eChapters

1) Anthracnose
Diagnostic Symptoms
• All the above ground parts are affected. However, the characteristic symptoms appear on pods.
• On cotyledons, spots are sunken dark brown or black with pink spore mass.
• Seedling infection results in collapse of seedling.
• Spots on leaves appear on lower side and are black. Later these may also appear on upper surface. When the infection is severe, the affected plants wither off.
• Black, sunken, circular spots of varying sizes appear on pods with bright red, yellow or orange margins. The centre of these spots later turns grey or pink due to sporulation of the pathogen. The border of these spots appear raised (Fig.1).

Bearing: Bearing is connotation of flowering and fruiting.

Bearing habit: The position of f lower bud with respect to vegetative growth of the plant after the cessation of juvenility. Different fruit plants have different habits.

Depending upon position of fruit bud, fruit trees may be categorized as under:

1. Shoot flowering: Terminal flowering: Banana, Pineapple, Mango, Litchi, Avocado Lateral flowering: Coconut, Papaya, Guava, Orange, Ber, Passion fruit, Bread fruit
2. Stem /Branch bearing: It also known as caulifluorous bearing habit. In this habit, flower and fruit appear directly from the main stem or branch. Example: Jackfruit, Cocoa, Durian,
3. Spur bearing: It is a shot stubby shoot of more than one year age which bears fruit bud in many fruit plants. Example: Apple, Pear, Peach, Plum, Cherry, Grape, Apricot etc

Bearing

Bearing is connotation of flowering and fruiting. When a fruit tree flowers and fruits, it is said in bearing condition. Different fruits have different bearing habits, inflorescences, types of flower, mode and medium of pollination, pollen viability and all these account a lot for the bearing of fruit plants.

Bearing habit

If one observes a mango tree, he/she may find it does produce the fruits terminally on a shoot and it citrus he/she finds the fruits always produced laterally in the leaf axils. The manner or patter in which a plant produces its fruit is known as bearing habit or fruiting habit. Bearing habits are specific to the kind of plant. In determining the bearing habit of any plant three points are to be considered.

17.1 INTRODUCTION

Bearing habit indicates position of f lower bud with respect to vegetative growth of the plant after cessation of juvenility. Different fruit trees have different bearing habits. The knowledge of bearing habits will be of much importance for regulating the bearing of any plant by means of pruning. Terminal bearers are not normally pruned, whereas in case of lateral bearers pruning certainly increase the bearing, as it encourages the sprouting of lateral buds. Fruit trees may bear the fruits either terminally on a long or short growth, laterally on present or past season growth or adventitiously from any point on the trunk or root. The relative position of a fruit with reference to its potential bud giving rise to f lower or inf lorescence in the shoot is known as bearing habit. Knowledge on the bearing habit is a pre-requirement before performing pruning in any fruit crop (particularly in ber, guava, grape etc.). Proper understanding of bearing habits helps a lot in manipulating time and period of f lowering and fruiting which consequently inf luence harvesting and yield of better-quality fruits.

In general, plants show two distinctive phases; i.e. vegetative growth and reproductive growth. The primary objective of plant species is to reproduce themselves through the reproductive phase. However, some of the plant species do not produce viable seeds, but reproduce themselves in nature by other means. Flowering and fruiting habits vary with plant species and are governed by the kind of plant species and its growth habit, environment etc. In general, flowering and fruiting habits are known as bearing habits and it can be described by the location and type of buds, which produce flowers and fruit. The relative position of fruit with reference to its potential bud-giving rise to flower or inflorescence on the shoot is known as bearing habit. Each plant has its own bearing habit and are either terminally, laterally or adventiously Terminally means the fruit buds are formed on long or short growth, while laterally means the fruit buds are formed in the axils of present or past season’s growth. Adventiously, the fruit buds are formed at any point on the trunk. On the basis of bearing habits, fruit crops are categorised into the following eight groups

Growth, Fruiting Habits and Methods for Inducing Fruitfulness in Fruit Crops

•    Every plant has two distinct phases of development namely vegetative and reproductive.

•    In the vegetative phase, the plant only vegetative growth i.e. leaves, shoots etc.,

•    In the reproductive phases the plant produces reproductive growth i.e. flowers and fruits.

•    In case of annuals, these phases occur for a short period, each phase occurring only once and that too within the same season.

•    In perennials, the vegetative phase lasts for several years depending upon the variety and species. This is known as the pre-bearing period.

•    Once the perennial tree completes its pre-bearing period, the cycle of vegetative and reproductive phases might occur in each season or the reproductive phase may occur simultaneously along with vegetative phase without much distinction between the two.

Beta vulgaris 2n = 2x=18 is an important vegetable crop in Eastern and Central Europe and it belongs to family Chenopodiaceae. It is of lesser importance in Western Europe and USA where it is known as garden beet. The swollen roots are consumed as vegetable and salad. The other types which are non-horticultural forms are known as sugar beet, mangold and fodder beet.
Origin: Leaf beet is the earliest domesticated form. It is believed to be originated from Beta maritima known as sea beet which is indigenous to Southern Europe. 
Botany: Biennial producing enlarged hypocotyl (roots) and rossette of leaves in first year and flowers and seeds in second year.

Origin

Beet root originated from Beta vulgaris L. ssp. maritima by hybridization with B. patula. Crop has site of origin probably in Europe. Earlier types were with long roots like that of carrot. Beet root, sugar beet and palak belong to species B. vulgaris and are cross compatible.

Botany

Beet root is a biennial, producing a fleshy elongated hypocotyls and a rosette of leaves in first year and flowers in second year. Upper portion of fleshy root develops from hypocotyls and basal part from tap root. Concentric rings seen in cross section of root are as a result of alternate formation of vascular tissues and storage parenchyma tissues. Root skin colour varies from orange red to dark purple red. Colour of beet root is due to presence of red violet pigments of â cyanins and a yellow pigment, â xanthin. It has extensive tap root system and tap root grows as deep as 3m. Rosette leaves develop in a close sp

Endophytic Microorganisms

Endophytes (‘endo’, inside; ‘phyte’, plant) include microorganisms that thrive inside the plant tissues without any obvious adverse effects on the host, and they include mainly bacteria and fungi (Hallmann et al., 1997; Bacon et al., 2002; Hardoim, 2015). Endophytic microorganisms share an intimate association with the host adding essential and functional capabilities. Therefore, plant may be considered as a superorganism composed of an amalgam of both selected symbiont microbiota and host cells (Hardoim, 2015) with the new concept of holobiome, i.e., plant together with the associated microorganisms collectively governing the plant activities (Hardoim et al., 2015; Vandenkoornhuys et al., 2015).

Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk. ) is one of the ancient and common fruits of the country. It is a drought hardy fruit tree and can grow successfully even under harsh climatic conditions. Ber is well known for its ability to thrive under adverse conditions of salinity, drought and poor marginal soils. However, for good tree’s growth and yield, deep sandy loam soils with neutral or slightly alkaline reaction and good drainage are most suitable. It is grown throughout the country especially in arid and semi- arid parts. However, it is mainly grown in western parts of Rajasthan where rainfall is less and erratic (Pareek et al, 2002). In addition to Rajasthan state, it is cultivated in other states like U.P., Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, A.P., Gujarat, M.P., Chhatisgarh, Haryana, Punjab and Bihar.

Ber fruit fly:  Carpomyia vesuviana :Tephritidae

Adult is a small fly with black spots on the thorax and dark spots on the wings. They have only one pair of wings typical of diptera. The attack by the insect causes rotting of fruits and fruit drop. The adult female lays eggs singly in cavities made on the fruit by the ovipositor.  One female can lay up to 22 eggs. Egg period lasts for 2-3 days and the emerging maggots feed inside the fruit for about 7-10 days. The fully grown maggot falls to the ground to pupate in soil.  Pupal period is around 5-30 days. There can be 2-3 generations /year.

Ber (Chinese date, Chinese fig or bore) (Ziziphus xylopyrus) is an important minor fruit of India. It is a hardy fruit tree cultivated all over India and also known as poor man’s fruit. It is widely cultivated in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Ber does well even under marginal growing conditions and provides quality yields at low cost (Shukla, 1996). Fruits are eaten fresh but the other forms like dried, candied and squash can also be prepared from ber. Stem bark, root and leaves have medicinal values. Leaves of ber are used as fodder in dry regions. Ber tree is a host plant for rearing the Tachardia laccad, a lac insect (Sharma and Kore, 1990).

Origin and history : Ber is an ancient fruit crop of India and is relished for its sweet and sour fruits. It is an ideal fruit tree for arid and semi arid regions in tropical and subtropical climate. It is highly suitable for marginal land and hot arid region. It is distributed in tropical and sub tropical country in the world, including China, Pakistan, Australia and France. In India the major growing states are Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh etc. In Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi, Aligarh, Ayodhya, and Agra are the major growing region. Beside mauritiana other important species like Zizyphus rotundifolia, Zizyphus numuleria, Zizyphus rugosa, Zizyphus xylopyrus, Zizyphus micropyla is also commercially grown for rootstock purpose.

Scale insect: Lepidosaphes sp.: Diaspididae

The mature scale is elongated and oval in shape and dark grey in colour. They infest the stems, leaves and petioles, causing shriveled leaves due to sucking of the sap. The affected parts wither and dry up. In severe infestation leaves dry up and give sticky look and gradually the vine wilts.

Bhendi is known by many local names in different parts of the World. For example it is called Lady’s finger in England, Gumbo in USA, bhendi in India Okra (Abelmochus esculentus L. 2n= 1 30) belongs to the family Malvaceae. Origin of okra is West Africa. Okra plant is an erect, herbaceous annual, 1-2 meter tall and forms fairly heavy tap root.

1. Vein-Clearing/Yellow Vein Mosaic
Bhendi yellow vein mosaic virus
Diagnostic Symptoms
• Yellowing of the entire network of veins in the leaf blade is the characteristic symptom.
• In severe infections, the younger leaves turn yellow, become reduced in size and the plant is highly stunted.
• The veins of the leaves will be cleared by the virus and intervenal area becomes completely yellow or white.
• In a field, most of the plants may be diseased and the infection may start at any stage of plant growth.
• Infection restricts flowering and fruits, if formed, may be smaller and harder.
• The affected plants produce fruits with yellow or white colour and they are not fit for marketing (Fig.1).
• The virus is spread by whitefly.

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. The damage is due to the larva that bores into tender terminal shoots in the vegetative stage and flower buds;  flowers and young fruits in the fruit formation stage.  The damaged shoot drops, wither and dry up.  The infested fruits have bore holes, are deformed and become unfit for consumption.  Bore holes are plugged with excreta.

1. Introduction

Malaria remains one of the most serious tropical diseases and kills an estimated one to two million people each year worldwide (Snow et al., 2005). Spread of drug resistance has played an important role in the occurrence and severity of epidemic diseases in the world (Majori, 2004). As a consequence of resistance to drugs such as quinine, chloroquine, primaquine and mefloquine, the vehemence of malaria has increased in many endemic regions of the world (Schlitzer, 2007; Basco et al., 1994). One of the biggest challenges to malaria control is the emergence and spread of drug resistant P. falciparum strains. Although human malaria transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes has four Plasmodium species as its aetiological agents P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovaleand P. malariae, the most widespread and severe disease is caused by P. falciparum, which transiently infects the liver before invading red blood cells of the mammalian host. Clinical manifestations occur at the erythrocytic stage and can include fever, chills, prostration and anaemia, as well as delirium, metabolic acidosis, cerebral malaria and multi-organ system failure, which may be followed by coma and death (Fidock et al., 2004; Deprez-Poulain et al., 2005, De Sa et al., 2009).The success of the natural product-based antimalarials such as quinine and artemisinin has showed the importance of plants as potential source of antimalarial agents. Consequently, numerous efforts to identify antiplasmodial activities from plants traditionally used as remedies for fever and malaria (Chen et al., 1997; Havsteen, 2002;

Postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables are even higher and are estimated to be 40-50%. Postharvest fruit rotting are a major cause of those losses and are chiefly caused by fungal pathogens after fruit ripening. In a manner similar to foliar diseases that occur in the field, several factors as fungal pathogenicity, host response and environment determine the outcome of host resistance or susceptibility. However, in postharvest diseases fruit ripening is another major component that will determine fruit resistance. The molecular trigger induces the germ tube to differentiate an appressorium. It has been shown that excess nutrients over ride it and protein synthesis is not required once germination has occurred. Protein synthesis during conidium germination and appressorium formation on cellulose membranes were observed (Pathak, 1997). A specific polypeptide (95 kDa) was synthesized only when appressoria matured (a period lasting from 12-24 h after germination). This molecule is involved in the synthesis of the melanin precursor, Scytalone.

Appressoria grown in the presence of cyclohexamide do not mature nor they subsequently differentiate a penetration peg. Appressorium maturation involves the formation of melanin. It has been shown that melanization of appressoria is necessary for formation of a successful penetration peg. The melanin appears to give the appressorium mechanical strength, but pigmentation is only one factor required for penetration competent appressoria. At restrictive temperatures, pigmentation of conidia of C. lagenarium mutants could be restored with dihydroxyphenylalanine without restoration of appressorial competence. Non-pathogenic mutants have been used to determine factors important for pathogenicity. Cutinase production was essential for penetration of papaya fruits. The cutinase produced during infection of papaya fruit by C. gloeosporioides has been purified and characterized as a glycoprotein of 24 kDa. Polyclonal antibodies raised against this enzyme do not cross react with cutinase from Fusarium so/ani, and lesions do not develop when papaya fruits are inoculated with spore suspensions containing the antibody preparation.

ABSTRACT

Brinjal is an important solanaceous vegetable, which holds coveted position among the different vegetables. Developing hybrids with high yield and resistance to borer would be highly beneficial. The biochemical parameters are used to study the mechanism of resistance to pests and diseases. With this aim, the biochemical constituents were estimated in five intervarietal hybrids and their parents with susceptible variety. The study on biochemical basis of resistance to shoot and fruit borer showed that among the parents of intervarietal crosses, EP 65 had the highest level of peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and total phenol content in both shoot and fruit and it also recorded high content of solasodine next to APAU Bagmathi. Among the hybrids, the cross EP 65 x Pusa Uttam had the highest level of peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase activity in both shoot and fruit and high level of total phenols and solasodine content next to EP 104 x APAU Bagmathi . The susceptible check (CO 2) registered the lowest value for all the biochemical constituents .The study revealed that the genotypes with high or moderate level of these biochemical constituents suffered less for shoot and fruit borer infestation.

The native gel electrophoretic study showed that for peroxidase enzyme, the intervarietal hybrids EP 65 x Pusa Uttam, EP 12 x MDU 1 and EP 104 x APAU Bagmathi and the susceptible variety CO 2 did not show difference in the induction of isoform (PO-1) and all were single and thick. For polyphenol oxidase (PPO), the intervarietal hybrids and the variety CO 2 showed single and strong band induction

The evaluation of genotypes based on biochemical constituents and isozyme studies revealed the superiority of the parents EP 65, APAU Bagmathi and MDU 1and the hybrids EP 65 x Pusa Uttam, EP 12 x MDU 1 and EP 104 x APAU Bagmathi. The identified hybrids with high yield and resistance to shoot and fruit borer could be exploited for commercial cultivation.

Introduction

Germplasm identification as a part of a philosophy of consumer protection extends through the entire seed trade and allied industries, from plant breeders to food consumers. Increasingly, countries are introducing schemes for Plant Breeders (or germplasm) Rights. These reward breeders financially for their efforts and offer protection for their germplasm, but in turn require that new germplasm are distinct from others and also uniform and stable in the expression of their characteristics. Since, the genetic variations in plants and plant populations are of considerable interest to have desirable traits to develop a commercial variety. Biochemical and molecular biology based data and its analysis for information regarding selection have been realized of utmost importance.

The dry matter production is maximum in cassava (3.0 m t ha^-1) and is followed by yams (2.4 m t ha^-1) and sweet potato (2.1 m t ha^-1) and are higher than rice, wheat, maize and banana (1.3 to 1.9 m t ha^-1). The energy production is maximum in yams (182 M J ha^-1 day^-1) and it is followed by sweet potato (152 M J ha^-1 day^-1) and cassava (121 M J ha^-1 day^-1) (Horton and Fano, 1985).

1. Sweet Potato

Both sweet potato roots and tops are nutritious foods which could be used to advantage in combating nutritional deficiencies in parts of the developing world if means could be found to overcome resistance to their increased consumption. The roots are used primarly as human food and are eaten boiled, steamed, fried or baked. They are not only a moderately good energy source, but also contain significant quantities of the water-soluble vitamins viz., ascorbic acid and thiamin, besides supplying part of the daily requirement for riboflavin and niacin. Their contents of pyridoxine, folic acid and pantothenic acid may be relatively high. Raw leaves and tender tips are also excellent sources of ascorbic acid and some of the B-vitamins, especially riboflavin which is deficient in many Asian diets. However, high percentages of water-soluble vitamins are lost on cooking (Woolfe, 1992).

ABSTRACT

Astudy was undertaken at Department of Soil Science & Agrl. Chemistry, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara to standardize different amelioration techniques to prepare enriched coirpith compost. Twelve treatments were tried using different combinations of coirpith, Pleurotus spp., Schizophyllus spp., urea, rock phosphate, cowdung slurry, mushroom waste, goat manure, glyricidia and water hyacinth. The results of the various enrichment techniques revealed that the temperature in the compost in general, increased to a peak value of 47oC on the 22nd day of composting and later decreased to a stabilized value. The observed temperature of 40-50 °C found during the thermophilic stage is essential for the rapid degradation of lignocellulose, as the thermophilic microfungi and actinomycetes involved in this process thrive at that temperature. Though the pH show a hike at the initial stage of composting, it decreased and stabilized at the later stage of composting which is conducive for growth and proliferation of microbes. The treatment coirpith with Pleurotus spp., glyricidia +20% cowdung slurry and goat manure was found to be ideal for compost preparation.

ABSTRACT

Detection of disease tolerance with enhanced defense mechanism is a practical approach in crop variety improvement programme. Toxins being responsible for pathogenicity and virulence of the fungi, regenerating plants from toxin treated calli is an effective and easy approach. The response of tomato calli to the crude toxins of the foliar pathogens viz., Alternaria solani and Septoria lycopersici was studied and the changes in phenol metabolism due to toxin treatment were analysed. Crude toxins of A. solani and S. lycopersici extracted under optimum conditions were serially diluted and tomato calli were treated with different dilutions of the toxins to find out the optimum dilution at which minimum survival percentage was obtained, based on a 1-4 score. Minimum score of 1 was obtained at 1:10 dilution for A. solani and at 1:20 for S. lycopersici.

The calli of resistant (LE-625) and susceptible (CO-3) tomato varieties were treated with desired dilutions of the toxins of A. solani and S. lycopersici. Total phenolics and ortho- dihydroxy (OD) phenolics were estimated at 24 h interval to study the extent of necrosis on resistant and susceptible calli due to toxin treatment. The total and OD-phenol contents of calli of susceptible cultivar (CO-3) progressively decreased with increase in time interval consequent to the treatment of toxins of A. solani and S. lycopersici. In the resistant calli of LE-625, an initial reduction of total phenol and OD-phenol content was observed following the application of the toxins of A. solani and S. lycopersici at 24 hours after treatment. Later with lapse of time, the total phenol content and OD-phenol contents progressively increased reaching a maximum at 120 h after treatment. The results clearly indicated the enhancement of biochemical defense in the resistant calli and a fall in defense mechanism in the susceptible calli due to toxin treatment. Such techniques are useful in the preliminary screening of resistant genotypes in crops like tomato.

Fresh fruits are an important component of our diet since they provide essential nutrients like minerals and vitamins and are often attractive to the consumer because of their taste, texture, colour, aroma and flavour. Fruits of different species are botanically different, and they may be derived from various parts of the flower, including the pericarp, mesocarp and receptacle. Growth of fruit tissues is initiated shortly after fertilization and accompanied by the accumulation of food reserves donated by the parent plant. Fruit ripening corresponds to a number of physiological, structural and biochemical changes, which make the fruit attractive to the consumers. These changes include physical changes, viz. the changes in colour, texture, taste, aroma and flavour, and the metabolic changes such as changes in the level of enzymes and gene expression. The varieties of mechanism, which exist in different fruits to bring about a series of these changes to make them attractive for consumption, have been summarized in Table 9.1.

Because of the variety of ways in which these quality attributes are generated, there are significant differences existing in enzymes involved in ripening of different types of fruit. Once initiated, these physiological and biochemical modifications continue until the fruit is in peak condition for consumption. If the fruits are not harvested at appropriate stage of maturity, these changes continue and make them more susceptible to mechanical damage, infection and senescence. Since harvesting fruits at right stage of their maturity is critical, it is important to understand the biochemistry of fruit ripening process fully. This chapter will highlight the biochemical and metabolic changes involved during fruit ripening to make the fruit acceptable for potential consumers. Some of the possible genetic manipulations, which can be done to delay the onset of these ripening related changes, are given in later part of the chapter.

Introduction

In 1990, the magnitude of fungal diversity, that is, the actual number of species worldwide, was estimated conservatively to be at least 1.5 million. Of the 1.5 million estimated fungi, it has been estimated that 14,000 species produce fruiting bodies of sufficient size and suitable structure to be considered macro-fungi which can be called mushrooms. Of these, about 50 % or 7,000 species are considered to possess varying degrees of edibility and more than 3,000 species from 31 genera are regarded as prime edible mushrooms. To date, only 200 of them are experimentally grown, 100 economically cultivated, approximately 60 commercially cultivated and about 10 have reached an industrial scale of production in many countries (Hawksworth, 2001). Of the 14,000 species of mushrooms in the world, around 700 have known for medicinal properties. Thus, mushrooms have vast prospects as sources of medicines. The early herbalists were more interested in the medicinal properties of mushrooms than in their basic value as a source of food. Humankind has constantly searched for new substances that can improve biological functions and thereby make people fitter and healthier. About 3.5 billion people worldwide, all over half of the world populations rely on plant-based medicines and dietary supplements for their primary health care. Of the plant materials involved in medicines or health tonics, quite a few are fungi. The practice of using fungi as herbal medicines can be traced in different early records of the ‘materia medica’. The earliest book on medicinal materials the “Shen Nongs Herbal” recorded the medicinal effects of several fungi such as Ganoderma lucidum, Poria cocos, Tremella fuciformis, Polyporus umbillatus and other unidentified fungi. The most famous of all work on the traditional medicines “Pen Ts’ao Kang Mu” which was compiled by Li Shi-Zhen of the Ming Dynasty recorded the medicinal fungi totaling more than twenty species, including Ganoderma lucidum, Poria cocos, Polyporus umbellatus, Lentinula edodes, Termitomyces albuminosus, Auricularia auricula, Pleurotus ostreatus, Armillaria mellea etc. A very unique insect-infecting fungus, Cordyceps sinensis, was for the first time taken as a medicinal fungus in the book “Essentials of Materia Medica”. There have been new discoveries and developments in the field of medicinal fungi, which have greatly enriched the treasure house of our traditional medical and medicinal sciences. As a result of large number of scientific studies on medicinal mushrooms in the past three decades, the traditional uses of many mushrooms have been confirmed and new wider uses found. Some traditionally important and leading medicinal fungi in the Oriental medicines are presented below

The term biodiversity is abbreviated from two different terms ‘biological’ and ‘diversity’. Biodiversity is also called biological diversity. The term biological diversity was first coined by wildlife scientist and conservationist Raymond F. Dasmann in 1968. The same term i.e. natural heritage was used in the United State. Geneticists describe it as the diversity of genes and organisms. Biologists define biodiversity as the sum of genes, species and ecosystems of a region.

Biodiversity is determined by the wholesome number of different species in a particular area. It helps to strengthen the stability of an ecosystem and leads to a healthy biosphere. Existence of biodiversity is crucial for the functioning of the ecosystem and is the foundation of life on earth as it generates products and services for the existence of all living organisms on the earth.

Abstract

Studies were carried out on 110 seedling trees of aonla growing at Tikker area of district Sirmaur, Ghanatti area of district Shimla and Kandaghat & Arki areas of district Solan to know the extent of divergence for various fruit characters by using non-hierarchical cluster analysis. Maximum co-efficient of variability was observed for fruit volume (38.63 %). First component gave maximum Eigen root value (7.286) and maximum percent variation (45.54 %). All 110 genotypes got clustered into eight clusters and the distribution of genotypes from different location was random. Maximum genotypes (30) entered in cluster 3 and minimum (5) in cluster 8. Intra-cluster distance varied between 1.877 (Cluster 5) to 3.137 (Cluster 8). The inter-cluster distance ranged between 3.006 (Cluster 3 & 4) to 11.677(Cluster 5 & 8). Wider genetic base is the prerequisite for breeding to get better recombinants and segregants. So, genotypes of Cluster 5 & 8 can be used for future aonla breeding programmes.

Introduction

The term ‘biodiversity’ comes from the words biological diversity and quite simply means the variety of all living things, including microbes, plants and animals– from single-celled organisms to the largest mammals and trees. Biodiversity also refers to genetic diversity within a species (essential for evolution) and also the diversity of the woodlands, wetlands and other habitats which provide the food, water and shelter for these species. Human life itself depends upon healthy ecosystems (e.g. wetlands, forests and grasslands) and the biodiversity that they contain. Biodiversity gives us many of the essentials of life – water, oxygen, food, clothing, and medicines, without which we could not survive, and therefore contributes greatly to our economy. Access to nature is also a popular form of relaxation that greatly enriches our lives and helps to keep us healthy. Species are linked in an infinite number of ways via food-webs and the habitats they share. If one species becomes extinct, it may affect many more. If too many species become extinct then whole ecosystems can collapse, with severe consequences for the way we live. Across the world, biodiversity is under threat from human activity such as over-intensive or inappropriate farming, large-scale commercial forestry, forest clearance, mineral extraction, pollution and urban development. Conservation of plant diversity assumes greater importance when the world is facing unprecedented loss of biological diversity. As per an estimate about 60,000 out of 2, 87, 655 species of plants known in the world are facing the threat of extinction.

Agro-ecosystems are defined as ecological and socio-economic system comprising domesticated plants and/or animals and the people who husband them, intended for the purpose of producing food, fiber, or other agricultural products. Agro-ecosystems are ecological systems transformed and simplified for the purpose of agriculture. In the case of agro-ecosystems productivity, these systems have Holling resilience if, in some state, they are able to maintain productivity and withstand stress or external shocks (e.g., due to lower rainfall and droughts). In many situations, biodiversity provides the link between stress and loss of resilience is a system (Perrings et al., 1995). Genetic variation within species and within population increases the ability to respond to the challenges of environmental stress (Mainwaring, 2001).

Plant biodiversity is the single greatest resource that man garnered from nature during the long cultural development phase. More than 2.5 lakh species of mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants and more than 50,000 plant species are yet to be documented, primarily in the remote and less studied reaches of tropical forests.

Vegetable crops in which rich diversity occurs in India are Cowpea, Common bean, Cole crops, Okra, Brinjal, Sweet potato, Taros, Yams, Sword bean, Velvet bean and Elephant foot yam. Wide diversity was observed in chives, leeks and other Allium spp in Kumaoun and Garhwal Himalayas; cluster bean in Western arid zone; lab lab bean in Deccan plateau; cucurbits in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and leaf vegetables like Amaranth and Fagopyrum in Western Himalayan region. Tropical vegetables consist of solanaceus fruits (tomato, hot pepper, brinjal), cucurbits (water melon, muskmelon, cucumber, pumpkins and squashes, bottle gourd, chow-chow, ivy gourd, bitter gourd, ash gourd, round gourd, snake gourd, pointed gourd, sponge gourd, ridge gourd), malvaceous vegetables (Okra),legumes (common bean, lima bean, dolichos bean, cowpea, sword bean, winged bean), allium (onion, shallot, garlic, leek) and leaf vegetables (amaranth, spinach beet, Ceylon spinach). The indigenous vegetables both cultivated and wild have important role in household nutrition, economy and food security. There are 25 hot spots of biodiversity of which Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayan region are the most important ones. Indo-Myanmar region is one of the largest hot spots of the world and is the centre of origin of tuber crops like yams, taro, Amorphophallus and Alocasia. Tropical tuber crops form an important group of subsistence crops especially to those living in tropics and sub tropical zones. Tuber crops are the third important food crops after cereals and grain legumes. Major tuber crops are cassava, sweet potato, Asiatic yam, African yam, lesser yam, elephant foot yam, taro, tannia and country potato. Minor tuber crops are arrowroot, winged bean, yam bean, canna, safed musli and Jerusalem artichoke. Sweet potato is one of the world’s highest yielding crops.

Biodiversity is the origin of all species of crops and domesticated and the variety within them. It is also the foundation of ecosystem services essential to sustain agriculture and human well-being. Today’s crop and livestock biodiversity are the result of many thousands years of human intervention. The biodiversity in vegetable crops is composed by the genetic diversity, as species diversity (inter specific diversity) and as diversity of genes within a species (intra specific diversity) referring to the vegetable grown varieties, and by the diversity of agro-ecosystems (agro-biodiversity).

Crop diversity is the variance in genetic and phenotypic characteristics of plants used in agriculture. Over the past 50 years, there has been a major decline in two components of crop diversity; genetic diversity within each crop and the number of species commonly grown.

Increasing food need, decreasing land availability and concurrently attenuating synthetic nutrients supply envisage the use of alternate supplementary inputs for the cultivation of crops. India is among the few nations where systematic farming started thousands of years ago. It was not only the source of income but was also a way of life. Agricultural activities and the techniques adapted to suit local needs and conditions. Different farming systems were followed by the farmers in different areas according to their needs and weather conditions. The produce was usually shared with other communities of the society involved in other professions. Almost all the nutrients removed by the crops were recycled to the soil directly or indirectly (Yadav and Mowade, 2005). In economic terms, the system followed by the then farming community was highly cost effective since all the inputs needed were locally available and practically no expenditure was incurred except labour. The traditional agriculture was though less productive but self-sufficient. With the advent of modern scientific discoveries, agriculture also changed its face, and with the introduction of high yielding varieties, synthetic fertilizers and effective plant protection measures through chemicals, Indian agriculture made rapid strides in the shape of Green Revolution. As an upshot of Green Revolution, the grain production increased two and a half folds in about three decades with a marginal increase in net-area under cultivation.

Biofertilizers

Definition: Biofertilizers are defined as preparations containing living cells or latent cells of efficient strains of micro–organisms that help crop plant’s uptake of nutrient by their interaction in the rhizosphere when applied through seed or soil. They accelerate certain microbial process in the soil which augments the extent of availability of nutrient in a form easily assimilated by plants.

Types of biofertilizers

There are some types of biofertilizers:

1. Nitrogen fixing biofertilizers
2. Phosphorus solubilizing biofertilizers
3. Phosphorus mobilizing biuofertilizers
4. Biofertilizers for micro–nutrients
5. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria

1. Introduction

Total population of India is estimated to cross 1.64 billion in 2050. Increasing population, decreasing economic status of Farmer, improper diet and nutrition, fixed farm land, degradation of cultivable land and malnutrition in Indian population is major key problem in 2 to 3 decades. More than 600000 children below 5 year age die due to improper nutrition each year in developing countries (White and Broadley, 1998). All the data provide a scary image about future. Almost 60% of the malnutrition children are iron deficient. Iron deficiency is very common among the girls; 30% each are deficient in zinc and iodine. The incomplete diet and malnutrition can lead to several disorder and degrade the human health (Shuman, 1998).

The Distributed Information Sub Center at Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur was set up in May 1995 as the 23^rd center of the BTISNet of DBT, Government of India. The area of specilisation of the Centre is Agricultural Biotech- nology. The Centre passed through several phases involving Internet connectivity through the ordinary C band connectivity, then the Ku band connectivity etc. Now the commu- nication facilities of the Centre have been strengthened by procuring an ISDN Internet connection and a connection through ASIANET. The Center caters to the needs of the students (UG, M Sc & Ph D) and faculty of all departments of the Colleges in the main campus as well as of the other nearby academic and research centers of the University. Over the years, DISC has come to occupy a position in the KAU in the area of Infor- mation Technology , information sources and services based on Internet, CD-ROMs etc. The Centre has procured databases in the field of Biotechnology and developed several databases in the field of Agriculture and related fields. The center regularly conducts training programmes in Bioinformatics. The research activities in the field of Bioinformatics have been enhanced. The Centre has now been upgraded to DIC to facilitate intensive research on Bioinformatics in an effective manner. During the year 2004, the Centre has also started offering a course on Bioinformatics for the M.Sc Biotechnology students of the College of Horticulture.

Biotechnology research in KAU spread over various research stations and cam- puses includes Plant Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology and Fisheries Biotechnol- ogy. Thrust areas for Plant Biotechnology include developing in vitro protocols for mass multiplication of elite types of fruit plants, ornamentals, medicinal plants, spices, plantation crops and forest species. The other thrust areas include checking clonal stability and genetic fidelity of in vitro derived plants using molecular markers, DNA finger printing and characterisation of germplasm with molecular markers, imparting biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in otherwise accepted crop varieties, genetic trans- formation for imparting/ improving expression of desired traits, in vitro germplasm conservation, enhancement of secondary metabolites production etc.

The crops identified for biotechnology research at KAU include spice crops like black pepper, ginger, turmeric, vanilla, cardamom; plantation crops like cashew, coco- nut and medicinal & aromatic plants such as Kaempferia, Trichopus, Gymnema, Holostemma and Coscinium. For improvement of such crops through molecular breed- ing, it is highly essential to identify/design specific probes/primers, micro-satellites, etc. By combining the research results generated at the Biotechnology Centre and informa- tion retrieved from the Bioinformatics Centre, suitable probes, primers are being de- signed for characterization and improvement of these unique crops through molecular breeding.

Abstract

Bioinformatics, an integrated science of biology and informatics is a repository of new emerging dimensions like proteome, genome, drug discovery etc, whose concepts have varied applications in various sciences/areas including agricultural/horticultural sciences. Bioinformatics tools are employed to investigate interactions between different biological systems i.e. gene-gene, protein-protein, gene-protein interactions and this information has tremenduous application in agricultural/horticultural sciences. It is the computer aided  data handling approach to understand the life process precisely. Biological problem require innovative database prospective for gene sequencing (management and alignment), recognition of genes and regulatory elements, protein structure prediction, evolution and phylogenetic studies, etc.

Fruits with their delightful colours, flavours and tastes are nature’s wonderful gift to mankind. Apart from being the most nutritious food in the form of easily digestible simple sugars, vitamins, minerals and many phyto-nutrients (Plant derived micronutrients), they provide unique health benefits due to their antioxidant properties and valuable fibre. Antioxidants help protect the human body from oxidant stress, diseases, and cancers, and also boost the immunity of the body thus developing the capacity to fight against various types of diseases. The insoluble dietary fiber in fruits is known to provide protection from conditions like chronic constipation, hemorrhoids, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, and rectal fissures etc. Due to their unique nutrition-profile the importance of fruits in our diet cannot be over emphasised.

Insects are a major limiting factor in fruit production. The infestation of insects pests on fruit trees in orchards adversely affects the quality and yield of fruits. The size, shape, taste, attractiveness and palatability of fruit deteroriates, due to which the market price is reduced and the growers incur losses. Fruit growers resort to use of chemical pesticides under such conditions. However many reports suggest that although the global production and use of pesticides in agriculture is increasing every year, but the damage due to insects has not decreased rather it has also increased, indicating that the use of pesticides is not the panacea remedy for all insect related problems. Many scientists are of the opinion that over-reliance on the use of synthetic pesticides in crop protection programs around the world has resulted in disturbances to the environment, pest resurgence, pest resistance to pesticides, and lethal and sub-lethal effects on non target organisms especially beneficial flora and fauna, including humans. Farmers spend thousands of rupees on pesticides. The residues of pesticides in food and fruits is yet another cause of concern. Fruits which are considered to be wonderful for health are often laden with unacceptable levels of pesticide residues nulling their beneficial properties. Pesticides have been linked to many diseases especially cancer. All these issues related with use of pesticides has triggered rethinking on the methods of control.The recent examples of the results of indiscriminate pesticides use , consequent crop failures and suicide by farmers now calls for introspection in this matter.

Biological control is a strategy which employs utilization of natural enemies to reduce the damage caused by noxious organisms to tolerable levels (De Bach and Rosen, 1991). This is the most benign method for reducing pest population in vegetable ecosystem. It opens an amicable platform for production of organic vegetables with good export value. Since the late 1950s, much of the insect control in vegetables has been based on the use of synthetic chemical insecticides.

The increasing concerns about dwindling biological resources globally led to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992. This convention for the first time, recognized sovereign rights of States over their biological resources and emphasized that access to genetic resources should be only for environmentally sound purposes and should be subject to national legislations. The access has to be on mutually agreed terms which inter-alia would include recognition of associated Traditional Knowledge of indigenous communities and equitable benefit sharing arrangements.

Taking cognizance of the provisions of the CBD, and to deal with extensive pressure on our biological resources, India has enacted an umbrella legislation called Biological Diversity Act-2002 (No. 18 of 2003), and also notified the Biological Diversity Rules-2004 for guidance and compliance by various stakeholders, including the Union and State Governments, Non-state sectors, and individuals. The Act aims at conservation of biological resources as well as facilitating access to them in a sustainable manner and through a just process. The salient features of this act are as follows (NBA, 2004).

1. Introduction

Mounting pressure of teeming population and shrinking land resources have necessitated the production of increasingly more food per unit area. Insect pests, diseases and weeds are important biotic constraints inflicting 20-25% loss in agriculture production. Synthetic pesticides have of course, played a very significant role in restricting many pest problems. However, their indiscriminate has been its toll by creating several problems like pesticide resistance in insects, contamination of food with toxic residues, resurgence of pests and deleterious effects on non target organisms. The number of effective pesticides available is dwindling day by day further having less choice among which to choose. These ill effects have arised interest in alternate methods of plant protection.

The extent to which various plant species are utilized for pest control depends, not only on their effectiveness against target pests, but also on socio-economic, environmental and policy considerations. Keep these in mind the present study on the efficacy of botanicals against Spodoptera litura was carried out.

I. INTRODUCTION

The fruits and vegetables we eat and flowers and ornamentals we enjoy are biological entities. They breath, produce heat, perspire, are easily damaged, get diseases and finally die. These carry on processes characteristics of all living things before or after harvest to perform the metabolic activities:

1. to maintain cellular organization
2. to transport metabolites around the tissue and
3. to maintain membrane permeability.

I. INTRODUCTION
The fruits and vegetables we eat and flowers and ornamentals we enjoy are biological entities. They breath, produce heat, perspire, are easily damaged, get diseases and finally die. These carry on processes characteristics of all living things before or after harvest to perform the metabolic activities:
1. to maintain cellular organization
2. to transport metabolites around the tissue and
3. to maintain membrane permeability.
The job of postharvest technologist is to understand life in fruits, vegetables and flowers and prolong their life as much as possible. The post harvest life of produce depends on the rate at which they use up their stored food reserves and their rate of water loss. The sugar and starches (carbohydrate derivatives) are stored in various parts of plants through a process known as photosynthesis occurring in growing plants and are used later to provide energy for further growth, development and to prolong post-harvest life. The process of photosynthesis in growing plants and respiration in harvested produce can be seen in Fig. 2.1. The released energy through process known as respiration occurs in plants before and after harvest. Thus, principal normal physiological processes leading to aging are respiration and transpiration.

Phenotypic Diversity

Phenotypic diversity measures the portion of genetic diversity which is expressed phenotypically. So it varies with the character under study and the genetic background and the environment in which it is measured. The measures of genetic diversity based on variance of quantitative traits may be unreliable indicators of diversity in a population at the level of individual gene. But diversity at the molecular level (isozymes, RFLPs) may be a reasonable estimate of phenotypic diversity. The degree of differentiation is related to several biological attributes such as breeding system, mode of pollination and seed dispersal, life history, geographical range, successional stages, etc. The outbreeding populations are much less differentiated whereas the selfers or apomictic are strongly differentiated. Populations of outbreeders contain different alleles especially the rare alleles which contribute little to the diversity. Inbreeders should have greater interpopulations diversity and less intrapopulation diversity than the comparable outbreeders. Further, inbreeders are more prone to show an even distribution of their genetic diversity among populations and this makes their optimum sampling more difficult and any evidence of the geographic pattern of this diversity levels would greatly improve sampling efficiency but geographical and environmental factors rarely explain more than 50% variation.

1. INTRODUCTION

Packaging waste forms a significant part of solid waste and has caused increasing environmental concerns, resulting in strengthening of various regulations aimed at reducing the amounts generated. A wide range of oil-based polymers is currently used for packaging of various products by different industries including the food industry. These are virtually non-biodegradable and some are difficult to recycle or re-use as they are complex composites having varying levels of contaminants and pose serious health concerns. In the recent years, the use of bio-based and biodegradable products as packaging material has generated a lot of interest amongst researchers as they bring out a significant contribution to sustainable development with a wider range of disposal options.

Bioplastics are polymers that are capable of undergoing decomposition into CO₂, H₂O and inorganic compounds or biomass through predominantly the enzymatic action of microorganisms. Some of these polymers can also be compostable, which leads to their decomposition in a compost site at a rate consistent with known compostable materials. The market for these environmentally friendly materials is expanding rapidly, at the rate of 10–20 per cent per year. The global market for biodegradable polymers exceeds 114 million pounds and is expected to rise at an average annual growth rate of 12.6 per cent to 206 million pounds by 2020.

Bio-based packaging materials are mostly used to pack short shelf-life products, like fresh fruits and vegetables, and long shelf-life products, like pasta and chips, which do not require very high oxygen and/or water barrier properties. However, the inventory of films shows a wide variety in properties, which could make them applicable as a packaging material for other food products with stricter conditions, like MAP packaging. One of the challenges faced by the food packaging industry in its efforts to produce bio-based primary packaging, is to match the durability of the packaging with product shelf-life. The bio-based material offers great potential for the packaging industry. However, it is important to realize that a thorough evaluation of the functional properties of a bio-based material is essential before it can be used as an alternative for the traditional film materials.

Tropical root and tuber crops are important staples for food security for about a fifth of the world population. Tropical root and tuber crops like cassava, sweet potato, yams and aroids [taro and elephant foot yam] come under tropical root and tuber crops. Sweet potato, yams and colocasia are processed mainly as fresh vegetable, whereas 75% of the cassava in Africa, 75-80% in Asia and 65% in Latin America are processed either as fermented foods and feeds or as food additives such as starch, starch based sweeteners (glucose and fructose syrups), organic acids (acetic, lactic, glutamic and gluconic), mono-sodium glutamate and microbial polysaccharides (xanthan, pullulan, scleroglucan, etc).

1. INTRODUCTION

Chemical pesticides are designed to control or eliminate pests such as insects, rodents, weeds, bacteria, and fungus. Although pesticides have played a significant role in increasing food production and controlling various diseases in the agriculture system but indiscriminate use of pesticides has resulted in contamination of soil, water bodies’ etc. raising deep concern about food safety and human health. Excessive use of these harmful chemicals affects kidneys, developing fetus, and liver immuno-suppression and increased incidence of breast cancer. Some of these pesticides are also reported as mutagenic. Other health related problems such as impaired memory and concentration, severe depression, headache, etc have also been reported.

Through field survey (Kadian et al., 2010) it has been found that chlorpyrifos is a widely used pesticide in household application as well as in horticulture crop in National capital region Delhi. This tempted us to understand the nature of chlorpyrifos (CPF) and its metabolites and assess the suitability of available techniques for detoxification of contaminated soil.

Introduction

Several hazardous chemicals, microbes, and techniques like recombinant DNA technology are used for research and development work in research Institutes and universities. Therefore, the researchers, technical, helping and supporting staffs as well as the laboratory outputs must be kept free from contaminations. Thus, biosafety is necessary to prevent unintentional exposure/ release of hazardous chemicals, microbes/pathogens, and toxins to the laboratory staff and environment. Following the biosafety guidelines and ethical considerations are essential to maintain safety standards for the researchers as well as the environment. This chapter deals with various biosafety measures and ethical issues to be strictly followed while working in a research laboratory. The required safety level needs to be determined as per the chemical/biological materials are used in the laboratory to keep the researcher/environment safe for sustainable research and developmental activities.

Biosafety

The term biosafety is used to describe the procedure and policies needed to ensure environmental and personal safety. Biosafety refers to the containment principles, technologies and practices that are implemented to prevent unintentional exposure to pathogens, toxins, or their accidental release into the environment. A fundamental objective of any biosafety program is the containment of potentially harmful chemical/biological agents as precautionary safety measures.

Why Biosafety?

With the increasing number of countries adopting molecular biology tools and techniques in life science research and development activities, especially in the areas of agriculture and medicine, the biosafety issues are gaining importance to ensure biological safety for the public and the environment. Conducting research in safe and sustainable manner is not only a personal requirement but essential collective efforts to ensure biological safety for a clean and safe environment. This requires rules, regulations, monitoring bodies, and awareness among the workers as well as the public. Therefore, biosafety per se is an integral part of laboratory research and requires awareness among the researchers so that biological safety can be well taken care from the grassroot level.

. Introduction

A primary issue for modern horticulture is facing two contradictory objectives, such as the need to produce food for the increasing world population and to minimize damage to the environment, which can in turn negatively impact horticulture. Fertilizer and chemical use and manufacture are hazardous to the environment and humans. As a result, new and effective environmentally friendly compounds are required. Plant biostimulants, which are harmless for humans and the environment, are one answer. They are particularly useful for lowering pesticides in agriculture. Plant biostimulants have become popular in farming and cultivation in recent years.

ABSTRACT

Recognizing the need to apply plant tissue culture tools for generating planting materials of important spice crops especially vanilla, the Spices Board started Biotech Production Unit at its head quarters building at Kochi with an annual production potential of 8 lakhs plantlets. Complete tissue culture protocols were developed and scaled up for large scale production of vanilla and other spices viz. large cardamom, small cardamom and tree spices. The laboratory is equipped with all modern facilities and is established in an area of about 2000 sft. Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India also participated in the venture by sanctioning a project entitled “Regional centre for large scale production of tissue culture plantlets of vanilla and other spices” with a financial out lay of Rs 95 lakhs equally shared by DBT, New Delhi and Spices Board, Cochin.

At present there is a stock of over 3.00 lakh vanilla cultures in the lab and already 1.25 lakh plant lets were sent for hardening. The Spices Board, in coll aboration with “Kudumbashree”, a poverty eradication mission of Govt. of Kerala, extend short term training in tissue culture techniques to undergraduates from ‘Below Poverty Line’ (BPL) families and engage them as long term trainees in the Biotech Production Unit. The Board also coordinates and extends support to Kudumbashree members for, establishing and maintaining hardening facilities for TC plantlets thus providing means for empowering women from BPL families.