Sustainable Production Technologies for Horticultural Crops

The book titled Sustainable Production Technologies for Horticultural Crops is a distinctive and comprehensive resource that covers all aspects of horticulture. It compiles and organizes scattered information in an easily understandable format, complete with practical recommendations for stakeholders. The book is authored by renowned experts in their respective fields, who have contributed to its 24 chapters. These chapters address topics such as genetic resources, varietal wealth, crop improvement, plant health management, biotic and abiotic stress management, and value-addition of horticultural crops. Additionally, the book delves into general horticultural science.

The book covers a wide range of horticultural crops, including fruits, vegetables, spices, and ornamental and plantation crops. Each chapter is well-illustrated with figures and tables and is cited with the latest references. The critical RD gaps identified in different research areas are also addressed in each chapter.

Sustainable Production Technologies for Horticultural Crops is a valuable resource for students, teachers, researchers, scientists, policymakers, and entrepreneurs. It serves as a comprehensive reservoir of information that can be utilized by all stakeholders in the horticultural industry.

Prof. Balraj Singh is currently serving as Vice Chancellor at S.K.N. Agriculture University in Jobner, Rajasthan. He has held various leadership positions in the past, including as Vice-Chancellor at Agriculture University in Jodhpur, Director of ICAR-NRC on Seed Spices in Ajmer, and Project Coordinator of ICAR-AICRP on Honey Bees and Pollinators at ICAR-IARI in New Delhi. Throughout his 33-year career, Prof. Singh has gained extensive experience in research, teaching, HRD, and horticultural crop extension. He has also undergone international training in ""Leadership and Decision Making"" at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University in Cambridge, USA, and in Horticultural Crop Production under Climatic Constraints"" at the Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew University in Rehovot, Israel. Prof. Singh was a member of the pioneering team that introduced Protected Cultivation Technology to India as part of an Indo-Israeli collaborative project. He has developed numerous low-cost and energy-efficient protected cultivation techniques that are suitable for various agro-climatic conditions, with the goal of assisting Indian farmers. Prof. Singh was also the Consortia Principal Investigator for a NAIP project funded by the World Bank, which was worth approximately 1.0 million USD and focused on Protected Cultivation of High Quality Vegetables and Cut Flowers: A Value Chain Approach. He has served as a resource person on various working groups formed by Indian states to implement Protected Cultivation and Hi-Tech Vegetable Farming. Prof. Singh's contributions have been widely recognized both nationally and internationally, and he has received several awards and honors. He is the founder secretary of the Indian Society for Protected Cultivation and the Vice President of the Indian Society of Seed Technology. Additionally, he is a Fellow member of the Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Technology; the Indian Society of Seed Technology; the Horticulture Society of India; the Indian Society of Seed Spices; and the President of the Society for Integrated Development of Agriculture at AU, Jodhpur, and SHRD in Ghaziabad.

He has provided guidance to numerous postgraduate and Ph.D. students at ICAR-IARI New Delhi. His extensive research experience is reflected in the publication of over 145 research papers in reputable national and international journals, as well as more than 36 book chapters published both nationally and internationally. Additionally, he has written over 125 technical and popular articles to disseminate technology among farmers and stakeholders. Prof. Singh is the author of the first Indian textbook on "Protected Cultivation of Vegetable Crops" and has also edited the book "Advances in Protected Cultivation," which was forwarded by the former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He has conducted over 50 national and international training programs for scientists, professionals, and farmers on various topics such as high-tech nursery raising in vegetables, advances in protected cultivation of vegetables, plant protection of horticultural crops under protected conditions, and seed production in vegetables. Prof. Singh's contributions include the identification and release of eight varieties of different vegetable and seed spice crops at the state and national levels, as well as the standardization of vegetable crop and seed production technologies under protected and open field conditions. Under his leadership, the ICAR-NRC on Seed Spices, Ajmer, achieved new heights in R&D and received ISO 9001:2008 accreditation for laboratory analysis, seed spice research and development, consultancy, training, and technology transfer to stakeholders. Prof. Singh's accomplishments have been recognized with the Dr. Kirti Singh Gold Medal by HSI and the Life Time Achievement Award by SHRD for his outstanding contributions to the field of Vegetable Sciences.

Dr. A.K. Singh, the Principal Scientist and Incharge of the Regional Station at the Central Horticultural Experiment Station (ICAR-CIAH) in Godhra, Gujarat, has dedicated over 24 years to the advancement of dryland fruits, including both major and minor varieties that are grown in hot semi-arid and arid conditions. He has demonstrated exceptional skill in the ex-situ establishment and conservation of the genetic diversity of dryland underutilized fruits in field gene banks, particularly bael, where he has developed 217 clonal and 121 seedling varieties. Additionally, Dr. Singh has developed 30 varieties of fruit and vegetable crops, including 8 varieties of bael (Goma Yashi, Thar Divya, Thar Neelkanth, Thar Srishti, Thar Prakriti, Thar Shivangi, Thar Gauri, and Thar Bhavya) and 12 varieties of other underutilized semi-arid fruit crops, such as jamun (Goma Priyanka and Thar Kranti), tamarind (Goma Prateek and Thar Rashmi), chironji (Thar Priya), khirni (Thar Rituraj), phalsa (Thar Pragati), karonda (Thar Kamal), wood apple (Thar Gaurav and Thar Prabha), custard apple (Thar Amrit), and mahua (Thar Madhu). Additionally, he has co-developed 10 varieties of vegetable crops, including dolichos bean (Thar Ganga, Thar Lakshmi, Thar Vinaya, Thar Kiran), yard long bean (Thar Surya, Thar Deeksha, Thar Prateeksha), vegetable cow pea (Thar Jyothi), ivy gourd (Thar Sadabahar), and spine gourd (Thar Varsha). Dr. Singh has specialized in dryland fruit culture and has developed various production technologies, such as propagation techniques, high-density planting, orchard floor management, organic farming, intercropping, and cropping models, which have been widely adopted by farmers, including resource-poor and tribal farmers, in India. He has also reported the first instances of morphological variations in bael, including metaxenia, cauliflory, and vivipary.

He has published an impressive number of research papers, including 147 in total, with 50 articles having a NAAS rating of over 6. He has also written 11 review papers, 124 popular articles, 59 book chapters, 17 leaflets, 13 technical bulletins, 3 training manuals, 60 full-length papers, and 163 abstracts in conference proceedings. Additionally, he has contributed to 14 books, two of which are e-books. He has played a significant role in generating valuable scientific information from 12 in-house and 10 externally funded projects, which have helped to disseminate technologies among farmers and stakeholders. Dr. Singh has received numerous awards for his work, including best oral and poster presentations, research paper awards, and recognition from scientific professional societies. He is a recipient of national fellowships from CHAI, HSI, and ISNS and has served as the Editor-in-Chief of Current Horticulture and the editor of Indian Horticulture, ICAR, New Delhi. Dr. Singh is also recognized as a Nodal Officer for DUS testing centers on bael, chironji, and tamarind, and as a Co-Nodal Officer for the DUS testing center on aonla, as recognized by PPV&FRA, New Delhi. He is widely respected as a scientist who is dedicated to advancing dryland horticulture research and development for the benefit of the country's stakeholders.

Dr. B.S. Tomar has consistently been involved in the development of seed production technology for vegetable crops under both open field and protected conditions. For over two-and-a-half decades, he has focused on the genetic improvement of brinjal, onion, okra, and cucumber. Dr. Tomar has been instrumental in the development of 30 different vegetable varieties, including brinjal (6), onion (3), okra (1), cucumber (3), musk melon (2), garden pea (1), bitter gourd (2), velayti palak (1), and cow pea (1), among others. Many of these varieties have been commercialized through MoUs, the National Seeds Corporation, and the NHRDF, as well as IARI and its regional station in Karnal. Dr. Tomar has also organized live vegetable demonstrations on vegetable technologies at the UVRD farm and mela site. He has been teaching Seed Science and Technology and the Division of Vegetable Science for the past 24 years and has guided 8 Ph.D. students and 6 M.Sc. students. One of his students, Dr. R Y Vishwanath, won the IARI gold medal for his outstanding contribution to his Ph.D. program. Dr. Tomar has published 101 peer-reviewed research papers on vegetable crops and over 100 popular articles in Indian Horticulture, Phal-Phool, and Khad Patrika, among other publications.

Dr. B.S. Tomar has demonstrated a significant track record of accomplishments in his career as an agricultural expert. He has authored 11 training manuals, 2 practical manuals, and over 30 book chapters. In addition, he has organized a short training course and winter school sponsored by the Agricultural Education Division of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, two Model Trainings sponsored by the Directorate of Agricultural Extension, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and other sponsored farmers training programs in vegetable and seed production. Dr. Tomar has also organized the Sabzi Pathshala program at All India Radio, sponsored by M/s. Dayal Seed, Meerut, and delivered more than 500 talks on All India Radio, Delhi Doordarshan, and DD Kisan program for the benefit of the farming community.

Moreover, Dr. Tomar has served as an expert member in various organizations, including the Union Public Service Commission, the Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, the National Fertilizers Limited, the National Seed Corporation, the Central Horticultural Experiment Station, the National Dairy Development Board, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute. He has also served as the Incharge of the Seed Production Unit from 2011-2013.

Dr. Tomar is recognized as a Fellow of the Indian Society of Seed Technology, the Indian Society of Seed Spices, the Indian Society of Vegetable Science, and the National Academy of Horticulture Sciences. He has received several awards for his contributions to the field of agriculture, including the Best Teacher Award-2014 at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, and the Dr. G. Kalloo Outstanding Horticulture Scientist Award-2018 by the Society for Horticulture Research and Development, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

 

Dr. J.K. Ranjan was born on October 7th, 1974, in the Madhubani district of Bihar. He completed his 10th grade from MRG High School in Andhra Tharhi, Madhubani, Bihar, and his 12th grade from Marwari College, LN Mithila University, Darbhanga, Bihar. In 1998, he earned his B.Sc. in Agriculture from Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. He also holds an M.Sc. in Horticulture (2000) and a Ph.D. in Horticulture (2005) from ICAR-IARI in New Delhi. Dr. Ranjan received the ICAR-Junior Research Fellowship for his Master's program and the CSIR-Senior Research Fellowship for his Doctoral program.

Dr. Ranjan joined the Agricultural Research Service of ICAR as a Scientist in Horticulture (Vegetable Science) in 2005. He was later selected as a Senior Scientist in Horticulture for ICAR-NRCSS in Ajmer. Currently, he works as a Principal Scientist in Vegetable Science at ICAR-IARI in New Delhi. In 2012, he visited Clemson University in South Carolina as a Visiting Scientist. Dr. Ranjan has been recognized as a Fellow of the Indian Society of Seed Spices (2013, Ajmer), the Society for Horticultural Research and Development (2021, Uttar Pradesh), the Indian Seed Vegetable Society (ISVS, Varanasi), and the Indian Seed and Nursery Association (ISNS, Chennai). He has also received the Outstanding Horticultural Scientist Award from the Society for Horticultural Research and Development, Uttar Pradesh.

Dr. J.K. Ranjan has dedicated the past 14 years to the study and improvement of various crops, including temperate fruits and vegetables, seed spices, Solanaceous, and aquatic vegetables. Currently, he is concentrating on the genetic advancement of bottle gourd and brinjal. Throughout his career, Dr. Ranjan has developed two garlic varieties, one apple variety, two Indian spinach varieties, one Ipomea aquatica variety, and a hybrid chili variety, as well as several production technologies and genetic stocks for vegetable crops.

Dr. Ranjan has published an impressive 41 research papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals, five books, 24 book chapters, four training manuals, eight conference proceedings papers, 20 extension folders/leaflets, and over 50 popular articles. He is also a member of several professional societies, including the Society for Horticulture Research and Development, Indian Society of Vegetable Science, Indian Academy of Horticulture Sciences, Indian Society of Allium, Indian Society of Seed Spices, Association for Promotion of Innovations in Vegetables, and the International Society for Noni Sciences. Dr. Ranjan currently holds the position of Joint Secretary in the Society for Horticulture Research and Development and the Indian Society of Seed Spices.

Dr. Som Dutt obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Botany from Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Meerut. He commenced his professional career as a Research Scholar at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi in 1982. Due to his keen interest in popular science writing, he joined the Publications and Information Division of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at their headquarters in New Delhi in 1984. As an editor, he oversaw the Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Indian Horticulture, a national semi-technical magazine that disseminated information on all research and developmental activities in horticultural crops across the country. He also edited the Handbook of Horticulture, the first-ever published comprehensive book on horticulture by the ICAR, and other important horticultural publications.

Dr. Dutt has written over 500 articles on agricultural sciences, book chapters, and one book titled 'Phoolon Ki Vyavsayik Kheti' in Hindi. He has made a significant impact on farmers by giving radio talks on agriculture in various programs of All India Radio. He has delivered numerous lectures to farmers, extension specialists, young scientists, and Horticulture Development Officers of various states, which has contributed to increasing agricultural production significantly. Dr. Dutt has been honored with the Chaudhary Charan Singh Award for Excellence in Journalism in Agricultural Research and Development 2008 (ICAR National Award), Raizada Memorial Award for Young Information Scientist 1990, and the Best Editor Award 2008, for his efforts in popularizing agricultural sciences through various media outlets. Currently, he is the Managing Editor of Current Horticulture, a peer-reviewed research journal published by the Society for Horticultural Research and Development (SHRD), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. He has also organized mega events such as the Indian Horticulture Summit-2020 and 2022 and a Webinar on Boosting Immunity through Horticulture in 2020, as the Secretary of SHRD, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.