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 Modern Concept in

Agriculture
Mr. Satvaan Singh
Mr. Kushal Sachan
Mt. Khursheed Alam
Mr. Amit Kumar

AKINIK PUBLIEATIONS
NEW DELHI
 Modern Concept in

Agriculture

Editors
Mr. Satvaan Singh
Mr. Kushal Sachan
Mr. Khursheed Alam
Mr. Amit Kumar

AkiNik Publications
New Delhi
Published By: AkiNik Publications

AkiNik Publications
169, C-11, Sector - 3,
Rohini, Delhi-110085, India
Toll Free (India) – 18001234070

Editors: Mr. Satvaan Singh, Mr. Kushal Sachan, Mr. Khursheed Alam and
Mr. Amit Kumar

The author/publisher has attempted to trace and acknowledge the materials

reproduced in this publication and apologize if permission and
acknowledgements to publish in this form have not been given. If any material
has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so that we may rectify
it.

© AkiNik Publications
Edition: 1st
Publication Year: 2022
Pages: 153
ISBN: 978-93-5570-314-9
Book DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/ed.book.1830
Price: ` 625/-
 Contents

S. No. Chapters Page No.

1. Major Diseases of Rice and Their Management 01-07

(Anupam Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Sandeep Kumar,
Priyanka Yadav and Shivani Chaudhry)

2. Pleurotus florida: Methodology used for Cultural 09-16

study, Spawn production, Substrate preparation and
Cultivation Techniques
(Susheel Kumar, Vikas Sengar, Prerna Bhargav, Govind
Kumar, Sanjay Dutt Gahtori and Amit Singh)

3. Scenario of Organic Vegetable Production for A 17-34

Healthy Diet in India
(Khursheed Alam, Muzeev Ahmad, Mohd Wamiq and
Vibhu Pandey)

4. Drone technology- for Smart Agriculture 35-52

(Mohammad Vaheed, Ashish Kumar Verma, Srishti Singh,
Niyaz Ahmad, Dr. B.N. Singh and Sidra Qidwai)

5. Plant Nutrients 53-62

(Rahul Sharma, A N Mishra and Raghvendra Kumar
Aryan)

6. Cultivation of Oyster Mushrooms and their 63-68

Nutritional status
(Susheel Kumar, Amit Kumar, Prerna Bhargav, Sanjay
Dutt Gahtori and Govind Kumar)

7. The Investment Function: Meaning, Types, 69-75

Determinants and Distinction
(Vikas Sengar, Sanjay Dutt Gahtori, Susheel Kumar Amit
Singh and Govind Kumar)

8. Economic Growth & its Measurements, Causes, and 77-83

Effects
 (Vikas Singh Sengar, Susheel Kumar, Govind Kumar,
Amit Singh and Sanjay Dutt Gahtori)

9. Concept of National Income & its Measurement 85-96

(Vikas Singh Sengar and Riyaz Ahmad)

10 Laboratory glassware, Apparatus and its uses 97-107

(Amit Singh, Govind Kumar, Sanjay Dutt Gahtori,
Nitendu Ojha and Yashwant Kumar)

11. “Heterosis and Combining Ability for Growth 109-111

Attributes, Yield and Quality Traits in Bottle Gourd
[Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.]”
(Amit Singh, Susheel Kumar, Shambhoo Prasad, Govind
Kumar, and Sanjay Dutt Gahtori)

12. Production technology of Tomato in Western Uttar 113-124

Pradesh
(Muzeev Ahmad, Khursheed Alam, Mohd Wamiq and
Vivek Kumar)

13. Weather forecasting & its application in Agriculture 125-131

(Rahul Sharma, A.N. Mishra, Arun Kumar and Yashvant
Singh)

14. Soil Sampling, Methods and their Procedure and 133-140

Obtaining Soil Moisture
(Amit Singh, Vikas Singh Sengar, Susheel Kumar, Govind
Kumar and Sanjay Dutt Gahtori)

15. Biofortification in Vegetable Crops 141-153

(Mohd Wamiq, Khursheed Alam, Muzeev Ahmad and
Suraj Luthra)
 Chapter - 1
Major Diseases of Rice and Their Management

Authors
Anupam Kumar
Ph.D., Research Scholar, SVPUA &T Meerut U.P. India
Abhishek Kumar
Junior Research Fellow, SVPUA &T Meerut U.P. India
Sandeep Kumar
Assistant Professor, School of Agriculture, Uttaranchal
University, Dehradun (Uttarakhand)
Priyanka Yadav
Ph.D., Research Scholar, SVPUA &T Meerut U.P. India
Shivani Chaudhry
Ph.D. Research Scholar, SVPUA &T Meerut U.P. India

Page | 1
Page | 2
 Chapter - 1
Major Diseases of Rice and Their Management
Anupam Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Sandeep Kumar, Priyanka Yadav and Shivani
Chaudhry

1. Rice blast
Causal organism: Magnaporthe oryzae (formerly Magnaporthe grisea;
anamorph: Pyricularia grisea).
Symptoms: Symptoms of rice blast M. oryzae infects all the
developmental stages of the rice plant including roots and disease symptoms
can be observed on the leaf, collar, neck, panicle and even in the glumes. The
major symptoms are briefly discussed below:
Symptoms on rice leaf
Symptoms of leaf blast typically consist of elongated diamond-shaped
lesions with grey or whitish centers and brown or reddish brown margin. Later
the small spots collapse together, becomes eye-shaped in mature stage and
gives blistering appearance.
Node/culm blast symptoms: When the node of plant is affected, node
portion of the culms turn brown, grayish brown or black and the portion above
the infected node may die and breakdown as the xylem and phloem vessel of
plant blocked which affects the nutrient and water supply to the portion above
the infection point.
Collar blast symptoms: The spores undergoing overwintering when
infect the collar of the flag leaf, produce symptoms which are collar rot. At
initial stage infection starts at the base of the flag leaf near the leaf sheath. At
later stage, infection proceeds upward to the leaf that girdles the flag leaf
which turned brown, dry and fall off.
Management
• Use of tolerant varieties (CO 47, CO 50, ADT 36, ADT 37, ASD 16,
ASD 20, ADT 39, ASD 19.
• Avoid excess N - fertilizer application.

Page | 3
 • Burning of straw and stubbles after harvest.
• Wet Seed treatment with carbendazim or Tricyclozole at 1-2 g/lit of
water for 1 kg of seed.
• Application of Azoxystrobin 25 SC @ 500 ml/ha.
2. Brown spot of rice
Causal organism: Bipolaris oryzae (Telemorph=Cochliobolus
miyabeanus).
Symptoms: The pathogen attacks the crop from seedling to milk stage.
The symptoms appear as minute spots on the coleoptile, leaf blade, leaf sheath
and glume, being most prominent on leaf blades and glumes. On leaves,
typical spots are brown in colour with grey or whitish centre, cylindrical or
oval in shape resembling sesame seeds usually with yellow halo while young
spots are small, circular and may appear as dark brown or purplish brown dots.
Several spots coalesce and the leaf dries up. The affected nursery can often be
recognized from a distance by scorched appearance due to death of the
seedlings.
Management
• Usage of resistant varieties like Bhavani, Cauvery, CORH 1, CO 44,
TPS, may reduce the level of losses.
• Apply required fertilizers for soils that are low in silicon, apply
calcium silicate slag before planting
• Use of balanced nitrogenous fertilizer.
• Spray in the nursery and main field with Metominostrobin 160g/ha.
• Spray edifenphos 250 ml, Mancozeb 1.2 kg, Aureofungin 0.005% in
the main field crop.
3. Sheath blight
Causal organism: Rhizoctonia solani (Teleomorph: Thanatephorus
cucumeris)
Symptoms
Sheath blight is characterized by large oval spots on the leaf sheaths and
irregular spots on leaf blades. Infections usually begin during the late tillering-
joint elongation stages of growth. Lesions about 0.5 - 1 cm in width and 1 - 3
cm in length are formed a little above the waterline on infected culms. The
lesions have grayish-white or light green centers with a brown or reddish-
brown margin. As lesions coalesce on the sheath, the blades turn yellow-

Page | 4
orange and eventually die. As areas in the field with dead tillers and plants
increase, they may coalesce with other affected areas to cause large areas of
lodged, dead and dying plants.
Management
• Seed treatment with Thirum + Carbendazium (2:1) @ 3g/kg seed.
• Use of Mancozeb or copper fungicide @ 2.5gm/l or carbendazim 1
g/lit.
However, biological and chemical controls are more effective when used
in conjunction with good cultural practices as listed below:
• Since Rhizoctonia is a soil-borne disease, do not reuse growing
medium from infected plants.
• Remove diseased plants and plant residues from the growing area.
• Use brand new containers. If the containers are reused, they must be
properly sanitized or the disease will transfer to the next crop.
• Avoid contact with soil as it often is a source of Rhizoctonia.
4. Sheath rot disease of rice
Causal agent: Sarocladium oryzae
Symptoms: S. oryzae mainly attacks the uppermost leaf sheaths
enclosing the young panicles. The lesions start as oblong or somewhat
irregular spots 0.5-1.5 cm long, with brown margins and grey centers, or they
may be grayish-brown throughout. They enlarge and often coalesce and may
cover most of the leaf sheath. Panicles remain within the sheath or may
partially emerge. Panicles that have not emerged, rot and the florets turn red-
brown to dark brown. Affected leaf sheaths have abundant whitish powdery
mycelium.
Management
• Use of healthy seeds because it is a seed-borne disease.
• Elimination of infected stubbles after harvest.
• Application of potash at tillering stage reduces disease incidence.
• Application of Pseudomonas fluorescens at the booting stage,
substantially reduced sheath rot severity and considerably increased
grain yield.
• Apply seed treatment fungicide like carbendazim, edifenphos or
mancozeb as seed treatment

Page | 5
 • Spray Carbendazim 500g or Edifenphos 1 liter or Mancozeb 2 kg/ha
at boot leaf stage and 15 days later.
• Soil application of gypsum (500 kg/ha) in two splits.
5. Bacterial leaf blight of rice
Causal agent: Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae (also referred to
as Xoo).
Symptoms: Bacterial blight first becomes evident as water-soaked
streaks that spread from the leaf tips and margins, becoming larger and
eventually releasing milky ooze that dries into yellow droplets. Characteristic
grayish white lesions then appear on the leaves, signaling the late stages of
infection, when leaves dry out and die. In seedlings, the leaves dry out
and wilt, a syndrome known as kresek. Infected seedlings usually are killed
by bacterial blight within two to three weeks of being infected; adult plants
may survive, though rice yield and quality are diminished.
Management
• Seed treatment with bleaching powder (100g/l) and zinc sulfate (2%)
reduce bacterial blight.
• Avoid excess use of nitrogen fertilizer application.
• Avoid flow of water from affected fields
• Spray Streptomycin sulphate + Tetracycline combination 300 g +
Copper oxychloride 1.25 kg/ha. If necessary repeat 15 days later.
• Application of bleaching powder @ 5 kg/ha in the irrigation water is
recommended in the kresek stage.
• Foliar spray with copper fungicides alternatively with Strepto-cyclin
(250 ppm) to check secondary spread.
6. Foot rot or Bakanae disease
Causal agent: Fusarium moniliforme (Sexual stage: Gibberella
fujikuroi)
Symptoms: Fusarium moniliforme causes different types of symptoms
starting from pre-emergence seedling death to grain infection at maturity;
elongation, elongation than normal growth, elongation than stunted growth.
Growth of the pathogen could be visible at the junction of the palea and lemma
of the damaged grains. These symptoms are noticeable from the sixth day after
sowing in wet nurseries and may continue up to the sixth week. Such seedlings
wilt and die within three to six days after the symptoms appear. All the

Page | 6
affected seedlings may not exhibit overgrowth. Another symptom noticed
between the seedling and tillering stages is the development of adventitious
roots from a number of the lower nodes of the culm, above the ground-level,
these may be partially or completely enclosed with in the leaf-sheath.
Management
• Grow resistant varieties like; Super Basmati, Basmati 515, Basmati
2000, KSK 133, KSK 282, KSK 434 etc.
• Use of disease free seed as well as nursery for transplanting.
• Seed bio priming with bio agent like: Trichoderma spp.
• Seed treatment with fungicides like: Thiophanate methyl, Thiram and
Propiconazol
References
1. Acharya, B., Shrestha, S. M., Manandhar, H. K. and Chaudhary, B.
(2019). Screening of local, improved and hybrid rice genotypes against
leaf blast disease (Pyricularia oryzae) at Banke district, Nepal. Journal
of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2(1):36–52.

2. Ahmed, F., Saleem, M. U. and Hussain, S. I. (2013). Govt. of the Punjab

Agriculture Department. Factsheets for farmers.

3. Neupane, N. and Bhusal, K. (2021). A Review of Blast Disease of Rice

in Nepal. J Plant Pathol Microbiol, 11, 528.

4. Sesma, A. and Osbourn, A. E. (2004). The rice leaf blast pathogen

undergoes developmental processes typical of root-infecting fungi.
Nature, 431(7008) :582–586.

5. Sunder, S., Singh, R. and Agarwal, R. (2014). Brown spot of rice: an

overview. Indian Phytopathology, 67 (3): 201-215

6. TeBeest, D. O., Guerber, C. and Ditmore, M. (2007). Rice blast. The plant
health instructor. DOI: 10.1094. PHI-I-2007-0313-07.

7. Yasuda, N., Mitsunaga, T., Hayashi, K., Koizumi, S. and Fujita, Y.

(2014). Effects of Pyramiding Quantitative Resistance Genes pi21, Pi34,
and Pi35 on Rice Leaf Blast Disease. Plant Disease, 99(7): 904–909.

Page | 7
Page | 8
 Chapter - 2
Pleurotus florida: Methodology used for Cultural
study, Spawn production, Substrate preparation
and Cultivation Techniques

Authors
Susheel Kumar
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Vikas Sengar
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Prerna Bhargav
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Govind Kumar
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Sanjay Dutt Gahtori
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Amit Singh
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

Page | 9
Page | 10
 Chapter - 2
Pleurotus florida: Methodology used for Cultural study,
Spawn production, Substrate preparation and Cultivation
Techniques
Susheel Kumar, Vikas Sengar, Prerna Bhargav, Govind Kumar, Sanjay Dutt Gahtori and
Amit Singh

Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional Studies,

Dehradun
One species of oyster mushroom namely Pleurotus florida was selected
for present study. The culture of Pleurotus florida was prepared from a young
fruit body of Pleurotus florida obtained from Mushroom Research
Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, SIPS, Dehradun. Scientifically
accurate and precise experimental trial were conducted during the year 2020-
2021 at Mushroom Research Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, SIPS,
Dehradun.
Isolation and purification
The fresh and healthy fruit bodies of Pleurotus florida were used for
obtaining the pure culture. A small portion of the tissue was taken from the
meristemetic zone of the lamellae by a sterilized forceps and transferred on
potato dextrose agar medium in Petri dishes. These inoculated Petri dishes
were kept at the room temperature (22°C ± 2°C) for initiation of fungal
growth. The fungus grew in the form of white mycelium within 3-5 days after
inoculation; sub culturing was done on freshly prepared potato dextrose agar
medium. For the purification of the fungus, hyphal tip method was adopted
and identifying the fully grown colony which showed best mycelial growth
are used. Culture was multiplied and its viability was maintained on potato
dextrose agar medium for further investigations.
Morphological studies of Pleurotus florida
The morphology of the various structures of the fungus (Pleurotus
florida) produced in the culture was studied as follows:

Page | 11
Sporophores
Shape, size, colour, margin and appearance of sporophores at different
stages. The details of other parts of the mushroom study as follows: -
1. Pileus : Shape, size and colour
2. Gills : Size and arrangement
3. Stipe : Colour, shape, size and attachment
4. Basidia : Shape, size and septatio
5. Basidiospore : Colour, shape, size and attachment
6. Mycelium : Septation, colour and other arrangement of the hypha

Cultural study
Media
Following seven different natural and synthetic solid and liquid media
were used to study the cultural characters of the fungus and to select the best
medium for further study.
1. Wheat dextrose agar medium
Wheat grain - 200 gm
Agar - 20 gm
Dextrose - 20 gm
Distilled water - 1000 ml
2. Potato dextrose agar medium
Peeled potato - 200 gm
Agar - 20 gm
Dextrose - 20 gm
Distilled water - 1000 ml
3. Paddy straw extract agar medium
Paddy straw - 200 gm
Agar - 20 gm
Dextrose - 20 gm
Distilled water - 1000 ml
4. Wheat straw extract agar medium
Wheat straw - 200 gm

Page | 12
 Agar - 20 gm
Dextrose - 20 gm
Distilled water - 1000 ml
5. Oat meal agar medium
Oat meal - 50 gm
Agar - 20 gm
Distilled water - 1000 ml
6. Mushroom decoction medium
Mushroom - 200 gm
Agar - 20 gm
Distilled water - 1000 ml
7. Czapek’s medium
Source - 30 gm
Agar - 20 gm
Sodium nitrate - 2 gm
Dipotassium hydrogen phosphate - 1000 ml
Potassium chloride - 0.50 gm
Magnesium sulphate - 0.50 gm
Ferrous sulphate - 0.01 gm
Distilled water - 1000 ml
According to the composition Czapek’s (Dox) medium potato dextrose
agar medium and oat meal medium were prepared and sterilized at 15 Ibs
pressure per square inch for 30 minutes.
To see the impact of media on the radial growth of Pleurotus florida in
vitro, 20 ml. of sterilized and melted media was poured in 90 mm petri plates
sterilized in hot air oven at 180⁰C for 3 hours. After solidification of the
medium 5 mm disc of test fungus was taken from the growing edge of the
culture and placed in the centre of the petri plates in such a manner so that it
may become in direct contact of the medium, then the plates were incubated
at 28 ± 2⁰C for ten days in incubator. After the incubation period the linear
growth of the fungus was recorded in mm in two directions at right angle to
each other and taken average growth and calculated. The treatments were

Page | 13
repeated thrice.
Spawn production
To find out the suitable grain for quality spawn production of Pleurotus
florida, the grains of different crops were used alone and in different
combinations as given below by using the standard methodology suggested by
Gareha (1994). Healthy and unprompted grains were washed and boiled
(Grain: Water 1:25 w/v) to tender without rupturing the seed coat. Extra water
was drained off and the grains were allowed to dry on sieve. Commercial grade
gypsum and calcium carbonate in the ratio of 1:1 (w/v) were mixed with boiled
grains at the rate of 2 percent (w/w) of grain. The 200 gm grains were filled in
clean glass bottles and the bottles were plugged with non observant cotton and
sterilized at 15 Ibs/Psi for 2.0 hours. Sterilized bottles were taken out from the
autoclave. While still hot and were shaken to avoid clumping of the grains.
Next day the bottles were inoculated with bits of potato dextrose Agar medium
colonized with mycelium of pure culture (7-10 days old).
Inoculated bottles were incubated at 250C. After seven days and ten days
the inoculated bottles were shaken vigorously so that mycelial threads were
broken and become well mixed with the grains. Entire grains get covered with
fine mycelial growth after 15 days of inoculation. The best grain/substrate was
used for further studies. This spawn is known as master spawn. The spawn
prepared for experimental use was on wheat grains in polypropypline bags
inoculted with mother spawn.
Cultivation
Substrate preparation
The substrates used for experimental purpose were wheat straw, paddy
straw, moong straw, maize straw and bajra straw alone and with their different
combinations. These Substrates were filled in gunny bags and bags were
soaked in a tank with water chemically treated with bavistin 7.0 gm + formalin
115 ml per 100 liter water for 12 hours. Tank was covered with polythene
sheet to prevent the evaporation of formalin. There after substrate were taken
out from tank and spread on cemented floor treated with 2% formalin solution
for 2-4 hour to drain out the excess water. The correct water content of the
substrate was determined by squezing the substrates in the palm. Substrates
were mixed thoroughly. The right amount of water in the substrates should be
65-70 percent.

Page | 14
The experimental details are given below
Substrate
Paddy straw, wheat straw, maize straw, bajra straw, moong straw alone
and different combinations were used.
Replication - 3
Treatment - 13
Total Number of bags - 36
Control - 3
Size of polythene bag – 75 X 45 cm
Details of Treatments
1. Paddy straw alone - 1.5 Kg.
2. Maize straw alone - 1.5 Kg.
3. Moong straw alone - 1.5Kg.
4. Bajra straw alone - 1.5 Kg.
5. Paddy + Wheat (1:1) - 1.5 Kg.
6. Paddy + Moong (1:1) - 1.5 Kg.
7. Paddy + Bajra (1:1) - 1.5 Kg.
8. Paddy + Maize (1:1) - 1.5 Kg.
9. Wheat + Moong (1:1) - 1.5 Kg.
10. Wheat + Bazra (1:1) - 1.5 Kg.
11. Wheat + Maize (1:1) - 1.5 Kg.
12. Wheat + Moong + Bazra + - 1.5 Kg.
Paddy + Maize (1:1:1:1:1)
13. Wheat straw (Control) - 1.5 Kg.
Cultivation technique
Spawning
The mushroom was grown by using polythene bags measuring 75 x 45
cm in size. The chopped substrates were soaked overnight in water. The straw
was then taken out from the water and spread over a cemented floor to drain
of excess water. One polythene of above size required 1.5 Kg. dry straw

Page | 15
(weight before soaking).
The polythene bags were filled with steeped straw containing about 70
percent moisture and gently pushed down up to hight of 12 cm and then
spawning was done on all over the surface. The second, third, and fourth layers
of the same hight of substrate were prepared and spawned all over the surface.
One bag required 100 grams of grain spawn. The bags were filled up to the
height at 65.00 centemeter. The mouth of bags was closed.
After spawning, bags were placed in crop room for spawn run.
Temperature (20-250C) and relative humidity (80-90 percent) was maintained
for spawn run. Humidity was maintained by spraying water twice to thrice a
day.
After the completion of spawn run in the straw, it becomes a compact
mass which was sticking to the polythene bags. The ploythene bags were then
cut and opened for sporophore formation. At the time of sporophore
formation, the windows were kept open for 1-2 hours to provide fresh air
inside the crop room and release of carbondioxide and maintaining the relative
humidity at 80-90 percent. The required necessary cares were taken to avoid
the occurence of pests by spraying 0.2℅ water solution of an insecticide. The
data regarding yield and yield attributes were recorded. Total harvesting
period given was 45 days.
Biological efficiency
Biological efficiency of the substrates was calculated by using following
formula:

Fresh weight of fruit body

Biological efficiency= x100
Dry weight of substrate
Data analysis
Statistical analysis of the data was done by using simple complete
randomize design. Critical difference (C.D.) was calculated at 5 percent level,
significant for comparison of difference among the treatments.

Page | 16
 Chapter - 3
Scenario of Organic Vegetable Production for A
Healthy Diet in India

Authors
Khursheed Alam
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Vegetable Science,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture &
Technology, Meerut, (U. P.), India
Muzeev Ahmad
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Horticulture, Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology,
Meerut, (U. P.), India
Mohd Wamiq
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Vegetable Science,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture &
Technology, Meerut, (U. P.), India
Vibhu Pandey
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Fruit Science, Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology,
Meerut, (U. P.), India

Page | 17
Page | 18
 Chapter - 3
Scenario of Organic Vegetable Production for A Healthy
Diet in India
Khursheed Alam, Muzeev Ahmad, Mohd Wamiq and Vibhu Pandey

Abstract
The demand for organic vegetables is growing every day due to the
nutritional, health, and food safety benefits. organic vegetables grown without
the use of chemical fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, genetically modified
organisms, growth hormones, and antibiotics. Pesticide residue, nitrate, heavy
metals, hormones, antibiotic residue, and genetically modified organisms all
contribute to the negative health impacts of conventionally cultivated
vegetables. Furthermore, conventionally cultivated vegetables are less
nutritionally and contain less antioxidants. Producing organic vegetables is
also good for the environment and has a positive socioeconomic influence on
the country. India is a country blessed with indigenous capabilities and the
potential for organic agriculture expansion. Despite being behind in the
adoption of organic vegetables for a variety of reasons, India has experienced
remarkable growth in organic agriculture and is currently one of the world's
major organic producers.
Key word: Organic vegetables, production, nutritional, environment, soil
health, bio-fertilizers
Introduction
Organic farming is a method of production that avoids the use of
synthetically produced fertilizer, pesticides, growth regulators, and livestock
feed additives to a considerable extent. Crop rotations, crop residues, animal
manures, legumes, green manures, mechanical cultivation, mineral-bearing
rocks, and aspects of biological pest control are used to maintain soil
productivity, tilth, supply plant nutrients and control insects, weeds, and other
pests to the greatest extent possible in organic agriculture systems.
Organic farming is a type of integrated agricultural management that
promotes and improves ecosystem health, including biological cycles and soil
biological activity. Organic farming, in its most basic form, entails cultivating

Page | 19
crops without the use of any chemicals. It means no pesticides, chemicals, or
other harmful substances. It is based on the use of as little off-farm inputs as
possible and management approaches that restore, maintain, and improve
ecological equilibrium.
"The basic purpose of organic farming is to improve the health and
productivity of interconnected ecosystems of soil life, plants, animals and
people."
Organic farming encompasses two distinct aspects of alternative
vegetable production, namely:
1) Manures and other organic matter are used instead of inorganic
fertilizer.
2) Biological pest control rather than chemical pest control is used.
Vegetables are a rich source of important minerals, glucosinolates,
antioxidants, fibre, and vitamins, including niacin, riboflavin, Thiamin, and
vitamins A and C, among others, in addition to being a readily digested
carbohydrate and nutritionally complete protein. Amaranth, bathua, and
spinach, among other green leafy vegetables, offer a less expensive source of
folic acid. The best way to overcome vitamin deficiencies is to eat more
vegetables. A nutritious combination of veggies can supply the needed daily
allowance of vitamin A, folate, and other essential mineral minerals for human
health. Furthermore, because most vegetables are short-duration crops, they
fit well in various multiple and inter-cropping systems and are capable of
providing very high yields and high economic returns to growers in a short
period of time, as well as generating on- and off-farm employment. As a result,
commercial exploitation of vegetable crops has received a lot of attention in
recent years. Organics added to its cultivation will result in increased value,
higher income, and long-term production.
According to a survey by the United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organization, roughly 17% of Indians are too malnourished to work. The main
problem is a lack of nutritional balance in the diet. Around 51% of men and
48% of women consume a high-fat diet. Almost one-third of men and one-
third of women eat too little fruit and vegetables. This underlines the need of
a well-balanced diet. Because vegetables are nutritionally dense, they have a
huge potential for assuring food and nutritional security as well as reducing
malnutrition in our country's millions of people. The majority of fruits and
vegetables are ingested while still fresh. The indiscriminate use of chemical
inputs in agriculture raises fears/concerns about pesticide contamination of
foods, which could result in a variety of health problems. As a result, food that

Page | 20
is free of pollutants is required. Organic vegetable production, in addition to
feeding the country's growing population, enhances farmers' revenue and
provides them with economic security. India has huge potential for organic
vegetable production and revenue generation through export.
India grows the largest number of vegetables from temperate to humid
tropics and from sea-level to snowline. In our country, more than 70 different
types of vegetables are grown, generating substantial income and employment
for small farmers, particularly in peri-urban areas. Potato, onion, tomato,
cauliflower, cabbage, bean, egg plant, cucumber and gherkhins, frozen peas,
garlic, and okra are some of the most common vegetables grown in India.
During the 2015-16 fiscal year, the country exported 6, 99,600.34 MT of Fresh
Vegetables Other Than Onion to the world, worth Rs. 2119.50 crores. UAE,
Bangladesh, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United
Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Qatar are the top destinations for Indian
fruits and vegetables.
The typical Indian's daily vegetable consumption (252g) is significantly
less than what is recommended (300 g). By 2020, our demand for veggies will
be over 250 million tonnes. As a result, the only way to feed the people is to
expand vertically or increase productivity per unit area per unit time, as the
potential available land and water resources are limited. Our strategy should
be to grow more veggies on less area, using less water, using fewer pesticides,
and causing less damage to the soil and ecosystem. Organic vegetable growing
is one of the most sustainable agricultural systems, providing not only long-
term soil health but also long-term production stability by importing better
resistance to diverse biotic and abiotic stresses. Organic vegetables are 10 to
50 percent more expensive than ordinary ones. Organic food is in high demand
both domestically and internationally. Organic products are growing at a
quicker rate (20-25 percent) than conventional products (5 percent) each year.
Japan, the United States, Australia, and the European Union have the fastest
growth rates. Organic vegetable export preferences open up a lot of
opportunities for a country like India, which has practised organic farming
since the dawn of time.
Historical perspective and background
Although the term "organic farming" has gained popularity in recent
years, it is not a new concept in India. It began 10000 years ago, when ancient
farmers began cultivating solely from natural resources. Several organic
inputs are mentioned briefly in our ancient literatures such as the Rigveda,
Ramayana, Mahabharata, Kautilya Arthasashthra, and others. The use of

Page | 21
animal faeces as manure was emphasised in the Rigveda. Green manure,
which was used before 1000 BC, was mentioned in the Atharvaveda (Bisoyi,
2003). The Arthashastra of Kautilya recorded manure such as oil cakes, animal
excreta, and so on. Organic agriculture has its roots in ancient agricultural
practises that have evolved over millennia in innumerable towns and farming
groups. Farmers in India had historically practised organic agriculture until
the introduction of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the middle of the
twentieth century (1950), which significantly transformed the landscape of
agriculture. Chemical use has increased as a result of modernization,
particularly the green revolution technologies. However, indiscriminate use of
these high-energy inputs has resulted in a decrease in crop output and
productivity, as well as deterioration of soil health and the ecosystem. The
reality has now dawned that if serious environmental harm is to be avoided,
another 180-degree turn is required. However, rather than returning to
traditional ways, the objective is to combine new information in order to
establish a long-term system. Organic farming in India began in the modern
era, according to documented evidence, around 1900 in a local village in North
India by Sir Albert Howard, a British agronomist. Organic agriculture in India
began with the development of the Indore Method of aerobic compost
(Howard, 1929), Bangalore Method of anaerobic compost (Acharya, 1934),
and NADEP Compost (ND Pandari Panda, Yeotmal, 1980).
Characteristics of Organic Farming Systems in vegetables
• Rather of seeing the farm as a collection of discrete operations,
organic farming management focuses on the entire farm system and
its connections with climate, ecological, social, and economic
situations. The following are some of the key aspects of organic
farming:
• Maintaining soil organic matter levels, soil biological activity, and
careful mechanical intervention to ensure long-term soil fertility.
• Nitrogen self-sufficiency via legumes and biological nitrogen
fixation, as well as excellent organic waste recycling, such as crop
residues and livestock wastes.
• Weed, disease, and pest management is primarily accomplished
through crop rotation, natural predators, crop diversification, organic
manuring, and the use of resistant varieties, with minimal thermal,
biological, and chemical intervention.
• Supplementing crop nutrients as needed by utilising nutrient sources
that are made accessible to plants indirectly through the action of soil
microorganisms and chemical processes.

Page | 22
 • Comprehensive livestock management, taking into account their
evolutionary adaptations' behavioural needs, as well as animal
welfare issues such as nutrition, housing, health, breading, and
rearing.
• Careful consideration of the farming system's impact on the wider
environment, as well as the conservation of wildlife and natural
habitats; (Padel and Lampkin, 1994).
Principle of organic farming
The principles of organic farming are the followings:
• Work as much as possible within a closed system, utilising local
resources.
• To keep soils fertile for a long time.
• To avoid any and all forms of pollution that may arise as a result of
farming practises.
• To develop foods that are high in nutritional value and available in
sufficient quantities.
• To utilise as little fossil energy as possible in agricultural practises.
• To provide livestock with living conditions that correspond to their
physiological requirements.
• To enable agricultural producers to earn a living and realise their full
potential as human beings through their labour.
The four pillars of organic farming are
1. Organic standards.
2. Certification / Regulatory mechanism.
3. Technology packages.
4. Market network.
Objectives of Organic Farming
• Organic vegetable production's main purpose is to improve the health
and productivity of interdependent soil, plant, animal, and human
ecosystems.
• To produce food of high nutritional quality in sufficient quantity
• To encourage biological cycles within farming systems by involving
the use of microorganisms, soil flora & fauna, plants and animals

Page | 23
 • To maintain and increase the long-term fertility of soil and
biodiversity
• To use renewable resources in locally organized production systems
• To work as much as possible within a close system with regard to
organic matter and nutrient elements and draw up on local resources
• To avoid all forms of pollution that may results from Agricultural
techniques
• To reduce the use of fossil energy in agricultural practice to the
minimum.
Advantages of organic cultivation
1) Organic manures improve soil conditions, resulting in increased
yields.
2) Supply all the nutrients required by plants.
3) Improve plant growth and physiological activities of plants.
4) Improve soil properties such as granulation, soil tilth, aeration, water
holding capacity, and carbon content in the soil.
5) Improve soil chemical properties such as retention of nutrients and
promote favorable reactions.
6) Utilizing organic wastes as an input in organic farming minimizes
pollution.
7) Organically cultivated vegetables are said to be healthier and more
nutritious.
8) Organically cultivated vegetables are more disease and pest resistant.
9) There is a growing demand for organically grown vegetables.
10) Organic farming helps to protect the environment.
11) Organic fertilizers are completely safe and does not produce harmful
chemical compounds.
12) Inorganic fertilizers consumption is always higher than organic
fertilizer consumption, especially in uncultivated area.
Barriers to organic farming
Farmers are first repelled from adopting organic farming due to a number
of obstacles. Although land resources can freely transition from organic to
conventional farming, they cannot do so in the opposite direction. Initial crop
loss is common when switching to organic farming, especially if the transition
is abrupt. Biological controls may have been compromised, allowing toxins to

Page | 24
destroy them over the course of three to four years. For organic production, a
conversion period of at least three years is required. Without enough
government backing, organic producers may be hesitant to engage the new
market.
Components of organic vegetable production:
Various components of organic cultivation are described below:
1. Organic manures
Organic manures are natural materials made from plants and animals that
contain small amounts of plant nutrients and are used in huge quantities. When
applied to soil, organic manures improve soil structure, create a better
environment for food proliferation, increase water holding capacity, reducing
soil erosion, increasing nutrient uptake, and enhancing soil microbial
population, all of which lead to improved nitrogen fixation, phosphorus
mobilization, and solubilization. All of these efforts result in increased
vegetable growth, yield, and quality. We need 230 million tonnes of food, 24
million tonnes of NPK fertilizers, and 2 million tonnes of organics to feed a
billion people. If all of the NPK requirements are supplied through organic
means, the quantity required will be enormous. However, the vast potential of
organic resources has yet to be realized. Organic manures generated from
livestock excreta, human excreta, and crop residues are projected to contribute
roughly 17.82 million tonnes of NPK per year in the country. Organic manures
can be bulky (with nutritional content per unit volume, like FYM, poultry
manure, sheep manure, and compost) or concentrated (with nutrient content
per volume, like cakes, blood meal, fish meal, horn meal, meat meal, and so
on). Organic manures have had a positive impact on vegetable crops, resulting
in increased production and quality.
2. Compost
Compost is an amorphous, brown to dark humified material made from
farm wastes, weeds, cattle excreta, litters, night soil, tree leaves, street kachra,
industrial wastes, slaughterhouse wastes, and other organic wastes collected
from rural and urban locations. Compost, which contains a large amount of
organic matter as well as vital nutrients, is recognized as an important part of
organic farming since it has been shown to improve soil health, resulting in
higher-quality, longer-lasting crops. Compost is said to be able to replace 50%
of inorganic fertilizer in tomato plants (Thornsbury et al., 2000). The use of
seaweed compost improved the growth, moisture, lipid, and protein content of
vegetables.

Page | 25
3. Vermicompost
Vermicompost is granular compost made from organic wastes converted
by earthworms. Animal excreta, agricultural wastes, plant products, city
rubbish, biogas slurry, and industrial wastes can all be used to make it anew.
Vermicompost is NPK and contains a good proportion of Ca, Na, and Mg,
among other nutrients. In the long run, it enhances the physical, biological,
and chemical qualities of soil. It results in a yield boost of 10-15% on average.
It has been discovered that it can be used to replace fertilizers and increase the
quality of vegetables.
4. Crop residues
Crop residues are described as non-economic plant pails left on the field
after harvest, as well as residues from packing sheds and processing facilities.
The output of residue from frequently farmed crops is estimated to be 185,3
m t, supplying roughly 3.32 mt of NPK nutrients (Bharadwaj and Gaur,1985)
and has a significant potential for improving soil and water conservation,
sustaining soil productivity, and increasing crop yields. Furthermore, as a
potential supply of plant nutrients, they aid in the development of a robust
organic matter base.
5. Green manuring
Green manuring is an ancient method of crop manuring. Green manure
crops are those that are grown to increase the amount of organic matter in the
soil, and their use in cropping systems is referred to as green manuring. These
crops are grown either in situ or brought from outside and incorporated. In
both cases, plant material is worked Out in the soil at a pretty delicate stage.
As green manure crops, sun-hemp, daincha, black gramme, cowpea, and guar
are employed. Upon decomposition, they release nutrients, create enzymes,
vitamins, hormones, and antibiotics. Green manuring is known to increase
yields by 15-20 percent besides, improving the quality of vegetables.
6. Legumes in rotation
Legume crops such as peas, cowpeas, guar, and others have been shown
to improve soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen, resulting in yield
increases of 30-35 percent. Legumes can contribute 30-60 kg of nitrogen per
hectare. Growing legume crops in a vegetable rotation can improve both
output and quality.
7. Bio-fertilizers
Bio-fertilizers are the products containing living cells of different
microorganisms that have the ability to mobilize nutrients from non-usable

Page | 26
forms through biological processes, these include both symbiotic and non-
symbiotic nitrogen fixers, phosphorus solubilizers, and mobilizers. Bio-
fertilizers constitute a significant component in organic farming, as they play
a nutritional, stimulatory, and therapeutic role, leading to improvement in
yield and quality of vegetables, besides improvement in soil fertility. The field
response of Rhizobium is encouraging as reported by a number of research
workers. Azotobacter, Azospirillum also depicted a significant influence on
vegetable crops, resulting in a nitrogen economy of 20-25% and an increase
in yield from 5-25%. Phosphorus solubilizers and phosphorus mobilizers have
also resulted in a phosphorus economy of 25% and an increase in yield by 4.7-
51%.
Natural products as pesticides
Even the earliest farmers used natural items to reduce crop losses caused
by illnesses. Broad-spectrum pesticides like as allium (garlic extract) are
utilized, while Bugasa, a herbal pesticide made from 46 plants, has been
produced. Pesticides made from neem, sabadilla, and pyrethrum extracts are
also utilized. Furthermore, biofertilizers contain antifungal properties that are
non-toxic, resulting in high-quality vegetable output over time.
Features of varieties for organic cultivation
1) They should be responsive to organic sources of plant nutrients.
2) They should be better adapted to the local environment.
3) They should be resistant to diseases, insects and pests.
4) They should be resistant/ tolerant to stress conditions.
5) Should be produced and evaluated under organic conditions.
The presently available hybrids can be provisionally used in organic
vegetable production, till the development of suitable organic hybrids. Some
varieties in different vegetable crops have been developed for organic
cultivation (Table-4).
Table 4: Suitable hybrids and varieties for organic cultivation Hybrids

Brinjal (Long) Pusa Hybrid-5, NDBH-6, NDBH-7, H0E-404, Pant Hybrid-1,

ARBR: 201, HOE-414
Brinjal Pusa Hybride-6, Pusa Hybrid-9, ARBH-216, NDBH-1, NDB11_8, -
(Round) Neembaker, Pant Hybrid-2, BH-1, BH-2, HOE-44
Tomato Pusa Hyribd-2, NA-501, DTH-4, NDTH-1, Phule Hybrid-1, BSS-
(determinate) 39, ARTH-3, NA-701, ARTH-15, Swarna-12, NDTH-6, HOE-606,
Rishi, HOE-616
Tomato ARTH-4, MTH-6, NA-601, Arka Vardhan, KT-4, BSS-20, BSS-40,

Page | 27
(Indeterminate) BSS-- 90, HOE-909, Larica, Ratna, DTH-6, Sonali, ARTH-16,
NDTH-2, NDTH-4, TC-161
Chilli Agni, HOE-808, HOE-888, HOE-818, CH-104, BSS-138, CH-1,
ARCH-
228, BS-141
Capsicum Bharat, Early Bonty, Indira, Lario, HOE-801, Hira
Cabbage Pusa Synthetic, Sri Ganesh Gol, BSS-32, Quisto, Nath-401, Nath-
501, -Uttam
Cauliflower Pusa Hybrid-2
Watermelon Nath-102, MHW-6, Nath-202, MHW-11
Muskmelon Pusa Hybrid-1, MH-10, Pusa Rasraj, DMH-4
Pumpkin Pusa Hybrid-1
Cucumber Pusa Sanyog, Solan Hybrid-1, PCUC-1-1, AAUC-1, AAUC-2.
Bottle Gourd Pusa Manjari, Pusa Meghdoot, NDBH-7, Pusa Hybrid-2, PBOG-1,
PBOG-2
Carrot Hybrid-1
Broccoli Fiesta F1 Hybrid
Snap melon AHS-10, AHS-82
Watermelon AHW-19, AHW-65 (Matira)
Muskmelon MHY-5, Durgapura Madhu

Agro-techniques for organic vegetable cultivation

Because each crop has its unique set of climatic requirements, it is critical
that we raise the vegetable crop in accordance with those criteria in order to
achieve better outcomes. Soil is another key factor that varies per crop, notably
in terms of pH. It should be fertile, rich in organic content, and have a good
water holding capacity. Some crops should be grown in soil with a lower pH,
while others should be grown in soil with a higher pH and others should be
grown in soil with a neutral pH. Furthermore, the soil was ploughed to a fine
tilth. In terms of seed rate, it is determined by the crop and planting method.
When compared to traditional kinds, hybrids use 25% less seed.
Nursery raising
• This method is used in the transplantation of vegetable crops.
• Seeds from high-yielding cultivars with disease and pest tolerance
may be used.
• To get rid of insects, pests, and disease infections, burn dry grass or
other agricultural debris on top of the nursery bed.
• To combat soil-borne pests, solar sterilizing of nursery beds can be
used.

Page | 28
 • To get rid of the weeds, irrigate lightly and manually remove the
weeds.
• To be safe, saturate the soil with Trichoderma spp. to avoid a variety
of soil-borne illnesses.
• Avoid the use of seed treatment with chemicals, however, seed
treatment with biofertilizers and friendly fungi can be used.
• The seeds may be treated with Trichoderma @l0 g/kg of seed.
• To control foliar insects, pests, and diseases natural products like
Allicin, Nicatine sulfate, Neemacide, etc. can be used.
Nutrient management
Organic manures, compost, Vermicompost, bio-fertilizers, crop residues,
and legumes in rotation can all help meet nutrient requirements for a specific
vegetable crop. Organic manures should be applied in combination to reduce
bulkiness and to achieve better outcomes. Organic manures should be used,
such as farmyard manure (20 tonnes) or Vermicompost (10 tons/ha).
However, enriched compost is always preferable to farmyard manure alone.
At the time of land preparation, it is preferable to apply 5 tonnes of sheep
manure and 5 quintals of neem cake/ castor/ Tumba/ Karanja cake per hectare.
To improve soil fertility, it's best to leave the site for sheep grazing before
planting vegetables.
Rajasthan has a sufficient supply of crop wastes such as mustard, sesame,
castor, and isabgol, which should be mixed into the soil. Crop residues are
non-economic plant components that are left in the field after harvest and
leftovers from packing sheds or discarded during crop processing.
Seed germination and seedling vigour are improved by bio-fertilizers
such as Azotobacter/ Azospirillum and PSB. Azotobacter is also known for
producing antibacterial and antifungal chemicals, as well as growth regulators.
It's also been discovered that when soil is treated with FYM under aerobic
conditions, Azotobacter species fix the most nitrogen. Except for bio-
fertilizers, organic sources of plant nutrients should be put into the field at
least 15-20 days prior to planting or sowing. Fully decomposed manures, on
the other hand, can be spread between the rows and assimilated into the soil.
B io_ fertilizers can be applied prior to planting or during the planting process.
However, organic sources of plant nutrients should be treated carefully to have
their full nutritional potential in order to achieve superior results.

Page | 29
Application Techniques of Bio-fertilizers
1. Seed treatment
To make a thick slurry of carrier-based inoculums for seed treatment,
combine 200 g of inoculum with 500 ml of water. Using a 10% jaggery
solution or a 5% sugar solution combined with 40% boiling and cooled gum
solution or rice-gruel water will considerably improve the stickiness of the
bio-fertilizer on the seed surface. After that, the needed number of seed is
gently blended into the slurry, taking care not to break the seed coat. The
treated seeds are equally dispersed across a gunny bag, dried in the shade, and
put in damp soil right away. Under no circumstances should the treated seeds
be exposed to direct sunlight for an extended period of time, as UV rays
diminish the population of inoculation bacteria on the seed surface.
2. Seedling treatment
This application strategy is best suited for transplanted vegetable crops.
The roots of seedlings to be transplanted are immersed in a loose water slurry
of bio-fertilizer (500 g in 2.5 litre of water) for 20 minutes prior to
transplanting in this technique.
3. Soil application
Except for Rhizobium, all varieties of bio-fertilizers should be applied to
the soil. The bio-fertilizer is used after being mixed 1:25 with dry FYM,
compost, or vermicompost. The suggested dose for crops with a six-month
duration is 1-2 kg/ha. For crops that last longer than six months, this can be
raised to 2-4 kg/ha. In the first year, 10-25 g of bio-fertilizer should be applied
to the root zone of perennial crops, followed by 25-50 g in consecutive years.
This can be done during the seeding, transplanting, or inter-cultivation
process.
Better Performance of Bio-fertilizer Application
• Bio-fertilizers must be devoid of contaminating microorganisms and
possess a good effective strain inappropriate population.
• Choose the proper bio-fertilizer combination and utilize it before the
expiration date.
• Use the recommended application method and apply at the
recommended time according to the label's instructions.
• For best results, the appropriate adhesive should be used for seed
treatment.
• Corrective treatments such as lime or gypsum, seed pelleting, or soil
pH adjustment with lime should be used for problematic soils.

Page | 30
 • Ensure that phosphorous and other nutrients are available.
Restricted use of authorized mineral fertilizers in organic systems is
possible depending on the need and soil analysis results. The use of soil
supplements such as tank silt, gypsum, and rock phosphate are permitted in
limited quantities.
Irrigation
Irrigation is an important part of vegetable production because nutrient
uptake is only possible in the presence of moisture. It is recommended to water
the crop as needed, but there are a few things to keep in mind:
• Use irrigation water that hasn't been contaminated by fertilizers.
• Ascertain that the water used for irrigation is devoid of pesticides and
weedicides.
Microbiological
Microbiological preparations based on naturally occurring organisms,
biodegradable processing by-products of microbial origin, e.g., by-products of
brewery or distillery processing Bio-fertilizers are a type of bio-fertilizer that
is used to fertilize plants.
Inter-culture operations
Chemical pesticides are not an option because the basic idea of organic
gardening is to prevent the use of synthetic chemicals. The methods listed
below can be used:
Sanitation of the field and crops, rotation, mulching, solarization, and
biological weed control, as well as mowing and burning dirt, allelopathy in
order to effectively manage weeds in organic farming, it is necessary to have
a thorough understanding of weed and crop characteristics in connection to
specific field circumstances, from which plants can be designed for specific
scenarios.
Plant Protection
"Prevention is better than cure," organic farmers believe. They should
employ all available measures to avoid the spread of pests, illnesses, and
weeds. To keep the pest problem under control, choose naturally resistant
types and rely on a wide population of soil bacteria, insects, birds, and other
species.
Farmers will utilize a range of measures, such as insect predators, mating
disruption, traps, and barriers, when the pest becomes out of balance. In many

Page | 31
cases, insect egg masses or larvae are picked up by hand. Botanicals like
typical items are also utilized to keep pest populations in check. In other
words, all physical, mechanical, and biological methods of controlling pest
populations are used, but no chemicals are used. Biopesticides are
environmentally friendly, pest-specific, and non-toxic to non-target creatures,
with no toxic residues on edible parts.
Pests
On vegetable corps, B.T., N.P.V., Beauveria, and Metarhizium have been
proven to be effective in controlling pests such as pod borer, whitefly, aphids,
mites, thrips, and others.
Trichogramma, ladybird beetle, crysopa, spiders, and other beneficial
insects (predators and parasites) are included in biological pest management.
Thrips, aphids, and mites can all be controlled with neem seed kernel
extract (NSKE 3 percent). Thrips and mites can be controlled by releasing
larvae of Chrysoperia carnea, a bio-control agent, once every 15 days. Fruit
(pod) borers, such as Helicoverpa armigera and 5'podoptera lituru, are the
most common pests, wreaking havoc on crops such as chillies, tomatoes,
brinjal, and okra.
The use of a limited number of pheromone traps (5/acre) in the field aids
in the monitoring of adult moths. Spraying with Nuclear Polyhardrosis Virus
(NPV) 500 ml; ha 4-5 rounds ten days after detecting the moths in the traps is
useful in controlling the pod borers' early larval stage. Within 48-96 hours of
application, NPV kills target organisms (insects), resulting in a decrease in
insect population and a reduction in crop damage.
Spodoptera egg masses can be mechanically manipulated and destroyed.
Trichorgrammatids are an important group of bio-control agents that only
parasitize the pest's egg stages. Two days following the arrival of moths, the
Trichogramma may be released. Neem products, such as neem oil or neem
seed kernel extract, are sprayed. At regular intervals, all shed fruits and
inflorescence portions should be collected and destroyed.
Chrysopid predators
Green Lace Wing (Chrysoperta carnea) is a voracious predator of
sucking pests, whiteflies, aphids, mealybugs, and eggs, as well as juvenile
Lepidoptera larvae.
Pheromone traps and lures
Pheromone lures for Helicoverpa, Spodopetra, Earias, and other male

Page | 32
moths are available on the market. These lures work as sex attractants for
certain male moths.
Diseases
The principal illnesses of semi-arid environments are rot and dieback
caused by Colletotrichum sp., as well as bacterial wilt. Diseases will be
controlled by careful seed selection and the use of phytosanitary measures.
The early removal of diseased plants will help to control disease spread and
limit the spread of diseases. Sendoptionas fluorescens is effective against chilli
wilt disease 15 days after transplanting and 3 months @ 2.5 kg/ha mixed with
50 kg FYM or compost in rows. Spraying P. fluorescens (0.2 percent) @ I
kg/ha against the hack could be beneficial. In the nursery, seed treatment with
Trichoderma prevents seedling rot.
References
1. Bhardwaj, K. K. R. and Gaur, A. C. (1985). Recycling of organic wastes.
ICAR Publications, New Delhi.
2. Bisoyi, B. N., Majumdar, P., Srivasta, R. S. M. and Creep, S. (2003).
Prospects of organic input production in India. Paper presented at
National Seminar on Organic Farming with Special Reference to Organic
Inputs, August 21-22, Bangalore.
3. Gaur, A. C. (1992). Bulky organic manures and crop residues, fertilizers,
organic manures, recyclable wastes and bio-fertilizers. Fertilizer
development corporation, New Delhi.
4. Jangir, R. P. (2006). Cultivation of organic chili. State-level Seminar on
chili. A.R.S. Jodhpur (Rajasthan) pp.29-35.
5. Malewar, G. U., Ismail, Syed and Rudraksha, G. B. (1998). Integrated
nitrogen management in chili (Capsicum annnum L.) Integrated plant
Nutrient Supply System for sustainable Productivity (Eds.) Acharya et al.
Bulletin No.2. Indian Institute of Soil Science Bhopal, India, pp.156-163.
6. Padel, S. and Lampkin, N. H. (1994). Farm-level performance of organic
farming systems: An overview. In Economics of Organic Farming (Eds.
Lampkin, N. H. and Padel, S.), CAB, Wallingford, UK, pp. 201–219.
7. Palaniappan, S. P. and Annaduari, K. (1999). Organic farming: Theory
and Practices. Scientific Publishers (India) Jodhpur. Pp. 248.
8. Ravuri, V. and Chandrasekhar, K. (2005). Organic farming: What, Why
and How? Agrobios Newsletter. 4 (I): 13-14.

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9. Subramanian, T. C. Venket. (2005). Organic farming in India, prospects
and challenges. Agrobios Newsletter. 4 (1): 10-12.
10. Thornbury, S. D., Stoffella, P. J. and Minton, T. M. (2000). Economics of
organic wastes compost utilization in a commercial tomato production
system. Acta Horticulture 536: 93-99.
11. Yadav, B. D., Khandelwal, R. B. and Sharma, Y. K. (2004). Production
of tomato under organic condition. Haryana J. Hort. Sci. 33 (3-4): 306-
307.
12. Zahid, P. B. (1999). Preparation of organic fertilizers from seaweed and
its effect on the growth of some vegetable plants. Hamdard Medicus. 42:
93-108.

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 Chapter - 4
Drone technology- for Smart Agriculture

Authors
Mohammad Vaheed
Post Graduate Student, Department of Agronomy, Acharya
Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology,
Kumarganj Ayodhya-224 229 (U.P.)
Ashish Kumar Verma
Post Graduate Student, Department of Agronomy, Acharya
Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology,
Kumarganj Ayodhya-224 229 (U.P.)
Srishti Singh
Post Graduate Student, Department of Agronomy, Acharya
Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology,
Kumarganj Ayodhya-224 229 (U.P.)
Niyaz Ahmad
Post Graduate Student, Department of Biotechnology, Acharya
Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology,
Kumarganj Ayodhya-224 229 (U.P.)
Dr. B.N. Singh
Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy, Acharya
Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology,
Kumarganj Ayodhya-224 229 (U.P.)
Sidra Qidwai
Post Graduate Student, Department of Agronomy, Acharya
Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology,
Kumarganj Ayodhya-224 229 (U.P.)

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Page | 36
 Chapter - 4
Drone technology- for Smart Agriculture
Mohammad Vaheed, Ashish Kumar Verma, Srishti Singh, Niyaz Ahmad, Dr. B.N. Singh
and Sidra Qidwai

Abstract
One of the main sources of income in India is Agriculture. The production
rate of crops in agriculture is based on various parameters like temperature,
humidity, rain etc. Which are natural factors and not in farmers control. The
field of agriculture is also depends on some factors like pests, disease,
fertilizers etc. which can be control by giving proper treatment to crops.
Various technologies used to reduce human efforts in different operations of
agriculture like detection of presence of pests, spraying of urea, fertilizers etc.
Emerging technologies enabling the acquisition of real-time environmental
data. The Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be exploited in a variety of
applications related to crops management, by capturing high spatial and
temporal resolution images (Kurkute et al., 2018).
In the present era, there are too many developments in precision
agriculture for increasing the crop productivity. Especially, in the developing
countries like India, over 70% of the rural people depend upon the agriculture.
The agriculture fields face dramatic losses due to the various stresses which
reduces the productivity of the crops. Pesticides and fertilizers are used to kill
the insects and pests in order to enhance the quality and the productivity of
crops but it also affects on human health. The WHO (World Health
Organization) estimated as one million cases of ill effected when spraying the
pesticides in the crop filed manually (Mogili and Deepak 2018). The UAV-
aircrafts are used to spray the pesticides to avoid the health problems of
humans when they spray manually. These technologies are expected to
revolutionize agriculture, enabling decision-making in days instead of weeks,
promising significant reduction in cost and increase the yield. Such decisions
enables the effective application of farm inputs, supporting the four pillars of
precision agriculture, i.e., apply the right practice, at the right place, at the
right time and with the right quantity (Tsouros et al., 2019).
Keywords- UAV, Precision farming, CAS, Sustainable Agriculture,

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Electromagnetic wave, NDVI and Reforestation
Some important terms used
UAV: A UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is a flying device that can fly
a pre-set course with the help of an autopilot and GPS coordinates. The device
also has normal radio controls; it can be piloted manually in case of a fault or
dangerous situation.
Precision farming: The term precision farming refers to a farming
management concept based on observing, measuring and responding to inter
and intra-field variability in crops.
CAS: The Conventional agriculture system, variously called
“conventional farming,” “modern agriculture,” or “industrial farming,” refers
to farming systems which include the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers,
pesticides, herbicides and other continual inputs.
Sustainable Agriculture: Sustainable agriculture is a farming in
sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without
compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their
needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem services.
Electromagnetic wave: Electromagnetic waves are waves that are
created as a result of vibrations between an electric field and a magnetic field.
In other words, EM waves are composed of oscillating magnetic and electric
fields.
NDVI: Normalized Difference vegetation Index is a type of sensor which
is use for the measurement the amount of live vegetation in an area.
Reforestation: Reforestation is the process of regenerating or replanting
forest areas that have deforested.
Introduction
The world population has increases day by day and projected to reach 9
billion people by 2050, so the expert expect that the agricultural consumption
will also increase in the same time period. In order to feed this larger, more
urban and richer population, food production (net of food used for biofuels)
must increase by 70 percent. Annual cereals production will need to rise about
3 billion tons from 2.1 billion today and annual meat production will need to
rise by over 200 million tones to reach 470 million tones. Agriculture sector
is the most promising sector and challenging sector because it is depends on
climate or weather, condition of the soil, irrigation water quality and quantity
and their application rate. This report argues that the required increase in food

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production can be achieved by adopting the advance technologies in
agricultural production. The Use of advanced technologies such as drone in
agriculture offer potential for facing several major or minor challenges. The
major applications of drone in agriculture are irrigation, crop monitoring.
Therefore, there is a need of clean and green technologies to perform
agricultural practices in a sustainable manner. In this context, drone or UAV
comes into the picture.
Chronology
The evidence about the first use of aerial vehicles dates back in 1921. The
USDA in collaboration with the US Army deployed it for crop dusting. In
2017 a situational irony played out in southern Africa as the “fall armyworm”
devastated more than 10, 0000 hectares of maize in Zambia. The Zambian Air
Force was directed to assist the Ministry of Agriculture and Disaster
Management and used aircraft to target the pests through the aerial application
of pesticides at several “hot spots” throughout the country. Israel has made
significant developments in agriculture drones more recently. The military
initially used them. However, other sectors quickly embraced with UAVs
when they learned about its widespread applications.
Not long ago a drone would have only meant a male bee that is the product
of an unfertilized egg. Unlike the female worker bee, drones do not have
stingers and do not gather nectar and pollen.
Currently, the practical applications for drones are expanding from
hobbyists to industries and other areas like photography etc. It is expected that
Drones market can touch $200 billion by year 2020. Among various promising
areas, Agriculture is regarded as one of the most important area where
different varieties with feature packed facilities are required overcoming
several challenges of farmers for better crop yield.
Recently, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (Govt. of India)
has also emphasis and issued revised guidelines of “Sub-Mission on
Agricultural Mechanization” (SMAM) scheme in aimed to making drone
more accessible to the farmers. The funding guidelines will make this
technology affordable by assisting in purchase, hiring and demonstration of
agriculture drones. The financial aid and grants shall be applicable till 31st
March 2023. A grant upto 100% of the cost of agriculture drone or Rs 10 lakhs,
whichever is less, as grant for purchase of drones will be provided to the Farm
Machinery Training and Testing institutes, ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan
Kendras (KVK’s) and State Agriculture Universities for taking up large scale
demonstrations of this technology on the farmer’s fields. In addition to these,

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the Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) are eligible to get grants up to
75 percent of the total cost of agriculture drones. Custom Highring Centers
(CHC’s) will be also eligible to receive 50% of the basic cost of a drone or up
to Rs. 5 lakh in grant for drone purchases (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers
Welfare, 2022).
What is Drone?
DRONE (Dynamic Remotely Operated Navigation Equipment) are
formally known as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which is essentially a
flying robot. It can be controlled either by pilot from the ground or it can be
autonomous. With the availability of so many sensors, drones can detect the
things which are beyond the visible range of our sight. The drones which are
used for agriculture purpose are called as agriculture drone. Therefore, real-
time, more accurate, reliable and information can be derived from drones in
greater detail and fewer errors.
Objectives
The primary objectives of bringing drones into the sector is to reduce
manpower, increase the efficiency of crop protection with chemicals, reduce
the amount of water used for farming, and prevent humans from getting
exposed to harmful pesticides.
Why drones?
Nowadays, higher doses of fertilizers, pesticides and other agrochemicals
have been used under the conventional agriculture systems (CAS). Climate
change and environmental pollution are the major global issues of the current
era and severely impacting agricultural productivity. More than 815 million
people are chronically hungry and 64 percent of the chronically hungry in Asia
(FAO, 2018).
Drone technology has gotten most of the recognition in the industry
because of its diversity and considered the future for the agrarian community.
With the world’s population projected to reach 9 billion people by 2050,
experts expect agricultural consumption to increase by nearly 70 percent over
the same time period. In such situation drone technology could be helpful and
may satisfy the increasing future needs.
Bands of electromagnetic waves
Drones are currently emerging as a component of precision agriculture
along with contributing to sustainable agriculture. Various sensitive sensors
or bands of electromagnetic waves are used in the drones based upon the
purpose in agriculture.

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1) Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) bands
These bands are used for counting the number of plants, for modeling
elevation, and visual inspection of the crop field.
2) Near Infra-Red (NIR) band
This band is used for water management, erosion analysis, plant counting,
soil moisture analysis, and assessment of crop health.
3) Red Edge band (RE)
It is used for plant counting, water management, and crop health
assessment.
4) Thermal Infra-Red band
This band has applicability in irrigation scheduling, analyzing plant
physiology, and yield forecasting.
NDVI Sensor
It helps us to know about the health status of the plant. Healthy plants
have a strong near infrared (NIR) reflectivity, called the "Red Edge".
Formula to calculate NDVI range = NIR- Red / NIR + Red
Ranges of NDVI
• Dead plants: <0
• Unhealthy plants: < 0.33
• Healthy plant: >0.33 to < 0.66
• Very healthy plants: >0.66
Agriculture sensors and software
Some important sensors and software which is used in agriculture are
given below:
Micasense with Atlas
• Produce chlorophyll and weed detection maps
• Identify disease and highlight stress variation
Sentera with Field Agent
• Process sensor data and gain NDVI and NDRE insights
• Generate orthomosaic maps
• Autonomously fly your drone within a selected area

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DJI Zenmuse XT with Drone Deploy
• Identify crop stress, track fertilizer application, and discover disease
earlier
• Track livestock and analyze grazing patterns
How can drones support Indian agriculture?
• Drones don't merely enhance overall performance but also encourage
farmers to solve other assorted barriers and receive plenty of benefits
through precision agriculture.
• In India, the drone was used to determine the area under coffee
plantations in order to estimate yield in 2016.
• Drones are currently being used by Skymet company for providing
agriculture survey services to insurance companies and the state
governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya
Pradesh.
• Agriculture Drone empowers the farmer to adapt to specific
environments helps regulate crop health, crop treatment, crop
scouting, irrigation, and carry out field soil analysis and crop damage
assessments.
Applications of drones in agriculture
Mapping Agriculture Fields Using UAVs
Accurate geospatial information on agriculture is a critical requirement
for planning and decision-making, particularly when intending to increase and
improve smallholder irrigated agriculture. Most of the freely available space-
borne satellite images have been used to produce coarse land use/cover maps
but, the advent of UAVs has improved mapping accuracy because of their high
resolution, although at a smaller coverage. The use of UAVs in mapping land
use makes it potentially possible to monitor smallholder farming fields, which
are generally too small to be detected by readily available moderate to low
resolution satellite images. Smallholder farming plots measure about two
hectares in area per farmer. Smallholder farming areas are generally detected
as one massive agriculture land by low to moderate resolution satellite, yet
their mapping accuracy is important as, for example in southern Africa, they
occupy about 80% of the cultivated land, contributing about 90% of the
agricultural produce Therefore, mapping accurate and detailed agricultural
fields is important for policy and decision making especially for addressing
climate resilience of agricultural livelihoods. High resolution satellite images

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that could offer the same accuracy as UAV are costly, which limits their use.
Unlike space-borne satellite, UAVs are not limited by cloud cover because the
temporal resolution (acquisition time) is user-defined and can be adjusted to
local weather conditions. UAVs can be deployed repeatedly at flexible
mission times and altitudes to acquire agricultural data. Images acquired by
UAVs offer observation of single plants, patches and ultimately patterns over
the fields, something that is not possible with space-borne satellite images.
These advantages, coupled with ultra-high spatial resolutions, make UAVs
best suited for mapping crops planted in narrow rows at optimal accuracies.
The main limiting factor of UAV imagery as compared to satellite imagery is
their small coverage per image.
Soil and field analysis
The drone survey allows farmers to obtain information about their land's
soil conditions. Multispectral sensors allow seizing data useful for seed
planting patterns, thorough field soil analysis, irrigation, and nitrogen-level
management., moisture content, nutrients content and fertility levels of the soil
which can be further used for planning the pattern of sowing of different crops,
irrigation scheduling as well as for managing fertilizers application
considering spatial variability of the crop growth and field conditions. After
getting precise 3D maps for soil, planting can be planned and nutrient status
can be analyzed for further operations.
Seed sowing and planting trees
Drones can be used for planting crops which can save labour cost and
reduce human drudgery. As there would be no use of tractors for sowing crops
in the field, drones can save fuels, reduce the emission of harmful gases
formed during fuel exhaustion while operating tractors in the field. Drones can
be used to plant trees or crops in remote areas by throwing biodegradable seed
pods or seed bombs
Weed identification
Drones can be used to identify the weeds present in the field. These weeds
could be timely rooted out from the field so that they do not compete for
resources with the main crop.
Assessing Crop Water Stress and Health Using UAV Derived Indices
Water Stress Indices (WSI) are useful crop parameters for mitigating
drought impacts, as well as for irrigation scheduling. Remote sensing provides
various products that are used to acquire ecological information from the
interpretation and analysis of thermal, multispectral, and hyperspectral image

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bands. Reflectance of the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on plants or
vegetation differs depending on chlorophyll content, type of plant, sugar
content and water content within the plant tissues. Precise interpretation of
spectral reflectance through high-resolution UAV images can reveal water and
nutrient deficiencies, as well as information on plant health. During the
growing process, a plant requires water, carbon dioxide and light for
photosynthesis to occur, thereby producing sugar and oxygen. Besides these
requirements, plants also need nutrients for plant cell and tissue development.
Lack of these components leads to plant stress and the symptoms are mainly
observed through the defoliation of older leaves and decrease in biomass.
Modern agricultural UAV platforms can be mounted with both multispectral
and thermal cameras to simultaneously acquire information on both crop
health and water stress at high resolution. One indicator for a healthy plant is
the chlorophyll content in the leaves. Chlorophyll absorbs the visible light and
reflects Near Infrared (NIR). Healthy plants with good photosynthetic
activities can be analyzed by comparing the reflectance of NIR and visible
light. These plant characteristics are assessed through vegetation indices,
which are mathematical transformation of image bands that are used to extract
certain spectral properties qualitatively and quantitatively such as vegetation
cover, vigour, and growth dynamics. These vegetation indices are tailor made
to specific application and each of them has its own advantage. Thus,
vegetation indices can be used to enhance the classification and assessment
algorithms for plant health. Vegetation indices also provide information on
plant growth as healthy plants absorb more visible-light and reflect more near-
infrared (NIR). There are many vegetation indices that use NIR and Red bands
and these are: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil
Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Ashburn Vegetation Index (AVI),
Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), among others. The commonly used
vegetation index is the NDVI (Equation (1)), which is directly used to monitor
and characterize canopy growth and plant vigour.
NDVI = NIR – Red / NIR + Red
Where,
NIR is the Near Infrared band and Red is the red band
The NDVI is important for providing information on the variability of the
health of crops, as well as in large-scale monitoring of plantations, assess
changes in the field, quantifying crop acreage and analyze crop loss. It is also
used to estimate plant attributes such as physiological status, yield production,
crop distribution and irrigation mapping.

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Irrigation scheduling of crops
Drones having sensors for optical, multispectral, and thermal imaging
which can pinpoint the heat and water stress in the crops at a specific location.
It can be used to apply irrigation to the crops based on their requirement. This
will prevent the wastage of water and will ensure the efficient utilization of
irrigation water.
Crop spraying
Drones can scan the ground and spray the correct amount of liquid,
modulating distance from the ground and spraying in real time for even
coverage. Through drone crop spraying, human contact with such harmful
chemicals is limited. Agri-drones can carry out this task much quicker than
vehicles/airplanes. Drones with RGB sensors and multispectral sensors can
precisely identify and treat problematic areas. Professionals say that aerial
spraying is five times faster with drones when compared to other methods.
Geo-fencing or protecting the field from animal damage
A virtual boundary or region surrounding any geographical region, for
security purpose. The thermal cameras mounted over drones can detect
animals or human beings during the night. So, it can be used to protect fields
from the damage caused by animals.
Crop insurance
In circumstances of crop failure, the farmer can also document the
damages for accurate insurance claims. This technology has great potential in
accurate and effective implementation of crop insurance scheme, namely
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in India without any bias.
Estimating Crop Yield through UAVs
The use of high-resolution satellite images to assess crop vigour and yield
has generally been limited by high costs, particularly of hyper-spectral images.
Other limitations of space-borne acquired images in crop yield estimation
include cloud noise on the images, and the complex and heterogeneous nature
of farming systems in smallholder farming areas, which are difficult to detect
with low resolution images. The advent of UAVs has bridged the gap between
space-borne satellites and the use of remotely sensed products in smallholder
farmlands on one hand, and the high cost, labour intensive, and time-
consuming conventional field surveys of crops on the other hand. Thus, the
availability of low-cost UAVs has opened new possibilities to remotely sense
crop status and yields even on complex smallholder farms with improved
accuracy. High resolution multi-temporal UAV images have transformed the

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monitoring of crop development, which provides crucial planning information
to farmers. High resolution UAV images provide more accurate information
on crop biomass, yield, and cropped area with acceptable accuracy for farmers
and decision makers to effectively manage and monitor crops for optimum
benefits to farmers. Thus, UAV sensed images provide more accurate
information on crop biomass, yield and cropped area to farmers and decision
makers to manage and monitor crops for optimum benefit. Studies have shown
that there is a high correlation between vegetation spectral index extracted
from satellite images and the green biomass and yield. Therefore, combining
vegetation spectral indices and the green biomass is important for estimating
yield before harvesting. Crop yield is defined as crop production per unit area
and it is a product of the complex interaction between soil conditions (physical
and chemical conditions), management (cultivar and spacing), and the
meteorological conditions (water and thermal). Crop yield estimation
enhances preparedness, as it is part of early warning, providing decision
makers with timely information on crop deficit or surplus. High-resolution
remotely sensed data has become an alternative source of information needed
to estimate crop yield to traditional methods, as it is more accurate, cost and
time effective.
Traditional methods are generally costly, time consuming and are prone
to errors, which often results in poor crop yield assessment. The three remote
sensing methods for estimating crop yield include-
i.) Based on empirical statistical models,
ii.) Based on water consumption balance models, and
iii.) Based on biomass estimation models.
UAVs provide more accurate information on crop height and biomass
timeously and at user-defined temporal resolution. Crop height and biomass
are important components for assessing growth rate and health of crops. Plant
height and biomass data are important components for assessing the effect of
genetic variation in the crops, crop development and yield potential. The two
components are essential for optimizing site-specific crop management and
yield predictions.
The most used model for estimating crop yield is the Monteith equation
(Equation (3)), which uses the accumulation of biomass as a proportion of
accumulated absorbed photo-synthetically active radiation (APAR).
According to Monteith, crop yield is expressed as
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 = є ∑(APAR)(t)(t)(Kg/m2)

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 Where, CY is the crop yield, which is the accumulated biomass (kg/m2)
in period t, є in g M/J is the light use efficiency and t is the period over which
accumulation takes place, and APAR is the absorbed photo synthetically
active radiation. Variability in light use efficiency (є) in plants is caused by
varying nutrient and water levels. Studies show that when crops are not water
stressed and temperature is optimal, є is a relatively constant property of
plants. UAVs mounted with multispectral sensors produce more accurate and
reliable biomass and light use efficiency indices for estimating crop yields.
UAVs are currently being applied in China to estimate rice yields.
Livestock tracking
The drone survey allows the farmers not to keep track of their crops only
but also monitor the movements of their cattle. Thermal sensor technology
helps find lost animals and detect an injury or sickness. Drones can carry out
this function favorably and this adds comprehensively to the production of
vegetation.
Other Uses of UAVs in Agriculture
One other importance of UAV technology in agriculture is its use in
disaster and risk reduction assessments. Twenty-two percent of economic
damage caused by natural disasters occurs in the agricultural sector, often
resulting in yield reductions of about 20–40% every year. Most of the disasters
that affect agriculture are climate induced, and these include hailstorms, fires
that are caused by heat waves, cyclonic floods, and winds, as well as droughts.
The impact of these disasters can be reduced by systematically applying
disaster risk reduction practices. For example, UAVs could play an important
role of assessing pre-disaster conditions, immediate impacts after the
occurrence of a disaster and post-disaster analysis. Coupled with satellite
images, which do not depend on ground infrastructure, UAVs can be used to
develop index-based weather insurance that targets smallholder farmers. The
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has used drones in the Philippines
as part of the efforts to reduce the impacts of drought and flooding. UAVs
mounted with multispectral cameras can relay information related to upland
agricultural risks such as landslides and erosion and informs agricultural
communities on the risks and reduce the impacts. As already alluded to,
remotely sensed data from drones is important in estimating crop yield to
provide precise warning on the food situation. Such information provides
enough lead-time to decision-makers to prepare.
How does drone technology work?
Typically, drones include a navigation system, GPS, multiple sensors,

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high-quality cameras, programmable controllers, and tools for autonomous
drones. The DJI is one such familiar drone utilized by the industry. Most
farmers currently use satellite imagery as an introductory guide for farm
management.
Capturing data by agriculture drone takes place as in the following stages
Analyzing the area
This identifies the territory being tested. Therefore, the first step includes
establishing a boundary, analyses of the area, and then finally, uploading the
technical GPS information into the drone's navigation system.
Using Autonomous Drones
Since unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are independent, they enter flight
patterns into their already established system to collect required data.
Uploading the data
After capturing all the required data through sensors such as the
multispectral sensor/RGB sensor, it is processed through the numerous
softwares for further analysis and interpretation.
Output
After collecting the data, they format it so that farmers can understand the
data with no hassle, bringing them a step closer to precision farming. 3D
mapping or Photogrammetry is popular methods to display extensive data
collected.

Fig: Steps of capturing data

Agricultural Drones – Current Usage – Survey Findings
• Only 10% of farmers have had any experience utilizing drones

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 • 7% of American farmers already have a drone in their possession
• 150,000- The number of drones currently in use in the U.S (Agri.)
Benefits of drone technology
As innovators introduce the new technologies and their commercial use
increasing day by day. The government has been easing restrictions for drone
usage and is supporting startups to come up with novel ideas. In agriculture,
they have a plethora of advantages. Some are as follows:
Enhanced Production: The farmer can improve production capabilities
through comprehensive irrigation planning, adequate monitoring of crop
health, increased knowledge about soil health, and adaptation to
environmental changes.
Effective and Adaptive Techniques: Drone usage results in regular
updates to farmers about their crops and helps develop strengthened farming
techniques. They can adapt to weather conditions and allocate resources
without any wastage.
Greater safety of farmers: It is safer and more convenient for farmers
to use drones to spray pesticides in terrains challenging to reach, infected
areas, taller crops, and power lines. It also helps farmers prevent spraying the
crops, which leads to less pollution and chemicals in the soil.
Less wastage of resources: Agri-drones enables optimum usage of all
resources such as fertilizer, water, seeds, and pesticides.
99% Accuracy rate: The drone survey helps farmers calculate the
precise land size, segment the various crops, and indulge in soil mapping.
10x faster data for quick decision-making: Drone surveys back farmers
with accurate data processing that encourages them to make quick and mindful
decisions without second-guessing, allowing farmers to save the time invested
in crop scouting. Various sensors of the drone enable capturing and analyzing
data from the entire field. The data can focus on problematic areas such as
infected crops/unhealthy crops, different colored crops, moisture levels, etc.
The drone can be fixed with several sensors for other crops, allowing a more
accurate and diverse crop management system.
Useful for Insurance claims: Farmers use the data captured through
drones to claim crop insurance in case of any damages. They even calculate
risks/losses associated with the land while being insured.
Evidence for insurance companies: Agricultural insurance sectors use
Agri-drones for efficient and trustworthy data. They capture the damages that

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have occurred for the right estimation of monetary payback to the farmers.
It will save 90% water and 30%-40% pesticide. Small droplet diameter
make the pesticide more well-distribute and improve the effect. At the same
time, it will make the people faraway from the pesticide and reduce the
pesticide remain of the crop.
Challenges
Quality software
Right from planning the flight path till processing the final image,
software plays a crucial role in the applicability of this technology.
Legal aspects
Different nations have their own regulatory regimes pertaining to the use
of UAVs in agriculture.
Acceptability on the farmer front
Technological unawareness may be a hurdle in its penetration.
Flight time and flight range
Most drones have short flight ranges thus limiting the acreage that they
can cover. The ones with the longer flight ranges are relatively more
expensive.
Initial cost of purchase
Drones with features that are suitable for use in agriculture are quite
expensive.
Interference with the airspace
Drones share the same airspace with manually manned aircraft.
Connectivity
Mostly farmlands may not have good connectivity, thus either the farmer
has to invest in connectivity or buy a drone capable of capturing data locally
for later processing.
Weather dependency
Drones’ operations are heavily dependent on climatic conditions, thus
limiting their usage.
Conclusions
Agricultural drone have the potential to improve the crops and helps in

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providing an insight about the disease management technique through imaging
and sensors. It will also provide help in the monitoring of irrigation and water
supply by predicting the availability of water through glaciers. If this UAV-
WSN based surveillance system is applied widely in the near future, millions
of farmers will be able to benefit from the acquisition of real time farm
information. Farmers will not need to spend a significant amount of time on
acquiring farm data and will have access to disaster warning and weather
information when a disaster event seems possible. Nevertheless, the UAV-
WSN technology is still not mature enough for large-scale application. More
UAV-WSN research and development work is required, including the
development of applications for fishing, poultry and farming enterprises.
The market for Drones is expanding day by day from the last two decades
and they have brought a significant revolution in the area of Industry, Military,
Agriculture and many more. This study investigated the importance of drones
in Agriculture and has highlighted the various drones available for diverse
agriculture applications along with technical specifications. The paper is
regarded as eye-opener for Industry and Agriculture for development and
integration of more drones for making Agriculture tasks better and in turn
yielding best crop quality in near future.
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 breakthrough in precision agriculture, Journal of Statistics and
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 Chapter - 5
Plant Nutrients

Authors
Rahul Sharma
M.Sc (Ag.), Department of Agricultural Meteorology, Acharya
Narendra Deva University of Agriculture & Technology,
Kumarganj Ayodhya - 224229 (U.P.)
A N Mishra
(Assistant Professor), Department of Agricultural
Meteorology, Acharya Narendra Deva University of
Agriculture & Technology, Kumarganj Ayodhya - 224229
(U.P.)
Raghvendra Kumar Aryan
Ph.D., Research Scholar. Department of Agricultural
Meteorology, Acharya Narendra Deva University of
Agriculture & Technology, Kumarganj Ayodhya - 224229
(U.P.)

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Page | 54
 Chapter - 5
Plant Nutrients
Rahul Sharma, A N Mishra and Raghvendra Kumar Aryan

Plant Nutrients - Any chemical compounds which supply plant nutrition

after application in soil is called plant nutrient.
Plant nutrition is defined as the supply and absorption of chemical
compounds required for plant growth and metabolism. It is the process of
absorption and utilization of essential elements for plant growth and
reproduction.
Three criteria as proposed by Arnon & Stout (1939)
1) The deficiency of any essential element plant cannot be complete
their life cycle.
2) Role play be essential element is specific and it cannot be replaced
by the elements.
3) Essential element directly involved in metabolic process of plant.
Plant contains more than 90 elements, out of which, 17 elements are
known to be essential which are classified as macronutrients and
micronutrients based on their relative supply in plants.
According to Arnon and Stout - 16 Elements are essential for growth
and development of plant.
According to Brown - In 1987 Ni (Nickel) element is Introduce as
essential plant nutrient by Brown now 17 essential elements are required for
growth and development of plant.
(Essentials elements)
N Cl C
P Cu H (Found in air and water)
K Zn O
Ca Mn (Found in soil and mineral)
Mg Mo

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 SB
Ni Fe
Beneficial element / Functional nutrient not Essential: Concept of
functional nutrient was proposed by Nicholas
* Na, Si, Co, V are functional element but not essential.
Total Functional element = 17+ 4 = 21
Classification of Essential Elements
On the basis of Mobility
Mobility in Soil -
Mobile element - The Mobile Nutrient is highly soluble and is not
absorbed on clay complex.
Ex – No3 -, So4- -, Bo3 - - -, Cl - & Mn++
Less Mobile - Such elements are also soluble but absorbed on clay
complex and this thus their mobility is reduced.
Ex – NH4+, K+, Ca++, Mg++, Cu++, Fe++
Immobile element - P, Zn
Highly reactive and get fixed in the soil.
Ex – H2Po4-, HPo4-, Po4- - -, & Zn++
Mobility in Plant
Highly Mobile - N, P, K, Mg, Mo
Moderate - Zn
Less Mobile - S, Fe, Cu, Mn, Ni
Immobile - Ca, B
On the basis of function
Provide basis structure element - C, H, O
Energy storage transfer - N, P, K
Cation balancing element - K, Mg, Ca
Electron transferring - Fe, Mn, Mg, Cu
Oxidation & Reduction element - All Micronutrients
Catalytic elements - Cu, Fe, Mn, S

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Functions of Essential Nutrients in plants
Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen (C, H, O)
• C, H & O provide basic structure of plant. (More than 95%)
• C, H & O work as frame elements.
• C, H & O are major constituents of organic matter.
Nitrogen (N2)
• Nitrogen provides succulency (softness) and bounding power of
plants.
• Excess doges of Nitrogen create more disease and pest susceptibility.
• Nitrogen provides late maturity of plant / crops.
• Nitrogen major portion of protein, amino acid and nucleic acid.
Phosphorus (P2o5)
• Major function is to storage energy and its translocations.
• It helps root development and growth.
• It is major portion of nucleic acid protein and fat.
• Key of life/ Energy element.
• P is major portion of nucleic acid, protein and fat.
• Strengthens straw and decreases lodging tendency.
Potassium (K20)
• Its Help in transport of manufactured food material
Ex- Carbohydrate, Glucose, Starch.
• It provide disease and drought resistance.
• It prevents lodging of plant.
• It help opening and closing of stomata.
• Increase availability of N, S, and P.
• Essential for activation of most of enzymes.
Calcium (Ca)
• Ca is a major element middle lamella and it increase stiffness of
plants.
• Specific function in the organization of chromatin or of the mitotic
spindle.

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 • Ca is known as cation balancing element.
• Increasing availability of N, P, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn.
Magnesium (Mg)
• Mg is a major portion of chlorophyll and a cofactor for many
enzymatic reactions.
• Dark green colour in leaves.
• It helps chlorophyll formation in plants.
• Vital role in the activation of enzyme RuDP corboxylase which is
found in chlorophyll.
Sulfur (S)
• It is also important element for garlic onion.
• It is required for the synthesis of sulfur containing amino acids
cystine, cystein & methionine.
• It creates pungency in onion & garlic.
• Sulfur major essential element for oil seed crops.
Iron (Fe)
• It provide oxidation and reduction process inside the plants.
• It helps as oxygen carrier.
Boron (Bo)
• It helps transporting of carbohydrate sugar and starch.
• It helps pollen grain formation in androcium.
Manganese (Mg)
• Help in photolysis of water in photosynthesis.
• Promote seed germination.
• Plant maturity essential for nitrogen and protein formation.
Molybdenum (Mo)
• Mo is a major portion leghemoglobin. (Pulse root)
• It helps in nitrogen fixation in leguminous crop.
Chlorine (Cl)
• Stimulate photosynthesis and help in root growth.

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Copper (Cu)
• Active various enzymes also play a role in chlorophyll production.
Nickel (Ni)
• Key component selected enzyme involve in N metabolism and
biological H fixation.
Zinc (Zn)
• Zn work as enzyme activation or enzyme regulator, role of synthesis
of portion enzyme and growth hormones.
Beneficial Element
Silicon (Si) Strength cell wall energy transform and drought resistance
reduces water prevent fungal growth.
Cobalt (Co) Essential of nitrogen fixation.
Sodium (Na) replaces potassium in certain function in helophyte plant.
Vanadium (Va) Essential for green algae.
Deficient
When an essential element is at a low concentration that severely limits
yield and produces move or less distinct deficiency symptoms. Extreme de
will be death of plant.
Insufficient
When the level of an essential plant nutrient is below that require for
optimum yield.
Deficiency symptoms
Identification of deficiency symptoms can be distinguished on the basis of
following
• Region of occurrence
• Presence and absence of dead spot
• Presence of chlorosis
• Interveinal chlorosis
Deficiency symptoms on old leaves
Without dead spots – N, P, Mg
Nitrogen - Uniform chlorosis of leaves including cereals show

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characteristic ‘’V’’ shaped yellowing at the tip of lower leaves. The leaves are
erect and stiff (Hard) in cereals.
Phosphorus - Small erect, usually dark green leaves with a greenish red,
greenish brown or purplish tinge. The rear side develops bronzy appearance
ripening of crop.
Magnesium - The deficiency symptoms of Mg is same as N deficiency
but it is defer form N due to only interveinal part leaf become yellowish and
veins of leaf are remain green. (Interveinal chlorosis)
With dead spot – K, Mo
Potassium- Yellowing starts from tips or margins of leaf extending to
the centre of the leaf. The difference b/w green and yellow and necrotic (dead
spot) portion. Curling of leaves towards.
Tip burn margin scorching brown spots near margin rolling of laminae,
barley most susceptible, potato show, abnormal, dark green colour of foliage
followed by browning, cotton bolls are either small.
Molybdenum - Mo deficiency cause translucent spots of Irregular shape
in light green yellow or brassica sp. Most susceptible yellow spot of citrus,
whiptail of cauliflower.
Middle leaf – Zn
Zinc - Zn deficiency leaf become narrow and small lamina become
chlorosis including veins and margin of leaf in extent deficiency under certain
deficiency of lamina become chlorotic and veins remain green. Deficiency of
Zn some time dead spot is found b/w veins White bud of Maize- Khaira
disease of Rice.
Zn deficiency symptoms show from upper 2-4 leaf.
New leaf – Fe, Mn, S, Cu
Veins remaining green, Interveinal chlorosis Fe, Mn
Iron- The principal veins remain conspicuously green and other portions
of the leaf turn yellow tending towards whiteness chlorosis from base of leaf.
Manganese - The principal veins as the smaller veins are green
interveinal portion is yellowish not tending towards whiteness complete
interveinal chlorsis leaf top remains green and base dies grey speck of oat
pahala blight of sugarcane.

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Uniform yellowish – S & Cu
Sulfur- Deficiency same of N but nitrogen deficiency symptoms occurs
on old leaf sulfur deficiency plants not loss the lower leaves. Vegetable leaves
develop yellowish green colour and become thick and firm.
Copper- Cu deficiency leaf is yellowish tending towards whiteness. In
extreme de chlorosis of veins occurs and leaf loses lustre.
Terminal bud - Ca, B
Calcium - Ca deficiency leaf of terminal bud start yellowing from tip,
yellow portion of leaf toward whiteness very sown. Whiteness is start from tip
of leaf toward to base.
Boron- Bo deficiency cause yellowing or whiteness which starts from
base to tip. The tip becomes very elongated in to whip structure hollow stem
of cauliflower, browning of cauliflower curd. Top sickness of tobacco and
hard fruit of citrus.
Excessive
When the cone of an essential plant nutrient is sufficient high to result in
a corresponding shortage of another nutrient.
Toxic
When the concentration of either essential of other element is sufficient
high to Inhibit plant growth to a great extent severe toxicity will be result in
death of plant.
Toxicity symptom
When plant nutrient found in excess amount to plant requirement in soil
the plant absorbed excess amount of plant nutrient and causes imbalance in
plant unlike deficiency symptoms, toxicity symptoms less common.
Toxicity symptoms
Nitrogen- Lodging and abortion of flowers delay maturity susceptible to
pests and disease succulency of plant.
Phosphorus - When P is found in excess amount causes deficiency of Fe
and Zn Toxic symptom of causes purple colour leaf in maize.
Iron- Brown spot appearance or old leaf and starting from tips. Iron
toxicity causes deficiency of Zn.
Manganese - Mn toxicity symptoms as same as Fe toxicity but it defer
from the spot are found leaf and leaf sheath. Grey spike disease of maize wheat

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and barley.
Boron- Due to B toxicity chlorosis of lower leaf and veins remain green
grey or brownish spots.
References
1. Katyayan Arun. Fundamentals of Agriculture. KUSHAL
PUBLICATIONS AND DISTRIBUTORS VARANASI. Vol-1 Pp. 260-
274.
2. Sharma R. K. Agriculture at a Glance. Daya publishing House A division
of Astral International Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi- 110002 Pp. 229- 235.

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 Chapter - 6
Cultivation of Oyster Mushrooms and their
Nutritional status

Authors
Susheel Kumar
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun
Amit Kumar
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun
Prerna Bhargav
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun
Sanjay Dutt Gahtori
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun
Govind Kumar
Department of Agriculture, Shivalik Institute of Professional
Studies, Dehradun

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Page | 64
 Chapter - 6
Cultivation of Oyster Mushrooms and their Nutritional
status
Susheel Kumar, Amit Kumar, Prerna Bhargav, Sanjay Dutt Gahtori and Govind Kumar

Mushrooms is popularly known as “White vegetables or boneless

vegetarian meat” contain huge amounts of protein, vitamins and fiber apart
from these it also contain certain medicinal properties, mushroom contains 20-
35% protein (dry weight basis) which is higher than those of vegetables and
fruits and is of superior quality. Mushroom is now getting significant
importance due to their nutritional and medicinal value. Now a day’s their
cultivation is being cultivated in about 100 countries. Mushrooms are known
by several names such as Puff balls, truffles and toad stools in English
language. The letters names have more popularly been associated with
poisonous mushroom. In India mushroom is vernacularly known as “Khumbi”
Chhatrak, Bhoomi kavak and Dharti ke phool.
Nutritional attributes of mushroom
Protein
Protein plays a crucial role in life. Proteins are complex nitrogenous
compounds and one of the major constituents of both plant and animal cells.
The common source of food and feed protein are animal and plants products
which are usually called as animal and plant protein respectively. Meat,
pulses, milk, egg and fish are the conventional sources of the dietary protein.
According to a report of the protein advisory group of the food and
agriculture organization (Bano and Rajarathnam,1982), protein malnutrition
has become a characteristics feature in the dietary make up of a major section
the world’s population today.
Table 1: Proximate composition of cultivated species of some edible mushroom
(Bano and Rajarathnam,1982).

Crude Crud Carbo Crude Energy

Moisture
Species protein fat hydrates fiber Ash % value
%
% % % % (Kcal.)
Agarius 78.3-90.5 23.9-34.8 1.7-8.0 51.3-62.5 8.0-10.4 7.7-12.0 328-368

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 bisporus
Agaricus
89.7 33.2 1.9 56.9 8.1 8.0 354
compestris
Auricularia
89.1 4.2 8.3 82.8 19.8 4.7 351
auricula
Boletus
87.3 29.7 3.1 59.7 8.0 7.5 362
edulis
Flammulina
89.2 17.6 1.9 73.1 3.7 7.4 378
velutipes
Lentinula
90.0-91.8 13.4-17.5 4.9-8.0 67.5-78.0 7.3-8.0 3.7-7.0 387-392
edodes
Pleurotus
92.9 25.0 1.1 59.2 12.0 9.1 261
eous
Pleurotus
91.5 27.0 1.6 58.0 11.5 9.3 265
florida
Pleurotus
73.7-90.8 10.5-30.4 1.6-2.2 57.6-81.8 7.5-8.7 6.1-9.8 345-367
ostreatus
Pleurotus
90.1 26.6 2.0 50.7 13.3 6.6 300
sajor- caju
Volvariella
90.4 28.5 2.6 57.4 17.4 11.5 304
diplasia
Volvariella.
89.1 25.9 2.4 45.3 9.3 8.8 276
Volvacea

More than 12M children under the age group of five in developing
countries are in danger of death due to malnutrition. Another report of
UNICEF (Anonymous, 1983) estimates that between 200 to 800 M people of
our world mostly children are under nourished of whom 13 to 17M die due to
starvation every year. This report also concluded that more than 34 per cent of
Indian population is not getting adequate amount of protein for their
physiological needs.
On the basis of dry weight basis mushroom normally contain 20 to 35
percent protein as compared to 7.3 percent in rice, 13.2 percent in wheat, 39.1
percent in soyabean and 25.2 percent in milk.
Mushrooms can be broadly defined as a macro fungus with a distinctive
fruiting body which can be either epigeous or hypogenous and large enough
to be seen with the naked eyes and to be picked by hand (Chang and Miles,
1992).
The word mushroom is usually thought to be derived from the french
“Mousseron’’ (Muceron) “Mousse” or “Moss” as proposed by Ramsbottom
(1953).

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 Now in present day’s importance and possibilities of cultivating Oyster
mushroom in the rural as well as urban areas of the country which offers a
great scope for mushroom production. There are simple techniques of growing
Pleurotus florida fortified with vital substances like protein, mineral matter
and important vitamins.
Mushrooms are a group of fleshy macroscopic fungi, which belong to
plant kingdom and do not have chlorophyll. It was well known from the
ancient time and is closely related to the history of mankind. The Romans
knew and distinguished various edible and poisonous mushrooms. Reference
to occurrence and utilization of mushroom are being found in classical
religious writings of the Babylonians Greek and Romans.
According to Wasson (1969) the soma in the rigveda refers to Amanita
muscaria. The Pleurotus mushroom is generally referred to as “Oyster
myshroom” or Dhingri in India. It is a basidiomyceteous and belongs to the
genus Pleurotus. It is a lignocellulolytic fungus and grows naturally in the
temperate and tropical forest on dead and decaying wooden logs or some time
on drying trunks of deciduous or coniferous woods. It can also grow on
decaying organic matter. The fruit bodies of this mushroom are distinctly
shell, fan or spatula shaped with different shades of whits, cream grey, yellow,
pink or light brown depending upon the species, However the colour of the
sporophores is extremely variable character influenced by temperature, light
intensity and nutrient of the substrates.
Mushrooms are known by several names viz. Puff balls, truffles and toad
stools in English language. The letters names have more popularly been
associated with poisonous mushroom. In India mushroom is vernacularly
known as “Khumbi” Chhatrak, Bhoomi kavak and Dharti ke phool.
In the recent classification, mushrooms are placed either in
basidiomycetes or in ascomycetes. Their vegetative part mainly consists of
thread like long thin, mycelia which under suitable, condition form fruiting
body or sporocarps.
Commercial cultivation of edible mushroom in our country was first
initiated in New Delhi and in Himanchal Pradesh and later it extended to
Jammu and Kashmir, Nilgiri, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh,
Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujrat etc.
In recent time out of more than 700 species of edible mushroom, more
than 300 species from 31 genera are regarded as prime edible, mushroom.
About 300 species belonging to 70 genera are reported from India. About 300
species have been grown experimentally and 60 are cultivated commercially.

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In India mushroom farming is hardly three decade old and with initial lagphas,
it has started showing upward trend from a meager 4000 tonnes production
during 1985. The total mushroom production in India reached 70,000 MT in
2003, (Mushroom Conference Solan, 2000, Coimbatore 2002 and AICMIP
workshop 2004).
The sporophores are usually coloured including dark blue, white, creamy,
grey, brown, yellow and pink etc. The colour intensity may vary according to
the changes in environmental factors especially high and low temperature. The
size of sporophore may also vary from 5 to 30 cm in diameter (Plate no. 1)
The Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus spp.) also called as “Dhingri” or
“Abalone” now ranks second among the important cultivated mushroom in
the world (Chang and Miles,1992). This group got the common name “Oyster
mushroom” because of the tongue shaped pileus with an ecentric lateral stipe.
Unlike other mushroom species of this genus show much diversity in their
adoption to the varying agro climatic condition. This flexible nature of the
genus give it is one of the most cultivated species.
The oyster mushroom is one of the most suitable fungal organisms for
producing protein rich food from various agro wastes without composting.
The name Pleurotus has its origin from greek word “Pleuro” means formed
literally or latereal position of the stalk or stem.
Among the oyster mushroom, Pleurotus florida (fr.) Singer is a well
known edible fungus. It is being taken up for commercial cultivation in
different part of the world. There is great potential for increasing mushroom
production in the country, because of favorable climatic conditions.
Unemployment and abundant supply of cheap labour and availability a wide
range of substrates considerably reduced the production cost. The great
advantage is that they are easy to cultivate and have fast rate of growth and
also have the capacity to convert nutritionally valueless substrate in to high
protein food. In a country like India where vegetarian dominate every attempt
should be made to popularize a vegetable protein source like this mushroom.

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 Chapter - 7
The Investment Function: Meaning, Types,
Determinants and Distinction

Authors
Vikas Sengar
Assistant Professor, Department of Agriculture, SIPS,
Dehradun
Sanjay Dutt Gahtori
Assistant Professor, Department of Agriculture, SIPS,
Dehradun
Susheel Kumar
Assistant Professor, Department of Agriculture, SIPS,
Dehradun
Amit Singh
Assistant Professor, Department of Agriculture, SIPS,
Dehradun
Govind Kumar
Assistant Professor, Department of Agriculture, SIPS,
Dehradun

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Page | 70
 Chapter – 7
The Investment Function: Meaning, Types, Determinants
and Distinction
Vikas Sengar, Sanjay Dutt Gahtori, Susheel Kumar Amit Singh and Govind Kumar

Meaning of Capital and Investment

• In ordinary parlance, investment means to buy shares, stocks,bonds
and securities which already exist in stock market. But this is not real
investment because it is simply a transfer of existing assets. Hence
this is called financial investment which does not affect aggregate
spending.
• In Keynesian terminology,investment refers to real investment which
adds to capital equipment.
• It leads to increase in the levels of income and production by
increasing the production and purchase of capital goods.
• Therefore, Investment includes new plant and equipment,
construction of public works like dams, roads, buildings, etc., net
foreign investment, inventories and stocks and shares of new
companies. In the words of Joan Robinson, “By investment is meant
an addition to capital, such as occurs when a new house is built or a
new factory is built. Investment means making an addition to the
stock of goods in existence.”
• Capital, on the other hand, refers to real assets like factories, plants,
equipment, and inventories of finished and semi- finished goods. It is
any previously produced input that can be used in the production
process to produce other goods. The amount of capital available in
an economy is the stock of capital. Thus capital is a stock concept.
• Symbolically,
Assume I = investment and К = capital in year t,then It = Kt– Kt- 1.
• Capital and investment are related to each other through net
investment. Gross investment is the total amount spent on new capital
assets in a year. But some capital stock wears outevery year and is

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 used up for depreciation and obsolescence. Net investment is gross
investment minus depreciation and obsolescence charges for
replacement investment. This is the net addition to the existing capital
stock of the economy.
• If gross investment equals depreciation, net investment is zeroand
there is no addition to the economy’s capital stock. If gross
investment is less than depreciation, there is disinvestment in the
economy and the capital stock decreases.
• Therefore, an increase in the real capital stock of the economy, gross
investment must exceed depreciation, i.e., there should be net
investment.
Types of Investment
Induced Investment
• Real investment may be induced. Induced investment is profit or
income motivated. Factors like prices, wages and interest changes
which affect profits influence induced investment. Similarly demand
also influences it.
• When income increases,consumption demand also increases and to
meet this, investment increases.
• In the ultimate analysis, induced investment is a function of income
i.e., I = f(Y). It is income elastic. It increases or decreases with the
rise or fall in income,as shown in Figure 1.
• I1 I1is the investment curve which shows induced investment at
various levels of income. Induced investment is zero at OY1
income. When income rises to OY3 induced investment is I3Yy A
fall in income to OY2 also reduces induced investment to I2Y2.

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 Induced investment may be further divided into (i) the average propensity
to invest, and (ii) the marginal propensityto invest:
• The average propensity to invest: is the ratio of investment to
Investment income, I/Y.
Autonomous Investment
• Autonomous investment is independent of the level of incomeand is
thus income inelastic. It is influenced by exogenous factors like
innovations, inventions, growth of population and labour force,
researches, social and legal institutions, weather changes, war,
revolution, etc. But it is not influenced by changes in demand. Rather,
it influences the demand.
• Investment in economic and social overheads whether madeby the
government or the private enterprise is autonomous.
• Such investment includes expenditure on building, dams, roads,
canals, schools, hospitals, etc. Since investment on these projects is
generally associated with public policy, autonomous investment is
regarded as public investment.
• Inthe long-run, private investment of all types may be autonomous
because it is influenced by exogenous factors.
• Diagrammatically, autonomous investment is shown as a curve
parallel to the horizontal axis as I1I’ curve in Figure 2. Itindicates that
at all levels of income, the amount of investment OI1 remains
constant.
• The upward shift of the curve to I2I” indicates an increased steady

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 flow of investment at a constant rate OI2 at various levels of income.
• However, for purposes of income determination, the autonomous
investment curve is superimposed on the С curve in a 45° line
diagram.

Determinants of the Level of Investment

• The decision to invest in a new capital asset depends on whether the
expected rate of return on the new investment is equal to or greater
or less than the rate of interest to be paid on the funds needed to
purchase this asset.
• It is only when theexpected rate of return is higher than the interest
rate that investment will be made in acquiring new capital assets.
• In reality, there are three factors that are taken into consideration
while making any investment decision. They arethe cost of the capital
asset, the expected rate of return from it during its lifetime, and the
market rate of interest.
• Keynes sums up these factors in his concept of the marginal
efficiencyof capital (MEC).
Marginal Efficiency of Capital
• The marginal efficiency of capital is the highest rate of return
expected from an additional unit of a capital asset over its cost.
• According to Kurihara, “It is the ratio between the prospective yield
to additional capital goods and their supplyprice.” The prospective
yield is the aggregate net return froman asset during its life time,
while the supply price is the costof producing this asset.

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 • If the supply price of a capital asset is Rs. 30,000 and its annual yield
is Rs. 3,000, the marginal efficiency of this asset is 3000/30000 ×
100/1 = 10 per cent. Thus the marginal efficiency of capital is the
percentage of profit expected from agiven investment on a capital
asset.
• Keynes relates the prospective yield of a capital asset to its supply
price and defines the MEC as “equal to the rate of discount which
would make the present value of the series of annuities given by the
returns expected from the capital assetsduring its life just equal to its
supply price.”
Symbolically, it can be expressed as

SP =R1/ (1+i) + R2 (1+i) 2 + Rn/ (1+i) n

• Where Sp is the supply price or the cost of the capital asset, R1, R2…
and Rn are the prospective yields or the series of expected annual
returns from the capital asset in the years, 1,2… and n, i is the rate of
discount which makes the capital asset exactly equal to the present
value of the expected yield from it.
The Marginal Efficiency of Investment (MEI)
• The marginal efficiency of investment is the rate of return expected
from a given investment on a capital asset after covering all its costs,
except the rate of interest. Like the MEC,it is the rate which equates
the supply price of a capital asset to its prospective yield.
• If the rate of interest is high, investment is at a low level.

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Page | 76
 Chapter - 8
Economic Growth & its Measurements, Causes,
and Effects

Authors
Vikas Sengar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun
Susheel Kumar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun
Govind Kumar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun
Amit Singh
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun
Sanjay Dutt Gahtori
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun

Page | 77
Page | 78
 Chapter – 8
Economic Growth & its Measurements, Causes, and Effects
Vikas Singh Sengar, Susheel Kumar, Govind Kumar, Amit Singh and Sanjay Dutt
Gahtori

Economic growth is an increase in the production of goods and services

over a specific period.To be most accurate, the measurement must remove the
effects of inflation. Economic growth creates more profit for businesses. As a
result, stock prices rise. That gives company’s capital to invest and hire more
employees. As more jobs are created, incomes rise. Consumers have more
money to buy additional products and services. Purchases drive higher
economic growth. For this reason, all countries want positive economic
growth. This makes economic growth the most watched economic indicator.
How to Measure Economic Growth
Gross domestic product is the best way to measure economic growth. It
takes into account the country's entire economic output. It includes all goods
and services that businesses in thecountry produce for sale. It doesn't matter
whether they are sold domestically or overseas.
GDP measures final production. It doesn't include the parts that are
manufactured to make aproduct. It includes exports because they are produced
in the country. Imports are subtractedfrom economic growth.
Most countries measure economic growth each quarter
The most accurate measurement of growth is real GDP. It removes the
effects of inflation.
The GDP growth rate uses real GDP
The World Bank uses gross national income instead of GDP to measure
growth. It includes income sent back by citizens who are working overseas.
It's a critical source of income for many emerging market countries like
Mexico. Comparisons of GDP by country will understate the size of these
countries' economies.
GDP doesn't include unpaid services. It leaves out child care, unpaid
volunteer work, or illegal black-market activities. It doesn't count the

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environmental costs. For example, the price of plastic is cheap because it
doesn't include the cost of disposal. As a result, GDP doesn't measure how
these costs impact the well-being of society. A country will improve its
standard of living when it factors in environmental costs. A society only
measures what it values. Similarly, societies only value what they measure.
For example, Nordic countries rank high in the World Economic Forum's
Global Competitiveness Report. Their budgets focus on the drivers of
economic growth. These are world-class education, social programs, and a
high standard of living. These factors create a skilled and motivated
workforce.
These countries have a high tax rate. But they use the revenues to invest
in the long-term building blocks of economic growth. Riane Eisler's book,
“The Real Wealth of Nations,” proposes changes to the U.S. economic system
by giving value to activities at the individual, societal, and environmental
levels.
This economic policy contrasts with that of the United States. It uses debt
to finance short-term growth through boosting consumer and military
spending. That's because these activities do show up in GDP.
The Phases of Economic Growth
Analysts watch economic growth to discover what stage of the business
cycle the economy is in. The best phase is expansion. This is when the
economy is growing in a sustainable fashion. If growth is too far beyond a
healthy growth rate, it overheats. That creates an asset is what happened to the
housing sector in 2005-2006. As too much money chases too few goodsand
services, inflation kicks in. This is the "peak" phase in the business cycle.
At some point, confidence in economic growth dissipates. When more
people sell than buy, the economy contracts. When that phase of the business
cycle continues, it becomes a recession. Aneconomic depression is a recession
that lasts for a decade. The only time this happened was during the Great
Depression of 1929.
Ways to Spur Economic Growth
If a country is not blessed with the factors of production, it must find other
ways to spur growth. Governments want to increase growth because it
increases tax revenue. Growth allowsbusinesses to hire workers, increasing
their income. When people feel prosperous, they rewardpolitical leaders by re-
electing them.
The government stimulates growth with expansive fiscal policy. It either

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spends more, cutstaxes, or both. Since politicians want to get re-elected, they
use expansive fiscal policy to stimulate the economy.
But expansive fiscal policy is addictive. If the government keeps spending
more and taxing less,it leads to deficit spending. It works for a while, but
eventually leads to higher debt levels. In time, as the debt-to-GDP ratio
approaches 100 percent, it slows economic growth. Foreign investors stop
investing funds in a country with a high debt ratio. They worry they won't get
repaid or that the money will be worth less.
Governments should then be careful with expansive fiscal policy. They
should only use it whenthe economy is in contraction or recession. When the
economy is growing, its leaders should cut back spending and raise taxes. This
conservative fiscal policy ensures that the economic growth will remain
sustainable.
A nation's central bank can also spur growth with monetary policy. It can
increase the moneysupply by lower interest rates. Banks make loans for auto,
school, and homes less expensive.

They also reduce credit card interest rates. All of these boost consumer
spending and economicgrowth.
Economic Development
A country’s economic development is usually indicated by an increase in
citizens’ quality of life. ‘Quality of life’ is often measured using the Human
Development Index, which is an economic model that considers intrinsic
personal factors not considered in economic growth, such as literacy rates, life

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expectancy and poverty rates. There is a discovery of new mineral/metal
deposits.
Growth Occurs When
There is an increase in the number of people in the workforce or the
quality of the workforce improves. For example, through training and
education, there is an increase in capital and machinery. There is an
improvement in technology.
Development Occurs When: Measures of economic development will
look at:
• An increase in real income per head – GDP per capita.
• The increase in levels of literacy and education standards.
• Improvement in the quality and availability of housing.
• Improvement in levels of environmental standards.
• Increased life expectancy.
Difference between Economic Growth and Economic Development
We can also have a situation where there is growth and development, i.e.
increase in luxury goods and education.
Development alleviates people from low standards of living into proper
employment with suitable shelter. Economic Growth does not take into
account the depletion of natural resources, which might lead to pollution,
congestion & disease. Development, however, is concerned with
sustainability, which means meeting the needs of the present without
compromising future needs.
Economic Growth Definition
• Economic Growth is an increase in a country’s output.
• Economic Development Definition
• Economic Development is an improvement in factors such as health,
education, literacy rates, and adecline in poverty levels.
The Relationship between Inequality and EconomicGrowth:
Poverty has come down most when inequality has fallen, and there is high
economic growth. Initial low levels of inequality are associated with more
negative elasticity’s of poverty reduction concerning growth. Higher initial
inequality results in less effect on poverty with an increase in economic
growth.

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 Savings rate: The marginal savings rate changes with decreasing or
increasing income. The marginal savings rate is the fractional decrease in
saving that result from a decrease in income.
• Credit market constraints
• The poor can’t get loans.
Political economy
Governments pursue poor policies (redistribution policies) trying to
reduce inequality, which results in high inflation, high deficit, and lower
growth. However, there doesn’t seem to any relationship betweeninequality
and economic growth empirically. But, higher economic growth leads to lower
levels of poverty (not the same as inequality)
Growth Effect
• The positive growth of people’s income and no change in income
leads to a decrease in the povertylevel.
• Redistribution Effect: If there is a rise in inequality and mean income
remains constant, then poverty will rise.
Theories of Economic Growth
• Different models of economic growth stress alternative causes of
economic growth. Theprincipal theories of economic growth include:
• Mercantilism – Wealth of a nation determined by accumulation of
gold and running tradesurplus
• Classical theory – Adam Smith placed emphasis on the role of
increasing returns toscale (economies of scale/specialization)
• Neo-classical-theory – Growth based on supply-side factors such as:
labour productivity,size of the workforce, factor inputs.
• Endogenous growth theories – Rate of economic growth strongly
influenced by humancapital and rate of technological innovation.
• Keynesian demand-side – Keynes argued that aggregate demand
could play a role in influencing economic growth in the short and
medium-term. Though most growth theories ignore the role of
aggregate demand, some economists argue recessions can cause
hysteresis effects and lower long-term economic growth.
• Limits to growth – From an environmental perspective, some argue
in the very long-term economic growth will be constrained by
resource degradation and global warming. This means that economic
growth may come to an end – reminiscent of Malthus theories.

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Page | 84
 Chapter - 9
Concept of National Income & its Measurement

Authors
Vikas Singh Sengar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun
Riyaz Ahmad
Assistant Professor, IAST, Shri Ramswaroop Memorial
University, Barabanki

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Page | 86
 Chapter - 9
Concept of National Income & its Measurement
Vikas Singh Sengar and Riyaz Ahmad

The total income of the nation is called national income. In real terms,
national income is the flow of goods and servicesproduced in the economy in
a particular period—a year.
Modern economy is a money economy. Thus, national income of the
country is expressed in money terms.
A National Sample Survey has therefore defined national income as “The
money measures of the net aggregate of all commodities and services accruing
to the inhabitants of community during a specific period.”
In other words we can say that national income is a money measure or
value of net aggregate of goods and services becoming available annually to
the nation as a result of the economic activities of the community at large
consisting of households or individuals, business firms and social and political
institutions. The time is accepted as one year all over the world as it is
concerned with the natural and seasonal factors. In one year all the seasons
repeat itself. Thus, all the definitions and National Income consider one year.
Definitions
The definitions of national income can be grouped into two classes
• The traditional definitions advanced by Marshall, Pigou and Fisher.
• Modern definition given by Prof. Simon Kuznet.
The Marshallian Definition:
According to Marshall—”The labour and capital of a country acting on
its natural resources produce annually a certain net aggregate of commodities,
material and immaterial including services of all kinds. This is the true net
annual income or revenue of the country or national dividend.”
• In this definition, the word “net” refers to deductions from the gross
national income in respect of depreciation of capital equipment used
in the creation of productive activity. And to this must be added

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 income from abroad.
• Other features of this definition are:
• It is measured on one year basis,
• It includes the values of goods and services,
• It includes only those things which are produced by labour and
capital of a country with the help of the naturalresources,
• It excludes the depreciation and debasement of capitalgoods,
• It includes the net foreign investment in the country,
• It excludes all those goods and services which are produced by
friends, relatives or organizations free of costs.
• No doubt Prof. Marshall’s definition is theoretically sound, simple
and comprehensive but it has got someserious practical limitations:
• It is not easy to ascertain or make
• statistically correct estimate of the total production of goods and
services in an economy,
• The problem of double counting has been ignored,
• How to make allowance for the portion of the producekept for self-
consumption,
• The problem of current and base year prices is alsoignored.
The Pigovian Definition
Marshall’s follower, A. C. Pigou has in his definition of national income
included that income which can be measuredin terms of money. In the words
of Pigou—,"National income or National Dividend is that part of objective
income of the community including of course incomederived from abroad
which can be measured in money.”
• This definition is better than the Marshallian definition. It hasproved
to be more practical also. The above definition of Prof. Pigou is
classificatory; it takes into account of those goods andservices which
can be measured by the measuring rod of money.
• All those goods which are given as gifts, bounties etc. are notincluded
in the national income, Prof. Pigou’s definition is used in exchange
economy where goods and services are exchanged for money only,
The definition takes into account the net value of goods and services
which are exported and imported.

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Criticism
• Although the definition of Prof. Pigou is precise, simple andpractical
but it is not free from criticisms.
The important criticisms advanced by economists are
• National income estimate account for only those goods andservices
which are exchanged for money. It is not appropriate for an
underdeveloped country where there is barter system isprevalent.
• The measuring rod of money is also defective. This makes the
calculation of national income very faulty. Pigou himself has said
that the services rendered by women enter into the national dividend
when they are rendered in exchange of money whether in the factory
or home, but do not enter into it when they are rendered by the
members and wives gratuitously to their own families.
• Thus, if a man pays to his maid servant for her service, themoney
payment will be included in the national income. But if that man
marries the maid-servant then her service will not beincluded in the
national dividend. Though the services rendered are the same or
rather better. Thus, these services are included in one case and are
excluded in the other.
Fisher’s Definition
Fisher picked up in his study ‘Consumption’ as the criteria of national
income whereas Marshall and Pigou regarded it as ‘production’. According to
Fisher—”The national dividend or income consists solely of services as
received by ultimate consumers, whether from their material or from the
human environments. Thus, a piano, or an overcoat made for me thisyear is
not a part of this year’s income, but an addition to the capital, only the services
rendered to me during this year by these things are income.”
Fisher’s definition has been considered as better than that of Marshall or
Pigou because Fisher’s definition provides an adequate concept of economic
welfare which is dependent onconsumption and consumption represents our
standard of living.
Criticism
• But various economists are of other view that from the practical point
this definition is less useful and improper because there are certain
difficulties in measuring the goodsand services in terms of money:
• It is very difficult to estimate the money value of netconsumption

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 than that of net production,
• Certain consumption goods are durable and last for manyyears. If we
consider the example of piano or overcoat, as given by Fisher, only
the services rendered to us during one year by them will be included
in income,
• Third and the important aspect are regarding the durable goods
generally keep changing hands leading to a change in their ownership
and value. If therefore, becomes difficult to measure in money the
service value of these goods from the point of view of consumption.
Prof. Simon Kuznet’s Definition
Prof. Simon Kuznets was an expert advisor to the National Income
Estimate Committee of India in 1949. He has the practical experience of
estimating National Income in India and U.S.A. His view was that the concept
of national incomemay be simple from theoretical point of view whereas most
difficult from the practical point of view.
He has defined national income in practical prospective as
“The Net Output of Commodities and Services flowing in a year from the
country’s productive system in the hands of ultimate consumers or into net
addition to the country’s capital goods. In practical life, while estimating
national income any of these four definitions may be adopted, because the
same national income would be derived, if different it’s were correctly
included in the estimate.
Which Definition is the Best?
From the above definitions written, the definition of Prof. Simon Kuznets
is more comprehensive and can be consideredas the best definition because it
is fully equipped with theoretical and practical significance.
The salient features of its being best as given asunder
• It is the net aggregate of goods and services.
• Only those goods and services are taken into consideration which are
produced by the productive system of an economy.
• The period of production is taken as one year.
• In order to avoid the problem of double counting only those goods
are considered as product which either go into the hands of ultimate
consumers or used by the productive system as capital goods,
National income is considered as flow of goods andservices.

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 • The flow is a continuous one.
• But this definition takes into consideration only domestic income and
ignores the concept of net income earned fromabroad. Further, in the
estimation of national income the concept of ultimate consumer is
ignored. We normally undertake that value of goods which we get in
exchange forcommodity.
Different Concepts of National Income
In the measurement of national income there are various situations which
we will have to study and they are known asconcepts of national income.
These concepts have their significance in national income accounting.
Important concepts have been discussed here under
Gross National Income or Product (GNP)
• Gross National Product has been defined as the total market value of
all final goods and services produced in a year. It is the money value
of all the final goods and services which the labour and capital of a
country working on its natural resources have produced in a year. It
includes not only the part of the production which is brought to the
market for salebut also that part of the produce which is kept for self
consumption.
• While estimating Gross National Product a care is taken that no
commodity is counted more than once. For this, only the value of the
final goods and services produced or value addedby each producer is
included in the Gross National Product.
Factors to be taken into consideration while studying Gross National
Product
• As GNP is the measure of money, so all kinds of goods andservices
produced in a country during one year are measured in terms of
money at current prices and then added together.
• In estimating GNP of the economy, the market price of only the final
products should be taken into account. Many of the products pass
through a number of stages before they areultimately purchased by
consumers.
• Goods and services rendered free of charge are not included in the
GNP, because it is not possible to have acorrect estimate of their
market prices.
• The transactions which do not arise from the produce ofcurrent year

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 or which do not contribute in any way to production are not included
in the GNP. The sale and purchase of old goods and of shares, bonds
are assets of existing companies are not included in GNP because
they donot make any addition to the national product and the goods
are simply transferred.
• The profits earned or losses incurred on account of changes in capital
assets as a result of fluctuations in market prices are not included in
the GNP if they are not responsible for current production or
economic activity.
• The income earned through illegal activities is not included in the
GNP. Although the goods sold in the black- market are priced and
fulfill the needs of the people, but as they are not useful from the
social point of view, the income received from their sale and
purchase is always excluded fromthe GNP.
Net National Product or (NNP)
Net National Product (NNP) refers to the value of the net output of the
economy during the year. It is obtained by deducting the value of depreciation
or replacement allowanceof the capital assets from the GNP.
To put it symbolically
NNP = GNP – D
Where, D = depreciation allowances.
This value is measured at current prices, while GNP is expressed at the
current market price. Net National Product, in-fact, is the value of total
consumption plus the value of netinvestment of the community. It is the sum
total of net valuesadded by each producer in the productive process of an
economy during one year period.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Gross Domestic Product is the money value of all goods and services
produced annually within the territorial limits of thecountry.
Gross Domestic Income includes
• Wages and salaries,
• Rents, including imputed house rents,
• Interest,
• Dividends,

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 • Undistributed corporate profits, including surpluses of public
undertakings,
• Mixed incomes consisting of profits of unincorporated firms, self-
employed persons, partnership etc., and
• Direct taxes.
• In the estimation of Gross Domestic Product, no consideration is
given to the fact as to whether the gross valueof produce is with the
combined efforts of only the people of the country with the co-
operation of the foreigners. But the product must be produced in the
country alone as the net earnings from abroad are excluded.
• Therefore, Domestic Income = National Income – Net Incomeearned
from abroad.
• Thus, the difference between domestic income and nationalincome is
the net income earned from abroad. If we add netincome from abroad
to domestic income, we get national income.
• i.e., National Income = Domestic Income + Net Incomeearned from
abroad.
• But the net national income earned from abroad may bepositive or
negative.
Per Capita Income
• Per capita income refers to the average income of an individual in a
particular year. It denotes the income received by an individual
during a certain year in a country. In order tofind per capita income
of a country in a certain year, we dividethe national income of that
country by the population of that country in that year
Per-Capita Income = National Income of India in 2022/Population of
India in 2022.
• It is clear that a country having high national income and less
population will have higher per capita income. The concept of per
capita income helps us in estimating the standard of livingof different
nations and it also serves as an index of economic development.
Personal Income
• Personal income is the aggregate income received by the individuals
of a country from all sources before payment of direct taxes in one
year. It is derived from national income bydeducting undistributed

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 corporate profits, profit taxes and employee’s contributions to social
security schemes.
• These three components are excluded from national income because
they do reach individuals. It can never be equal to the national
income, because the former includes the transfer payments whereas
they are not included in national income.
• Business and Government transfer payments and transfer payments
from abroad in the form of gifts and remittances,wind-full gains and
interest on public debts are a source of income for individuals are
added to national income.
• Thus, Personal Income = National Income + Transfer Payment +
Interest on Public Debt – Undistributed Corporate Profits –Profit
Taxes — Social Security Contribution.
• Personal Income differs from Private Income in that it is less than the
latter because it excludes undistributed corporate profits. Thus
• Personal Income = Private Income – Undistributed corporateprofits
– Profit taxes.
Disposable Income or Personal DisposableIncome
• Disposable income or personal disposable income is the actual
income which can be spend on consumption because it is the income
that accrues before direct taxes have actually been paid. Therefore,
in order to obtain the disposable income, direct taxes are deducted
from personal income.
• Thus, Disposable Income = Personal Income — Direct Taxes.
• But it should be remembered while calculating this income that the
whole of the disposable income is not spending on consumption and
a part of it is saved. Therefore, the disposable income is divided into
consumption expenditureand saving.
• Thus, Disposable Income = Consumption Expenditure + Savings
• The concept of Disposable Income is very useful in computingthe
real purchasing power of the country. It also gives us information
regarding the personal consumption pattern. It refers to that part of
the personal income which is actually available to the consumers. It
can be obtained by deducting the amount of personal taxes, fines etc.,
from personal income. It is at the disposal of the consumers to save
or consume or to use it in any way they like.

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Importance of National Income Analysis
The following are the main uses and importance ofthe national income
analysis
• National income analyses are of great importance for the economy of
a country. These days it has been regarded as the Social accounts tell
us how the aggregates of a nation’s income, output and product result
from the income of different individuals, products of industries and
transactionsof international trade. This helps us to assess the pace of
economic development of a country. If they are not in a position to
measure the progress of the country precisely, at least they show us
the trends and they give us at-least an ideaas to standard of living of
community or the people of the country.
• Further, they are helpful in the assessment of the saving and
investment potential of the community. Because the rate of saving
and investment is finally dependent on the national income. We can
draw and make inter-country comparisons by taking the national
income analysis of two countries which will help us to know where
we stand among the world economies. This helps us to assess inter-
sectoral growth of an economy. This information is useful in
planning the development of the various sectors.
• Another importance of national income analysis is that they throw
light on inter-class distribution of national income. Onecan ascertain
and judge the standard of welfare of the various sections of the
community. All modern societies aim at reducing inequalities of
incomes and this is not possible without the help of national income
analysis.
• This analysis helps us to know about the distribution of income in the
country. From the analysis pertaining to wages, rent, interest and
profits we learn of the disparities in the incomes of different sections
of society.
• Further, the regional distribution of income is revealed. It isonly on
the basis of these that the government can adopt measures to remove
the inequalities in income distribution and to restore ‘regional
equilibrium’.
According to Samuelson
“By means of statistics of national income we can chart the movements
of a country from depression to prosperity, its steady long-term rate of

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economic growth and development and finally, its material standard of living
in comparison withother nations.”

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 Chapter - 10
Laboratory glassware, Apparatus and its uses

Authors
Amit Singh
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun
Govind Kumar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun
Sanjay Dutt Gahtori
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun
Nitendu Ojha
Lab Technician, SIPS, Dehradun
Yashwant Kumar
Lab Technician, SIPS, Dehradun

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Page | 98
 Chapter - 10
Laboratory glassware, Apparatus and its uses
Amit Singh, Govind Kumar, Sanjay Dutt Gahtori, Nitendu Ojha and Yashwant Kumar

1. Burette: (Burette stand, rubber tube, jet and pinch cock) It is used
for Delivering definite volume of solution in titrating flask. It is long
narrow graduated cylindrical tube with a cross section.

2. Pipette: It is long narrow glass tube with a bulb in the middle and jet
at the lower tube. It is used for accurate measurement of definite
volume of solution

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3. Conical flask: It is made up of glass and used for titration purpose
and conical in shape.

4. Porcelain disc: It is made of white silica. It is a bowl with low depth

used during titration for identifying subtle colour change because of
white appearance of bottom.

5. Watch glass: It is glass bowl with shallow depth used for staining
and mixing any thing

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 .
6. Glass rod: It is cylindrical thin stick of glass. It is used for stirring
and mixing of substance.

7. Glass tube: It is a cylindrical tube of glass. It is used for dropping

indicator drop by drop.

8. Police man- It is cylindrical thin rod, which is bounded by rubber at

one end.

9. Test tube: It is glass tube close at one end used to carry out various
test.
10. Clay pipe triangle: It is placed over tripod stand during heating the
beaker or Flask etc. it is heat resistance.

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11. Tripod stand: It is made up of cast iron and used os support for
heating beaker and porcelain disc.

12. Measuring cylinder: It is graduated glass cylinder used for the

approximate measurement of volume of liquid.

13. Beaker: It is made up of glass. It is cylindrical and have round

opening. it is used for titrating and element for heating purpose.

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14. Reagent bottle: It is used for storing chemical in laboratory.

15. Moisture box: Moisture box is used to measure moisture from the
soil.

16. Keen's box: It is used for measuring water holding capacity.

17. Volumetric flask: It is made up of glass. It has fixed volume and it

is used mainly for making reagents.

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18. Pairs of tongue- it is made up of steel or iron and used for holding
heat material.

19. Wire gauge: It is made up of fine iron wires fitted with thin calcium
sheet in the centre. It is used in heating the glass apparatus.

20. Desiccators: It is glass container which is used to maintain a

moisture free vacuum environment for any sample.
21. Core sampler: It is used for collecting and sampling of soil.

22. Soil thermometer: It is used to measure the temperature of soil.

23. Iron chimney: It is used to cover the burner to avoid disturbance in
Burning.

24. Weight box: It is consist of wooden box contain different weight

used to measure the soil.

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25. Crucible: It is made up of silica and used for strong heating.

26. Filter paper: It is used for filtration purpose. It is made up of

cellulose.

27. Mortar and piston: These are used to crush any material in the lab.

28. Funnel: Made up of glass used to pouring the solution.

29. Funnel stand: Use to hold funnel.

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 30. Washing bottle: Made up of plastic use to wash the apparatus.

Terminology used in Laboratory during chemical analysis

1. Solution: A Solution is a perfectly homogenous mixture of a solute
in a Solvent.
2. Solute & Solvent: In a Solution the dissolve substance is called the
solute and the substance in which the solute is dissolving is called the
Solvent.
3. Dilute Solution: A solution on which the solute is present in small
Amount in a large volume of the solvent.
4. Concentrated Solution: A concentrated solution contains a
relatively large proportion of solute.
5. Standard solution: A known amount of solute dissolve in a known
Volume of solvent that is the solution of which concentration is
known as standard solution.
6. Normal solution: A solution which contains a gram equivalent
weight of solute dissolves in 1 liter of solvent.
7. Normality: The normality of a solution on the no. of gram equivalent
Weights of solute dissolve in 1 liter of the water.
8. Molar solution: A solution which contains a gram molecular weight
of the solute dissolves in 1 liter of the solvent.

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9. Morality: Morality of a solution is the number of molecule of the
solute contains in 1 liter of solution.
10. Molal solution: A solution which contains 1 gram molecular weight
of the solute dissolves in 1 kg of solvent.
11. Molarity: The Molarity of a solution is the number of moles of solute
contains in 1kg of the solvent.
12. Volumetric analysis: The process of finding out the concentration
of a substance solution titrating it with another solution of known
Concentration is called volumetric analysis.
13. Titration: This is the process of finding out the volumes of an
unknown solution require to read with known volume of another
standard solution.
14. End point: This is the point indicated by the indicator during the
process of titration at the stage when the reaction is complete.
15. Indicator: The chemical which by some visible change in coloration
indicate the end point or the state of completion of the reaction in
volumetric analysis. Ex-phenolphthalein, methyl orange.
16. Internal indicator: The indicator in which added to the solution &
indicate end point is known as internal indicator.
17. External indicator: The indicator in which is not added to the
solution but small drops are put on white porcelain plate with glass
rod & of colour produce is noted.
18. Self indicator: Actually known indicator is used but the end point
indicated by change of colour by one of the reacting solution itself.
Ex-Potassium Permagnate &Oxalic Acid titration, the excess of
KMnO4 developed in a pink colour showing at the end point.
19. Acid: An acid is define as the photogenic substance that is which
yield proton in solution.
20. Base: Base is define as the photogenic substance that is which can
accept proton.
21. Neutralization: It is reaction between equivalent amount of acid &
base.
22. Hydrolysis: It is the interaction which is an ions of a salt & the ion
of water with the production of weak base of both.

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Page | 108
 Chapter - 11
“Heterosis and Combining Ability for Growth
Attributes, Yield and Quality Traits in Bottle
Gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.]”

Authors
Amit Singh
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun, UK
Susheel Kumar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun, UK
Shambhoo Prasad
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun, UK
Govind Kumar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun, UK
Sanjay Dutt Gahtori
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradun, UK

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Page | 110
 Chapter - 11
“Heterosis and Combining Ability for Growth Attributes,
Yield and Quality Traits in Bottle Gourd [Lagenaria
siceraria (Mol.) Standl.]”
Amit Singh, Susheel Kumar, Shambhoo Prasad, Govind Kumar, and Sanjay Dutt Gahtori

Abstract
The present investigations was carried out in two years with aims to
determine heterosis, combining ability, gene action, heritability in narrow
sense and genetic advance in per cent of mean and genetic divergence
involving 10 lines (NDBG-504, NDBG-509, NDBG-517, NDBG-522,
NDBG-601, NDBG-603, NDBG-749-2, NDBG-11, NDBG-10, Narendra
Rashmi), 4 testers (Pusa Naveen, NDBG-624, NDBG-S-5, NDBG-104) of
bottle gourd and their 40 F1 hybrids produced in L × T fashion at MES, at
Plant Breeding lab, SIPS, Dehradun, India during Zaid 2016-17 and 2017-18.
The experiments were laid out in RBD with three replications having each
experimental unit of single row with spacing of 3.0 m × 0.5 m. Analysis of
variance due to treatments, parents and crosses were highly significant for all
the traits in both the years. All the parents and F1’s were grouped into eight
clusters with different genotypes in both the seasons which suggested that
there were ample diversity within the experimental material. Reducing sugars
in Y1 and total soluble solids in Y2 contributed maximum contribution towards
total divergence while, minimum contribution was reflected by days to first
pistillate flower anthesis and total sugars in both the years the lines/crosses
between the genotypes of clusters with high inter cluster distance with that of
distant clusters may give rise desirable segregants. Thus, there exists scope of
development of desirable F1/segregates as per consumer’s choice to meet out
the ever increasing demand of bottle gourd in future.

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Page | 112
 Chapter - 12
Production technology of Tomato in Western
Uttar Pradesh

Authors
Muzeev Ahmad
Ph.D., Research Scholar, Department of Horticulture, Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology,
Meerut, U.P. (250 110)
Khursheed Alam
Ph.D., Research Scholar, Department of Vegetable Science,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture &
Technology, Meerut, U.P. (250 110)
Mohd Wamiq
Ph.D., Research Scholar, Department of Vegetable Science,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture &
Technology, Meerut, U.P. (250 110)
Vivek Kumar
Ph.D., Research Scholar, Department of Genetics & Plant
Breeding, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture
& Technology, Meerut, U.P. (250 110)

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Page | 114
 Chapter - 12
Production technology of Tomato in Western Uttar Pradesh
Muzeev Ahmad, Khursheed Alam, Mohd Wamiq and Vivek Kumar

Introduction
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) belongs to the Solanaceae family and
chromosomal number 2n= 24, it is the most important horticultural crop in the
world next to potato. It originated in Peru in South America and its production
spread throughout the world. Tomato is one of the most popular and widely
grown vegetables in the world. Its many forms are adapted to a wide range of
soils and climates. It has many other uses tomato seeds contain 24% of the oil
is used as a salad oil and in the manufacture of margarine. Green tomatoes are
also used for pickles and preserves.
History
In 1828 Britishers introduced the tomato to India through Royal Agri-
Horticultural Society, Calcutta, and afterward, it spread to other parts of the
country. In the 14th -15th century, it is considered a highly poisonous food. In
the 16th century, Italians and Romans started the use of tomatoes. Father of
tomato: Dr. C. M. Rick Linnaeus 1753 placed the tomato under the genus
‘Solanum’ and gave Solanum Lycopersicon. In 2005-2006 the scientific name
of tomato was changed to Solanum Lycopersicon.
Origin and distribution
Evidences first tomato cultivation was compiled and evaluated by Jenkins
(1948). First known record of tomato is in the year 1554 in South America.
The cultivated tomato originated from Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The
domesticated place of tomatoes lies in Mexico. The ancestor of cultivated
tomato is cherry type (Lycopersicon esculenta var cerasiformae - cherry
tomato). From Mexico is distributed to Spain, Europe, Britain, France, etc.
Common Names: Tomate (Spain, France), Tomat (Indonesia), Faan ke’e
(China), Tomato (West Africa), Jitomate (Mexico), Pomodoro (Italy).
Nutrients in tomatoes
Tomatoes contribute to a healthy, well-balanced diet. In tomato total

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sugar content is 2.5% in ripe fruit and ascorbic acid varies from 16-65mg/100g
of fruit weight, total amino acid is 100-350mg/100g of fruit weight. They are
rich in minerals, vitamins, essential amino acids, sugars, and dietary fibers.
Tomato contains vitamin B and C, iron, and phosphorus. Composition of
tomato fruit per 100g of edible part, Minerals - 0.6g Nicotinic acid - 0.4g,
Vitamin A - 320I.U oxalic acid - 2mg, Vitamin C - 31mg phosphorus - 36mg,
Thiamine - 0.07mg Iron - 1.8mg, Riboflavin - 0.01g Calcium - 20mg.
Importance and uses
Tomato is one of the versatile crops in the world because of its fast and
wide climatic adaption and it is universally treated as “protective food”. The
pulp and juice are digestible, mild apparent, a promoter of gastric secretion
and blood purifier. Also reported to have antiseptic properties against
intestinal infections and also fought against the cancer of the mouth, etc. It
stimulates the torpid liver and is good in chronic dyspepsia. In tomatoes,
tomatine content in small hard tomatoes is 300mg/100g of edible part and 150
mg/100g in larger green fruits. The solanine content of the pulp made from
unripe tomato is much lower, similar to peeled potato (5mg/100g of edible
part). Its ripe fruits are utilized on a large scale in the preparation of a variety
of processed products, such as puree, paste, ketchup, sauce, soup, syrup, juice,
drinks, and canned whole peeled fruits.
Health Benefits of Tomatoes
Tomato is one of the versatile crops in the world because of its fast and
wide climatic adaption and it is universally treated as “protective food.
Pigmentation in Tomato: Red color is due to lycopene. Yellow color is
due to carotenoid antioxidants, Tangerine is due to pro-lycopene. At
temperature below 100 C tomato did not develop red or yellow color whereas
at temperature between 10-250 C, red and yellow pigments developed and
finally red color was suppressed above 300 C. If the temperature lower than
300 C was restored, red colour again developed and at the temperature above
400 C, lycopene was destroyed and no red colour development took place.
Area and production: According to NHB. The leading states are - AP,
KN, MP, Orissa, Gujarat. Area Production Productivity World 4.81mha
162mt 33.8t/ha India 8.80lakh ha 182 lakh t 20.7t/ha Karnataka 0.57lakh ha
19 lakh t 33.2t/ha.
Taxonomy: Tomato belongs to the family Solanaceae and genus
lycopersicon. The genus includes 12 species, all native to South America.
Muller (1940) divide the genus lycopersicon into subgenus Eulycopersicon

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(red-fruited) and Eriopersicon (green fruited type). Bailey (1949) classified
tomatoes into two species. esculentum and L. pimpinellifolium. with 5
botanical varieties.
Botanical classification of cultivated tomato according to fruit shape and
plant spread by Bailey (1949) 1. L. esculentum. var. commune 2.
L.esculentum. var. grandifolium Potato leaves type common round fruited
tomato. L.esculentum. var. cerasiformae 4. L.esculentum. var. validum small-
fruited cherry tomato upright tomato 5.L. esculentum. var. pyriformae (pear-
shaped tomato).
Botanical Description cultivated tomato is an annual herb Roots:
Taproot system having a depth of 50cm or more. Stem: Growth habit is erect.
Plant height is 2-4 m. The stem is solid, coarse, hairy, and glandular. Leaf:
Leaves are compound pinnatifid with small leaflets. The petiole is long
clasping. The main leaflet is shortly stalked,5 to 7cm long, ovate to oblong
with margin irregularly toothed.
Fruits: Fleshy berry, globular to oblate in shape and 2-15 cm in diameter.
The immature fruit is green and hairy. Ripe fruits range from yellow, orange
to red. It is usually round, smooth.
Flowers: Flowers are borne in small forked raceme cyme. They vary in
numbers from 5 to 12 each flower is borne on a short pedicel which is
constricted at the middle. flowers are pendent, perfect, hypogynous. Seeds:
Numerous, kidney or pear-shaped. They are hairy, light brown 3-5mm long,
and 2-4 mm wide.
According to the growth habit: Tomato is characterized by two types
Determinate type and Indeterminate Determinate Indeterminate • Bushy in
nature. • Self-topping occurs. • Flower cluster occurs at every node. • Early
maturity can be seen. • Staking is not required. • Erect in nature. • Self-topping
does not occur. • Flower cluster occurs at every 3rd node. • Late maturity can
be seen. • Staking is required.
Selection of varieties: High yields. Free from cracking. Disease
resistance. A high percentage of no. of fruits. Good shelf life & TSS.
Varieties
Improved varieties of hybrids: Arka Vikas, Meghali, Arka Ananya,
Pusa Ruby, Roma, Arka Rakshak, Arka Ahuti, Sankranthi, Arka Samrat, Arka
Sourabh, Nandi, Arka Ashish, Vybhava, Arka Abha, Arka Alok, Arka Vikas,
Arka Shrestha. The selection of tomato varieties has been in plenty suitable
almost all parts of the country. Some of the sought-after varieties are given

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below. Sioux- High yielding dwarf, spreading, Pusa red plum- Table variety,
determinate (IARI). Pusa early dwarf- Suitable for Kharif and rabi (IARI). Co-
1- Semi-spreading dwarf, fruits in the cluster (TNAU). Co-2- Mutant of Co-
1. S-12- High yielding, variety from PAU. PKM-1- Round fruits with a green
shoulder. Pusa Ruby- Indeterminate, flat fruits (IARI). Pusa Gaurav- Good for
processing (IARI).
Paiyur 1- Suitable for rainfed culture, Arka Saurabh- Semi-determinate,
round fruits; good keeping quality (IIHR), Arka Vikas- High yielding table
variety, Arka Ahuti- Oblong fruits, TSS 5.4% (IIHR), Arka Ashish-
Determinate oval fruits; tolerant to DM (IIHR), Arka Abha- Determinate;
bacterial wilt resistant (IIHR), Arka Meghali- Rainfed' thick flesh. (IIHR),
Sakthi- Resistant to Bacterial wilt (KAU), HS 101- Determinate; dwarf
spreading, good for the winter season (HAU).
Hisar Anmol- Tolerant to leaf curl virus, determinate (HAU), SL-120-
Semi-determinate, root-knot nematode tolerant (IARI), S-12- Dwarf bushy
plants (PAU), Pant Bahar- Bushy and much-branched (GBPU), NDT-1-
Indeterminate, large fruits. NDT-120- Determinate, good for processing.
Solan gola- From Himachal (YSPU), Pusa Divya- Indeterminate F1 hybrid,
profusely branched, round, yield 35 t/ha.
Varieties are resistant to abiotic stresses: Pusa Sheetal-low
temperature, Pusa hybrid 1- High temperature, Pusa Sadabahar- high and low-
temperature region.
Climate: Warm-season crop: Optimum temperature required for its
cultivation is 20°C - 24° C. Optimum temperature of 15°C -20°C for fruit set.
The temperature below 16°C and above 27° C are not desirable. The ideal
temperature for the development of red and yellow colour is 18°C -25ºC.
Lycopene which is responsible for red colour is highest at 21°C-24 °C while
the production of this pigment drops off rapidly above 27 °C.
Disinfection of soil: Control of Phytophthora, Pythium, RKN, Soil
solarization, Methyl Bromide.
Formalin Soil: - It grows well in all kinds of soil. For early crops, sandy
loam soil is the best, for higher yield heavy soils rich in organic matter are
preferred. The pH should be 6.0 – 7.0. It is moderately tolerant to acid soil (pH
5.5).
Seed rate: For nursery Raising OPV:300-400 g/ha. Hybrids: 125 – 175g.
Time of planting: Tomato can be grown in any season as it is a day-neutral
plant. Three crops are taken in areas that are not affected by frost. Kharif crop
transplanted in July, Rabi in October- November months.

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 Seed treatment: Seed is treated with fungicides like Captan or Cereson
or Thiram 2g/kg of seed.
Seasons: Seed sowing in the plains is done thrice during the year. 1) For
rainy-autumn crop: The seeds are sown in the month of June and July. 2) For
autumn-winter crop: Seeds are sown in the month of Sep-Oct. 3) For spring-
summer crop: Seeds are sown in the month of Jan-Feb. In hills, the sowing of
the seed depends upon the elevation of the place. On lower hills, seeds are
sown in Feb-March while on the higher hills in the months of March and April.
FYM @ 25t /ha is applied before the last ploughing. Neem cake @ 100
kg is applied before the last ploughing. Raised beds of 120 cm width.
Land preparation and Planting
Nursery bed Preparation: The land is first ploughed with soil turning
plough followed by 4-5 ploughings with a country plough or harrow. Leveling
should be done after ploughing and bring the soil into fine tilth and also
provide better drainage facilities at the time of soil preparation, raising the
planting bed above ground level facilitates drainage during the rainy season.
Planting time: Seedlings are ready for transplanting between 4 – 5weeks
after seeding in nursery beds. Seedlings should be hardened before
transplanting. This is done by withholding watering for 4-5 days so as to
reduce available moisture to 20%. The transplanting of seedlings is done in
January-February and July-august for taking two crops in a year. High hills -
March – October. During winter production the plantings are done in the
month of September.
Spacing: 60×45 cm mostly under drip irrigation system for efficient use
of water and fertilizers for long-duration cultivation of tomato crop. A low-
pressure drip irrigation system can also be used for greenhouse tomato
cultivation.
Irrigation: Water requirement of crop: 600 -700mm/ha during initial cop
stage (1month) - 8lt/m.
Use of growth regulators and chemicals: Chemicals Common name
Doses(mg/liter) Effective 2, Chloroethyl phosphonic acid Ethephon 200-500
whole plant spray Flowering induction, better rooting and setting of plants 2,
Chloroethyl cycocel 500-100 Flower bud, stimulate pigment formation and
increase fruit set 2,4 Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid 2,4-D 2-5 seed treatment,
whole plant spray Increase fruit set, earliness, and parthenocarpy 3 Indole
butyric acid IBA 50-100 Increase fruit set 3 Indole acetic acid IAA Foliage
spray Increase fruit size and yield Naphalene acetic acid NAA Spray oil

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Higher fruit set, yield Parachlorophenoxy acetic acid PCPA 50mg foliar spray
Higher fruit set under adverse climatic condition 6-4Hydroxy methyl 8 methyl
gibberline GA 50-100 foliar spray Elongate shoot growth and increase fruit
yield.
Weed control: The normal method of weed control is to give two hand
hoeing in the first and third fortnight after transplanting and an earthing up
operation during the seasonal fortnight. The application of pre-emergence
herbicides like metribuzin at 0.35kg/ha, fluchloraline at 1.25kg/ha controls the
weed population and increases the yield of tomatoes. Recently the use of
pendimethalin @1.0kg/ha as a pre-emergence application at three days after
transplanting was found very effective in suppressing the weeds.
Staking In the case of indeterminate varieties, the yield and quality of fruit
are improved by staking the plants with wooden sticks/polythene threads.
Staking not only increases the yield and improves its quality but also reduces
infection by fungal diseases.
Training systems: Single stem, Two stems, Three stems. Spacing: 60 x
45 cm spacing: 60 x 45 cm.
Harvesting
Harvesting of tomato fruits is carried out either at the breaker stage or at
half red depending upon the market preference. The first harvest starts 60 days
after planting.
Grading
Grading Tomato fruits are graded based on 1. Colour 2. Size 3. Degree of
ripening/stage of maturity. Pack the fruits separately according to grade before
sending them to market. The Bureau of Indian standards has specified four
grades, viz. super A, super, fancy, and commercial.
Storage
The tomato can be stored in low temperatures and evaporative cool
storage. •The best storage temperature is from 12° C to 15° C. When stored at
a freezing point, the fruits show low-temperature injury. Mature green fruits
can be kept for as long as 30 days at 10° C to 15° C. ripe tomatoes can be kept
for 10 days at 4.5 ° C. The recommended relative humidity is 85-90% percent.
Tomato can be stored under normal conditions for 7-10 days.
Physiological disorders of tomato
Blossom end rot: Brown water-soaked discoloration appears at the
blossom end of the fruit where the senescent petals are attached while the fruit

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is still green. The spots enlarge and darken rapidly and the affected portion of
the fruit becomes sunken, leathery, and dark coloured. This disorder may
occur due to i) Sudden change in the rate of transpiration especially in
moisture stress conditions ii) Continuously high evapotranspiration regime
and a large leaf area iii) Increasing level of nitrogen content in the fruits.
Control: 1) This disorder is decreased by increasing the frequency of
irrigation. 2) Judicial fertilizer application. An increase in the level of
phosphate fertilization application declines the incidence of this disorder. 3)
Liming decreases the incidence. 4) Single foliar spray of 0.5% calcium
chloride (CaCl2) at the time of fruit development.
Fruit cracking: Two types of fruit cracking are seen. Radial cracking,
where the surface of the mostly full ripe fruits cracks radially from the stem
end of the fruit, and concentric cracking, where the surface of mostly mature
green fruits cracks concentrically around the shoulder of the fruit. Radial
cracking is more common and causes greater loss than concentric cracking.
Cracking may occur due to. Irrigation or rainfall after a long dry spell.
Exposure of fruits to the sun due to pruning and staking. Boron deficiency is
a genetic factor that is reported to be inherited polygenically.
Control: 1) Irrigation at regular intervals 2) Pruning and staking during
summer season should be avoided 3) Spraying seedlings before transplanting
with 0.3-0.4% borax solution. 5) Growing resistant varieties like Sioux, Roma,
Punjab Chuhara, Pusa ruby, Arka Saurabh, Pant T1, etc.
Pest and diseases
PESTS: Aphids, Thrips, Whitefly, Leaf miner, Pinworm, Fruit borer.
Whitefly: Bemisia tabaci. Fruit damage Silvery damage Tomato leaf
curling Management. Uproot and destroy the diseased leaf curl plants. Use
nitrogen and irrigation judiciously. Use yellow sticky traps at 12/ha to attract
and kill insects. Apply carbofuran 3% G @ 40 kg /ha. Spray of dimethoate
30% E C @1ml/lt or malathion 1.5ml/lt.
Fruit Borer: Helicoverpa armigera. Growing of trap crop -40 days old
American tall marigold and 25 days old tomato seedling at 1:16 rows, Set up
pheromone trap with Helilure at 12/ha. Collection and destruction of damaged
fruits and grown-up caterpillars. Release Trichogramma @ 1 lakh nos. /ha
released at an interval of 7 days starting from flower initiation. Spray Bacillus
thuringiensis 2g/lit.
Diseases: Damping-off, Early blight, Late blight, Fusarium wilt,
Bacterial wilt, Mosaic.

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 Damping-off: Pythium aphanidermatum. Use raised seedbed. Drench
with Copper oxychloride 0.2% or Bordeaux mixture 1%. Seed treatment with
fungal culture Trichoderma viride (4 g/kg of seed) or Thiram (3 g/kg of seed)
is the only preventive measure to control the pre-emergence damping off.
Early Blight: Alternaria solani. Removal and destruction of crop debris.
Practicing crop rotation helps to minimize disease incidence. Spray the crop
with Mancozeb 0.2% for effective disease control. Early symptom Affected
plant at advanced stage Concentric ring on the infected part.
Leaf curl: Tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV). Foliar symptom Yellowing
between veins and upward curling of their margins Leaf curl symptom, keep
yellow sticky traps @ 12/ha to control whitefly. Raise barrier crops-cereals
around the field. Spray Imidacloprid 0.5% or Dimethoate 0.5% @ 15, 25, 45
DAT to control vector.
Bacterial Wilt: Ralstonia solanacearum infected. Crop rotations, viz.,
cowpea-maize-cabbage, okra-cowpea-maize, maize- cowpea-maize, and
finger millet-eggplant are reported effective in reducing bacterial wilt of
tomato. Use of disease-resistant varieties like Arka Abha, Arka Alok, Arka
Rakshak.
References
1. Adams P (2002). Nutritional control in hydroponics. In: Savvas D,
Passam HC (Eds) Hydroponic Production of Vegetables and
Ornamentals, Embryo Publications, Athens, Greece, pp 211-261.
2. Akl IA, Savvas D, Papadantonakis N, Lydakis-Simantiris N, Kefalas P
(2003). Influence of ammonium to total nitrogen supply ratio on growth,
yield and fruit quality of tomato grown in a closed hydroponic
system. European Journal of Horticultural Science, (68), 204-211
3. Alhendawi RA, Kirkby EA, Pilbeam DJ (2005). Evidence that sulfur
deficiency enhances molybdenum transport in xylem sap of tomato
plants. Journal of Plant Nutrition 28, 1347-1353
4. Anonymous (2020). Indian Horticulture Database 2019, National
Horticulture Board, Gurgoan.
5. Bose, T.K., J. Kabir, T.K. Maity, V.A. Parthasarthy and M.G. Som,
(2002). Vegetable Crops. Vol. 1, Naya Prokash Publ., Calcutta,
India, pp: 168-204.
6. Chatterjee J, Chatterjee C (2002). Amelioration of phytotoxicity of cobalt
by high phosphorus and its withdrawal in tomato. Journal of Plant
Nutrition (25), 2731-2743.

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7. Collard BCY, Jahufer MZZ, Brouwer JB, Pang ECK (2005). An
introduction to markers, quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping and
marker-assisted selection for crop improvement: The basic concepts.
Euphytica (142), 169-196.
8. Davis JM, Sanders DC, Nelson PV, Lengnick L, Sperry WJ (2003). Boron
improves growth, yield, quality, and nutrient content of tomato.
Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science (128), 441-
446.
9. Fraser PD, Bramleya P, Seymour GB (2001). Effect of the Cnr mutation
on carotenoid formation during tomato fruit ripening. Phytochemistry
(58), 75-79
10. Ho LC, White PJ (2005). A cellular hypothesis for the induction of
blossom end rots in tomato fruit. Annals of Botany (95), 571-581.
11. Kamal AHM, Takashina T, Egashira H, Satoh H, Imanishi S (2001).
Introduction of aromatic fragrance into cultivated tomato from the
‘peruvianum complex’. Plant Breeding (120), 179-181
12. Kaya C, Higgs D (2002). Improvements in physiological and nutritional
developments of tomato cultivars grown at high zinc by foliar
application of phosphorus and iron. Journal of Plant Nutrition (25), 1881-
1894.
13. Linnaeus, C. (1753). Species Plantarum, 1st ed. Stockholm: L. Salvius
14. Oke M, Ahn T, Schofield A, Paliyath G (2005). Effects of phosphorus
fertilizer supplementation on processing quality and functional food
ingredients in tomato. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (53),
1531-1538.
15. Rick CM (1995). Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) (Solanaceae). In:
Smartt J, Simmonds NW (Eds) Evolution of Crop Plants, Longman,
Essex, UK, pp 452-457.
16. Ruiz JJ, Alonso A, Garcia-Martinez S, Valero M, Blasco P, Ruiz-Bevia F
(2005). Quantitative analysis of flavour volatiles detects differences
among closely related traditional cultivars of tomato. Journal of the
Science of Food and Agriculture (85), 54-60.
17. Shenker M, Plessner O. E. (2004) Manganese nutrition effects on tomato
growth, chlorophyll concentration, and superoxide dismutase activity.
Journal of Plant Physiology (161), 197-202
18. Siddiqi MY, Malhotra B, Min X, Glass ADM (2002) Effects of

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 ammonium and inorganic carbon enrichment on growth and yield of a
hydroponic tomato crop. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
(165), 191-197.
19. Siddiqi, M. Y., Malhotra, B., Min X, Glass, A. D. M. (2002). Effects of
ammonium and inorganic carbon enrichment on growth and yield of a
hydroponic tomato crop. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
(165), 191-197
20. Simmons AT, McGrath D, Gurr GM (2005). Trichome characteristics of
F1 Lycopersicon esculentum X L. cheesmanii f. minor and L. esculentum
X L. pennellii and effects on Myzus persicae. Euphytica (144), 313-
320.
21. Thamburaj S, Singh N. (2004). Textbook of vegetables, tuber crops, and
spices. New Delhi, ICAR, 10-29.
22. Walker DJ, Cerda A, Martinez V (2000). The effects of sodium chloride
on iron transport in potassium deficient tomato. Journal of Plant
Physiology (157), 195-200

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 Chapter - 13
Weather forecasting & its application in
Agriculture

Authors
Rahul Sharma
M.Sc. (Ag.) Department of Agricultural Meteorology, Acharya
Narendra Deva University of Agricultural & Technology
Kumarganj, Ayodhya 224229
A.N. Mishra
(Assistant Professor), Department of Agricultural
Meteorology, Acharya Narendra Deva University of
Agriculture & Technology, Kumarganj Ayodhya - 224229
(U.P.)
Arun Kumar
M.Sc. (Ag.) Department of Agricultural Meteorology, Acharya
Narendra Deva University of Agricultural & Technology
Kumarganj, Ayodhya 224229 & Bundelkhand University
Jhansi (U.P.)
Yashvant Singh
M.Sc. (Ag.) Department of Agronomy, Bundelkhand
University Jhansi (U.P.)

Page | 125
Page | 126
 Chapter - 13
Weather forecasting & its application in Agriculture
Rahul Sharma, A.N. Mishra, Arun Kumar and Yashvant Singh

Weather -: Weather is defined as the state or condition of atmosphere at

a given place (small place village city district etc) and at a given time (small
duration some hr part of a day, complete day up 25 day) is called as
weather.
Or
The physical state of condition of atmosphere at a particular area for a
particular time as know as weather.
Forecasting-: forecast is the process of making prediction based on past
and present data and most commonly by analysis of trend.
Weather forecasting-: Any advance information of weather is called
weather forecasting.
Or
Weather forecasting is the application science and technology to future
the condition of the weather for a given location and time.
Objective of weather forecasting-: the objective providing weather
forecast is to disseminate information to the farmers on the real time basis. So
that can utilize the beneficial aspect of weather information to increase crop
(yield) production or to minimize the damage.
On the basis of duration weather forecasting is four types.
1. Now range weather forecasting (NRF)
2. Short range weather forecasting (SRF)
3. Medium range weather forecasting (MRF)
4. Long range weather forecasting (LRF)
1. Now range weather forecasting (NRF)-: It type is weather
forecasting is issued for less than 12 hrs. It is closely related to local
weather phenomena like thunderstorms, duststroms, cyclones and
cold and heat waves.

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 Note-: Forecast accuracy 80-92%
2. Short range weather forecasting (SRF)-: it is valid up to 3 days
(72 hrs). It is suitable for crop irrigation, sowing of seed fertilizer
application. The includes cloud spread, rainfall distribution, heavy
rainfall, warming, maximum temperature and minimum temperature,
heat and cold waves, low pressure, cyclone, hail, snow, frost,
maximum wind speed.
Application in agriculture
• Irrigation scheduling
• Timing of field operations
• Protection of plants from frost
• Drying rate of soil
• Efficiency of chemicals
• Spray of application
• Insect disease effects
• Soil workability
• Livestock protection from cold and heat waves
Note-: Forecast accuracy 70-80%
3. Medium range weather forecasting (MRF)-: It is valid 3-10 days
suitable for sea mariners engineers etc. the forecast includes some
weather parameters, rainfall maximum and minimum temperature,
wind direction.
Application in agriculture
• To take account of expected rainfall to plan irrigation
• To decide whether or not to harvest a crop in this period
• To determine the depth at which seed be sown to achieve an optimal
rate of seedling emergence
• To ensure maximum efficiency of spray programme
• To prepare in time for the protection of plants against frost
Note-: Forecast accuracy 60-70%
NCMRWF- National centre for medium range weather forecasting, was
established in New Delhi by the government of India during 1988
4. Long range weather forecasting (LRF)-: It is valid more than 10

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 days or month or season. The forecast 10-25 days in meteorology and
up to 5-6 month on agriculture meteorology. It is suitable for
cropping pattern of an area for predicting tendency in food grain
production of India.
Application in agriculture
• In soil moisture management
• In pasture management
• In avoiding chemical sprays when disease or pests are unlikely to be
trouble some
• To determining irrigation frequency
• In harvesting crops for short term storages where adverse conditions
are likely to interfere
Note-: Forecast accuracy 60-62%
Methods of weather forecasting
1. Synoptic charts methods or conventional
2. Numerical weather prediction
3. Statistical methods
4. Satellite & cloud imageries
5. DMO method
They are three major types.
1. Synoptic charts methods or conventional-: This method is useful
in the short range weather forecasting.
2. Numerical weather prediction-: NWP is very useful in the medium
range weather forecasting. The numerical weather prediction
techniques are also applied to short range weather forecasting of
meteorological at the numerical weather prediction unit of (IMD)
India Meteorological Department.
3. Statistical methods-: Statistical methods are used mostly in long
range weather forecasting and seasonal climate forecasts. In these
methods regression and correlation are analysis using weather
parameters.
ARIMA-: Auto Regression Integrated Moving Average

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Importance of weather forecasting in agriculture
• Selection of crops and cultivars.
• The forecast of the weather events helps for suitable planning of
farm.
• Effective use of fertilizers.
• Helps in management of cultural operation like ploughing harrowing
etc.
• It helps in to transpiration and storage of food production.
• It also helps in to take measurement to fight frost.
• It helps to undertake or with held the sowing operation.
• To irrigated crop or not.
• When to apply fertilizer.
• Weather to short complete harvesting or to with hold it.
Full Form for Meteorological Related
IMD – India Meteorological Department (1875) New Delhi.
WMO – World Meteorological Organization (23 March- 1950) Geneva,
Switzerland.
NCMRWF – National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting
(1988) New Delhi.
IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1988)
IITM – Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (17 November 1962)
Pune.
NRSA – National Remote Sensing Agency (1974) Hyderabad.
IIRS – Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (1966) Dehradun.
AICRP – All India Co-ordinate Research Project on Agro meteorology
(1985).
CRIDA – Central Research Institute for Dry land Agriculture (1985)
Hyderabad, A.P.
ICARADA – International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Land
Area (1977) Aleppo, Syria.
ICRISAT – International Crops Research Institute for Semi- Arid
Tropics (1972) Hyderabad, A.P.

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References
1. Rao, G.S.L.H.V.P. (2014), Agricultural Meteorology, PHI Learning
Private Limited, Delhi 110092.
2. Mahi, G.S. & Kingra, P.K. (2018), Fundamentals of agro meteorology
and climate change, Kalyani Publishers. B-1/1292, Rajendra Nagar,
Ludhiana-141008.

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Page | 132
 Chapter - 14
Soil Sampling, Methods and their Procedure and
Obtaining Soil Moisture

Authors
Amit Singh
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradur, UK
Vikas Singh Sengar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradur, UK
Susheel Kumar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradur, UK
Govind Kumar
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradur, UK
Sanjay Dutt Gahtori
Assistant Professor, SIPS, Dehradur, UK

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Page | 134
 Chapter - 14
Soil Sampling, Methods and their Procedure and Obtaining
Soil Moisture
Amit Singh, Vikas Singh Sengar, Susheel Kumar, Govind Kumar and Sanjay Dutt
Gahtori

The Testing of the soil is carried out by taking samples of the soil and
performing laboratory tests, which is then followed by an interpretation of the
results. Further recommendations for fertilizer and soil preservation can then
be provided. Soil moisture plays a very important role in agricultural Practices,
such as tillage, fertilizer application, seed sowing and harvesting etc, drought
and flood forecasting, forest fire prediction, water supply management in field
and soil condition, and other natural resource activities.
Soil Sampling
Soil sampling is the procedure of taking a small amount of soil, which is
then sent to a laboratory to find out the nutrient content. The soil can also be
tested for the chemical, physical and biological properties, which are need to
plant nutrition.
Basic plant nutrition requires the presence of nutrients such as nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium. Soil sampling can also find out the pH levels of
the soil as well as humus content, lime, Sulphur, Boron content and Many
Micro and Macro Nutrient.
Methods of Soil Sampling
1. Random Methods- It is the most popular methods of soil sampling,
also called ideal way of soil sampling.
In this sampling procedure following processes are involve-
a) Select the field where sampling would be performed.
b) First to avoid all the corners of the field for sampling.
c) Avoid 1 meter for away from the main boundary/ridge of the field
for sampling.
d) Ensure to make uniform all fields before sampling.

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 e) Made spot randomly entire the field for sampling.
f) Remove the thin layer of soil from each spot.
g) Dig 15-20 cm soil in V shape and collect the sample in each spot in
soil sampling Tray.

15-20 cm deep in V shape

2. Cross strip in a uniform Field

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3. Test Plot in a uniform field

4. Zig-Zag Methods

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5. Diagonal in Uniform Field

6. Two way, diagonal in uniform field

7. Two way Cross-strip in Uniform Field

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Instruments Use for Soil Sampling
1. Soil Sampling Tray
2. Soil Auger or Khurpi
3. Poly bags
4. Note pad
5. Pen/Pencil
6. Polythene sheet
7. Tags
Sampling Procedure
1. Collect the soil sample from any method in sampling tray from
minimum 8 to 10 spots.
2. Drop all soil on clean floor or plastic sheet.
3. Mix properly as well as remove all inert material such as grasses,
plastics, gravels and pebbles from the soil.
4. Now properly grind the soil and spread in shade place for drying.
5. After drying spread the soil on floor in circular shape.
6. Now divide the circle into four parts as shown in the picture.
7. Separate the two opposite parts and mix the remaining two parts in a
good way.
8. Repeat this process until we have enough samples left.
9. Now collect the sample in poly bag with appropriate tags.
10. Store the sample in lab at dry and shade place.

Soil Moisture: Soil moisture may be defined as the total amount of water
molecules available between the pores of the soil, which are essential for
nutrient availability, nutrient translocation and soil biological behavior.

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 Soil moisture plays a very important role in agricultural Practices, such
as tillage, fertilizer application, seed sowing and harvesting etc, drought and
flood forecasting, forest fire prediction, water supply management in field and
soil condition, and other natural resource activities.
Apparatus Required
1. Moisture Box
2. Soil Auger (Cylindrical)
3. Hot air Oven
4. Weighing Machine
5. Desiccators
Procedure
1. To take neat and clean Moisture Box with lid or Cylindrical soil
Auger and weight it & take reading as W1.
2. Now take the soil from desired field in moisture box or Auger.
3. Fill the soil thoroughly in the moisture box or Auger.
4. Weight the box filled with soil and take the reading W2.
5. Now place the box without closing the lid in a hot air oven at 105o C
for 24 h.
6. After 24 h remove the box from oven and weight the box with lid.
7. Now take the Reading as W3.
Observations
WI - Weight of moisture box with lid
W2 - Weight of moisture box with wet soil
W3 - Weight of moisture box with oven dry soil
Now
Weight of Wet soil = W2 - WI
Weight of oven dry soil = W 3 - WI
Calculation
Wet Soil (g) – Dry Soil (g)
% Moisture = X 100
Dry Soil (g)
Result: The percentage of Moisture from collected soil is………

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 Chapter - 15
Biofortification in Vegetable Crops

Authors
Mohd Wamiq
Ph.D., Research Scholar, Department of Vegetable Science,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture &
Technology, Meerut, U.P. (250110), India.
Khursheed Alam
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Vegetable Science,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture &
Technology, Meerut, U.P. (250110), India.
Muzeev Ahmad
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Horticulture, Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology,
Meerut, U.P. (250110), India.
Suraj Luthra
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Vegetable Science,
Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture &
Technology, Ayodhya, U.P. (224229), India.

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Page | 142
 Chapter - 15
Biofortification in Vegetable Crops
Mohd Wamiq, Khursheed Alam, Muzeev Ahmad and Suraj Luthra

Introduction
Population growth, malnutrition, hunger, and lack of vitamins and
minerals are some of the biggest problems that most countries in the world are
currently facing. Vitamin A deficiency is prevalent in developing countries
among children and women, causing more than 600,000 deaths worldwide
each year in children under 5 years of age. The micronutrient deficiency in the
population is dominated by about 60% iron, 30% zinc, 30% iodine and 15%
selenium. Insufficient utilization of these important vitamins and minerals has
resulted in many human health and physical disabilities. Agricultural and
conventional transformational regeneration methods are used to enhance
nutrients into food culture and remove nutrition deficiency. Most horticulture
crops, such as banana, cassava, beans, potatoes, orange sweet potatoes (OSP),
cowpea, and pumpkin, are carried out in many common gardening crops.
Several general and transgenic varieties have been released and additional
varieties are in pipelines.
Greek word “bios” means “life” Latin word “fortificare” means “make
strong.” In a single word Biofortification means make life strong.
Biofortification is the process of adding nutritional value to the crop. It refers
to nutrient enrichment of crops to address them negative economic and health
consequences of vitamin and mineral deficiencies in humans (Prasad et al.
2015). Bio-fortification refers to increasing genetically the bioavailable
mineral content of food crops (Brinch et al. 2007). Developing biofortified
crops also improves their efficiency of growth in soils with depleted or
unavailable mineral composition (Borg et al. 2009). Growing plants with
higher phytonutrient content is most easily obtained with short young crops
such as vegetables, strawberries, and melons, but it is a much longer-term
strategy for tree fruits and nuts, and usually requires several years of young
time for fruit to ripen. Alternative strategies include identifying the plant
variants with enhanced phytonutrients levels from germplasm collections or
existing commercial varieties. This can identify lines that may be already

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acceptable to consumers, or alternatively identify a potential donor parent with
the appropriate phytonutrient background for transfer in to a more acceptable
plant-type for consumption (Hare T.J.2015).
The important concern for biofortification is that after the development of
variety, there should be widespread adoption by the farmer. The crop has to
reach the needy poor people. Vegetables, fruits, dairy, and meat products are
rich in vitamins and micronutrients, but they are expensive for poor people.
They rely on few starchy staples (rice, wheat, maize, and potato); as a result,
the intake of dietary diversity becomes a luxury, and poor people cannot afford
it (Gómez et al. 2013). The extent of diseases due to malnutrition and mineral
deficiencies is so high that the World Bank estimated the combined economic
cost of mineral deficiency in developing countries and could waste as much
as 5% of its gross domestic product (GDP). The deficiency of micronutrient
and vitamins has a significant impact and burden on society which ultimately
leads to an increase in susceptibility to infectious diseases, physical
impairment, cognitive losses, blindness, and premature mortality.
Comprehensively, the deficiency of provitamin A, Fe, I, Zn, and Se is reported
to have a maximum percentage of disease burden, negative impact on the
public (Black et al. 2008; Stein 2010).
Importance of biofortification
Biofortification provides a comparatively cost-effective, sustainable, and
long-term means of delivering more micronutrients in relatively remote rural
areas. It also delivers naturally-fortified foods to population groups with
limited access to commercially-marketed fortified foods. Biofortified staple
foods help by increasing the daily adequacy of micronutrient intakes among
individuals throughout the lifecycle. Biofortification is not expected to treat
micronutrient deficiencies or eliminate them in all population groups. No
single intervention will solve the problem of micronutrient malnutrition, but
biofortification complements existing interventions to sustainably provide
micronutrients to the most vulnerable people in a comparatively inexpensive
and cost-effective way. Moreover, biofortification provides a possible means
of disseminating the technology and food to a malnourished population where
there may have limited access to diverse kinds of diet, supplements, and food,
which are commercially fortified. Biofortification is the different types of
fortification and can be significantly increasing the level of vitamins and
nutrients in the living product (edible part), and its accumulation takes place
by normal physiological process of the plant.
• It is especially important for poor rural community with finite access
to a varied diet, fortified foods or supplements.

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 • It can help the people by improving the daily amount of micronutrient
intake throughout their lifecycle.
• It is important for woman and children since they face greater risk of
micronutrient malnutrition. For instance, according to World Health
Organization (WHO) estimation, two billion people with iron
deficiency-induced anaemia could be cured by taking biofortified
foods.
• To also promote food security.
• To alleviate poverty.
Methods of biofortification
Biofortification can be achieved through three strategies
a) Agronomic Biofortification
b) Conventional plant breeding
c) Genetic engineering
Agronomic Biofortification: Application of fertilizers to increase the
micronutrients in edible parts. Most suitable micronutrients for agronomic
biofortification are Zinc (foliar applications of ZnSO4), Iodine (Soil
application of iodide or iodate), Selenium (as selenate). Foliar application is
the quick and easy method of nutrient application to fortification of micro
nutrients (Fe, Zn, Cu etc.) in plants. Several studies have found that the
mycorrhizal associations increase Fe, Se, Zn and Cu concentrations in crop
plants. AM-fungi increase the uptake and efficiency of micronutrients like Zn,
Cu, and Fe etc. Sulphur oxidising bacteria increases the sulphur content in
onion.
Conventional plant breeding: Traditional breeding mainly focused on
yield attributes and resistance breeding from last four decades and lack of
priority on nutritional aspects leads to decreased amount of nutrient status in
the existed varieties. Examples of minerals that their mean concentration in
the dry matter has declined in several plant-based foods are Fe, Zn, Cu and
Mg. Recent progress in conventional plant breeding has given emphasis on
fortification of important vitamins, antioxidants and micronutrients. The
potential to increase the micronutrient density of staple foods by conventional
breeding requires adequate genetic variation in concentrations of β-carotene,
other functional carotenoids, iron, zinc, and other minerals exists among
cultivars, making selection of nutritionally appropriate breeding materials
possible.

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 Genetic engineering: Genetic engineering (GE) is often described as a
technology that is critical for future food, feed and energy needs. Biotech crop
hectares increased by more than 100-fold from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to
179.7 million hectares in 2015. Since the first large-scale introduction of
Flavr-Saver tomato in 1996, a record 175.2 million hectares of biotech crops
were grown globally in 2013, at an annual growth rate of 3 per cent (James et
al.2013). This unprecedented high growth rate starting from 1.7 million
hectares in 1996 to 175.2 million hectares in 2013 makes biotech crops the
fastest adopted crop technology in recent history, increasing approximately
100 folds between 1996 and 2013 (Gupta et al.2014). Transgenic crops,
commonly referred to as genetically modified (GM) crops enable plant
breeders to bring favourable genes, often previously inaccessible, into elite
cultivars, improving their value considerably and offer unique opportunities
for controlling insects, viruses and other pathogens, as well as nutritional
quality and health benefits.
Lack of sufficient variation among the genotypes for the desired
character/trait within the species, or when the crop itself is not suitable for
conventional plant breeding (due to lack of sexuality;) then genetic
engineering offers a valid alternative for increasing the concentration and
bioavailability of micro nutrients in the edible crop tissues.
Genetic engineering enables vegetable breeders to incorporate desired
transgenes into elite cultivars, thereby improving their value considerably. It
further offers unique opportunities for improving nutritional quality and
bringing other health benefits. Many vegetable crops have been genetically
modified to improve traits such as higher nutritional status or better flavour,
and to reduce bitterness, slow ripening, higher nutritional status, seedless fruit,
increased sweetness and to reduce anti-nutritional factors.
Biofortified vegetable crops generated by breeding
1- Cassava: Cassava, an important crop in many developing countries,
contains iron and zinc only in low concentrations. Thus, the focus of
bio-fortification initiatives is exclusively on increasing beta-carotene
concentration (Montagnac et al.2009). Analysing 632 accessions
from the CIAT germplasm collection of 5500 accessions and
detected germplasm with beta- carotene concentrations above 20 μg/
g, suggesting a high genetic variability that would make it possible
to successfully biofortify cassava and meet the daily retinol
requirements of adults. It was possible to increase true protein in
cassava roots measured by amino acid contents by inter-specific

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 hybridization and the interspecific hybrid has 10-fold lysine and 3-
fold methionine than common cassava cultivar (Nassar et al.2009).
2- Sweet potato: The major aim of the bio-fortification programs is the
replacement of white fleshed low pro-vitamin A sweet potato
varieties with orange fleshed high pro-vitamin A plants. Harvest Plus
has set the target level for sweet potatoes at 32 μg/ g but varieties
with concentrations up to 100 μg/ g already exist (Nestel et al.2006).
Workers provided the children with either orange fleshed potato with
a beta carotene concentration of about 100 μg/ g in the cooked root
or white fleshed potato without any beta- carotene over a period of
11 weeks. Vitamin A liver stores were increased in the treatment
group compared to the control group. Furthermore, it has been shown
that retention of beta carotene from orange fleshed sweet potatoes
when boiled is very high with about 80% of the initial concentration
(Van Jaarsveld et al.2006).
3- Beans: In nutritional terms, beans are often called the “poor man’s
meat” for their inexpensive price as a protein source and their rich
content of minerals (especially iron and zinc) and vitamins. The
advantages and needs of mineral biofortification in common bean,
starting with the steps of breeding for the trait such as germplasm
screening, inheritance, physiological, or bioavailability studies and
finishing with product development in the form of new biofortified
varieties (Blair et al.2013).
Potato: Kufri Neelkanth- Antioxidant rich table purpose variety. Tubers
of the hybrid are dark purple black, ovoid in shape with medium deep eyes,
cream flesh, good storability, medium dry matter (18%) and medium
dormancy with excellent flavour. Suitable for growing in North Indian plains
developed from CPRI, Shimla. (Source: icar.org.in). A Disease resistant
triploid clone was developed by International Potato Centre (CIP) and Harvest
Plus by crossing the diploid Andean landrace Potato with high zinc and iron
content through three cycles of recurrent selection.
Brinjal variety „Pusa Safed Baigan 1’- Released by IARI in 2018.
White coloured oval fruit rich in total phenol content and high antioxidant
property.
Cauliflower: Pusa Beta Kesari 1- (Pure line variety) Country’s first
biofortified cauliflower. Contains high β-carotene (8.0-10.0 ppm) in
comparison to negligible β-carotene content in popular varieties. Developed
by ICAR, New Delhi in 2015.

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Carrot
Variety Character Institute Year source
Pusa Rudhira Has higher IARI, 2008 www.iari.res.in
level of New
Carotenoid Delhi
(7.14mg) &
Phenol
(45.15mg)/
100g
Possess
antioxidant
property
self-core red
coloured
with delayed
bolting.
Pusa Asita self-black IARI, 2008 www.iari.res.in
coloured New
roots Late Delhi
bolter.
Rich source
of
anthocyanin.

Sweet potato
Variety Character Institute Ye Source
ar
Bhu Sona High β-carotene ICAR-Central 20 icar.org.i
(14.0 mg/100g) Tuber 17 n
• Tuber yield: 19.8 Crops Research
t/ha Institute,
Thiruvananthap
• Dry matter: uram, Kerala
27.0-29.0%
• Starch: 20.0%
• Total sugar: 2.0-
2.4%
• Adaptation:
Odisha
Bhu Krishna High ICAR-Central 20 icar.org.i
anthocyanin(90m Tuber 17 n
g/100g) Crops Research
• Tuber yield: 18.0 Institute,
t/ha Thiruvananthap
uram, Kerala
• Dry matter: 24.0-
25.5%
• Starch: 19.5%
• Total sugar: 1.9-

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 2.2%
• Salinity stress
tolerant
• Adaptation:
Odisha
Sree Kanaka Early maturing CTCRI, www.ctc
(75-85 days) Thiruvanantpur ri.org
Cylindrical tubers am
with dark orange
flesh colour High
beta carotene.

Reddish: Pink and purple fleshed Radish varieties were released by IARI
Pusa Gulabi First Pink fleshed variety IARI, New 2013 www.iari.res.in
High in total caroteniods, Delhi
anthocyanin and ascorbic
acid content.
Grows exceptionally well
in heat of summer.
Medium root size,
cylindrical shape
Pusa Jamuni first purple fleshed IARI, New 2012 www.iari.res.in
nutritionally rich variety Delhi
high in anthocyanin &
ascorbic acid content.

Transgenic Approaches for Biofortification

Tomato
Antioxidants- Fruits and vegetables contain a wide range of antioxidants
including anthocyanins and carotenoids such as lycopene and β-carotene and
vitamins C and E. In transgenic fruit which accumulate trans resveratrol, there
is an increase in the levels of ascorbate and glutathione, the soluble
antioxidants of primary metabolism, as well as in the total antioxidant activity
(Giovinazzo G et al. 2005).
Carotenoids rich tomato- Lycopene is a potent antioxidant with the
potential to prevent epithelial cancers and improve human health. Therefore,
there is considerable interest in elevating the levels of carotenoids in tomato
fruit by genetic manipulation and thereby improving the nutritional quality of
the crop. The Psy-1 enzyme catalyses the first committed step of the
carotenoid biosynthesis pathway by producing phytoene from GGPP
(geranylgeranyl diphosphate). In order to increase the carotenoid content of
fruit, the Psy-1 gene was constitutively expressed in tomato. (Bergougnoux

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et al.2014).
Potato- The single gene overexpression of genes encoding chalcone
synthase (CHS), chalcone isomerase (CHI) and dihydroflavonol reductase
(DFR) resulted in a significant increase of measured phenolic acids and
anthocyanins in potato (Lukaszewicz Marcin et al.2004).
Starch rich potato- Increased nutritive value may be achieved in potato by
expressing a non-allergenic seed albumin gene from Amaranthus
hypochondriacus by protein-rich potato expressing the seed protein gene
AmA1 (Amaranth Albumin 1). At the biochemical level, expression of AmA1
in both categories of transgenics leads to a high increase in all essential amino
acids, particularly lysine, tyrosine, and the sulfur amino acids with
corresponding increase in total protein content.
Cauliflower- Successful cloning of a cauliflower Or gene reveals that
manipulation of chromoplast formation to provide an effective metabolic sink
for carotenoid sequestration and deposition exerts a profound effect on
carotenoid accumulation. The demonstration of use of the Or gene to increase
carotenoid content in transgenic potato illustrates an alternative new approach
to complement effects relying on expression of carotenogenic genes for
enhancing carotenoid levels in food crops (Zhou et al.2008).
Cabbage- Red cabbage providing big amounts of anthocyanins and
presenting high antioxidant properties which may decrease the risk of
cardiovascular diseases, brain disorders and cancer (Draghici G.A. et
al.2013).
Carrot- Genetically engineered carrot containing increased Ca levels
may boost Ca uptake, thereby reducing the incidence of Ca deficiencies such
as osteoporosis. Transgenically modified carrots expressed increased levels of
the plant Ca transporter SCAX1 (Park M.K, Lee et al.2003).
Pumpkin- The total carotenoid and β-carotene isomers contents
increased according to the cooking methods applied and high contents of total
carotenoids in pumpkin (Carvalho et al. 2012)
Future Thrust
The current researches are now focusing on maintaining a healthy life by
consumption of nutritional supplements as well as healthier diet from fruits
and vegetable. So, there is a need to enhance micronutrients and vitamins in
vegetables on a large scale through biofortification method. This will help
developing countries to overcome the issue of malnutrition or “the hidden
hunger.” However, many breeding programs are focusing on the improvement

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of production and productivity, tolerance to abiotic stress, resistance to biotic
stress. But enhancing the quality of vegetables will help those developing
countries to save revenue, which may be spent against the disease, which is
caused by micronutrient and vitamin deficiency. To achieve biofortification
of vegetable it requires the collaboration of plant breeder, plant physiologist,
biochemist, molecular biologist and other nutrition scientists. However, the
genetically modified crop may require regulatory approval from various
committees before it is released. The recent advanced technology in the field
of genetics and genome editing (TALENS, CRISPR/Cas9, etc.) will help this
biofortification program to move at a greater pace. More particularly, use of
CRISPR/Cas9 based genome editing is being widely used in crop plants
including many vegetables. The recent advancement in the genome editing
provides numerous approaches to get desired genetic modification bypassing
the regulatory issues associated with transgenic technologies.
• Low-cost nutrient rich food product will help in reducing the
malnutrition status of India.
• The biofortified crops have demonstrated increased health benefits.
• Training of farmers on rapid multiplication technology to preserve
planting materials and storage to conserve fresh tubers.
• Dissemination of methods to end-users for processing vegetables and
vegetable-based products.
• Accelerated multiplication of current locally available and well-
adopted vegetables and their dissemination to farmers.
• Special drive of awareness programme for farmers and consumers
should be arranged.
• Availability of choice of nutrient rich foods and vegetables in the
market.
Conclusion
The major area of research for developing countries after food security is
nutritional security. Because the major population of the developing world is
suffering from “hidden hunger” and combating this problem, the agricultural
scientist is capable of changing the physiology of crops by biofortification of
vegetables and cereals. There is much scope for plant breeders, molecular
scientists, and genetic engineers to improve micronutrient density and vitamin
content of staple food crops and vegetables for developing countries.
Moreover, after the development of variety, which is rich in micronutrients
and vitamins, it should be adopted by the farmer on a large scale without

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hindering its production and productivity. There is enough genetic diversity
of vegetables available, and it has to be screened for a particular trait. For
enhancing micronutrient in the plant, there should be a clear understanding of
the mechanism of ion uptake from soil, redistribution within tissues, and
homeostasis in the plant. Working on enhancing micronutrient and vitamin
with the help of conventional breeding or by genetic engineering both requires
particular traits that need to be incorporated. The recent advances in genetics
made it possible to enhance micronutrient by reducing anti-nutrients such as
reduction of phytic acid or tannins. Genome editing tools like ZFN, TALENS,
CRISPR-Cas9, etc. have the potential to edit plant genes or knockdown
undesirable traits and can be exploited for the biofortification of vegetables.
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 About the Editors
Mr. Satvaan Singh is pursuing in Ph.D. (Floricuture and Landscape Architecture).
SVPUAT, Meerut (U.P,). He received his Bachelor degree in 2015 trom B.S.M. P.G.
College Roorkee, (U.K.). He acquired his M.Sc. (Ag.) Horticulture in 2017 from A.S.
L d o u , buiandsnanar (0.P-). He acquired his Master of Philosophy
(MPTI Degreej Gold Medal win Major im HOriculrure rom bts universitly &ampus,
Meerut (U.P). He has published 2 Popular Articles, 5 Hesearch paper, 1 Abstract1
Review paper and 4 Conferences in varlous lnternational and National Seminars,

Mr. Kushal Sachan is presently, Ph.D. Research Scholar in the Dept. of Soil
Science and Agril. Chemisty, C.SA.U.AT Kanpur, U.P, He has pubished more
than Paper, 6 popular articles., 2 Heview papers, 4 Book chapters
5 Research
Several abstracts, attended Conferences, Training and workshop at Natona&
ntermational leve. He has been awarded best M.SC. thesis award & poster
presentation award from diferent National and nternational societies.

Mr. Khursheed Alam is pursuing his Ph.D. in Vegetable Science from SVP
University of Agricuture 8 Technology, Meerut (U.P.). He is qualified ICAR-ASRB
NET in Vegetable Science during 2021. He has his
Horticultu
completed B.Sc. (Hons.)
n 2018 from C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology.
JAl Moriehre in 9020 from SVPIIART Meend
Kanpur (ULP). He did his M.SC. (Ag) Horticulture in 2020 from SvPUA&T, Meerut
(0.P). He has published 22 Hesearch Paper, 26 Popular Arucies, uz Bo0K
Chapters and 28 Abstract. Mr. Alam was awarded Young Achiever Award, Best
Research Scholar Award and Best Master Thesis Award by various Professional
Societies.

Mr. Amit Kumar is pursuing in PhD. Horticulture (Fruit Science) from CoH,
SVPUA&T, Meerut, U.P. He has qualified iCAR-ASRB NET-2021. He completed his
B.SC. in Horticulture (Hons.) in 2019 from BUA&T, Banda, U.P. and M.SC. (Ag)
Fruit Sclence and Horticulture Technology in 2021 from OUA&T, Bhubaneswar,
Odisha, He is awarded Best Researcher Award, Best Master Thesis Award and Best
Research Scholar Award by various Professional Societies. He has published
varilous abstracts in National/ntermational conterences and several articles.

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