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An atypical morphotype of pea (Pisum sativum L.) was identified during the germplasm characterization programme at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. This accession was recognised with prominent and intact funiculus on the seed. To explore the possible role of the extended funiculus, imbibition and physiological behaviour study was carried out on the seeds of selected accession of similar morphology. Compared to checks, the higher water uptake was reported in the seeds with extended funiculus in the exotic collection (EC0414478). Moreover, EC0414478 also showed the highest biomass along with the chlorophyll and Relative Water Content in response to drought at the early vegetative stage. This can be utilized as donor for drought tolerance for developing variety/genetic stocks for early sown peas, especially in rice fallow areas. A more detailed investigation is required to assess the drought tolerance potential of identified germplasm under field conditions.

Organic farming plays an important role sustainable agriculture production with quality and environmental safety. Vegetable crops as one of the main component of agricultural sector, is providing nutritional security as general and source for livelihood in many farming communities especially the small marginal holders across the world. This chapter deals with organic production practices of vegetable. Nutritional quality of organic vegetables, nutrient management options for organic vegetables, disease and pest management in organic vegetables are discussed in details. In addition soil health management in organic vegetables, soil biological properties are also depicted. The chapter has discussed about Impact of organic vegetable farming on Environment. How Organic farming can enhance rural vitality, health risk reduction employment opportunity, ecotourism, are documented based on the recent studies.

Soon after the introduction of green revolution, a parallel increment in percent food grain production and losses has been reported in India, which impedes the mission of achieving food security in India. In parts, among the major causes of these losses are the reluctance among farmers, especially of small holding, towards adoption of scientific storage methods/technologies and inability of the national agencies to meet the challenges imposed by the supply of surplus grains to them by the farmers. Although sets of traditional and improved grain storage technologies exist among Indian farming communities, a controversial account about their effectiveness and performance is available in the literature which negatively impacts the endeavour of bringing rapid developmental in the farming society. In a developing nation like India, a large section of farmers is often either unaware of the modern technologies or cannot logistically access them. They often rely on the traditional or semi-modern technologies without having a comprehensive account of the benefit and economic feasibility of the modern technologies. This impedes the vision of rapid development of the farmers and the process of infusing emerging technologies in the society. In order to develop an informative argument about the performance of the existing technologies, a nearly comprehensive study has been undertaken to compare the different traditional and improved grain storage structures used by Indian farmers. Both qualitative and quantitative parameters were compared individually and simultaneously to achieve their effect on performance individually and in unison. Another objective of the study was to test the applicability of hybrid and multi-attribute approach, based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) for the performance evaluation and ranking of the attributes and structures. Finally, based on analysis and ideas borrowed out of literature a set of theoretical and conceptual guidelines to assist improvement in these structures was brought in. The study will help understand the status of grain storage technologies in the developing, resource-poor society and also increase the adoption and access of farmers to better post-harvest seed storage technologies.

The objective of the study was to assess the direct and indirect effects of 13 important morphological and biochemical traits on yield enhancement in 28 advanced breeding lines of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in the foothills of north-western Himalayas. Tuber yield was positively correlated with number of tubers per plant (r = 0.76), number of stems per plant (r = 0.53), number of leaves per plant (r = 0.43) and tuber weight (r = 0.37). Furthermore, tuber yield exhibited a significant negative correlation with days to maturity (r = − 0.39). Days to 50% emergence had a significant negative correlation with protein content (r = − 0.42). Path analysis revealed that the components of yield, number of tubers per plant and tuber weight, had high positive direct effects (0.876 and 0.618, respectively) on tuber yield, whereas the effects of other traits were low (≤ 0.128). Furthermore, tuber weight had an indirect negative effect on tuber yield through the number of tubers. Tuber size had a low correlation (0.19) with tuber yield because a positive indirect effect (0.451) through tuber weight was balanced by a negative indirect effect (− 0.254) through tuber number. The number of stems and number of leaves had positive indirect effects (0.377 and 0.377, respectively) on tuber yield through tuber numbers, whereas days to maturity had a negative indirect effect (− 0.298) through tuber numbers. There were virtually no indirect effects through the biochemical traits. The implications for potato breeding are discussed.

Mechanized farming for vegetable production has evolved as an integral part of commercial agriculture during the past few decades. As a first step towards mechanized farming the use of tractors in Indian agriculture has increased by 528% during the period 1990–91 to 2018–19 from 0.15 to 0.8 million/year. Undoubtedly, use of such technologies has made vegetable as well as foodgrain production a profitable venture by easing land preparation, weed management and other intercultural operations, crop harvesting, etc. However, their continuous use in production fields has resulted in the substantial compaction of soil along the wheel lines of tractors and similar heavy machinery. Reports indicate a significant yield loss (13–73%) owing to soil compaction because it restricts root penetrance into the soil, limiting nutrient and water uptake by the plants, and also potential water stagnation, which can limit the normal activities of respiring roots leading to retarded plant growth and root diseases. In this context, control traffic farming (CTF), which aims to reduce the area affected by the operation of heavy machinery that otherwise lead to soil compaction, brings a substantial value to the current global focus of sustainable and precision farming. CTF attempts to restrict the spatial movement of machinery wheels to fewer operation lanes during and across production cycles for a long time and allows specifically the undisturbed areas of soil for crop production. Research confirms a significant improvement in crop yield in different crop production systems worldwide and reduction in methane emission due to soil absorption (372–2100%) compared to random traffic farming. In this article, we discuss the advantages of CTF in terms of root growth, nutrient mobilization and energy efficiency of the vegetable production system, and also argue on its scope in the Indian context, given the situation that no or only a few studies have been reported from the country.

Manufacture of, and demand for, engineered nanomaterials (ENMs, having at least one of three dimensions in the 1–100 nm size range) used in different goods and products have increased significantly in recent years. ENMs have become prominent in the industrial and scientific fields. Global market value for ENMs is increasing day by day. Different ENMs used in agriculture have the potential for precise delivery of agrochemicals for improving disease resistance, plant growth, and nutrient use. Agricultural productivity can be improved through nanomaterial-induced genetically improved animals and plants, site-specific drug and gene delivery of molecules at cellular/molecular levels in animals and plants, and nanoarray-based genetic modification in animals and plants under stress conditions. Nanoencapsulated products show the ability of more effective and site-specific use of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides in an ecofriendly greener way. The majority of the reported studies point to the positive impacts of nanoparticles on plant growth with a few isolated studies pertaining to negative effects. With increasing production and wider applications, ENMs are expected to become routinely present in natural ecosystems and may be directly released into air, water, sediment, and soil media during their manufacturing, use, and disposal. ENMs in the environment pose unique detection and quantification problems because of their small size and low concentration and because of the high background level of incidental and naturally occurring nanoparticulate matter, often with similar elemental composition. It also requires understanding of how an ENM may be altered in specific environmental conditions. Characterization of ENMs provides data on properties such as bulk chemical composition, particle size and shape, and mineralogy. Particle size and distribution are often valuable measurements because of their importance in fate, transport, and possible ecotoxicity. Because several parameters need to be determined for full characterization of ENMs, multiple analytical techniques should be used to accurately assess engineered nanoparticles in environmental samples. In this chapter, we discuss different aspects of ENMs including detection, characterization, and measurement techniques for nanomaterials in plant samples. These include chromatography, flow field fractionation, electron microscopy, light scattering, and autofluorescence techniques, among others.

Nanotechnology is perceived as a promising technology with tremendous potential to produce a new range of products in agriculture. The application of nanotechnology in agro chemicals, biotechnology, biosensors, and other areas has opened an arena of new markets in the world. Research on nanotechnology indicates that it has tremendous potential in increasing the efficiency of products. It can offer a wide range of products in agriculture in an affordable price range for resource-poor farmers. Lowering cost of cultivation can help to enhance the food accessibility to the poorest of the poor. With the rapid expansion of nanoscience based research and development consumers are more exposed to the nanomaterial, but their potential effects on human health and environment are still unknown. There has been a rising concern about probable consequences of intensive and extensive use of nanomaterials worldwide. Under this circumstance, before promoting the technology in the agricultural sector it is crucial to know how the consumers, starting from underdeveloped to developed countries, are prepared to use nanotech products in their daily food materials. Awareness among the public about nano products is mixed. Particularly in developing countries, how many of the resource-poor population have proactively understood the knowledge about nano products and its potentials? How many of them are prepared for the adoption of this technology? This chapter has critically examined the educational awareness about the technology, scope of adoption, perception of consumers, preparedness of government and regulatory bodies to magnify the benefits and at the same time the mechanism to minimize the risks.

In the context of changing climatic scenario, depletion of natural resources and increasing hunger and malnutrition, it is necessary to ensure sustainable agricultural production and resource utilization. Bio-stimulants are a viable alternative in this condition. Bio-stimulant consists of various substances and microorganisms which have found to be effective in enhancing plant growth enhance nutrition efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance and crop quality traits. Vegetables are a rich and relatively cheaper source of vitamins. Consumption of vegetable provides palatability and taste, increases appetite, supplies fibre for digestion and helps in preventing malnutrition. To enhance the sustainability of vegetable production, bio-stimulants can be effectively used. In this chapter, status of vegetable production worldwide and in India, categories of plant bio-stimulants and its importance in vegetable production enhancement and factors contributing towards the expansion of the bio-stimulants market in the world have been discussed. The impact of PGPR carrying plentiful multifunctional plant growth-promoting activities on vegetable crops is discussed. Furthermore, this chapter has summarized recent advancement in bio-stimulant commercial products and vegetable disease interaction and has drawn lines of future research that can aid to improve the effectiveness of the use of bio-stimulants in sustainable quality vegetable production.

Malnutrition, heart, respiratory and pulmonary diseases are becoming most critical in Mid Himalaya. Vegetables rich in micronutrients, antioxidants and bioactive compounds can help to solve the issue. Sweet pepper is one of the best choices but as it is a warm and humid loving crop and bioactive compounds are highly varied with attitude and temperature condition, the study was conducted to identify promising antioxidant rich sweet pepper lines adapted to hill condition. Thirty eight advanced breeding lines (ABLs) of sweet pepper were evaluated for variations in total polyphenol, total carotenoids, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity in mid Himalayan region. Antioxidant activity was measured using two in vitro assays viz. 2, 2-diphenyl-1-icrylhydrazyl (DPPH) 2, 2′-Azino-bis(3-Ethylbenzothiazoline-6-Sulfonic Acid) (ABTS). Additionally colour parameter capsanthin, pungency compound capsaicin and fruit firmness were evaluated. Among ABLs, significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were obtained with respect to antioxidant composition and antioxidant activity. Ascorbic acid and total phenol varied from 39.42–85.12 mg/100 g and 13.01–71.24 mg GAE/100g fresh weight (fw) respectively, while ABTS % Inhibition and DPPH % Inhibition varies from 10.95–80.05 and 11.19–49.18 respectively. Chemometric tools like principal component analysis (PCA) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) were applied to understand possible classification sweet pepper ABLs based on bioactive antioxidant compounds, antioxidant potentiality and fruit firmness. PCA revealed that the first two components represented 67.78% of the total variability in the total variation. AHC classified cultivars into four main groups on the basis of the measured parameters. Results suggested that VLCP-16-1, VLSM-3 and Mukteshwar for Vitamin C; VLCP-16-57, VLCP-16-54, Mukteshwar and VLCP-16-52 for polyphenols, VLCP-16-54, VLCP-16-57, VLCP-2016-52 and showed highest antioxidant activity. The result will help in advance breeding of sweet pepper for development of nutritionally rich varieties.

Climate change is becoming an ever increasing global threat which is difficult to ignore. The major underlying cause is anthropogenic, i.e. excessive use of fossil fuels, destruction of forests for industrialisation and urbanisation with rapid overgrowing population. The danger is such alarming that ecosystem will be irreversibly altered which will lead to suffering of human life by many ways. The overriding appearance of climate change is the increasing average worldwide temperature which is popularly called as global warming, and as a consequence several regions of the Earth are facing visible problems such as melting of glaciers, sea level rising, deviations in precipitation patterns and increase in plant diseases, and a number of bourgeoning challenges for public health are coming across by many nations. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the Indian Himalayan ecosystem (IHE) is one of the extremely vulnerable zones followed by the coastal ecosystem towards the climate change in India, and as per projection the climate change will impart serious environmental, economic and social impacts of the Indian Himalaya agricultural production system. At this juncture, strong adaptation and mitigation strategy is needed for reducing the vulnerability of resource-poor hill farmers and sustainable development of the Himalayan ecosystem. Climate change adaptation involves holistic changes in agricultural and ecological management practices. It comprises a combination of distinct responses, the indigenous knowledge systems, alternative practices and accessible technologies. Adaptation policy should be taking into account the farmers’ perspective. In this piece of writing, the focus is to draw an outline of present condition and, furthermore, propose a strategy for effective adaptation and mitigation of climate change suited for Himalayan agricultural system.

Wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend. Fr. f.sp. pisi is a devastating disease of garden pea in India and worldwide. The pathogen being soil-borne fungus is quite difficult to manage by chemical methods and the development of resistant varieties seems to be the only alternative. In the present study 34 garden pea genotypes collected from different sources were evaluated during winter 2012–13 and 2013–14 under wilt sick plot as well as artificial controlled conditions to identify genetic sources of resistance against Fusarium wilt. Three genotypes (GP-6, GP-55 and GP-942) were found to be highly resistant, four genotypes (GP-17, GP-48, GP-473, GP-941) were resistant and identified as new donor source. All the popular cultivated varieties (Arkel, Pusa Pragati, AP-3, VRP-6, VL-7, VL-10 and Arka Ajit) were highly susceptible to wilt. The inheritance of Fusarium resistance gene(s) was also studied using F1, F2, B1 and B2 progenies of three crosses, viz., Pusa Pragati × GP-55, Pusa Pragati × GP-6 and Arkel × GP-17. Chi-square analysis was performed to determine the Mendelian segregation ratios of resistance and susceptibility among the inoculated progenies. The F1 and backcross progenies to the resistant parents segregated in the ratio of 1:0, while the F2 progenies segregated in the ratio of 3:1. The backcross progenies to the susceptible parent segregated in the ratio of 1:1. The results obtained revealed that the resistance to Fusarium wilt in garden pea is governed by monogenic dominant gene. The resistance gene can easily be introgressed by backcross breeding in desired genotype.