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Proper handling, packaging, transportation and storage reduce the post harvest losses of fruits and vegetables. For every one percent reduction in loss will save 5 million tons of fruit and vegetable per year. Processing and preservation technology helps to save excess fruit and vegetable during the glut season (off season). The technology has become a necessity to improve the food safety and strengthen nation’s food security. The technology helps to boost export of agricultural commodities in the form of preserved and value added products e.g. mango, pineapple, citrus, grapes, tomatoes, peas, potato and cucumber being processed on a large scale.

Principles and Methods of Preservation of Fruits

Preservation: Preservation means just protect the foods against the spoilage, but scientifically it may be defined as a science which deals with the process for prevention of decay or spoilage of the food is called preservation. In other words, just controlling the physical, chemical or microbial changes in the foods is called preservation.

India, one of the largest food producer countries (I in milk production, II in fruit and vegetable production and III in food grain production at world level), possesses the potential of being the biggest with the food and agricultural sector contributing around 26 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is a paradox that people of the country producing such huge quantities of food including fruits, vegetables, milk, cereals grains etc. are still suffering from many nutritional deficiencies in their diet, and even in some places, the stomachs of people remain unfilled for the want of food. The credit of this would predominantly go to the poor postharvest infrastructure as well as knowhow and accessibility to the facilities. All this makes us one among those countries having largest postharvest losses. The reduction of losses occuring during food handling, processing, storage, distribution and use would be an indirect way of increasing the food production and making the country self-sufficient in nutritional requirements.

1. Seed is the key ingredient in establishment and expansion, diversification and improvement of crops/and crop husbandry.

2. Seed is the most effective and efficient means of crop propagation.

The importance of vegetables in human nutrition is now well known all over the world. Vegetables are rich and comparatively cheaper source of minerals and vitamins. Their consumption in sufficient quantities provides taste and palatability, increases appetite and provides fair amount of fibre. Besides, they provide many specific chemical substances, which are essential for growth, reproduction and for the maintenance of good health and also beneficial in protecting against some degenerative diseases (Prior and Cao, 2000; David, 2005; Elison and Levin, 2006).

Apart from their nutritive value, vegetables probably do more than any other groups of food to add colour, texture and flavour to our daily diet. Majority of the population in India is vegetarian, and thus, vegetables form an essential item of food for both the rich and the poor people. National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (1997) surveys indicated that the daily intake of most foodstuffs in Indian households, except for cereals and millets, is much below the recommended dietary allowances (RDA). The diets provided negligible amount of protective foods. It was found that consumption of green leafy vegetables (< 10 g) and other vegetables (70-80 g) per day, which are rich source of micronutrients, are woefully inadequate. However, as per the RDA, an adult man should consume 200 g roots and tubers, 100 g green leafy vegetables and 100 g other vegetables (Table 1) in a day. In addition, fresh fruits (100 g) as available in different seasons should be consumed regularly for the prevention of chronic diseases (NIN, 1998).

1. INTRODUCTION

Admitably except for water and milk, no other beverage has earned such universal acceptance and esteem throughout the ages as wine. The aesthetic postures of wine can be gauged by the quotations like ‘wine is the most healthful and the most hygienic beverage (Louis Pasteur)’, ‘wine is a chemical symphony (Amerine). Man has been preparing and consuming since time immemorial a large variety of alcoholic beverages, ranging from mild stimulants to highly intoxicants liquors. Amongst the mild stimulants are the wines which have long association with human artistic, cultural and religious activities.

Grapes and wines are of immense importance to us and their sheer magnitude of production and associated investment, employment, enjoyment, tax revenue collected and the economic contribution is a justifiable. These play a major role in economics of major wine producing countries like Italy and France. Wine and brandy refer to the fermented by-products of grapes, member of genus Vitis notably the cultivars of V.vinifera L. as per the European definition. However, here these terms may also refer to the fermented by-products from any fleshy fruit or flower. Compared to the grapes, industry producing wine from other fruits is very small. Do these have any role to play especially in nutrition, health and economy of the horticulturally developed countries or are simply mild intoxicants consumed? Such queries at one or the other time may baffle the thinking of an inquisive reader. An attempt has been made here to discuss briefly the historical aspects, role of wine in the context of nutritive and therapeutic value, present status of Indian Wine Industry, research status and future strategies. Emphasis on its role in developing the horticultural industry would also be laid.

India is a second largest producer of fruits and vegetables after China. These share are 10% and 16% respectively in total world production. Horticulture crops occupy 23.548 million ha and production is estimated around 260.063 million tones. Total area of fruits, vegetable, plantation crops, spices, loose flower and aromatic plant are 7012, 9083, 3606, 3092, 218 and 537 thousand ha, respectively and production are 79400, 156445, 16388, 5786, 1421 and 622 thousand tones, respectively with productivity are11.32, 17.22, 4.54, 1.87, 6.59, 1.19 thousand tones per ha, respectively (2012-2013). The total productions of cut flowers are 74305 Lakh stem (2012-2013). The annual horticulture export volume is 2733145 metric tonnes (2010-2011) with total exported value of Rs 696461 lakh. In terms of volume, fresh fruits & vegetables comprised about 76 % of exported horticulture produce followed by processed fruits & vegetables (23 %) and floriculture & seeds (1%). After that losses found 20-30 % in fruit and 30-40 % in vegetable while harvesting to consumption in India. It’s due to the perishable nature of horticulture commodity, non availability of appropriate post harvest infrastructure transportation, inadequacy of the market or lack of processing.

India is a major horticulture producer, even though processing is less than 2 %. This is very low as compare to 80 % of Malaysia, 78 % of Philippine, 70 % of Brazil and 30 % of Thailand. The most of developed country 40-60 % fruits and vegetables utilize in processing.

Proper handling, packaging, transportation and storage reduce the post harvest losses of fruits and vegetables. For every one percent reduction in loss will save 5 million tons of fruit and vegetable per year. Processing and preservation technology helps to save excess fruit and vegetable during the glut season. The technology has become a necessity to improve the food safety and strengthen nations food security. The technology helps to boost export of agricultural commodities in the form of preserved and value added products.

The arid zone eco-system of Rajasthan is very fragile and is prone to serious imbalance even with the slightest disturbance due to mismanagement of resources. Among the eastern margin of the mean annual rainfall is 500 mm, while in the western most part it is 100 mm. The rainfall is monsoon driven. It comes between June and September (in 9-21 short spells). Large coefficient of variation (40-60%) and erratic distribution during the monsoon are characteristics features of the rainfall, leading often to prolong drought and failure of rainfed crops (More and Samadia, 2007). Temperature as low as 4.4° C, and as high as 50° C has been recorded in Western Rajasthan. Farming system and cropping system approach for sustainable use of farm resources and reduced risks have been successfully demonstrated in perennial horticulture. There is great pressure of livestock on available feed and fodder, as land available for fodder production has been decreasing. The requirement of dry and green fodder by 2025 would be 1170 mt and 650 mt while supply is expected around 411.3 mt and 488 mt deficit will be 64.87 % green fodder and 24.92 % dry fodder (Table 1).

INTRODUCTION

Insect pests cause variable and complex problems for potato farmers. Insect pests account for 16% of the crop losses of potato worldwide, and reductions in tuber yield and quality can be between 30% and 70% for various insect pests. India has a greatdiversity of insect pests that attack potato. Thesepests can damage potato plants by feeding on leaves, reducing the photosynthetic area and efficiencybyattacking stems, weakeningplants and inhibitingnutrient transport, and by attacking the potato tubers destined for consumption orfor use as seed. In India, approximately 60 billion rupees (US$1.2 billion)worth of potato tubersare lost annually due to pest damage, which accountsfor 10–20% of total production (Chandel et al., 2013). The potato pests are grouped into soil pests, foliage feeders, sap feeders, and storage pests. Inseed production, aphids and whiteflies are of greatest concern. In ware production, the key pests may be insects which attack tubers, such as tubermoth, whitegrubs, and cutworms. In some situations, foliage feeders suchas noctuid moths and coccinellidbeetles are also important.The Potato cyst nematode (PCN) (Globodera spp.) and root knot nematodes (RKN) (Meloidogyne spp.) are amongst the most economicallyimportant nematode pests of potato. Cyst nematodeshave amazing adaptation for long term survival in the soil, even in the absence of a suitable host whichmakesthemchallenging to the farmers, scientists and policy makers. They are subjected to stringent quarantine and/or regulatory procedures, wherever they occur and presents a serious threat to domestic and international commerce in potatoes. RKNs are prevalent all over the world and can cause significantcrop loss in both warmand cool climatic conditions, depending on their species. In this chapter, the current information on biology, ecology and management of the major potato pests is discussed in the Indiancontext.

Abscission: The shedding of leaves, flowers or fruits as a result of formation of layer of loosely adhering cells at base that breaks apart readily.

Accent: It is created in the garden to avoid the monotonous view. Mostly unusual object like tall fountain, tree, statue etc are used to create the effect

Acre: A unit of measurement of land area equivalent to 4840 square yards or 0.4047 hactare.

Acropetal: Developing sequentially from basal to the apical position.

Acrylic: It is a glassy thermoplastic that is incorporated in rigid plastic to enhance wither ability.

Aestivation: The use of high temperature to promote flowering.

After-ripening: Physiological changes that take place within a dormant seed or bud during dormancy or It is a type of embryo maturation which enables germination of seeds.

In enhancing  the food production there appears to be two solutions, viz., horizontal or vertical increase in production.  In the vertical expansion of production varieties are important. High yielding, high starch and value added varieties suitable to each region/ cropping system play vital role in enhancing vertical production.  Therefore varieties especially value added consumer preferred ecologically adaptable ones hold the key and is very much true in tuber and root crops which have a significant role in supplementing the food and nutritional requirement in rural and semi urban population of India.

Protected cultivation was introduced in India during 1985 but its progress is slow during the last 25 years due to lack of suitable varieties and hybrids for protected cultivation. Presently, area under polyhouse in India is 2000 ha, therefore, knowledge of polyhouse vegetable production technology of tomato and cucumber with intervention of drip irrigation and fertigation along with suitable varieties will be quite effective for enhancing their productivity. Therefore, it is imperative to develop hybrid seed and production of suitable varieties/hybrids at affordable prices to small and marginal farmers to achieve the targeted production potential of vegetable crops. Keeping in view some genotypes were isolated and pure line and hybrid breeding programme were adopted for improvement of these genotypes. After three years of multilocational testing at tarai, midhills and higher hills under polyhouse condition, four genotypes were identified and released. They are: Pant Parthenocarpic Cucumber 2 (1,755 q/ha) and Pant Parthenocarpic Cucumber 3 (1,605 q/ha) of cucumber and Pant Polyhouse Hybrid Tomato 1 (1,616 q/ha) with average fruit weight of 130-140 g and Pant Polyhouse Tomato 2 (1,291 q/ha) of tomato with single fruit weight 100-105 g. These genotypes were released by Uttarakhand State Variety Release Committee during May 2011 for commercial cultivation.

India, internationally recognized as the principal producer, consumer and exporter of spices globally, is often referred to as the spice bowl of the world. A total of 75 spices out of 109 are cultivated in the country, among which
pepper, cardamom, chillies, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cumin, and fenugreek are of significant importance. The approximate export of spices during 2021- 22 was 15,31,154 MT valued at 30,576.44 crore (US $4,102.29 million)
compared to 17,58,985 MT valued at 30,973.32 crore (US $ 4,178.80 million) during the previous financial year. Indian spices are exported to more than 180 destinations, with the leading importers being USA, China, Bangladesh, Thailand, UAE, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, UK, Indonesia, and Germany. The key spice-producing states of India include Himachal Pradesh (ginger), Haryana (garlic), Karnataka (pepper, ginger, cardamom (small), chilli, turmeric and garlic), Orissa (ginger, chilli, turmeric, and garlic), Kerala (pepper, chilli, turmeric, nutmeg, mace, and clove) and Rajasthan (coriander, chilli, cumin, garlic, fenugreek, fennel, and ajwain).
Seed Spices in Rajasthan Economy
Of the 75 spices grown in India, 20 are classified as seed spices, where the economically important part is the seed.

There is a high demand for arable land to meet food demand and end malnutrition due to the growth of megacities and the global urban population. To enhance yield per unit area, conventional agricultural practises result in agricultural intensification and land clearing for crop cultivation. It has been established that these behaviours have a negative effect on the ecosystem, including soil and water contamination. It is crucial to take into account the application of vertical farming technology which makes use of both horizontal and vertical space and utilises nutrients, water and time (off-season production with artificial illumination) more efficiently to create a larger yield per unit volume of area than conventional outdoor farming. Since microgreens are rich in phytonutrients and are easily harvested, it is being thought of to grow them utilising cutting-edge vertical farming technology. Forest area being turned over to agriculture causes deforestation, the depletion of natural resources like groundwater, loss of biodiversity due to the destruction of habitats, increased soil erosion and greenhouse gas emissions.

ABSTRACT

Successful in vitro clonal propagation of mature tree of Lasoda (Cordia myxa Roxb) has been achieved through single node explant. Both types of organogenesis of shoot and root formation were obtained by placing nodal explant on shoot induction medium and subsequently on rooting medium. More than 90% culture were responsive for in-vitro axillary shoot proliferation on MS media supplemented with 30g Sucrose 8.0 g agar and a combination of 2.0 mg BA and 0.1 mg NAA per litre. After culture period of 6-8 week, the nodal explants with micro shoot were rooted on the MS media supplemented with30 g Sucrose + 3g activated charcol and different level of NAA (0, 1, 3 and 6 mg/ litre). The season and position of explant on the mother plant was also shown to influence in vitro performance of the regeneration in terms of establishment of aseptic culture, percentage of responsive explants and intensity of leaching of growth inhibitory phenolic chemicals.

In vitro cloning is a vegetative propagation performed in the Plant Tissue Culture system. In vitro micropropagation cloning propagation is mostly applied to the vegetatively propagated plants and in particular in ornamental, fruit and in a few orchard crops and in vegetable crops besides in many forest tree species.

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are the most important source of life saving drugs for the majority of the world’s population. Therefore the biotechnological tools are important to select, multiply and conserve the critical genotypes of medicinal plants. With the increase in the demand for the crude drugs, the plants are being overexploited, threatening the survival of many rare species. Also, many medicinal plant species are disappearing at an alarming rate due to rapid agricultural and urban development, uncontrolled deforestation, and indiscriminate collection. Advanced biotechnological methods of culturing plant cells and tissues should provide new means for conserving and rapidly propagating valuable, rare, and endangered medicinal plants. Maintenance of germplasm in the green house or in the field has many difficulties and so there is a need for the in vitro conservation of these plant germplasm. In the present paper we report the in vitro conservation of two medicinal plants and each of it has its own medicinal value. The tuberous roots of Holostemma are medicinally important and are utilized as a major ingredient of the drug ‘jivanthi’. Tylophora is used as a herbal medicine and the plant has been traditionally used as a folk remedy for the treatment of bronchial asthma, bronchitis and dermatitis. Shoot buds of these plants were cultured in Murashige and Skoog’s (1962) medium with different strengths and with different concentrations of sucrose and mannitol. The different treatments induced varied response with respect to the slowing of growth of cultures. Sucrose was found essential in combination with mannitol to induce maximum reduction in the growth of the plant tissues. The cultures could be maintained without sub culturing for over one year and resumed normal growth on transfer to mannitol free medium. This method of conservation has many advantages.

ABSTRACT

Jasmine is one of the economically most important flower crops cultivated for its fragrant flowers and valuable essential oil. In vitro studies to explore the possibility of regeneration of plantlets from different explants and to undertake biochemical analysis to detect the flavour compounds if present in the in vitro cultures were taken up with local varieties of Jasminum grandiflorum.

Among the different explants tried, leaf bits were found ideal for callus induction, followed by petals and shoot tips. MS medium with 2, 4-D at 1.25 ppm was the suitable medium for callus induction in leaf explants. Miller medium with NAA at 1.25 ppm and BAP at 1.25 ppm was the suitable medium for callus induction in petal explants collected from 18 days old buds of local varieties of Jasminum grandiflorum. Among the different media combinations tried, MS medium supplemented with 0.2 ppm NAA and 0.3 ppm GA₂ is the best medium for callus induction in shoot apex explants of 10mm size. Direct regeneration of plants was obtained in 10 per cent of shoot apex explants cultured in MS medium supplemented with 0.2 ppm GA₁ and 3 ppm BAP in 60 days. A maximum of 95 per cent embryogenicity is induced in leaf callus transferred to MS basal medium supplemented with 1.5 per cent sucrose from MS medium with 2, 4-D at 1.0 ppm.

The peroxidase assay indicated that embryogenic calli had six isoperoxidases while the non-embryogenic had only two. Biochemical analysis of the callus samples showed high Phenylalanine ammonia lyase and phenol indicating the initiation of phenolic pathway, which branches out and ultimately leads to the synthesis of flavour compounds in callus.

Micrografting is a method to produce virus free, viroid free and disease free grafts that are clonally propagated. This method is an aid to mass multiplication. In vitro grafting is applied to difficult to root clones. Micrografting is performed to understand incompatibility prediction between the two grafting partners, virus indexing, deduction of latent virus, safe germplasm exchange and to do grafting functions throughout the year. It is not season specific. Protocols for micrografting are available for almond, pistachia, olive, prunus, grape, mulberry, cashew, citrus, peach, pear, avocado, hazlenut, walnut, chestnut and grape fruit (Hussein et al., 2014).

ABSTRACT

An efficient in vitro micro propagation protocol was developed for direct shoot produc tion of Contoloupe (Cucumis melo variety (NS Abhijit) using cotyledons as explant. The excised cotyledons were cultured on Murashige and Skoog’s medium (MS) contain- ing plant growth regulator, 6 Benzyl adenine with various concentrations for the study of shoot production. The best condition for the shoot production was with 1.2mg/l Benzyl adenine (BA) in MS medium. The shooting frequency was 65% and three shoots were obtained from each explant after 14 days of culture. The shoots (~1.5 cm length) were rooted most effectively on 0.1mg/l of α Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) supplemented MS medium. We have also standardized the transformation protocol for GUS gene in the muskmelon variety Eden Gem to see test the feasibility of this variety for Agrobacterium mediated transformation. The transformed explants were confirmed through Indigogenic GUS assay.

ABSTRACT

The investigation was carried out to develop protocol for micropropagation of acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia S) var. Sai-Sharbati. Shoot tip and nodal segment explants were obtained from axenically grown seedlings having 21 to 30 days age. Direct regeneration of shoots, roots and whole plant without intervention of callus was obtained from both the explants on MS basal media. In both the explants 100 per cent shoot proliferation was induced in nutrient medium MS + BA 0.25 mg/l + ME 200 mg/l. The shoot proliferation rate was more (5.0) in nodal segment as compare to the shoot tip explant (4.33). Regenerated shoots of more than 2.5 cm length with minimum of 4 leaves were transferred for rooting. Half strength MS medium supplemented with IBA 1.0 mg/l was best for root induction and root initiation within 15.66 days. More than 75 per cent plantlets were survived after hardening period of four weeks.