Chapters authored
Varietal Release, Notification and Denotification System in India
Agriculture is the backbone of India and improved agricultural practices principally depend on the use of newly evolved improved variety. In the Indian scenario, a statutory varietal release system is working where notification and denotification process are playing a crucial role in quality regulation of seed. Crop research institutes of ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), SAUs (State Agricultural Universities) and private seed companies are the main pillars to develop improved varieties in India. The thumb rule is, the improved variety must have a higher yield compared to the existing one (national and state check varieties) and this is ensured via several multilocational evaluations at a different level. This article covers the Indian regulatory system of variety release, evaluation process at a different level, and the importance of notification and denotification. This information will help the scientific community in regards to suggesting improved variety for general cultivation by farmers.
Part of the book: Plant Breeding
Artificial Light at Night: A Global Threat to Plant Biological Rhythms and Eco-Physiological Processes
Light is crucial environmental factor for primary resource and signalling in plants and provide optimum fitness under fluctuating environments from millions of year. However, due to urbanization, and human development activities lot of excess light generated in environment during night time and responsible for anthropogenic generated pollution (ALAN; artificial night light pollution). This pollution has cause for serious problem in plants as it affects their processes and functions which are under the control of light or diurnal cycle. Plant biorhythms mostly diurnal rhythms such as stomatal movements, photosynthetic activity, and many more metabolic processes are under the control of period of light and dark, which are crucially affected by artificial light at night. Similarly, the crucial plant processes such as pollination, flowering, and yield determining processes are controlled by the diurnal cycle and ALAN affects these processes and ultimately hampers the plant fitness and development. To keep in mind the effect of artificial light at night on plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes, this chapter will focus on the status of global artificial night light pollution and the responsible factors. Further, we will explore the details mechanisms of plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes under artificial light at night and how this mechanism can be a global threat. Then at the end we will focus on the ANLP reducing strategies such as new light policy, advanced lightening technology such as remote sensing and lightening utilisation optimisation.
Part of the book: Light Pollution, Urbanization and Ecology