf veins and on under surface. Larvae bore into tender shoots, buds, flowers and fruits and feed on internal contents.  Damage results in drooping of shoots and shedding of buds and flowers. The infested fruits have bore holes, are deformed and become unfit for consumption.  Bore holes are plugged with excreta.

Botany: Emblica officinalis belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae commonly known as Amla or Indian Gooseberry or Nelli is an important crop with high medicinal value. The fruits have the richest source of vitamin-C (700 mg per 100 g of fruits) and is considered to be good liver tonic. The various preparations using Amla include Chyavanprash, Triphala churna, Brahma Rasayana and Madumegha churna. The fruit is valued as an antiscorbutic, diuretic, laxative, antibiotic and anti-dysentric. Phyllemblin, obtainedfrom fruit pulp has been found to have mild depressent action on central nervous system. It has good demand from the industries for the preparation of various health care products also like hair oil, dye, shampoo, face creams and tooth powder.

Soil: Light as well as medium heavy soils except purely sandy soil is ideal for amla cultivation. The tree is well adopted to dry regions and can also be grown in moderate alkaline soils.

Climate: It is a tropical plant. Annual rainfall of 630-800 mm is ideal for its growth. The young plant upto the age of 3 years should be protected from hot wind during May-June and from frost during winter months. The mature plants can tolerate freezing temperature as well as a high temperature upto 46^OC.

Varieties: The varieties recommended for cultivation are Banarasi, Chakaiya, Francis, NA-4 (Krishna) NA 5 (Kanchan), NA-6, NA-7, NA-10 and BSR-1 (Bhavanisagar).

ABSTRACT

Shoot organogenesis from several explant types excised from in vitro grown plants of local elite brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) cv. Co2 was studied in response to the supplementation of thidiazuron (TDZ), BAP, IAA and NAA. Cotyledons and leaves were found to be the most responsive explants. High shoot bud induction rate (>50 shoot buds/explant) was achieved in the presence of 0.044 mg/l TDZ. The organogenic calli were subcultured in the same shoot bud induction medium for shoot development. Among different growth hormones, TDZ @0.044 mg/l induced more number of shoots per explant compared to BAP, IAA and NAA combinations. Efficient rooting was observed on half strength MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l IAA. Higher percentage of rooting was achieved only when the well developed shoots were directly transferred to soil.

ABSTRACT

Direct shoot organogenesis from several explant types excised from in vitro grown plants of local elite tomato cv. PKM1 was studied in response to zeatin, BAP, IAA and NAA. Cotyledonary leaves were found to be the most responsive explants. High shoot bud induction rate (>25 shoot buds/cotyledonary explant) was obtained in the presence of 2 mg/l zeatin. The organogenic calli were subcultured onto the same shoot bud induction medium for shoot development. Among different growth regulators tested, zeatin @ 2 mg/ l induced more number of shoots per explant compared to BAP, IAA and NAA combinations. Rooting was efficiently induced on half strength MS basal medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l IAA. The effects of various growth hormones on tomato regeneration on rooting were discussed.

ABSTRACT

Donor-recipient protoplast fusion vis-à-vis cybridization is an effective technique to transfer plasmon-coded traits in cultivated tetraploid (2n=4x=48) potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) from its diploid (2n=2x=24) cross-incompatible wild relatives. However, the method, although attractive, is difficult in terms of not only inactivation of nuclear and plasmonic genomes of the participating donor and recipient protoplasts, but also post- fusion culture and regeneration of putative cybrids. Here, we report an improved method for donor-recipient protoplast fusion and subsequent post-fusion culture and regeneration of electrofused protoplasts in potato. In the present experiment, Solanum verrucosum Schlechtd. (2n=2x=24) accessions CPC 1339 (CGN No. 17774) and HAW 2246 (CGN No. 17766) containing sensitive [Tr^s] plasmon for tetrad-type cytoplasmic male sterility were used as donors and S. tuberosum subsp. tuberosum cvs Kufri Ashoka, Kufri Chipsona-1 and Professor Broekema as recipients. For nuclear inactivation, the in vitro-cultured donor plants were exposed to 1000 Gy of unfiltered γ-rays before protoplast preparation using a revised protoplast isolation medium (PIM) containing 2.0 % Cellulase ‘Onozuka’ RS and 0.25 % Macerozyme R-10. The recipient protoplasts were treated with antimetabolite iodoacetate (1.0 mM ) for 45 min at 10 °C for chondriome inactivation. The protoplasts were aligned in an amplitude of 300 Vcm^-1 for 0.5-1.0 s before being electrofused by one DC pulse of 600-800 Vcm^-1 for 40 μs using a Cell Electrofusion Processor FPH 01001 (Bioelectronics Corporation, Troy, Michigan). The fused protoplasts were immobilized in alginate-plates, and cultured on modified VKM medium containing 0.3 M glucose at about 400 mOsmol (pH 5.6). After 8-10 weeks, the developing protocalluses were dissociated from alginate-plates and cultured for regeneration on MS medium supplemented with varying concentrations of zeatin/ zeatin riboside and gibberellic acid. The protocalluses derived from electrofusion between donor S. verrucosum accession CPC 1339 and recipient S. tuberosum cv. Kufri Chipsona-1 could be successfully regenerated into plantlets. Morphological as well as molecular-genetic characterization of regenerated microplants, both for nuclear and chondriome genomes, confirmed the putative cybridity as well as established the extent and pattern of mitochondrial recombination following donor-recipient protoplast fusion. The results have been discussed in relation to donor-recipient protoplast fusion approach and its potential application in potato genetic improvement.

ABSTRACT

Bacopa monnieri (L.) or Herpestis monniera, commonly known as brahmi, purifies the blood, and is useful in scabies, leucoderma, syphilis, diarrhoea and pyresis. As Brahmi is a major ingredient in several ayurvedic preparations, there is growing demand for steady supply of planting materials. Conventional propagation methods are less efficient than in vitro propagation. However, there are only a few reports on the in vitro propagation of this plant. Therefore, an attempt was made to evolve an improved protocol for the in vitro propagation of Bacopa. Shoot tips and nodal buds along with a portion of the stem excised from field grown disease free plants were taken as the explants. After three weeks of establishment on MS basal medium, the sterile cultures were sub-cultured on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of BA (0.5,1.0 and 1.5mg l^-1). Rooting was induced on in vitro proliferated shoots by culturing on MS basal medium with NAA 1.0 mg l^-1 and IBA 0.5 mg l^-1. Treatments with BA 1.0 mg l^-1 and IAA 1.5 mg l^-1 recorded the maximum number of shoots (40.9 and 35.2, respectively). The height of the shoots was also significantly influenced by the concentrations of IAA (1.5 or 1.0 mg l^-1) in combination with BA (1.0 mg l^-1), recording 5.4 and 5.5 cm. The shoots with an average length of 3.0 to 4.0 cm were kept for rooting. NAA (1.0 mg l^-1) in combination with IBA (0.1, 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5 mg l^-1) produced significantly greater number of roots. The length of the roots was also greater in this treatment. The plantlets were transferred to pots in a greenhouse and later to the field with ninety per cent survival.

Introduction

Citrus spp. grown in almost all the states of India. Citrus fruit, consisting of mandarin oranges (Citrus reticulata Blanco), sweet orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) and lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) are grown commercially in tropical, sub-tropical, arid, irrigated and mountainous regions in varying soil and weather condition. The citrus tree on the whole do well in dry climate, with a rainfall between 75 and 125 cm but certain species such as pummel and certain mandarin oranges thrive in heavy rainfall areas of Konkan, Assam and Coorg. It is grown almost all kinds of soil, varying from heavy black soil to shallow open soils. A hard substratum or a sticky impervious layer is very injurious. Soils having a high water table should be avoided. Although the citrus industry in India has faced many challenges, there has been a consistent increase in area and production owing to the awareness for sustained production (Table 1).

Anatomy is the study of an internal structure of an organism, while morphology is the study of various external features of an organism Anatomy helps in knowing the structural peculiarities of different groups of plants, which help for adaptation to diverse environments. An angiosperm plant is characterized by the presence of roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits

Plant cells: Plant cells are multicellular eukaryotic cells that make up a plant (a group of eukaryotes belonging to the Plantae kingdom, with the ability to synthesize their own food using water, sunlight and CO₂). Being eukaryotic cells, they have a defined nucleus with specialized structural organelles that enable it to function in an orderly manner.

Drumstick or Moringa is one of the world’s most useful crops and  is a tropical tree with multiple uses and its main feature is that it  is hardy with tremendous capacity to withstand drought. It is indigenous to the sub-Himalayan track extending from river Chenab to Sharda. It is grown  in  arid to humid areas of the tropical region  as a  human food crop mainly as a vegetable, animal forage crop, medicine, dye and oil yielding crop and for water purification. Among the 13 species known in the family Moringaceae, Moringa oleifera Lam is particularly easy to reproduce and its growth is very fast. The species is characterized by its long, drum stick shaped pods which contain  seeds. Within this species, utilizing its fast growing nature  and bearing fruits or pods selections are made to release varieties which can be grown as annual crop.During the very first year of growth, moringa  grows up to 4 meters and  bears fruit within the same first year (Folkard and Sutherland, 1996). The plant sheds its leaves with  onset of winter, stops producing flowers and virtually fruit set will not be there.

The numerous economic uses of Moringa oleifera together with its easy propagation have raised growing international interest for this tree which originated from India and  found in most tropical countries (Africa, Asia and America). Presently its cultivation on large scale  is seen in  India, Israel, Thailand, South Asian Countries, Africa and Pacific Islands. Presently in India, it occupies an  area of about 40,000 ha with  major growing areas in  Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which account for  more than 80 % of the area and production in India.

3.1 Tomato

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) is an important vegetable crop. Its 2n= 24.

Floral biology

Flowers are borne in small forked racemose cyme. Anthesis starts at 6.30 a.m. and continues up to 11.00 a.m. Anther dehiscence is longitudinal. It occurs 1-2 days after opening of corolla. The stamen sheds its pollen when the style grows up through anther tube, thus self-pollination occurs. When the stigma protrudes above the anther tube, chances of cross pollination through bees increases. The optimum temperature for pollination is around 21°C.

Flowers blooming in a garden can be preserved by drying them for use in arrangements, decorations and various other applications. Natural dry flowers can be annual or perennial. Some of the important annuals used for dry flower making are described below.

14.1 Annual Flowers

Plants classified as annuals are those that complete their life cycle within the space of one year. Annual flowers are versatile and sturdy. The annuals have many uses in landscaping. Annual flowers are beautiful and garden lovers tend to preserve these flowers throughout. They dry these flowers and store them for use in several beautiful dry flower arrangements.

1. INTRODUCTION

Annuals are the group of plants that complete their life cycle in one season or in one year during which they grow, flower and produce seed; and after this they wither out. A true annual (like zinnia) is a plant that will grow from seeds, flower, produce seeds and die in one season. Zinnias provide a succession of flowers for summer colour in any sunny location with good soil drainage

The term annual when applied to herbaceous ornamentals refers to plants that are grown for only one season. A true annual completes its life cycle (bears seed) in one season and has an extended bloom span lasting (in most cases) throughout the summer. Some plants that we use like annuals in the garden actually are herbaceous perennial plants that bloom the first season but are unable to survive the winter climate.

Some varieties will self-sow or naturally reseed themselves. This may be undesirable in many flowers because the parents of this seed are unknown and hybrid characteristics get lost. Plants will scatter everywhere instead of growing in their designated spot. Examples: Alyssum, Petunias and Impatiens. Impatiens flowers are currently the most popular annuals and are unsurpassed for abundant flowers in a shady garden. Some perennials, which are plants that live from year to year are classed with annuals because they are not winter-hardy and must be set out every year. Examples are begonias and snapdragons.

Typically, the annuals we think are as loving the heat of summer, but there are some popular annual plants that prefer the cool of spring and fall. Examples: pansies, snapdragons, ornamental cabbage and kale. These plants actually grow more lush and vigorous when the weather is cool not hot and dry; therefore, they are often offered for sale in early spring.

Description of important annuals

A. Winter season annuals (Seeds are sown in Sept.-Oct. and transplanting in Oct.)

Annuals

Annuals or seassonals are the group of plants which complete their life cycle in one season or in one year. Annuals are commonly known as seasonal as they complete the process of life like germination, growth flowering and seed formation in one season and finally the plant without. Annuals are widely used for garden decoration, cut flower and pot plants. They are frequently grown as bedding plant and in rock garden on the sides of lily pool and in shrubberies.

Thrips – Chaetanaphorothrips  orchidii, Thripidae: Thysanoptera

It is a polyphagous feeder that attacks other ornamentals, herbs, fruits, vegetables, grasses, and weeds, but shows preference for Anthurium species. It is a widely distributed species infesting green houses and out door landscapes.

Both adult and immature thrips start feeding within unopened Anthurium spathe. Damage appears as white streaks on the upper and lower surface of the spathe, resulting in deformed spathe and bronzing of the injured tissue with age. In severe cases, spathe  fails to open and the foliage may be deformed with streaming and bronzing and thereby reduced plant growth.

1. Introduction

Medicinal plants continue to be an important therapeutic aid for alleviating the ailments of humankind. The search for eternal health and longevity for remedies to relive pain and discomfort drove early man to explore his immediate natural surroundings to the use of many plants, animal products and minerals etc for the development of a variety of therapeutic agents. Today, there is a renewed interest in traditional medicine and an increasing demand for more drugs from plants sources. This revival of interest in plant derived drugs is mainly due to the current widespread belief that “green medicine” is safe and more dependable than the costly synthetic drugs, many of which have adverse side effects.

Vitex negundo or Five-Leaved Chaste Tree is commonly known as Nirgundi in India. It is a large aromatic shrub belonging to the Verbenaceae family of plants. It is distributed throughout the greater part of India up to an altitude of 1500 m in the outer Himalayas. It is a gregarious shrub that is found abundant along the banks or rivers, in moist situations, open waste lands and near the deciduous forests. It is widely planted as a hedge plant along the roads and between the roads.

A broad class of polypeptides and proteins occur in plants and other life forms, which inhibit the action of proteolytic enzymes and are known therefore as proteinase inhibitors and this includes those which specifically inhibit the important digestive enzyme trypsin. Others inhibit a related enzyme chymotrypsin. The subject of proteinase inhibitors was reviewed by Ryan (1981). The occurrence of these inhibitors has nutritional implications for human and animal feeding as they are found in many important food plants eaten both raw and cooked. The first known plant proteinase inhibitor was the trypsin inhibitor crystallized from soybeans (Kunitz, 1945). Other proteinase inhibitors have since been described in a variety of plants, especially the Graminae, Leguminosae and Solanaceae families. The exact physiological function of proteinase inhibitors in plants is thought to be in plant protection by inhibiting digestive enzymes of invading insect pests or pathogens (Ryan, 1981).

1. Introduction

The discovery and development of antibiotics have led to dramatic improvement in the ability to treat infectious diseases with emergence of drug – resistant organisms due to irrational and overuse of antibiotics, failure to complete a course of treatment, genetic versatility of microbes and horizontal transfer of resistant genes among bacterial species had led to antibiotic resistance (Amit and Shailendra, 2006; Aibinu, 2007).The need for alternative antimicrobial agents has renewed the interest on plants as a sources of antimicrobial agents due to their use historically and the fact that a good portion of the world’s population, particularly in developing countries, rely on plants for the treatment of infectious and non-infectious diseases.
 
Syzygium aromaticum

Clove (Syzygium aromaticum) is the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. The traditional use indicates that Clove has several therapeutic properties, such as an aphrodisiac, stomach, carminative, nervous stimulant and tonic. Reports has been documented  on their aphrodisiac, antibacterial, antifungal, nematocidal, anti-toothache, anti-oxidant, analgesic, anesthetic and hypotensive properties. Although in Iranian traditional medication several formulation containing clove have been used as a nervous stimulant and cognitive enhancer. (Mohammad, et al., 2009).

1. Introduction

Nothing in the universe is non medicinal everything has its value in its own way. Infectious diseases are an important health hazard all over the world, both in developing and developed countries. Several synthetic antibiotics are employed in the treatment of infectious and communicable diseases. A number of researchers nowadays are working seriously to find out substitutes for antibiotics as they cause side effects on the functioning of different parts of the body organs and systems. Antibiotics are also known to disturb the natural intestinal micro flora, thus depriving the benefits of these microbes to human body. Medicinal plants exhibit antimicrobial activity since they contain innumerable biologically active chemical constituents. The medicinal plant wealth, the strong and time tested traditional medicare systems like ayurveda and the human resource base are the strengths of India. Over the last forty years intensive efforts have been made to discover clinically useful antibacterial/ antifungal drugs (Sashikumar et al., 2003). Over 50% of all modern clinical drugs are of natural product origin (Ates, 2003). Higher plants as sources of medicinal compounds have continued to play a dominant role in the maintenance of human health since ancient times (Farombi, 2003).

Indian gooseberry or aonla (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.), is an important fruit crop of 21st century and it has been regarded as ‘Amritphal’ in ancient literature, and has been identified as an ideal plant for various kinds of wastelands viz, moisture stress, eroded, ravines, upland, riverbed and the areas with undulated topography (Korwar et al., 2006) as it possesses some specific characters like intensive and deeper root system, summer dormancy of zygote, reduced leaf area, synchronization of fruit growth and development with moisture availability period and selective absorption of cations and anions which enable it to grow in fragile agro-climatic conditions. India is principal aonla growing country and Uttar Pradesh is the leading state and Pratap garh district, U.P. is well known for aonla cultivation throughout the country. Aonla is a deciduous tree, small to medium in size and distributed in tropical and sub-tropical forests in India. Looking to its high demand and value added products, now, it is being commercially cultivated in different parts of country. It can tolerate alkalinity and salinity and can be grown in wide range of soils.

Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) is one of the most important traditional but underutilized fruits of Indian origin, having immense potentiality of cultivation on marginal and waste lands. It belongs to  family Euphorbiaceae and sub-family Phyllanthoidae. Aonla tree thrives well throughout the tropical and sub-tropical parts of India either found growing wild or cultivated. Aonla is a quite hardy, prolific bearer and highly remunerative even without much care. It can be grown easily on calcareous and slightly saline as well as alkaline soils where common fruit crops do not thrive.
 
Aonla is regarded as sacred by Hindus and has great mythological significance. According to Hindu mythology, one day meal is arranged beneath an aonla tree during Kartik (October) when trees are laden with fruits. Hindu religion also prescribes that ripe fruits of aonla be eaten for forty days after fast  to restore health and vitality known as Kaya Kalp (Benthal, 1946).

Aonla or Indian Gooseberry (Emhlica officinalis Gaertn. syn. Phyllanthus embfica L.). belonging to family Euphorbiaceae. is an indigenous fruittree to Indian sub continent. It is one of the most important commercial crops suitable for marginal soils and various kinds of waste lands particularly salt affected lands. A lot of genetic variability is available in India with respect to growth and fruit quality characteristics of aonla. Almost all the budded varieties of aonla were selected from naturally occurring superior chance seedlings having in view their earliness, lateness, hardiness to adverse conditions, yield and superior fruit quality.

1-or successful aonla orchards, it is utmost necessary to have basic knowledge of various cultivars suitable for a particular set of environmental and soil conditions.

This crop is gaining importance as a main ingredient in Indian diet due to its medicinal properties. Large areas are under its cultivation and the larger fruited varieties have become very popular. It is one of the prime constituents in ayurvedic preparations
Bark-eating caterpillars - Indarbela quadrinotata, I. tertraonis: Metarbelidae
The larvae of this species make zigzag galleries and feed on the bark under silken ribbon- shaped webs. They are stout and dirty brown in colour.
Fruit- borer : Deudorix Isocrates : Lycaenidae: The larvae of this beautiful butterfly cause considerable damage (up to 42%) to fruits.  They start feeding while the fruit is tender, and growing. During severe infestations, chemical control may be warranted. This can be done by spraying contact insecticides like malathion, or dichlorvos or  fenvalerate or other synthetic pyrethroids.

Origin and history  : Aonla or Indian gooseberry is also known as Indian amla. Aonla is the tropical South eastern Asia particularly central and southern India. It is commercially grown in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. In Uttar Pradesh aonla cultivation is more popular in Pratapgarh, Mirzapur and Barely. It is very rich from nutritional point of view being next to Barbados cherry in terms of vitamin C content (500-750 mg/100g pulp)which is not oxidized due to presence of tannins and even it is least destroyed during storage. Besides, it has an excellent medicinal value. It can be grown successfully in arid climate and in the soils of higher pH and poor fertility wastelands.

Nearly 70 percent of the cultivated crops all over the world are cross-fertilized and depend on insects like honeybees for pollination. At present, several countries are making desperate efforts to achieve self–sufficiency in food production by physical expansion of the area under cultivation, production of better quality seeds and animals, bringing more waste lands under cultivation, use of fertilizers,pesticides and irrigation. However, in the past decade or so, food production has come to a point of stagnation for some cultivated crops. Emphasis in the future therefore, should be on full use of under used resources. In order to maximize horticultural production, pollinators can be used as an important resource or input as improved variety of seed, timely irrigation, doses of fertilizers and plant protection.

1. APOMIXIS

Development of seed without fertilization. When the seed formation occurs without sexual fusion, the process is known as apomixis. This occurs by several mechanism, however all apomitic seed have genetic material only from the female plant Apomixis may or may not require pollination and pollen tube germination to initiate seed formation, however sexual union.

5.1 APOMIXIS

Apomixis is derived from two Greek words “Apo” (away from) and “mixis” (the act of mixing or mingling). It refers to the occurrence of an asexual reproductive process in the place of normal sexual processes involving reduction division and fertilization. During sexual reproduction, developmental steps occurring inside the ovule produce the female gametophyte (embryo sac) and following a double fertilization event give rise to embryo and endosperm structures. Apomixis can be best described as the reference to the asexual process. In some species, embryo sac is produced not as a result of meiosis and fertilization but by certain asexual processes. The occurrence of such asexual reproductive process in the place of normal seed reproductive processes of reduction division and fertilization is known as Apomixis. Such seedling plants produced in this manner is known as apomicts. ’’Apomixis’’ is used synonymously with ’’agamospermy’’ (Stebbins 1950), referring to the asexual production of seed.

Apomixis (asexual seed formation) is a phenomenon in which a plant bypasses the most fundamental aspects of sexual reproduction—meiosis and fertilization—to form a viable seed. Plants can form seeds without fertilization, and the seed genotype is consistent with the female parent. The development of apomictic technology would be revolutionary for agriculture and for food production as it would reduce costs and breeding times and also avoid many complications typical of sexual reproduction (e.g., incompatibility barriers) and of vegetative propagation (e.g., viral transfer). The application of apomictic reproductive technology has the potential to revolutionize crop breeding. Apomixis is widely distributed among higher plants. More than 300 species belonging to 35 families are apomictic. It is most common in Gramineae, Compositae, Rosaceae and Rutaceae. Among the major cereals maize, wheat and pearl millet have apomictic relatives. Apomixis is reproduction where only one parent passes genes to the offspring (King, 2006). Apomictically produced offspring are genetically identical to the parent (clones).The method is mostly seen in plants, especially flowering plants. Apomixis was defined by Hans Winkler (2008) as the replacement of the normal sexual reproduction by asexual reproduction, without fertilization. Propagation from cuttings or leaves, is not apomixis. Natural replacement of the seed by an asexual method is apomixis.

1). Scab
Diagnostic Symptoms
• Symptoms generally noticed on leaves and fruits.
• Affected leaves become twisted or puckered and have black, circular spots on their upper surface.
• On the under surface of leaves, the spots are velvety and may coalesce to cover the whole leaf surface. Severely affected leaves may turn yellow and drop.
• Scab can also infect flower stems and cause flowers to drop.
• Lesions later become sunken and brown and may have spores around their margins.
• Infected fruit become distorted and may crack, allowing entry of secondary organisms(Figure-1).
Etiology
Scientific Classification
Kingdom : Fungi
Division : Ascomycota

Apple codling moth: Cydia (Carpocapsa) pomonella: Tortricidae 

This is an international pest and is now seen in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. This is a fruit borer whose moth is silvery white with a dark band on the margin of the forewing and light brownish hind wings with a fringed margin. The moths hold their wings roof-like over the body while at rest.

It is a serious disease of apple which not only reduces the quality and size of fruit but also cause premature fruit drop and defoliation. Fruit loses its marketability due to poor quality. It also reduces storage time and cause loss up to 70%.

Biofertilizers are preparations containing micro-organisms, with capability of mobilizing nutritive elements from non usable form to usable form through biological processes. Bio-fertilizers have definite advantage over chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers supply over nitrogen whereas bio-fertilizers provide in addition to nitrogen, certain growth promoting substances like hormones, vitamins, amino acids, etc, crops have to be provided with chemical fertilizers repeatedly to replenish the loss of nitrogen utilized for crop growth. Bio-fertilizers application in agriculture will have greater impact on organic agriculture and also on the control of environmental pollution, soil health improvement and reduction in input use. Farmers try to increase yields of vegetable crops by mean of heavy nutrition’s. The use of chemical nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers at high levels had an adverse effect on the accumulation of NH4+, NO3-, NO2- and PO4- in vegetable product tissues. Therefore, clean agriculture recently depends upon using biofertilizers as well as organic in order to produce high yields with the best commodity quality without contamination and less accumulation with heavy metals.

The application of high input technologies such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides have improved the production but there is growing concern over the adverse effects of the use of chemicals on soil productivity and environment quality. Thus, integrated nutrient management has become an accepted strategy to bring about improvement in soil fertility and protecting the environment. This strategy utilizes a judicious combination of fertilizers, organic manures and bio-fertilizers. Biofertilizer is a natural product carrying living microorganisms derived from the root or cultivated soil. So they don’t have any ill effect on soil health and environment. Besides their role in atmospheric nitrogen fixation and phosphorous solubilisation, these also help in stimulating the plant growth hormones providing better nutrient uptake and increased tolerance towards drought and moisture stress. A small dose of biofertilizer is sufficient to produce desirable results because each gram of carrier of bio-fertilizers contains at least 10 million viable cells of a specific strain. Biofertilizers means the product containing carrier base (solid or liquid)

Mushrooming population, subsiding agricultural resources; land and water, people’s concern towards quality of vegetable s/food and changing climate throws several challenges for vegetable production. Conventional management and crop improvement strategies alone can no longer sustain the nation’s as well as global demand. So there is an urgent need to adopt modern biotechnological methods which are multidisciplinary where a large number of tools and elements of conventional breeding technique, genetic engineering, molecular biology, molecular genetics, bioinformatics and biochemistry are utilized and integrated. Biotechnological tools provide three major aspects of genetic improvement viz, application of tissue culture, molecular breeding or marker assisted breeding and genetic engineering.

Introduction

Cell and tissue culture techniques are becoming increasingly popular as alternative means of plant vegetative propagation. Plant tissue culture involves asexual methods of propagation and its primary goal is crop improvement. The success of many in vitro selection and genetic manipulation techniques in higher plants depends on the success of in vitro plant regeneration. Crop breeding and rDNA technology require the widespread use of reliable true to type propagation and better regeneration methods. Plant regeneration can be grouped in to different categories of enhanced release of axillary bud proliferation, organogenesis and embryogenesis. The oldest practical application of tissue culture techniques is the propagation of disease free plants from meristem tip culture. Meristem tip consisting of dome and one or two subjacent leaf primordial with a size up to 0.25 mm are aseptically cultured in appropriate nutrition media. The resulting plants are disease free because the pathogen is not generally present in the meristematic cells.

The aim of germplasm conservation is to ensure the availability of useful germplasm at any time. Breeding programs rely heavily on locally adapted ancient plant varieties and their wild relatives as sources of germplasm. Further, the continuing search for high yielding varieties of crop plants with resistance to pathogens and pests warrants the availability and maintenance of large collections of germplasm. In species which are propagated through seeds, it is economical to preserve the seeds. These seeds are dried to water content of 5 - 8% and then stored at a temperature of -18° C or lower and low humidity. In case of vegetatively propagated species, preservation of germplasm heavily taxes manpower and land resources. As in vitro techniques are becoming more important in crop improvement through the use of somatic cell genetics, the material produced in vitro will have to be conserved in vitro. The in vitro system is extremely suitable for storage of plant material, since in principle it can be stored on a small scale, disease free and under conditions that limit growth. Germplasm storage in vitro is crucial for the future development and safety of agriculture.

1. INTRODUCTION

‘Fertigation’ is the technique of supplying dissolved fertilizer to crops through an irrigation system (Haynes, 1985). When efficient irrigation system combined with both nutrients and water, it can lead to obtain higher yield and preferable quality desired marketable produce.

Often, side-dressings of straight solid fertilizers are found to be the management constraints. Most of the growers have the experience of how much the applied fertilizer is either washed from the soil in run-off or leached below the root zone.

Continuous small applications of soluble nutrients have the benefits like labour, due to fertilizer being placed uniformly around the plant roots and allow savings/economy rapid uptake of nutrients by the plant.

The “falling number” is a measurement used by plant breeders and grain quality specialists to determine the soundness of wheat, which is primarily influenced by the degree of sprouting in a grain sample. Hagberg Falling Number is the full name of this international standard of sprout measurement.  The term “falling numbers” refers to the amount of time it takes for the Hagberg steel ball in this sprout analysis tool to fall through a flour/water slurry that has been heated to release the starch from water. 

Black Pepper and Pearl Millet Flour for Disease Control in Chickens: To treat a disease in chickens characterized by frothing at the mouth, frequent cackling, restlessness, and reduced food intake, 10-15 black pepper corns are ground and mixed with pearl millet flour and water to form small pellets. These pellets are fed to the chickens to increase body heat and help eliminate the disease (Sabarkantha, Gujarat) (Parmar, 1992a).

Use of Garlic Against Pulorum in Poultry Birds: To cure chicks affected by Salmonella pulorum, one or two peeled cloves of garlic (Allium sativa) are soaked in a cup of water for 12 hours. The water is then given to the chicks to drink, curing them in two days (Dahod, Gujarat) (Khant, 1999).

Poultry Disease Management: For treating an unidentified disease in poultry birds that kills them within a few days, tribals use various plant-based remedies:

1. Bark of ‘beda’

2. Small pieces of onion

3. Grains of paddy smeared with kerosene

4. Tuber of ‘dev-alad’ (Curcuma spp)

11.1 Control of Diarrhea in Animals Using Traditional Remedies

1. Strychnos potatorum Leaves: In Dahod, Gujarat, approximately 100g of kantas (Strychnos potatorum) leaves are crushed and soaked in water. This mixture is given to the ailing animals for three days (Sitaram, 1997).

2. Ventilago denticulata and Syzygium cumini Mixture: In Bori, Shahera, a mixture of asul (Ventilago denticulata) roots and jamun (Syzygium cumini) bark is crushed and administered with water to the suffering animal. This treatment typically cures diarrhea within 2-3 days. Asul is a creeper found year-round in hedgerows, and jamun is a common tree (Dalsukhbhai, 1993).

3. Decoction of Soymida febrifuga: In Shahera, Gujarat, fresh leaves of royan (Soymida febrifuga) are crushed and soaked in water for one hour. A 100-150 ml dose of this concoction is given to the animal, which usually brings relief within 24 hours. This remedy has a long history in the region (Dalsukhbhai, 1993).

4. Ficus hispida: In Panchmahal, Gujarat, roots of dedhumari (Ficus hispida) are washed, crushed, and soaked in water for one hour. The mixture is then filtered through cloth, and 100-200g of the filtrate is administered to the animal. The treatment typically takes effect within a day and completely cures the animal in about 2-3 days. Many farmers use this method, although they may also consult veterinary experts (Baria, 1993).

5. Umra Bark and Banana Plant: During the monsoon, diarrhea in animals is treated using umra bark and banana (Musa Paradisiaca) plant sap. About 500g of umra bark is pounded and mixed with 500ml of banana stem juice. The mixture is filtered, and the filtrate is given to the affected animal. One hour later, the animal is fed 250ml of groundnut oil, resulting in a cure within a day or two (Valsad, Gujarat) (Patel, 1996).

1. Use of banana pseudostem in fish pond to enhance productivity of f ish: Pseudostems of banana, after harvesting the bunch, are added to the pond by cutting longitudinally, which increases the pH and oxygenation of pond water. This practice increases the fish yield. As it involves low cost, it is being followed by 80% of the farmers in Bastar village of Balasore district in Odisha.

2. ITKs on Craft and Gear Making / Maintenance (Vipinkumar et al., 2013): The major ITKs of scientific rationale identified in the craft and gear making and maintenance were ‘Sardine oil smearing on craft wood for improving the durability’, ‘Smearing cashew kernel oil on craft wood for durability’. Similarly, the durability of cotton nets was believed to be improved by dipping in banpu bark decoction. In the same way, beating nets with thalampu plant for ensuring strength was another one identified in craft and gear maintenance. The scientific validity assessment indicated that the boats of about 6.5 ft size length and 4.5 ft width require 3.5 to 4 litres of oil of sardine. The oil coasts about Rs 70/- per litre. Three cosequitive coatings followed by natural drying under sun are required for good results. Cashew smearing: The boats of about 6.5 ft size length and 4.5 ft width require 3.5 to 4 litres of cashew nut oil and the oil costs about Rs 40 -50/- per litre. Here also three cosequitive coatings followed by natural drying under sun are required for good results. Smearing Cashew kernel oil on craft wood for durability in Karwar of Karnataka is shown in photograph 1. For improving durability of nets, dipping nets in banpu bark decoction was practiced. The thalambu beating is nowadays not practiced due to the non-availability of those items. Instead, fisherfolk use a powder available in the market especially in the net shops. 1 kg of the colour powder (red/ blue) is required for 1 kg of net. The advantage is that the wastage due to mud coating and dirt can be rectified to a great extent.

Introduction

Genetic markers have assisted in genomic characterization of various crops species (Rafalski and Tingey, 1993). Most of the genetic marker systems rely upon DNA sequence polymorphisms (Staub et al., 1996). Each system has unique advantages and disadvantages based on cost, experimental objectives and type of information desired. Regardless of its inherent methodology, the effective use of any marker system for genetic analysis requires reliability and consistency.

The random amplified polymorphic DNA i.e. RAPD (Williams et al., 1990) or arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (Welsh and McClelland, 1990) marker identifies DNA sequence polymorphisms. In this technique, segments of genomic DNA are amplified in a polymerase chain reaction i.e. PCR (Mullis et al., 1986) with random primers followed by agarose gel electrophoresis. This is simple, relatively inexpensive and is amenable to high throughput investigation. RAPD markers are usually dominant and polymorphisms are observed as the presence or the absence of DNA bands of a particular size. RAPDs are common molecular approaches employed in plant breeding, genotypic differentiation, gene linkage analysis, assigning evolutionary and taxonomic affinities and relatedness and DNA fingerprinting analysis (Lin et al., 1996).

ABSTRACT

The discovery of polymerase chain reaction method of amplification of DNA is an important milestone in molecular genetics and used for multiple purpose such as construction of linkage maps, marker saturation of specific genome regions, analysis of genetic diversity, molecular phylogeny and cultivar identifications (Williams et al; 1990, Demeke, Adams and Chibbar; 1992, Welsh and Maclelland; 1990;, Obara-Okeyo and Kako; 1998, Sawhoon Lin et al; 1998 and Grunger et al; 1998.). 15 species of three morphologically distinct groups of Orchids belonging to the subfamily Epidendroideae and tribe Dendroebieae and Cymbideae were studied using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. Genetic variability and relation between these 3 genera and 15 species were estimated based on band sharing and cluster analysis. A total of 227 distinct major RAPD bands of which 97% were polymorphic were generated from 15 arbitrary primers. The number of bands generated per primer ranged from 3 (Primer A-10) to 22 (Primer K-10 and N-17) with a mean of 14.8 bands per primer. Out of 227 bands generated 222 bands (97.8%) where polymorphic while only 5 bands were monomorphic. The primer resolving power was found to range between 2.00 (prime A-10) and 13.38 (primer k-10) when all the species were studied were taken into account. The molecular analysis grouped all the species into 5 groups. The polymorphic patterns generated by RAPD profiles showed different degrees of genetic relationship among the species studied and the RAPD marker were found to be an useful tool for detecting genetic variation within the species of three important genera of Orchids.

Greenhouses have become an essential part of modern agriculture as they offer controlled environments for plant growth, research, and horticultural practices. This chapter discusses the various applications of greenhouses, which include extending growing seasons, improving crop yields, supporting botanical research, and producing ornamental plants. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of repair and maintenance in greenhouse operations. Understanding the repair and maintenance protocols is crucial to ensure the sustained functionality of heating systems, water management, and structural components.

1. Introduction

2. Human Genome Project

3. Development of Bioinformatics

3.1. Indian scenario

4. Plant Genome Model

5. Components of Plant Genome Database

5.1. Stock centre databases

5.2. Genome mapping database

5.3. DNA sequences

6. Agricultural Research Service and National Research Initiative

6.1. Objectives of plant genome programme

6.2. GIBN Trans – pacific digital library experiment plant genome databases

7. Plant Genome Databases

7.1. Vegetable genome databases

7.1.1 Mendel-Plant Gene Nomenclature Database

7.2. Others

7.2.1. Bean Genes – Phaseolus / Vigna sp. Database

7.2.2. Solgenes Database

7.2.3. Soybase

7.3. Other data bases

7.3.1. PGDB (Pathway genome data base)

7.3.2. Demeter’s genome

8. Tools of Bioinformatics

9. New Directions in Genome Database at Stanford

10. Navigating the World Wide Web

11. Virtual Genome Centre (VGC)

11.1. Programmes at the VGC

12. Impact of Gene Chips and Micro Arrays

13. Applications and Impacts

14. Bottlenecks

15. Future Thrust

Computer played a distinctive role in the growth of most advanced, precise and highly sensitive instruments especially in medical and analytical instrumentation technology. Due to the development of different kinds of software the instrumentation analysis has become easy, rapid and result oriented. Auto sampling, development of new methods for detection analysis and the validity of new developed method have been possible with no trouble. Once the standardization of method is over and saved, it can be applied at any time to integrate the unknown samples and their data calculation. Thus, it avoids repetition in calculation and the end result is time saving technique due to the development of computer-organized system in analysis.

The results produced are more reliable and reproducible through various computer based instruments e.g. scanning machines, blood analyzer, gas chromatography (GC), amino acid analyzer (AAA), atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) etc.

HPLC is a technology or a system that works on the basis of software. There have been many definitions of computer shielded HPLC, such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), high-speed liquid chromatography (HSLC), high efficiency liquid chromatography (HELC), and simply liquid chromatography (LC).

1. Introduction

Global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 (UN report, 2019) and food requirement will betwofold of the current levels to feed the growing population. Asia and the Pacific regionaccounts for> 70% of the global population but has only 30% of the world’s arable land (FAO, 2021). An increase in yield of these regions over the years has largely been due to excessive and indiscriminate use of inputs like irrigation, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, agrochemicals etc. and at considerable expense of its natural resources. Most of the pesticide recommendations are also region specific, which are on a few random observations of pest density. Because of low quality of agrochemicals often due to adulteration and increased pest resistance, indiscriminate application is now common especially in high valued crops.

Indian gypsy moth: Lymantria obfuscata: Lymantridae

Eggs are laid by the bulky adult female moth, which has only rudimentary wings and hence cannot fly.  Eggs are laid under the bark on the tree trunks or on fallen leaves. They feed on many shade trees and other trees also.  Feeding is gregarious and done during night. The trees are almost completely defoliated. Management involves spot application of contact insecticides at the beginning, when the larvae are small and before they disperse to the different leaves.