An Ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems are dynamic entities—they are subject to periodic disturbances and are always in the process of recovering from some past disturbance. The tendency of an ecosystem to remain close to its equilibrium state, despite that disturbance, is termed its resistance. The capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedback is termed its ecological resilience. Ecosystems can be studied through a variety of approaches—theoretical studies, studies monitoring specific ecosystems over long periods of time, those that look at differences between ecosystems to elucidate how they work and direct manipulative experimentation. Biomes are general classes or categories of ecosystems. Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal factors. External factors such as climate, parent material which forms the soil and topography, control the overall structure of an ecosystem but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem. Internal factors are controlled, for example, by decomposition, root competition, shading, disturbance, succession, and the types of species present. While the resource inputs are generally controlled by external processes, the availability of these resources within the ecosystem is controlled by internal factors. Therefore, internal factors not only control ecosystem processes but are also controlled by them.

The structure of an ecosystem consists of two major components:

• Biotic components
• Abiotic components

Biotic Components – It can be described as any living component that affects another organism or shapes the ecosystem. This includes both animals that consume other organisms within their ecosystem, and the organism that is being consumed. Biotic factors also include human influence, pathogens, and disease outbreaks. Each biotic factor needs a proper amount of energy and nutrition to function healthily.

Biotic components are typically sorted into three main categories:

• Producers, otherwise known as Autotrophs, convert energy (through the process of photosynthesis) into food.
• Consumers, otherwise known as Heterotrophs, depend upon producers (and occasionally other consumers) for food.
• Decomposers, otherwise known as Detritivores, break down chemicals from producers and consumers (usually antibiotic) into simpler form which can be reused.

Abiotic components – This are non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems. Abiotic factors and the phenomena associated with them underpin biology as a whole. They effect a plethora of species, in all forms of environmental conditions such as marine or land animals. We humans can make or change abiotic factors in a species’ environment. For instance, fertilizers can effect a snail’s habitat, or the greenhouse gases which humans utilize can change marine pH levels.

Types of Ecosystems

The four types of ecosystems are Terrestrial, Freshwater, Marine, and Artificial ecosystems.

Terrestrial ecosystem – A terrestrial ecosystem is a land-based community of organisms and the interactions of biotic and abiotic components in a given area. Examples of terrestrial ecosystems include the tundra, taigas, temperate deciduous forests, tropical rainforests, grasslands, and deserts.

• A Forest ecosystem is one that consists of various plants, particularly trees. Because of the abundance of plants that serve as producers, this ecosystem abounds in life. Not only plants but also animals are teeming in a forest. They are also a great source of fruits, wood, They also help maintain the earth’s temperature. They are also a major carbon sink.
• Grassland ecosystems are typically found in tropical or temperate regions. They are dominated by grasses. As such, the animals commonly found in this type of ecosystem are grazing animals, such as cattle, goats, and deer.
• Tundra ecosystems are characterized as being treeless and snow-covered. The snow melts briefly in spring and summer, producing shallow ponds. During this time, lichens and flowering plants typically grow. Because of the ice that covers the land in the tundra, this type of ecosystem is important in regulating the earth’s temperature. It also serves as a water reservoir (in the form of ice or frost).
• Desert ecosystems are the ones occurring in desert habitats. Deserts are typically arid and windy. Some of them contain sand dunes, others, mostly rock. Organisms in the desert are not as diverse as those in forests but they possess adaptations that make them suited to their environment. Plants that are commonly found in the desert are CAM plants, such as cacti. Desert animals include insects, reptiles, and birds.

Freshwater ecosystems – Freshwater ecosystems are a subset of Earth’s aquatic ecosystems. They include lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, springs, bogs, and wetlands.They can be contrasted with marine ecosystems, which have a larger salt content.

• Lentic ecosystem – A lentic ecosystem refers to ecosystems in still waters. Examples include the following: ponds, puddles, and lakes. Lakes, in particular, may form zonation. That is when it becomes very well established that different zones are formed. These zones are as follows: littoral, limnetic, and profundal. The littoral zone is the part that is near the shore. Here, light can penetrate up to the bottom. The limnetic zone is the zone in which light does not completely penetrate through. The part of the limnetic zone that is penetrated by light is the photic zone whereas the zone in which light cannot penetrate through, and therefore is dark, is the benthic zone. The plants and animals vary in these zones. For instance, rooted plants are found in the littoral zone but not in the limnetic zone. Rather, freely-floating plants are the ones commonly seen on the surface of the limnetic zone.
• Lotic ecosystem – A lotic ecosystem is an aquatic ecosystem characterized by a freshwater habitat that is freely flowing. That is as opposed to the lentic that is nearly stationary. Examples include rivers and streams. Many plants and animals in these ecosystems have adaptations to help them cope with the force and the different conditions that running water brings.

Marine ecosystem – Marine ecosystems are aquatic environments with high levels of dissolved salt. These include the open ocean, the deep-sea ocean, and coastal marine ecosystems, each of which have different physical and biological characteristics. The ocean ecosystems, in particular, are an important source of atmospheric oxygen due to the vast population of autotrophic algae that release oxygen through photosynthesis. Marine ecosystems are regarded as the most abundant type of ecosystem in the world.

Artificial ecosystem – An artificial ecosystem is not self-sustaining, and the ecosystem would perish without human assistance. For example, a farm is an artificial ecosystem that consists of plants and species outside their natural habitat. Many man-made ecosystems are built for conservation purposes, aesthetics, and for studying biology and ecology.

Ecosystems provides a variety of goods and services upon which people depend. Ecosystem goods include the “tangible, material products” of ecosystem processes such as water, food, fuel, construction material, and medicinal plants. Ecosystem services, on the other hand, are generally “improvements in the condition or location of things of value”. These include things like the maintenance of hydrological cycles, cleaning air and water, the maintenance of oxygen in the atmosphere, crop pollination and even things like beauty, inspiration and opportunities for research.Thus the ecosystems are the integral part of our Earth. They bind the fauna & flora all together in the same environment to co-exist and thus being one dependable to the other. Our purpose is to look after our Mother Earth and therefore to preserve her so that she can be as perennial as forever.

Exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, prevent aging, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, improve health, or simply for enjoyment. Many individuals choose to exercise outdoors where they can congregate in groups, socialize, and improve well-being as well as mental health. In terms of health benefits, the amount of recommended exercise depends upon the goal, the type of exercise, and the age of the person. Even doing a small amount of exercise is healthier than doing none.

Classification of Exercises

Aerobic exercise is any physical activity that uses large muscle groups and causes the body to use more oxygen than it would while resting.

• The goal of aerobic exercise is to increase cardiovascular endurance.
• Examples of aerobic exercise include running, cycling, swimming, brisk walking, skipping rope, rowing, hiking, dancing, playing tennis, continuous training, and long distance running.

Aerobic exercise provides the following benefits:

• Improves muscle strength in the lungs, heart, and whole body.
• Lowers blood pressure.
• Improves circulation and blood flow in the muscles.
• Increases the red blood cell count to enhance oxygen transportation.
• Reduces the risk of diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease (CVD).
• Improves life expectancy and symptoms for people with coronary artery diseases.
• Stimulates bone growth and reduces the risk of osteoporosis when at high intensity.
• Improves sleep hygiene.
• Enhances stamina by increasing the body’s ability to store energy molecules, such as fats and carbohydrates, within muscle.

Anaerobic exercise, which includes strength and resistance training, can firm, strengthen, and increase muscle mass, as well as improve bone density, balance, and coordination.

• Examples of strength exercises are push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, squats, bench press.
• Anaerobic exercise also includes weight training, functional training, eccentric training, interval training, sprinting, and high-intensity interval training which increase short-term muscle strength.
  

Flexibility exercises stretch and lengthen muscles.

• Activities such as stretching help to improve joint flexibility and keep muscles limber.
• The goal is to improve the range of motion which can reduce the chance of injury.

Benefits of Regular Exercising

1. Exercise has been shown to improve your mood and decrease feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress. It produces changes in the parts of the brain that regulate stress and anxiety. It can also increase brain sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression Additionally, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain. Furthermore, exercise has been shown to reduce stress and improve symptoms of anxiety.
2. Your body spends energy in three ways: Digesting food, Exercising, Maintaining body functions like your heartbeat and breathing. While dieting, a reduced calorie intake will lower your metabolic rate, which can delay weight loss. On the contrary, regular exercise has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, which can burn more calories to help you lose weight. Additionally, studies have shown that combining aerobic exercise with resistance training can maximize fat loss and muscle mass maintenance, which is essential for keeping the weight off.
3. Exercise plays a vital role in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones. Activities like weightlifting can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein intake. This is because exercise helps release hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids. This helps them grow and reduces their breakdown.
4. Exercise can be a real energy booster for many people, including those with various medical conditions. One older study found that 6 weeks of regular exercise reduced feelings of fatigue for 36 people who had reported persistent fatigue. Furthermore, exercise can significantly increase energy levels for people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and other serious illnesses.
5. Your skin can be affected by the amount of oxidative stress in your body. Oxidative stress occurs when the body’s antioxidant defenses cannot completely repair the cell damage caused by compounds known as free radicals. This can damage the structure of the cells and negatively impact your skin.

Proper nutrition is as important to health as exercise. When exercising, it becomes even more important to have a good diet to ensure that the body has the correct ratio of macro-nutrients while providing ample micro-nutrients, in order to aid the body with the recovery process following strenuous exercise. Active recovery is recommended after participating in physical exercise because it removes lactate from the blood more quickly than inactive recovery. Removing lactate from circulation allows for an easy decline in body temperature, which can also benefit the immune system, as an individual may be vulnerable to minor illnesses if the body temperature drops too abruptly after physical exercise. Exercise has an effect on appetite, but whether it increases or decreases appetite varies from individual to individual, and is affected by the intensity and duration of the exercise. Thus, Physical exercise is important for maintaining physical fitness and can contribute to maintaining a healthy weight, regulating the digestive system, building and maintaining healthy bone density, muscle strength, and joint mobility, promoting physiological well-being, reducing surgical risks, and strengthening the immune system that will lead to the increase of life expectancy and the overall quality of life.

The state of being extremely poor is known as poverty. The most widely held and understood definition of absolute poverty measures poverty strictly in economic terms earning less than 142 Rupees a day. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. Social forces, such as a gender, disability or race or ethnicity, can exacerbate issues of poverty with women, children and minorities frequently bearing unequal burdens of poverty. Moreover, impoverished individuals are more vulnerable to the effects of other social issues, such as the environmental effects of industry or the impacts of climate change or other natural disasters or extreme weather events. Poverty can also make other social problems worse, economic pressures on impoverished communities frequently play a part in deforestation, biodiversity loss and ethnic conflicts.

Poverty Impacts children, families and individuals in a variety of different ways through:

1. High infant mortality
2. Malnutrition
3. Child labour
4. Lack of education
5. Child marriage

The High Infant Mortality Rate – Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births.

• Causes of infant mortality directly lead to the death.
• Environmental and social barriers prevent access to basic medical resources and thus contribute to an increasing infant mortality rate; 99% of infant deaths occur in developing countries, and 86% of these deaths are due to infections, premature births, complications during delivery, and perinatal asphyxia and birth injuries.
• Greatest percentage reduction of infant mortality occurs in countries that already have low rates of infant mortality.
• Common causes are preventable with low-cost measures. Pneumonia, malaria and diarrheal diseases as well as chronic malnutrition are the most frequent causes of death.

Malnutrition – Malnutrition occurs when the body doesn’t get enough nutrients. Causes include a poor diet, digestive conditions or another disease. Symptoms are fatigue, dizziness and weight loss. Untreated malnutrition can cause physical or mental disability.

• The term malnutrition covers two broad groups of conditions. One is ‘under-nutrition’ which includes stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiency (a lack of important vitamins and minerals). The other is overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer).
• Malnutrition affects people in every country. Around 1.9 billion adults worldwide are overweight, while 462 million are underweight. An estimated 41 million children under the age of 5 years are overweight or obese, while some 159 million are stunted and 50 million are wasted.
• Adding to this burden are the 528 million or 29% of women of reproductive age around the world affected by anaemia, for which approximately half would be amenable to iron supplementation.
• Many families cannot afford or access enough nutritious foods like fresh fruit and vegetables, legumes, meat, and milk, while foods and drinks high in fat, sugar, and salt are cheaper and more readily available, leading to a rapid rise in the number of children and adults who are overweight and obese, in poor as well as rich countries.

Child labour – Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful.

• For impoverished households, income from a child’s work is usually crucial for his or her own survival or for that of the household. Income from working children, even if small, may be between 25 and 40% of the household income.
• Roughly 160 million children were subjected to child labour at the beginning of 2020, with 9 million additional children at risk due to the impact of COVID-19.
• Child labour compounds social inequality and discrimination, and robs girls and boys of their childhood.
• Unlike activities that help children develop, such as contributing to light housework or taking on a job during school holidays, child labour limits access to education and harms a child’s physical, mental and social growth.
• Especially for girls, the “triple burden” of school, work and household chores heightens their risk of falling behind, making them even more vulnerable to poverty and exclusion.

Lack of Education – Children living in poverty face many barriers to accessing an education.

• Increasing access to education can improve the overall health and longevity of a society, grow economies, and even combat climate change.
• Yet in many developing countries, children’s access to education can be limited by numerous factors. Language barriers, gender roles, and reliance on child labor can all stall progress to provide quality education.
• The world’s most vulnerable children from disadvantaged communities are more likely to miss out on school. This includes young girls and children with disabilities.
• A child cannot learn without the right environment.
• When girls don’t have access to safe toilets, they are often harassed or attacked when looking for a private place to go. Girls also miss or drop out of school when they begin menstruating if they don’t have the sanitation facilities or sanitary products to manage their periods with pride and dignity.
• Students with disabilities have lower attendance rates and are more likely to be out of school or leave school before completing primary education. They are suspended or expelled at a rate more than double the rate of their non-special education peers.
• The impact of hunger on education systems is gravely under-reported. Being severely malnourished, to the point it impacts on brain development, can be the same as losing four grades of schooling. It is estimated that around 155 million children under the age of five are estimated to be stunted.

Child marriage – A patriarchal mind-set is one of the main reasons for most child marriages in India: young girls, and women in general are perceived to be natural homemakers. Their lives are to be limited within the four walls, as they are unqualified to protect themselves from the dangerous world outside. They need not be educated, nor employed, as they are born to serve and care for the men in the family. The lack of basic awareness about family planning and budgeting, we have a blazing cause for the shocking rates of child marriages in the country. The married girls grow up illiterate and unskilled to earn their own livelihood, leading to a continuation of poverty.

Hydrology is a branch of Earth Science. The importance of hydrology in the assessment, development, utilisation and management of the water resources, of any region is being increasingly realised at all levels. It was in view of this that the United Nations proclaimed the period of 1965-1974 as the International Hydrological Decade during which, intensive efforts in hydrologic education research, development of analytical techniques and collection of hydrological information on a global basis, were promoted in Universities, Research Institutions, and Government Organisations.

WORLD’S WATER RESOURCES

The World’s total water resources are estimated at 1.36 × 108 Μ ha-m. Of these global water resources, about 97.2% is salt water mainly in oceans, and only 2.8% is available as fresh water at any time on the planet earth. Out of this 2.8% of fresh water, about 2.2% is available as surface water and 0.6% as ground water. Even out of this 2.2% of surface water, 2.15% is fresh water in glaciers and icecaps and only of the order of 0.01% is available in lakes and streams, the remaining 0.04% being in other forms. Out of 0.6% of stored ground water, only about 0.25% can be economically extracted with the present drilling technology (the remaining being at greater depths).

WATER RESOURCES OF INDIA

The important rivers of India and their approximate water potentials are given below:

1. West flowing rivers like Narmada and Tapti – 30.55 (M ha-m)
2. East flowing rivers like Mahanadi, – Godavari, (M ha-m)
3. Krishna, Cauvery and Pennar – 35.56 (M ha-m)
4. The Ganges and its tributaries – 55.01 (M ha-m)
5. Indus and its tributaries – 7.95 (M ha-m)
6. The River Brahmaputra – 59.07 (M ha-m)

HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

Hydrologic cycle is the water transfer cycle, which occurs continuously in nature; the three important phases of the hydrologic cycle are: (a) Evaporation and evapotranspiration (b) precipitation and (c) runoff. The globe has one-third land and two-thirds ocean. Evaporation from the surfaces of ponds, lakes, reservoirs. ocean surfaces, etc. and transpiration from surface vegetation i.e., from plant leaves of cropped land and forests, etc. take place. These vapours rise to the sky and are condensed at higher altitudes by condensation nuclei and form clouds, resulting in droplet growth. The clouds melt and sometimes burst resulting in precipitation of different forms like rain, snow, hail, sleet, mist, dew and frost. A part of this precipitation flows over the land called runoff and part in-filters into the soil which builds up the ground water table. The surface runoff joins the streams and the
water is stored in reservoirs. A portion of surface runoff and ground water flows back to ocean. Again evaporation starts from the surfaces of lakes, reservoirs and ocean, and the cycle repeats.

FORMS OF PRECIPITATION

1. Drizzle — a light steady rain in fine drops (0.5 mm) and intensity (<1 mm/hr) Rain the condensed water vapour of the atmosphere falling in drops (>0.5 mm, maximum size—6 mm) from the clouds.
2. Glaze — Freezing of drizzle or rain when they come in contact with cold objects.
3. Sleet — Frozen rain drops while falling through air at subfreezing temperature.
4. Snow — Ice crystals resulting from sublimation (i.e., water vapour condenses to ice)
5. Snow flakes — Ice crystals fused together.
6. Hail — Small lumps of ice (>5 mm in diameter) formed by alternate freezing and melting, when they are carried up and down in highly turbulent air currents.
7. Dew — Moisture condensed from the atmosphere in small drops upon cool
   surfaces.
8. Frost — A feathery deposit of ice formed on the ground or on the surface of exposed objects by dew or water vapour that has frozen.
9. Fog — A thin cloud of varying size formed at the surface of the earth by condensation of atmospheric vapour.
10. Mist — Avery thin fog.

SCOPE OF HYDROLOGY

The study of hydrology helps us to know;

• The maximum probable flood that may occur at a given site and its frequency; this is required for the safe design of drains and culverts, dams and reservoirs, channels and other flood control structures.
• The water yield from a basin—its occurrence, quantity and frequency, etc; this is necessary for the design of dams, municipal water supply, water power, river navigation, etc.
• The ground water development for which a knowledge of the hydro-geology of the area, i.e., of the formation soil, recharge facilities like streams and reservoirs, rainfall pattern, climate, cropping pattern, etc. are required.
• The maximum intensity of storm and its frequency for the design of a drainage project in the area.

A hydrologist is often posed with lack of adequate data. The basic hydrological data required are:

• Climatological Data.
• Hydro meteorological data like temperature, wind velocity, humidity, etc.
• Precipitation records and Stream-flow records.
• Seasonal fluctuation of ground water table and evaporation data.
• Cropping pattern, crops and their consumptive use water quality data of surface streams and ground water
• Geomorphologic studies of the basin, like area, shape and slope of the basin, mean and median elevation, mean temperature (as well as highest and lowest temperature recorded) and other physiographic characteristics of the basin; stream density and drainage density; tanks and reservoirs

Hydro-meteorological characteristics of basin:

• Depth-area-duration (DAD) curves for critical storms.
• Isohyetal maps—Isohyets may be drawn for long-term average, annual and monthly precipitation for individual years and months.
• Cropping pattern crops and their seasons.
• Daily, monthly and annual evaporation from water surfaces in the basin.
• Water balance studies of the basin
• Soil conservation and methods of flood control

Hydrology means the science of water. It is the science of the water that deals with the occurrence , circulation and distribution of water of the earth and earth’s atmosphere. As a branch of earth science, it is concerned with the water in the streams and lakes, rainfall and snow fall, snow and ice on the land and water occurring below the earth’s surface in the pores of rocks ans soils.

The artificial reproduction, rearing and transplantation of fish is called pisciculture. It is also called fish farming. The term pisciculture is specific to aqua farming or the raising of fish inside of tanks or in house ponds. Pisciculture is a form of aquaculture as aquaculture is the scientific rearing and management of all aquatic animals. A facility that releases juvenile fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species’ natural numbers is generally referred to as a fish hatchery. Global demand is increasing for dietary fish protein, which has resulted in widespread overfishing in wild fisheries, resulting in significant decrease in fish stocks and even complete depletion in some regions. Fish farming allows establishment of artificial fish colonies that are provided with sufficient feeding, protection from natural predators and competitive threats, access to veterinarian service, and easier harvesting when needed, while being separate from and thus do not usually impact the sustainable yields of wild fish populations.

Aquaculture vs Pisciculture

Intensive Aquaculture

An intensive fish farming system is the well-managed form of fish farming, in which all attempts are made to achieve maximum production of fish from a minimum quantity of water.

• This system involves small ponds/tanks/raceways with very high stocking density (10-50 fish/m³ of water).
• Although intensive aquaculture is completely mechanized and self-contained it can have a detrimental impact on the environment.
• The biggest problem caused by intensive aquaculture is the difficulty in properly dealing with the nutrient rich effluent.
• Effluent contains high levels of both organic and inorganic nutrients like ammonia, phosphorus, dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic phosphorus.
• If not disposed of correctly the effluent could cause a number of problems including eutrophication, and hypernutrification
• Ingenious solutions have been developed to reduce the negative effects to the environmental caused by this effluent. The most effective solution is the advent of aquaponics.

Aquaponics is the combination of Intensive aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil). Aquaponic systems use the nutrient rich effluent from fish tanks as fertilizers for produce. The advent of aquaponics has made the aquaculture industry into a sustainable and Eco-friendly business.

Extensive Aquaculture

Extensive aquaculture is the other form of fish farming. It is more basic than intensive aquaculture in that less effort is put into the husbandry of the fish.

• Extensive aquaculture is done in the ocean, natural and man-made lakes, bays, rivers, and Fiords.
• Fish are contained within these habitats by multiple mesh enclosures which also function as trapping nets during harvest.
• Since fish are susceptible to the elements, site placement is essential to ensuring rapid growth of the targeted species.
• The drawback of these facilities is that they depend on the surrounding area for good water quality in order to reduce mortality and increase the survivorship and growth rate of the fish.
• Fish chosen for extensive aquaculture are very hardy and often do well in high densities.Seaweed, prawns, muscles, carp, talapia, tuna and salmon are the most prominent forms of extensive aquacultured seafood .

Extensive Aquaculture – Drawbacks

Extensive aquaculture facilities have negative impacts on the environment as well. Natural habitats are destroyed in the development of man made ponds used for extensive aquaculture. In the Philippines, shrimp aquaculture is responsible for the destruction of thousands of acres of mangrove fields which serve as nurseries and living habitats for many marine organisms. Benthic habitats are being depleted due to the high amount of organic waste produced by the fish which settles below their pens. Phytoplankton and algae breakdown fecal matter and residual fish meal reducing the amount of available oxygen in the water column,which chokes and kills the Benthic organisms. Another serious problem acquainted with extensive aquaculture is the introduction of invasive species into ecosystems. Escaped fish increase the competition between organisms for limited resources. Also, when foreign fish interbreed with wild species, they upset the genetic variability of the species, making them more prone to disease and infection. The high density of fish in these mesh tanks is very tempting for predators of the sea and air. To protect the harvest from predators protective netting is set up at a high cost. Often times predatorial fish and mammals like seals, sharks, and tuna get caught in these barrier nets and die. Some farmers protect their stocks from predatorial birds such as pelicans and albatross by shooting these sometimes endangered creatures.

Today, only industrialized nations have the funds to invest in intensive aquaculture. Mass produced aquacultured fish has lowered the wholesale price of fish, thus drawing customers away from the already poor fishermen. Today, the only form of aquaculture available to small time fishermen is in the form of grow out pens for juvenile fish. Research is being done to create more complex and affordable forms of extensive aquaculture for subsistence fishermen in order to increase their standard of living, and more importantly, act as an incentive to protect endangered species.

National Unity Day is celebrated in India on 31 October. It was introduced by the Government of India in 2014. The day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who had a major role in the political integration of India.

Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (31st October 1875 – 15th December 1950), endeared as Sardar, was an Indian statesman. He served as the first Deputy Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1950. He was an Indian barrister and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress who played a leading role in the country’s struggle for independence and guided its integration into a united, independent nation. He was one of the conservative members of the Indian National Congress. In India and elsewhere, he was often called Sardar, meaning “chief” in Hindi, Urdu, and Persian. He acted as Home Minister during the political integration of India and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.

As the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India, Patel organised relief efforts for partition refugees fleeing to Punjab and Delhi from Pakistan and worked to restore peace. He led the task of forging a united India, successfully integrating into the newly independent nation those British colonial provinces that formed the Dominion of India. Besides those provinces that had been under direct British rule, approximately 565 self-governing princely states had been released from British suzerainty by the Indian Independence Act of 1947. Patel persuaded almost every princely state to accede to India.

• His commitment to national integration in the newly independent country was total and uncompromising, earning him the sobriquet “Iron Man of India”.
• He is also remembered as the “Patron saint of India’s civil servants” for having established the modern All India Services system.
• He is also called the “Unifier of India”.

Father of All India Services

He was also instrumental in the creation of the All India Services which he described as the country’s “Steel Frame”. In his address to the probationers of these services, he asked them to be guided by the spirit of service in day-to-day administration. He reminded them that the ICS was no-longer neither Imperial, nor civil, nor imbued with any spirit of service after Independence. His exhortation to the probationers to maintain utmost impartiality and incorruptibility of administration is as relevant today as it was then. “A civil servant cannot afford to, and must not, take part in politics. Nor must he involve himself in communal wrangles. To depart from the path of rectitude in either of these respects is to debase public service and to lower its dignity,” he had cautioned them on 21 April 1947. He, more than anyone else in post-independence India, realized the crucial role that civil services play in administering a country, in not merely maintaining law and order, but running the institutions that provide the binding cement to a society.The present-day all-India administrative services owe their origin to the man’s sagacity and thus he is regarded as Father of modern All India Services.

There is no alternative to this administrative system… The Union will go, you will not have a united India if you do not have good All-India Service which has the independence to speak out its mind, which has sense of security that you will standby your work… If you do not adopt this course, then do not follow the present Constitution. Substitute something else… these people are the instrument. Remove them and I see nothing but a picture of chaos all over the country.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

In his twilight years, Patel was honoured by members of Parliament. He was awarded honorary doctorates of law by Nagpur University, the University of Allahabad and Banaras Hindu University in November 1948, subsequently receiving honorary doctorates from Osmania University in February 1949 and from Punjab University in March 1949. Previously, Patel had been featured on the cover page of the January 1947 issue of Time magazine.

After suffering a massive heart attack (his second), Patel died on 15 December 1950 at Birla House in Bombay. In an unprecedented and unrepeated gesture, on the day after his death more than 1,500 officers of India’s civil and police services congregated to mourn at Patel’s residence in Delhi and pledged “complete loyalty and unremitting zeal” in India’s service. In homage to Patel, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru declared a week of national mourning. Patel’s cremation was planned at Girgaum Chowpatty, but this was changed to Sonapur (now Marine Lines) when his daughter conveyed that it was his wish to be cremated like a common man in the same place as his wife and brother were earlier cremated. His cremation in Sonapur in Bombay was attended by a crowd of one million including Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajagopalachari and President Rajendra Prasad.

Statue of Unity

The Statue of Unity is a colossal statue of Indian statesman and Independence activist Vallabhbhai Patel. Patel was highly respected for his leadership in uniting 562 princely states of India with a major part of the former British Raj to form the single Union of India. The Statue of Unity is the world’s tallest statue, with a height of 182 metres (597 feet). It is located in the state of Gujarat, India, on the Narmada River in the Kevadiya colony, facing the Sardar Sarovar Dam 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the city of Vadodara and 150 kilometres (93 mi) from the city of Surat. Kevadia railway station is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the statue. The project was first announced in 2010, and construction of the statue started in October 2013 by Indian company Larsen & Toubro, with a total construction cost of 2700 crore (27 billion; US$422 million). It was designed by Indian sculptor Ram V. Sutar and was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 October 2018, the 143rd anniversary of Patel’s birth.

Patel was a selfless leader, who placed the country’s interests above everything else and shaped India’s destiny with single-minded devotion. The invaluable contribution of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in building a modern and unified India needs to be remembered by every Indian as the country marches ahead as one of the largest economies in the world. His enduring fame rests on his achievement of the peaceful integration of the princely Indian states into the Indian Union and the Political unification of India.

Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that they tow or operate. Agricultural machinery and equipment help farmers produce the goods that consumers want and need. Without the proper machinery and equipment, farmers would not be efficient enough to provide the food, clothing, and shelter that we need. Hundreds of years ago, the population was made up of primarily farmers and ranchers. Now, a very small percent of the population is responsible for producing the food and fiber used today. Machinery and equipment allow this to be possible. Because of the high technology with machinery and equipment, in some countries one farmer produces enough food to feed over 100 people.
Using power only from humans or horses would not produce nearly this amount. Machinery and equipment reduce the amount of hard labor needed for farmers to do their work. Jobs are easier and take less time when machinery and equipment are used. Machinery and equipment also help farmers produce larger amounts of higher quality livestock and grain products.

Different types Machinery and Equipments are used in every Sector of the Agricultural Industry. Some of them are in-

1. Livestock production
2. Horticulture
3. Forestry
4. Crop production

Livestock production

Machinery and equipment can be used to help producers care for and manage their livestock. Milking machines, automated feeding and watering systems, incubators, egg candlers, tractors, computers, and many other types of machinery and equipment can be used by the producer to improve efficiency and quality of products.

Horticulture

Machinery and equipment are very important in the horticulture industry. Lawnmowers, tillers, sprayers, spreaders, irrigation systems, wood chippers, lawn rollers, leaf blowers, computers, and tractors are all vital pieces of machinery and equipment used by horticulturalists.

Forestry

The forestry industry relies on machinery and equipment to function. Log trucks, skidders, loaders, cutters, harvesters, chainsaws, computers, and surveying equipment are all necessary for efficient forestry operations.

Crop production

Without the proper machinery and equipment, large-scale crop production would be impossible. Tilling, planting, applying pesticides and fertilizers, and harvesting all require specialized machinery and equipment. Plows, planters, drills, sprayers, spreaders, combines, balers, computers, tractors, grain trucks, and many other types of machinery and equipment are necessary to produce crops effectively.

Some other Machineries and Equipments used in producing crops are-

1. Tractor
2. Tillage equipment
3. Planting equipment
4. Application equipment
5. Harvesting equipment
6. Global Positioning System
7. Geographic Information System

Tractor – A tractor is a motorized vehicle that is used to pull heavy loads and to provide power to operate implements. There are two main types of tractors — wheeled and crawler.

• A wheeled tractor is a tractor that usually has four or more wheels that turn and move the tractor.
• A crawler tractor is a tractor that has steel or rubber tracks fitted around the wheels that make the tractor move.

Tillage equipment – It is a equipment used to plow or till the soil. It slices, breaks, or cuts the soil in order to prepare the ground, control weeds, or create mulch. The tillage equipment used depends on the type of soil and the crop that is to be grown. Tillage equipment includes plows, harrows, and cultivators.

• A plow is an implement used to cut, lift, and turn over soil. It is commonly used to prepare the soil for planting. There are various types of plows and the one most commonly used in many countries is the moldboard plow.
• A harrow is an implement with spikes or disks that is used to cultivate the soil by pulverizing and smoothing it.
• A cultivator is an implement used to loosen the soil and control weeds between rows of growing crops..

Planting equipment – It is a equipment used to place seeds in the soil for germination. It must be properly adjusted so the right amount of seed is planted at the proper depth in the soil. Planting equipment includes planters and drills.

• A planter is an implement used to place seeds in the soil at the proper rate, depth, and spacing.
• A drill is an implement used to plant seeds for germination.

Application equipment – It is a equipment used to apply fertilizer, pesticides, growth regulators, and other materials to crops. It must be properly calibrated and operated so the right amount of material is delivered. The equipment may use dry or liquid materials. Application equipment includes sprayers and dusters.

• A sprayer is a piece of equipment that uses tanks, pumps, and nozzles to apply liquid materials.
• A duster is a piece of equipment used to apply dry powder materials..

Harvesting equipment – It is a equipment used to pick, reap, or otherwise gather crops. Different types of crops require different types of equipment. Harvesting equipment includes combines, pickers, balers, and mowers.

• A combine is a machine used to harvest crops as it moves across a field
• A picker is a machine used to harvest crops by picking. Cotton is the most common crop harvested with a picker.
• A mower is a piece of equipment used to cut standing vegetation. Mowers are used to harvest forage crops, such as grass and alfalfa. After mowing, the crop may be left in rows to dry and be picked up by a baler.
• A baler is a piece of equipment used to harvest forage crops that have been cut, dried, and placed in rows. The baler is pulled behind a tractor and picks the dried vegetation up off the ground.

Global Positioning System (GPS) – It is a system that uses satellites and computers to tell a farmer his or her exact location in a field. The earth is continually circled by 24 GPS satellites. At least four of these satellites are visible from any one point on Earth.
GPS uses three satellites that are connected by an electronic signal with a receiver on the ground. (A fourth satellite is used to verify that the information is accurate.) Distances from satellites to the receiver can be quickly measured. Computers calculate the exact location of the receiver. GPS receivers are generally located on equipment that moves over a field. GPS systems can precisely guide tractors and equipment through a field and program computers to deliver precise amounts of seed, fertilizer, or herbicide to plants in variable amounts.

Geographic Information System (GIS) – It is a system used with GPS to make maps or grids of a field. These maps give a farmer data about soil conditions, crop yield, and other information so he or she can make decisions needed to improve the crops in the field.

Maintenance of Farm Machinery

1. During the repair of any machinery, appropriate protective clothing should be worn. This includes helmets, goggles, gloves, hearing protection, and safety shoes.
2. Do not wear baggy clothing, and keep long hair tied back. Loose-fitting clothing and hair can easily catch in rotating machinery parts.
3. All machinery should be maintained regularly. Any worn or broken parts should be replaced immediately, not fixed in a temporary manner. When repairs are made, the machine should be fixed according to manufacturers’ specifications.
4. When repairs are made, any guard removed during repair must be replaced before the equipment is used.
5. Check tire inflation and tread periodically to prevent flats and blowouts.
6. Whenever preparing to work on a piece of equipment, block wheels to prevent movement. Any jacks used should be stable and in good condition.
7. Inspect brakes, hitches, safety chains, springs, and shackles regularly for wear, broken or missing parts, and cracks in the welds.
8. Inspect hydraulic and air lines regularly for wear and cracks. Replace lines that show any sign of damage.
9. Caution should be taken when working on hydraulic systems. Make sure all pressure in the system is relieved and that the fluid is cool before loosening any fittings or removing lines. Wear leather or rubber gloves.

Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starting with the Neolithic revolution when animals were first domesticated, from around 13,000 BC onward, predating farming of the first crops. By the time of early civilizations such as ancient Egypt, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were being raised on farms. Most livestock are herbivores, except for pigs and chickens which are omnivores. Ruminants like cattle and sheep are adapted to feed on grass; they can forage outdoors, or may be fed entirely or in part on rations richer in energy and protein, such as pelleted cereals. Pigs and poultry cannot digest the cellulose in forage, and require other high-protein foods.

The domestication of livestock was driven by the need to have food on hand when hunting was unproductive. The desirable characteristics of a domestic animal are that it should be useful to the domestication, should be able to thrive in his or her company, should breed freely, and be easy to tend. In ancient Egypt, cattle were the most important livestock, and sheep, goats, and pigs were also kept; poultry including ducks, geese, and pigeons were captured in nets and bred on farms, where they were force-fed with dough to fatten them. In northern Europe, agriculture including animal husbandry went into decline when the Roman empire collapsed. Some aspects such as the herding of animals continued throughout the period. By the 11th century, the economy had recovered and the countryside was again productive. The improvements of animal husbandry in the medieval period in Europe went hand in hand with other developments. Improvements to the plough allowed the soil to be tilled to a greater depth. Horses took over from oxen as the main providers of traction, new ideas on crop rotation were developed and the growing of crops for winter fodder gained ground. Peas, beans and vetches became common; they increased soil fertility through nitrogen fixation, allowing more livestock to be kept.

Branches

Dairy Farming – Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Although any mammal can produce milk, commercial dairy farms are typically one-species enterprises. In developed countries, dairy farms typically consist of high producing dairy cows. Other species used in commercial dairy farming include goats, sheep, water buffaloes, and camels. In Italy, donkey dairies are growing in popularity to produce an alternative milk source for human infants.

Meat industry – The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is a fusion of primary (agriculture) and secondary (industry) activity and hard to characterize strictly in terms of either one alone. The greater part of the meat industry is the meat packing industry – the segment that handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as poultry, cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. A great portion of the ever-growing meat branch in the food industry involves intensive animal farming in which livestock are kept almost entirely indoors or in restricted outdoor settings like pens. Many aspects of the raising of animals for meat have become industrialized, even many practices more associated with smaller family farms. The production of livestock is a heavily vertically integrated industry where the majority of supply chain stages are integrated and owned by one company.

Cattle – Cattle, taurine cattle, or European cattle (Bos taurus or Bos primigenius taurus) are large domesticated cloven-hooved herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos. Depending on sex, they are referred to as cows (female) or bulls (male). Cattle are commonly raised as livestock for meat (beef or veal, see beef cattle), for milk (see dairy cattle), and for hides, which are used to make leather. They are used as riding animals and draft animals (oxen or bullocks, which pull carts, plows and other implements). Another product of cattle is their dung, which can be used to create manure or fuel.

Sheep farming – Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep’s milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin and parchment. Sheep can be raised in a range of temperate climates, including arid zones near the equator and other torrid zones. Farmers build fences, housing, shearing sheds, and other facilities on their property, such as for water, feed, transport, and pest control. Most farms are managed so sheep can graze pastures, sometimes under the control of a shepherd or sheep dog.

Pig farming – Pig farming or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork, bacon, gammon) and skins. Pigs are amenable to many different styles of farming: intensive commercial units, commercial free range enterprises, or extensive farming (being allowed to wander around a village, town or city, or tethered in a simple shelter or kept in a pen outside the owner’s house). Historically, farm pigs were kept in small numbers and were closely associated with the residence of the owner, or in the same village or town.They were valued as a source of meat and fat, and for their ability to convert inedible food into meat and manure, and were often fed household food waste when kept on a homestead. Pigs have been farmed to dispose of municipal garbage on a large scale. All these forms of pig farm are in use today, though intensive farms are by far the most popular, due to their potential to raise a large amount of pigs in a very cost-efficient manner. In developed nations, commercial farms house thousands of pigs in climate-controlled buildings. Pigs are a popular form of livestock, with more than one billion pigs butchered each year worldwide, 100 million of them in the USA. The majority of pigs are used for human food but also supply skin, fat and other materials for use as clothing, ingredients for processed foods, cosmetics, and medical use.

Cuniculture – Cuniculture is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising domestic rabbits as livestock for their meat, fur, or wool. Cuniculture is also employed by rabbit fanciers and hobbyists in the development and betterment of rabbit breeds and the exhibition of those efforts. Scientists practice cuniculture in the use and management of rabbits as model organisms in research. Cuniculture has been practiced all over the world since at least the 5th century.

Poultry farming – Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. It has originated from the agricultural era. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chickens are killed for consumption annually. Chickens raised for eggs are known as layers, while chickens raised for meat are called broilers.

Aquaculture – Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture , also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation (“farming”) of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lotus). Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled or semi-natural conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Mariculture, commonly known as marine farming, refers specifically to aquaculture practiced in seawater habitats, opposed to in freshwater aquaculture.

Beekeeping – Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made hives, by humans. Most such bees are honey bees in the genus Apis, but other honey-producing bees such as Melipona stingless bees are also kept. A beekeeper (or apiarist) keeps bees in order to collect their honey and other products that the hive produce (including beeswax, propolis, flower pollen, bee pollen, and royal jelly), to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. A location where bees are kept is called an apiary or “bee yard”.

Insect farming – Insect farming is the practice of raising and breeding insects as livestock, also referred to as minilivestock or micro stock. Insects may be farmed for the commodities they produce (like silk, honey, lac or insect tea), or for them themselves; to be used as food, as feed, as a dye, and otherwise.

Sericulture – Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studied silkworm. Silk was believed to have first been produced in China as early as the Neolithic Period. Sericulture has become an important cottage industry in countries such as Brazil, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Russia. Today, China and India are the two main producers, with more than 60% of the world’s annual production.

Environmental Impact

Animal husbandry has a significant impact on the world environment. Being a part of the animal–industrial complex, animal agriculture is the primary driver of climate change, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, and of the crossing of almost every other planetary boundary, in addition to killing more than 60 billion non-human land animals annually. It is responsible for somewhere between 20 and 33% of the fresh water usage in the world, and livestock, and the production of feed for them, occupy about a third of the earth’s ice-free land. Livestock production is a contributing factor in species extinction, desertification, and habitat destruction. Since the 18th century, people have become increasingly concerned about the welfare of farm animals. Possible measures of welfare include longevity, behavior, physiology, reproduction, freedom from disease, and freedom from immunosuppression. Standards and laws for animal welfare have been created worldwide, broadly in line with the most widely held position in the western world, a form of utilitarianism: that it is morally acceptable for humans to use non-human animals, provided that no unnecessary suffering is caused, and that the benefits to humans outweigh the costs to the livestock. An opposing view is that animals have rights, should not be regarded as property, are not necessary to use, and should never be used by humans.

DESCRIPTION OF A TRACTOR

Tractor, an engineering vehicle, was specially designed to provide a high torque or tractive effort within the low speed, to haul machinery or trailer used in construction or agriculture. The tractor is a special farm machine that helps a wide array of agricultural equipment to complete many roles assign on the farm. Tractors are important tools for farmers in another world we can say that modern farm is incomplete without a tractor. Tractor helps the farmers to cut down extra costs for resources, which is the main purpose to use tractors by farmers. Farm tractor technology helped push up yields and producers get the rewards of higher fuel efficiency.

HISTORY OF TRACTOR ENGINES

The word “TRACTOR” is derived from Latin word “TRAHERE” or “TRACT” which means something that pulls. The first powered farm implements in the early 19th century were portable engines – steam engines on wheels that could be used to drive mechanical farm machinery by way of a flexible belt. Richard Trevithick designed the first ‘semi-portable’ stationary steam engine for agricultural use, known as a “barn engine” in 1812, and it was used to drive a corn threshing machine. The truly portable engine was invented in 1893 by William Tux ford of Boston, Lincolnshire who started manufacture of an engine built around a locomotive-style boiler with horizontal smoke tubes. In the 1850s, John Fowler used a Clayton & Shuttle worth portable engine to drive apparatus in the first public demonstrations of the application of cable haulage to cultivation.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF TRACTOR ENGINES

1. Utility Tractors
2. Row Crop Tractors
3. Orchard Type Tractors
4. Industrial Tractors
5. Garden Tractors
6. Rotary Tillers
7. Implement Carrier
8. Earth Moving Tractors

Utility Tractors – A low- to medium-horsepower tractor; used primarily for pulling auxiliary equipment, but also used in construction with attachments for trenching, dozing, breaking, etc.

Row Crop Tractors – A general-purpose or row-crop tractor is tailored specifically to the growing of crops grown in rows, and most especially to cultivating these crops. These tractors are universal machines, capable of both primary tillage and cultivation of a crop.

Orchard Type Tractors – The orchard tractor is a type of tractor that is used in vineries and orchards. These tractors are built to navigate and manoeuvre in small areas or fields These are a special type of tractor used in orchards only. They are usually very high and tall so that the user can sit on the tractor and still pick the fruits or trim the trees. Outside of the surface of the tractor, it is clear, which means that you can get in and around all of the trees without a hassle. Best of all, they can be used in various types of orchards, regardless of what you’ve planted there, whether it is fruit trees or grapes.

Rotary Tillers – These are “walking type” tractors and are usually used in smaller fields and those that are at different height levels. These are places where ordinary equipment often doesn’t work efficiently, yet rotary tillers are small enough to get into small spaces and over hills with ease. A rotary tiller is essentially a motorized cultivator that works by the rotation of blades or tines in order to work the soil. It takes the soil, even hard, chunky soil, and creates a fine, clod-free bed of soil. After you use this equipment to “till” the soil, your garden bed is ready to be planted with any type of seeds you wish to plant.

Industrial tractors – Industrial tractors were once called Tuggers, and they are used to pull loads. In fact, most industrial tractors are not even made for agricultural use, but instead, they are used in factories while pulling things. They come in various models and horsepower strengths.

Garden tractors – Garden tractors tend to have a very small construction size. They are used more for grass-cutting tasks than anything else, or for creating new flower beds in your garden. Garden tractors have wheels that are roughly the size of a scooter’s wheels but are much thicker.

Earth-moving tractors – Earth-moving tractors have to be quite strong and extremely heavy, and they come in both tire and track types. If you’re working on a construction site, including work on dams and quarries, an earth-moving tractor can be a lifesaver.
They move earth to dig holes for basements and new construction, in addition to numerous other tasks, and even though they are expensive they are always built to last. They are used to move and relocate things such as dirt, debris, rocks, mud, or even lumber.

Implement Carrier Tractors – These types of tractors are meant to carry and mount many different types of implements, the chassis frame between the front and rear tires is extended. Therefore, they are able to mount implements that include drills, sprayers, seed drills, rotary sweepers, loaders, and dusters, among others. They come in many different sizes and designs, and the companies that sell them can provide you with the information that you need to make sure that you get the right one.

COMPONENTS OF A TRACTOR

A tractor is made of following main units:

1. Clutch
2. Transmission Gears
3. Differential Unit and Final Drive
4. Steering System and Brake Steering System
5. Hydraulic Control System
6. Hitch and Control Board of Tractor
7. Power Take-Off Unit
8. Belt Pulley
9. Control Board or Dash Board of a Tractor
10. Tractor Tyre and Front Axle.
    

Component 1 – Clutch: Clutch is a device, used to connect and disconnect the tractor engine from the transmission gears and drive wheels.

Component 2 -Transmission Gears: A tractor engine runs at high speed, but the rear wheel of the tractor requires power at low speed and high torque. & Torque Converter: This is also called hydro-kinetic transmission. It is a device used on tractors for transmission of power and for multiplying the torque of the engine. It works as a torque multiplier.

Component 3 – Differential Unit: It is a special arrangement of gears to permit one of the rear wheels of the tractor to rotate slower or faster than the other. While turning the tractor on a curved path, the inner wheel has to travel lesser distance than the outer wheel & Final Drive: It is a gear reduction unit in the power trains between the Differential and the Drive wheels. Final drive transmits the power finally to the rear axle and the wheels.

Component 4 – Steering System: The system governing the angular movement of front wheels of a tractor is called Steering system. This system minimizes the efforts of the operator in turning the front wheel with the application of leverages. & Brake: Brake is used to stop or slow down the motion of a tractor.

Component 5 – Hydraulic Control System: It is a mechanism in a tractor to raise, hold or lower the mounted or semi-mounted equipments by hydraulic means. All tractors are equipped with hydraulic control system for operating three point hitch of the tractor.

Component 6 – Hitch: Implements are needed to be hitched properly for efficient and safe operation of the tractor. Implements can be: 1. Trailed 2. Semi-mounted and 3. Mounted.

Component 7 – Power Take-Off Unit (PTO): It is a part of tractor transmission system. It consists of a shaft, a shield and a cover.

Component 8 – Belt Pulley: All tractors are provided with a belt pulley. The function of the pulley is to transmit power from the tractor to stationary machinery by means of a belt. It is used to operate thresher, centrifugal pumps, silage cutter and several other machines

Component 9 – Control Board or Dash Board of a Tractor:

The control board of a tractor generally consists of:

• Main Switch: When the main switch is on, the electric current flows in the electrical circuit.
• Throttle Lever: This lever is for increasing or decreasing the speed of the engine.
• Decompression Lever: This lever releases compression pressure from the combustion chamber of the engine and helps to start the engine.
• Hour Meter: This meter indicates the engine hour as well as engine revolution per minute.
• Light Switch: Light switch is for light points only.
• Horn Hutton: This is for horn of the tractor
• Battery Charging Indicator: This indicates the charge and discharge of the battery.
• Oil Pressure Indicator: This indicates the lubricating oil pressure in the system.
• Water Temperature Gauge: This indicates the temperature of water of the cooling system.
  

Component 10 – Tractor Tyre: The tyres are available in many sizes with the ply ratings as 4, 6 or 8. The ply rating of tyres indicates the comparative strength of tyres. The higher the rating, the stronger are the tyres. The inflation pressure in the rear wheels of the tractor varies between 0.8 to 1.5 kg/cm . The inflation pressure of the front wheel varies from 1.5 to 2.5kg/cm &
Front Axle: Front axle is the unit on which front wheel is mounted. This wheel is an idler wheel by which tractor is steered in various directions.

APPLICATION OF TRACTORS

Farm tractor designs and styles differ greatly. Tractors are often used on a daily basis for the several agricultural and non agricultural tasks by attaching or operating the light, medium to heavy implements, equipments and machineries according to the requirement and HP of tractors.

The major application of farm tractors for Agricultural and Non Agricultural sectors are given below :-

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES

Preparing the field by attaching different implements, equipments and machinery for tilling, disking, harrowing, levelling and forming of beds, bunds, furrow & ridges.

Application of organic manure in line or rows by attaching a trailer and organic manure applicator.

Spraying of pesticides in field crops and tress by operating different types of sprayers.

Pumping the ground, canal, river, open well, pond or stored water by operating pumps.

Crushing of sugarcane by operating sugarcane crusher

NON-AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES

Removing the snow by attaching snow blower and grader.

Generating electricity by operating the Alternator/Generator.

Using for defence & airport applications to tow baggage.

Powering of building and road construction equipments.

Breaking of rock with tractor mounted pneumatic compressors.

CONCLUSION

A tractor can act as a best friend to a farmer. In a country like India where farming and agriculture is the leading occupation of the people, a tractor plays a vital role in the life of a farmer. It can deliver several advantages to the farmers and make the task of farming easier. As an efficient machine, it helps the farmer to comprehensively carry out the various works related to the farming. Therefore, with a tractor, you as a farmer in India can expect good profits in the case of farming.

The World Health Organisation recognizes World Mental Health Day on 10 October every year. October 10, 1992 was the first time the World Mental Health Day was observed in over 150+ countries. It was the Deputy Secretary General Richard Hunter whose relentless efforts led to the observance. The day used to be celebrated to educate, and remove the general problems arising from mental illness until 1993. It was only in 1994, that the event began to follow a theme-based approach. For the first time in that year, the event was commemorated on the theme of ‘Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World’. It was suggested by the Secretary General Eugene .

Importance of World Mental Health Day

The day is important in the medical world as it aims at improving the mental health issues of people by using various medications and counselling and other important services. In many parts of the world, the preparation for this day is done beforehand and some countries even hold workshops and courses that run for a week or sometimes months. Moreover, this day allows people to speak up about mental health in general and breaks the stigma of society. It is important to know that anyone can face mental issues, but the right diagnosis and counselling can yield positive results in a short period of time.

What is Mental Health?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source:

“Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.”

• People sometimes use the term “mental health” to mean the absence of a mental disorder.
• Mental health can affect daily living, relationships, and physical health. However, this link also works in the other direction.
• Factors in people’s lives, interpersonal connections, and physical factors can all contribute to mental health disruptions. Looking after mental health can preserve a person’s ability to enjoy life.
• Doing this involves reaching a balance between life activities, responsibilities, and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.
• Conditions such as stress, depression, and anxiety can all affect mental health and disrupt a person’s routine. Although the term mental health is in common use, many conditions that doctors recognize as psychological disorders have physical roots.
• The WHO stress that mental health is “more than just the absence of mental disorders or disabilities.” Peak mental health is about not only avoiding active conditions but also looking after ongoing wellness and happiness.
• They also emphasize that preserving and restoring mental health is crucial on an individual basis, as well as throughout different communities and societies the world over.

Common Mental Health Disorders

Anxiety disorders – According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Anxiety Disorders are the most common type of mental illness. People with these conditions have severe fear or anxiety, which relates to certain objects or situations. Most people with an anxiety disorder will try to avoid exposure to whatever triggers their anxiety.

Panic disorders – People with a panic disorder experience regular panic attacks, which involve sudden, overwhelming terror or a sense of imminent disaster and death.

Phobias – A phobia is a persistent, excessive, unrealistic fear of an object, person, animal, activity or situation. It is a type of anxiety disorder. A person with a phobia either tries to avoid the thing that triggers the fear, or endures it with great anxiety and distress.

There are Different types of Phobia:

• Simple phobias: These might involve a disproportionate fear of specific objects, scenarios, or animals. A fear of spiders is a common example.
  
• Social phobia: Sometimes known as social anxiety, this is a fear of being subject to the judgment of others. People with social phobia often restrict their exposure to social environments.
  
• Agoraphobia: This term refers to a fear of situations in which getting away may be difficult, such as being in an elevator or moving train. Many people misunderstand this phobia as a fear of being outside.

Phobias are deeply personal, and doctors do not know every type. There could be thousands of phobias, and what might seem unusual to one person may be a severe problem that dominates daily life for another.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) – People with OCD have obsessions and compulsions. In other words, they experience constant, stressful thoughts and a powerful urge to perform repetitive acts, such as hand washing.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – PTSD can occur after a person experiences or witnesses a deeply stressful or traumatic event. During this type of event, the person thinks that their life or other people’s lives are in danger. They may feel afraid or that they have no control over what is happening. These sensations of trauma and fear may then contribute to PTSD.

Mood disorders – People may also refer to mood disorders as affective disorders or depressive disorders. People with these conditions have significant changes in mood, generally involving either mania, which is a period of high energy and elation, or depression.

Examples of mood disorders include:

• Major depression: An individual with major depression experiences a constant low mood and loses interest in activities and events that they previously enjoyed. They can feel prolonged periods of sadness or extreme sadness.
  
• Bipolar disorder: A person with bipolar disorder experiences unusual changes.Trusted Source in their mood, energy levels, levels of activity, and ability to continue with daily life. Periods of high mood are known as manic phases, while depressive phases bring on low mood.
  
• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) – Reduced daylight triggers during the fall, winter, and early spring months trigger this type of major depression . It is most common in countries far from the equator.

Schizophrenia Disorders – Mental health authorities are still trying to determine whether schizophrenia is a single disorder or a group of related illnesses. It is a highly complex condition. Signs of schizophrenia typically develop between the ages of 16 and 30 years. The individual will have thoughts that appear fragmented, and they may also find it hard to process information. Schizophrenia has negative and positive symptoms. Positive symptoms include delusions, thought disorders, and hallucinations. Negative symptoms include withdrawal, lack of motivation, and a flat or inappropriate mood.

Mental Health Promotion and Protection

An environment that respects and protects basic civil, political, socio-economic and cultural rights is fundamental to mental health. Without the security and freedom provided by these rights, it is difficult to maintain a high level of mental health.

Specific ways to promote mental health include:

• Early childhood interventions (e.g. providing a stable environment that is sensitive to children’s health and nutritional needs, with protection from threats, opportunities for early learning, and interactions that are responsive, emotionally supportive and developmentally stimulating).
• Support to children (e.g. life skills programmes, child and youth development programmes); Socio-economic empowerment of women (e.g. improving access to education and microcredit schemes).
• Social support for elderly populations (e.g. befriending initiatives, community and day centers for the aged); Programmes targeted at vulnerable people, including minorities, indigenous people, migrants and people affected by conflicts and disasters (e.g. psycho-social interventions after disasters).
• Mental health promotional activities in schools (e.g. programmes involving supportive ecological changes in schools). Mental Health interventions at work (e.g. stress prevention programmes). Housing policies (e.g. housing improvement) Violence prevention programmes (e.g. reducing availability of alcohol and access to arms).
• Community development programmes (e.g. integrated rural development). Poverty reduction and social protection for the poor.

Early Signs

• Withdrawing from friends, family, and colleagues.
• Avoiding activities that they would normally enjoy.
• Sleeping too much or too little.
• Eating too much or too little.
• Feeling hopeless.
• Having consistently low energy.
• Using mood-altering substances, including alcohol and nicotine, more frequently.
• Displaying negative emotions.
• Being confused.
• Being unable to complete daily tasks, such as getting to work or cooking a meal.
• Having persistent thoughts or memories that reappear regularly.
• Thinking of causing physical harm to themselves or others.
• Hearing voices.
• Experiencing delusions.

Treatment

In the context of national efforts to develop and implement mental health policy, It is vital to not only protect and promote the mental well-being of its citizens, but also address the needs of persons with defined mental disorders. Knowledge of what to do about the escalating burden of mental disorders has improved substantially over the past decade. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating both the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of key interventions for priority mental disorders in countries at different levels of economic development.

Examples of interventions that are cost-effective, feasible, and affordable include:

• Treatment of depression with psychological treatment and, for moderate to severe cases, antidepressant medicines.
• Treatment of psychosis with anti-psychotic medicines and psychosocial support.
• Taxation of alcoholic beverages and restriction of their availability and marketing.
• A range of effective measures also exists for the prevention of suicide, prevention and treatment of mental disorders in children, prevention and treatment of dementia, and treatment of substance-use disorders.
• The mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) has produced evidence based guidance for non-specialists to enable them to better identify and manage a range of priority mental health conditions.

Telemedicine is an emerging field of convergence of medicine, technology and communication. It promises the best of medicinal facilities to people in rural or far flung areas. Telemedicine provides local medical staff the guidance of an expert physician far from the site of emergency. Such timely diagnosis and treatment increases the chances of patient survival. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are expanding the availability and affordability of healthcare services. These technologies integrate electronic electronic medical information, clinical assessment tools and laboratory data to bring state of the art medical expertise to undeserved areas. Seamless sharing of information between healthcare providers has enabled the concept of hospitals without walls.

Patient data,both clinical and non-clinical, is crucial for accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Clinical information includes history of illness, associated signs and symptoms, clinical observations and interventions, diagnosis and treatment, etc non-clinical information includes information about the patients’s environment , demographic information, lifestyle and occupation and any other relevant information for providing daycare. In most of the situations, early diagnosis and initiation of treatment can save patients’s life. For hard-pressed local medical staff with a serious or unusual medical condition, the ability to consult specialists elsewhere can mean the difference between life and death of the patient. With advances in telecommunication in formation processing capability and miniaturization of health diagnostic equipment, it has become possible to deliver immediate and effective healthcare to the masses.

Teleconsultation

Voice, video and data are electronically communicated for consultation between geographically separated clinicians. This involves:

a) Telemonitoring: Use of Audio-visuals, electronic signal/information processing and telecommunication technologies to monitor the patient’s such details as measurements taken from devices such as blood pressure cuff, blood oxygen, thermometer, stethoscope, weigh scale, blood glucose, meter, etc.

b) Telediagnosis: Detection of a disease by observation and evaluation of the patient data acquired and transmitted from the equipment/devices monitoring the remote patient.

c) Telementoring: Using telemonitoring an expert consultant guides a distant clinician in a new medical procedure.

Data acquisition and transfer

Data can be transferred in two ways: store-and-forward and real-time interactive video. The choice depends on the clinical setting, purpose of the consultation, infrastructure and economic considerations. Emerging rends in remote monitoring and diagnosis Electronic patient record. An Electronic patient record (EPR) are the electronically stored health information about any individual uniquely identified by an identifier which entails capturing, storing, retrieving, transmitting and manipulating patient specific healthcare data (including clinical, administrative and biographical data).

Home Telecare: The home telecare solution allows visual assessment of the patient, tracking of vital signs and review of the medications remotely,eliminating the need for the physician to be the physically present or the patients who may otherwise be unable to receive them due to geographic distance barriers. thus it holds a great promise in managing the health needs of individuals living in rural and remote areas. The home telecare system comprises a home care unit serving as the video interface, a camera and a gateway.

Emergency care: These devices have the ability to telematically “bring in” an expert emergency, allowing him to review the vital signs and issue directions on patient managements and treatment procedures to the emergency personnel until the patient is administered first aid and the hospital. This results in effective patient management, as the patient and initiate the treatment immediately. Medical Images and waveform can even be downloaded, stored, displayed and exchanged on personnel digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones, so these can be accessed at any time, anywhere to aid remote diagnosis and referrals.

Smart cards: Smart cards act as a portable, comprehensive and accurate source of up-to-date patient information. These can provide basic medical information about the patients, such as lists of drug sensitivities, current conditions being treated, name and phone number of the patients’s doctor and other information vital in an emergency. These can also carry vital medical history and details about insurance coverage. Remote diagnostics and related decision-making process can be integrated efficiently as the patients could carry the repository of information wherever he/she goes to receive treatment.

Telesurgery: Telesurgery is the provision of surgical care over a distance, with direct, real-time visualization of the operative field. it may be categorized into telepresence surgery and telerobotics. telepresence surgery uses a computerized interface to transmit a surgeon’s actions at the surgical workstations to the operative site at the remote surgical unit, with haptic feedback about the tactic environment of the operative fields to the surgeon. Telerobotics is remote control with a robotic arm, usually in conjunction with a laparoscope, without haptic feedback. In the future, though telemedicine will take some time to be available to ordinary people, it will have the greatest impact in the area of home healthcare, since the efficiencies realized are unimaginable.

Solar System means system of the sun. All bodies under the gravitational influence of our local star, the Sun, together with the Sun, forms the solar system. The largest bodies, including Earth revolving around the sun are called planets. Often smaller cool bodies, called satellites and moons, orbit a planet. Bodies smaller than planets that orbit the sun are classifieds as Asteroids if they are rocky or metallic from the region between Mars & Jupiter, Comets if they are mostly ice & dust, and Meteoroids if they are very small.

How Big is Our Solar system ?

To think about the large distances, we use a cosmic ruler based on the astronomical unit(AU). 1 AU is the distance from Earth to the Sun, which is about 150 million kilometres. the area of the Sun’s influence stretches far beyond the the planets, forming a giant bubble called the heliosphere. The enormous bubble of the heliosphere is created by the solar wind, a stream of charged gas blowing outward from the Sun. As the Sun orbits the center of the milky way, the bubble of heliosphere also moves ahead of itself in interstellar space through the interstellar gases. The area where the solar wind is abruptly slowed by pressure from gas between the stars is called the termination shock. That was observed when Voyager 1 began sending unusual data to Earth in late 2003. In December 2004, thats how scientists confirmed that Voyager 1 had crossed the termination shock at about 94 AU, approximately 13 billion kms from the sun,venturing into the vast, turbulent expanse where the Sun’s influence diminishes. Voyager 2, 16 billion kilometres from Voyager 1, crossed the termination shock in August 2007. Voyager 1 may reach in interstellar space sometime between 2014 & 2017; when voyagers exit the enormous Oort Cloud, a vast spherical shell of icy bodies surrounding the solar system.

Solar System: As we know it

A Solar system refers to a star and all the objects that travel in orbit around it. Our Solar system consists of the sun – our Star – Eight planets and their natural satellites (such as our moon); dwarf planets; asteroids and comets. Our solar system is locally in an outward spiral of the Milky Way galaxy.

Our Solar System Consists of-

• Planets:8 – The planet count in our solar system has gone as high as 15 before new discoveries prompted a fine tuning of the definition of a planet.
• Dwarf planets:6 – This new class of worlds helps us categorize objects that orbit the Sun but aren’t quite the same as the rocky planets and gas giants of our solar system. There could be hundreds more of these small worlds far out there waiting to be discovered.
• Moons:173 – This Counts includes only the moons orbiting the eight planets in our solar system. it is likely there are more moons orbiting the giant planets of our solar system and there are moons orbiting around dwarf planets and asteroids.
• Asteroids:645,118 – New asteroids are discovered on an almost daily basis. it is estimated that the mineral wealth of the asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter is about $100,000,000 for every person on Earth.
• Comets:3,279 – orbiting spacecraft such as SOHO have raised this tally in recent years by catching the comets as they plunge towards the Sun – and sometimes vaporize. Scientists estimated there could be as many as 1,000,000,000 comets held in the gravitational grip of the Sun.

A western admirer once described Swami Vivekananda as being ‘young in years but eternal in wisdom’. if you accept this ecstatic statement at this face value, it establishes the relevance of Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy today.

Vivekananda, original name Narendranath Datta, Datta also spelled Dutt, (born January 12, 1863, Calcutta (now Kolkata) died July 4, 1902, near Calcutta), is a Hindu spiritual leader and reformer in India who attempted to combine Indian spirituality with Western material progress, maintaining that the two supplemented and complemented one another. At the age of eight in 1871, Vivekananda was enrolled at Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s Institution and later at the Presidency College in Calcutta. He was exposed to Western philosophy, Christianity, and science. He had an interest in music both instrumental as well as vocal. He was active in sports, gymnastics, wrestling, and bodybuilding. He was also fond of reading and till the time he had completed his graduation from the college he had acquired a vast knowledge of various subjects

Swami Vivekananda’s inspiring personality was well known both in India and in America during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. The unknown monk of India suddenly leapt into fame at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, at which he represented Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture as well as his deep spiritual insight, fervid eloquence, brilliant conversation, broad human sympathy, colorful personality, and handsome figure made an irresistible appeal to the many types of Americans who came in contact with him. People who saw or heard Vivekananda even once still cherish his memory after a lapse of more than half a century.

Man-making — His mission

Swami Vivekananda’s relevance depends not on the nature of the problems we face but on the spirit with those problems have to be tackled. his stress on man himself, for, given the right kind of man, no problem need be daunting. ‘Man-making is my mission’, he used to say. Indeed, a country’s future depends upon its people-how good, intelligent and capable they are.

Character-building through Education

Character building is one of the main and fundamental objectives of education. In ancient times, education was for the formation of character.He considered character building to be the most important objective of education. He believed that religious, character and moral qualities should be inculcated in the students through education. It was his academic opinion and plan to develop the characteristic qualities in the students from the Upanayan Adi Sanskars at the beginning of the education and to reach the full
level through the entire code of conduct of Brahmacharyashram. To him, Man Acharya means a Guru whose conduct remains to be followed by all the disciples. Acharya means a living embodiment of the code of ethics. The Acharya teaches the children the rituals of Sandhya, Upasana, Snan, Achaman, Pranayama etc. The life and thoughts of the Acharya in the Gurukul remain a great source of character building of the disciples. The working people, who had long been neglected and had no access to education, should now receive special attention so that they could quickly overcome their initial drawbacks. He wanted education to reach out to them rather than they come to education. Swamiji believes that the contribution of parents in shaping the character of a child is
especially important. The work of the Acharya proceeds on its foundation. Parents as well as principals have a major role to play in the character building of the disciple – in the training of body, mind and soul.

The natural tendency of Vivekananda’s mind, like that of his Master, Ramakrishna, was to soar above the world and forget itself in contemplation of the Absolute. But another part of his personality bled at the sight of human suffering in East and West alike. It might appear that his mind seldom found a point of rest in its oscillation between contemplation of God and service to man. Be that as it may, he chose, in obedience to a higher call, service to man as his mission on earth; and this choice has endeared him to people in the West, Americans in particular.

In the course of a short life of thirty-nine years (1863-1902), of which only ten were devoted to public activities-and those, too, in the midst of acute physical suffering-he left for posterity his four classics: Jnana-Yoga, Bhaji-Yoga, Karma-Yoga, and Raja-Yoga, all of which are outstanding treatises on Hindu philosophy. Swami Vivekananda founded Ramakrishna Mission on 1 May 1897 for one’s own salvation and for the welfare of the world. In addition, he delivered innumerable lectures, wrote inspired letters in his own hand to his many friends and disciples, composed numerous poems, and acted as spiritual guide to the many seekers, who came to him for instruction. He also organized the Ramakrishna Order of monks, which is the most outstanding religious organization of modern India. It is devoted to the propagation of the Hindu spiritual culture not only in the Swami’s native land, but also in America and in other parts of the world.

Swami Vivekananda thus gave a spiritual basis to Indian nationalism. Vivekananda was an avatara , a divinely inspired and God-appointed leader, not only for Man in India, but also for the whole of humanity in the present age. In conclusion, Vivekananda was the most eminent figure among the democratic patriots of India.