Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering

The growing population and effect of climate change have put a huge responsibility on the agriculture sector to increase food-grain production and productivity. In most of the countries where the expansion of cropland is merely impossible, agriculture automation has become the only option and is the need of the hour. Internet of things and Artificial intelligence have already started capitalizing across all the industries including agriculture. Advancement in these digital technologies has made revolutionary changes in agriculture by providing smart systems that can monitor, control, and visualize various farm operations in real-time and with comparable intelligence of human experts. The potential applications of IoT and AI in the development of smart farm machinery, irrigation systems, weed and pest control, fertilizer application, greenhouse cultivation, storage structures, drones for plant protection, crop health monitoring, etc. are discussed in the paper. The main objective of the paper is to provide an overview of recent research in the area of digital technology-driven agriculture and identification of the most prominent applications in the field of agriculture engineering using artificial intelligence and internet of things. The research work done in the areas during the last 10 years has been reviewed from the scientific databases including PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. It has been observed that the digitization of agriculture using AI and IoT has matured from their nascent conceptual stage and reached the execution phase. The technical details of artificial intelligence, IoT, and challenges related to the adoption of these digital technologies are also discussed. This will help in understanding how digital technologies can be integrated into agriculture practices and pave the way for the implementation of AI and IoT-based solutions in the farms.

As an antioxidant, lycopene has acquired importance as it prevents autoxidation of fats and related products. Tomatoes are an important agricultural product that is a great source of lycopene. It contains many vitamins and minerals, fiber, and carbohydrates and is associated with various positive effects on health. The antioxidant potential of tomatoes is substantially explained with lycopene compounds. Diet is a major risk factor for heart diseases which is shown as the most important cause of death in the world. It has been observed that the lycopene taken in the diet has positive effects in many stages of atherosclerosis. The serum lipid levels, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, blood pressure, and antioxidative potential are mainly affected by lycopene. These natural antioxidants, which can also enhance the nutritional value of foods, may lead to new ways if used in food preservation. In this review study, the antioxidant potential and cardiovascular protection mechanism of lycopene are discussed.

(L.) belongs to the Myrtaceae family and it is an important fruit in tropical areas like India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and South America. The leaves of the guava plant have been studied for their health benefits which are attributed to their plethora of phytochemicals, such as quercetin, avicularin, apigenin, guaijaverin, kaempferol, hyperin, myricetin, gallic acid, catechin, epicatechin, chlorogenic acid, epigallocatechin gallate, and caffeic acid. Extracts from guava leaves (GLs) have been studied for their biological activities, including anticancer, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antidiarrheal, antimicrobial, lipid-lowering, and hepatoprotection activities. In the present review, we comprehensively present the nutritional profile and phytochemical profile of GLs. Further, various bioactivities of the GL extracts are also discussed critically. Considering the phytochemical profile and beneficial effects of GLs, they can potentially be used as an ingredient in the development of functional foods and pharmaceuticals. More detailed clinical trials need to be conducted to establish the efficacy of the GL extracts.

The agriculture industry is undergoing a rapid digital transformation and is growing powerful by the pillars of cutting-edge approaches like artificial intelligence and allied technologies. At the core of artificial intelligence, deep learning-based computer vision enables various agriculture activities to be performed automatically with utmost precision enabling smart agriculture into reality. Computer vision techniques, in conjunction with high-quality image acquisition using remote cameras, enable non-contact and efficient technology-driven solutions in agriculture. This review contributes to providing state-of-the-art computer vision technologies based on deep learning that can assist farmers in operations starting from land preparation to harvesting operations. Recent works in the area of computer vision were analyzed in this paper and categorized into (a) seed quality analysis, (b) soil analysis, (c) irrigation water management, (d) plant health analysis, (e) weed management (f) livestock management and (g) yield estimation. The paper also discusses recent trends in computer vision such as generative adversarial networks (GAN), vision transformers (ViT) and other popular deep learning architectures. Additionally, this study pinpoints the challenges in implementing the solutions in the farmer’s field in real-time. The overall finding indicates that convolutional neural networks are the corner stone of modern computer vision approaches and their various architectures provide high-quality solutions across various agriculture activities in terms of precision and accuracy. However, the success of the computer vision approach lies in building the model on a quality dataset and providing real-time solutions.

Abstract Plant diseases cause significant damage to agriculture, leading to substantial yield losses and posing a major threat to food security. Detection, identification, quantification, and diagnosis of plant diseases are crucial parts of precision agriculture and crop protection. Modernizing agriculture and improving production efficiency are significantly affected by using computer vision technology for crop disease diagnosis. This technology is notable for its non-destructive nature, speed, real-time responsiveness, and precision. Deep learning (DL), a recent breakthrough in computer vision, has become a focal point in agricultural plant protection that can minimize the biases of manually selecting disease spot features. This study reviews the techniques and tools used for automatic disease identification, state-of-the-art DL models, and recent trends in DL-based image analysis. The techniques, performance, benefits, drawbacks, underlying frameworks, and reference datasets of more than 278 research articles were analyzed and subsequently highlighted in accordance with the architecture of computer vision and deep learning models. Key findings include the effectiveness of imaging techniques and sensors like RGB, multispectral, and hyperspectral cameras for early disease detection. Researchers also evaluated various DL architectures, such as convolutional neural networks, vision transformers, generative adversarial networks, vision language models, and foundation models. Moreover, the study connects academic research with practical agricultural applications, providing guidance on the suitability of these models for production environments. This comprehensive review offers valuable insights into the current state and future directions of deep learning in plant disease detection, making it a significant resource for researchers, academicians, and practitioners in precision agriculture.

Over the past few years, the cancer-related disease has had a high mortality rate and incidence worldwide, despite clinical advances in cancer treatment. The drugs used for cancer therapy, have high side effects in addition to the high cost. Subsequently, to reduce these side effects, many studies have suggested the use of natural bioactive compounds. Among these, which have recently attracted the attention of many researchers, quercetin has such properties. Quercetin, a plant flavonoid found in fresh fruits, vegetables and citrus fruits, has anti-cancer properties by inhibiting tumor proliferation, invasion, and tumor metastasis. Several studies have demonstrated the anti-cancer mechanism of quercetin, and these mechanisms are controlled through several signalling pathways within the cancer cell. Pathways involved in this process include apoptotic, p53, NF-κB, MAPK, JAK/STAT, PI3K/AKT, and Wnt/β-catenin pathways. In addition to regulating these pathways, quercetin controls the activity of oncogenic and tumor suppressor ncRNAs. Therefore, in this comprehensive review, we summarized the regulation of these signalling pathways by quercetin. The modulatory role of quercetin in the expression of various miRNAs has also been discussed. Understanding the basic anti-cancer mechanisms of these herbal compounds can help prevent and manage many types of cancer.

With the impact of climate change in India, majority of the agricultural crops are being badly affected interms of their performance over a period of last two decades. Predicting the crop yield well ahead of its harvest would help the policy makers and farmers for taking appropriate measures for marketing and storage. Such predictions will also help the associated industries for planning the logistics of their business. Several methods of predicting and modeling crop yields have been developed in the past with varying rateof success, as these don't take into account characteristicsoftheweather, a n d aremostly empirical. In the present study a software tool named `Crop Advisor' has been developed as an user friendly web page for predicting the influence of climatic parameters on the crop yields.C4.5 algorithm is used to find out the most influencing climatic parameter on the crop yields of selected crops in selected districts of Madhya Pradesh. This software provides an indication of relative influence of different climatic parameters on the crop yield, other agro-input parameters responsible for crop yield are not considered in this tool, since, application of these input parameters varies with individual fields in space and time.

L. belongs to the family of Anacardiaceae and is an important fruit from South and Southeast Asia. India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and the Philippines are among the top mango producer countries. Leaves of the mango plant have been studied for their health benefits, which are attributed to a plethora of phytochemicals such as mangiferin, followed by phenolic acids, benzophenones, and other antioxidants such as flavonoids, ascorbic acid, carotenoids, and tocopherols. The extracts from mango leaves (MLs) have been studied for their biological activities, including anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-obesity, lipid-lowering, hepato-protection, and anti-diarrheal. In the present review, we have elaborated on the nutritional and phytochemical profile of the MLs. Further, various bioactivities of the ML extracts are also critically discussed. Considering the phytochemical profile and beneficial effects of the MLs, they can be used as a potential ingredient for the development of functional foods and pharmaceutical drugs. However, more detailed clinical trials still needed to be conducted for establishing the actual efficacy of the ML extracts.

Huge quantities of byproducts/wastes generated in onion processing are usually discarded, but they are excellent sources of bioactive compounds and phytochemicals. However, with growing interest in the sustainable use of resources and the circular economy to reduce adverse impacts on the environment, food processing wastes such as onion peel/skin can be extracted and employed as inputs in developing or reformulating nutrient supplements, and pharmacological drugs. This review highlights major bioactive components, especially total phenolics, total flavonoid, quercetin and its derivatives present in onion peel/skin and their therapeutic applications as cardioprotective, neuroprotective, antiobesity, antidiabetic, anticancer and antimicrobial agents. The present review emphasized that onion peel is one of the important agricultural by-products which is rich in bioactive compounds and can be utilized as health promoting ingredient especially in pharmacological and biomedical fields. Thus, with increasing burden of life style disorders/non-communicable diseases, finding suitable natural alternative for their treatment is one major concern of the researchers and onion peel and its extract can be exploited as a prime ingredient.

Food packaging is an important area of food research due to its prime role in the protection and containment of foodstuffs. Traditionally petroleum-derived polymers fulfill the lion's share of packaging material requirements. However, present-day consumers are more concerned about the environmental impact and health hazards of these synthetic polymers. This necessitates the requirement of alternative packaging material with unique biodegradable and renewable characteristics. The edible film is considered a solution to replace these synthetic plastics with naturally available bio-macromolecules such as polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids. An enormous number of researches have been carried out across the world to explore its full potential. Their findings need to be consolidated for further development of this trending research area. Therefore, this article comprehensively reviews previous research progresses, such as different film formulations from various sources and their characteristics and product applications to guide the enthusiastic researchers. Finally, the last section of this article elaborates on safety and regulation aspects as well as recent trends and challenges to tackle all the obstacles in establishing a greener packaging option.

Conventional weed management approaches are inefficient and non-suitable for integration with smart agricultural machinery. Automatic identification and classification of weeds can play a vital role in weed management contributing to better crop yields. Intelligent and smart spot-spraying system's efficiency relies on the accuracy of the computer vision based detectors for autonomous weed control. In the present study, feasibility of deep learning based techniques (Alexnet, GoogLeNet, InceptionV3, Xception) were evaluated in weed identification from RGB images of bell pepper field. The models were trained with different values of epochs (10, 20,30), batch sizes (16, 32), and hyperparameters were tuned to get optimal performance. The overall accuracy of the selected models varied from 94.5 to 97.7%. Among the models, InceptionV3 exhibited superior performance at 30-epoch and 16-batch size with a 97.7% accuracy, 98.5% precision, and 97.8% recall. For this Inception3 model, the type 1 error was obtained as 1.4% and type II error was 0.9%. The effectiveness of the deep learning model presents a clear path towards integrating them with image-based herbicide applicators for precise weed management.

Heat stress (HS) is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting the production and quality of wheat. Rising temperatures are particularly threatening to wheat production. A detailed overview of morpho-physio-biochemical responses of wheat to HS is critical to identify various tolerance mechanisms and their use in identifying strategies to safeguard wheat production under changing climates. The development of thermotolerant wheat cultivars using conventional or molecular breeding and transgenic approaches is promising. Over the last decade, different omics approaches have revolutionized the way plant breeders and biotechnologists investigate underlying stress tolerance mechanisms and cellular homeostasis. Therefore, developing genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data sets and a deeper understanding of HS tolerance mechanisms of different wheat cultivars are needed. The most reliable method to improve plant resilience to HS must include agronomic management strategies, such as the adoption of climate-smart cultivation practices and use of osmoprotectants and cultured soil microbes. However, looking at the complex nature of HS, the adoption of a holistic approach integrating outcomes of breeding, physiological, agronomical, and biotechnological options is required. Our review aims to provide insights concerning morpho-physiological and molecular impacts, tolerance mechanisms, and adaptation strategies of HS in wheat. This review will help scientific communities in the identification, development, and promotion of thermotolerant wheat cultivars and management strategies to minimize negative impacts of HS.

Climate change is a critical yield–limiting factor that has threatened the entire global crop production system in the present scenario. The use of biostimulants in agriculture has shown tremendous potential in combating climate change–induced stresses such as drought, salinity, temperature stress, etc. Biostimulants are organic compounds, microbes, or amalgamation of both that could regulate plant growth behavior through molecular alteration and physiological, biochemical, and anatomical modulations. Their nature is diverse due to the varying composition of bioactive compounds, and they function through various modes of action. To generate a successful biostimulatory action on crops under different parameters, a multi– omics approach would be beneficial to identify or predict its outcome comprehensively. The ‘ omics’ approach has greatly helped us to understand the mode of action of biostimulants on plants at cellular levels. Biostimulants acting as a messenger in signal transduction resembling phytohormones and other chemical compounds and their cross–talk in various abiotic stresses help us design future crop management under changing climate, thus, sustaining food security with finite natural resources. This review article elucidates the strategic potential and prospects of biostimulants in mitigating the adverse impacts of harsh environmental conditions on plants.

Abstract: Rice-wheat cropping system, intensively followed in Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP), played a prominent role in fulfilling the food grains demand of the increasing population of South Asia. In northern Indian plains, some practices such as intensive rice cultivation with traditional method for long-term have been associated with severe deterioration of natural resources, declining factor productivity, multiple nutrients deficiencies, depleting groundwater, labour scarcity and higher cost of cultivation, putting the agricultural sustainability in question. Varietal development, soil and water management, and adoption of resource conservation technologies in rice cultivation are the key interventions areas to address these challenges. The cultivation of lesser water requiring crops, replacing rice in light-textured soil and rainfed condition, should be encouraged through policy interventions. Direct seeding of short duration, high-yielding and stress tolerant rice varieties with water conservation technologies can be a successful approach to improve the input use efficiency in rice cultivation under medium-heavy-textured soils. Moreover, integrated approach of suitable cultivars for conservation agriculture, mechanized transplanting on zero-tilled/unpuddled field and need-based application of water, fertilizer and chemicals might be a successful approach for sustainable rice production system in the current scenario. In this review study, various challenges in productivity and sustainability of rice cultivation system and possible alternatives and solutions to overcome such challenges are discussed in details.

Annona squamosa L. (custard apple) belongs to the family Annonaceae and is an important tropical fruit cultivated in the West Indies, South and Central America, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, India, Mexico, the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Egypt. Leaves of custard apple plants have been studied for their health benefits, which are attributed to a considerable diversity of phytochemicals. These compounds include phenol-based compounds, e.g., proanthocyanidins, comprising 18 different phenolic compounds, mainly alkaloids and flavonoids. Extracts from Annona squamosa leaves (ASLs) have been studied for their biological activities, including anticancer, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiobesity, lipid-lowering, and hepatoprotective functions. In the current article, we discussed the nutritional and phytochemical diversity of ASLs. Additionally, ASL extracts were discussed with respect to their biological activities, which were established by in vivo and in vitro experiments. A survey of the literature based on the phytochemical profile and health-promoting effects of ASLs showed that they can be used as potential ingredients for the development of pharmaceutical drugs and functional foods. Although there are sufficient findings available from in vitro and in vivo investigations, clinical trials are still needed to determine the exact effects of ASL extracts on human health.

Abstract Edible packaging plays an important role in protecting food products from physical, mechanical, chemical, and microbiological damages by creating a barrier against oxidation, water, and controlling enzymatic activation. The employment of active agents such as plant extracts, essential oils, cross-linkers, and nanomaterials in edible packaging promises to improve mechanical, physical, barrier, and other properties of edible materials as well as food products. In the current review, we have compiled information on the recent advances and trends in developing composite (binary and ternary) edible packaging for food application. Several types of active agents such as essential oils, plant extracts, cross-linking agents, and nanomaterials as well as their functions in edible packaging (active composite) have been discussed. The present study provides the collective information about the high- (high-pressure homogenizer, ultrasonication, and microfludizer) and low-energy (phase inversion temperature and composition and spontaneous emulsification) methods for developing nanoformulations. In addition, concepts of comprehensive studies required for developing edible coatings and films for food packaging applications, as well as overcoming challenges like consumer acceptance, regulatory requirements, and non-toxic scaling up to the commercial applications, have also been discussed.

Abstract Drought has been highly prevalent around the world especially in Sub‐Saharan Africa and South‐East Asian countries. Consistent climatic instabilities and unpredictable rainfall patterns are further worsening the situation. Rice is a C 3 staple cereal and an important food crop for the majority of the world's population and drought stress is one of the major growth retarding threats for rice that slashes down grain quality and yield. Drought deteriorates rice productivity and induces various acclimation responses that aids in stress mitigation. However, the complexity of traits associated with drought tolerance has made the understanding of drought stress‐induced responses in rice a challenging process. An integrative understanding based on physiological adaptations, omics, transgenic and molecular breeding approaches successively backed up to developing drought stress‐tolerant rice. The review represents a step forward to develop drought‐resilient rice plants by exploiting the knowledge that collaborates with omics‐based developments with integrative efforts to ensure the compilation of all the possible strategies undertaken to develop drought stress‐tolerant rice.

Tomato is considered as one of the most grown horticultural crops having a short shelf-life due to its climacteric nature of ripening, susceptibility to postharvest microbial decay, and mechanical damage, resulting in huge postharvest losses. Recently, the use of edible coatings has been seen as a promising environment friendly and sustainable technology for preserving the quality attributes and prolonging the shelf-life of tomato during storage. Although a lot of literature is available on the aspects of edible coating for fresh produce, especially stone and tropical fruits, but there is no dedicated comprehensive review that specifically addresses the requirements of edible coatings for whole fresh tomato. This review aims to provide the information about the desirable coating property requirements specific to tomato and summarizes or analyzes the recent studies conducted on the application of edible coating on tomato. The article also deals with recent trends on utilization of bioactive compounds as well as nanotechnological approaches for improving the performance and functionality of coating materials used for tomato. However, the edible coating technology for tomato is still at infancy state, and adoption of technology on a commercial scale requires economic viability and large-scale consumer acceptability.

Black carrot juice extracted using pectinase enzyme was encapsulated in three different carrier materials (maltodextrin 20DE, gum arabic and tapioca starch) using spray drying at four inlet temperatures (150, 175, 200 and 225 ℃) and freeze drying at a constant temperature of - 53 ℃ and vacuum of 0.22-0.11 mbar with the constant feed mixture. The products were analyzed for total anthocyanin content, antioxidant activity, water solubility index, encapsulation efficiency and total colour change. For both the drying methods followed in this study, maltodextrin 20DE as the carrier material has proven to be better in retaining maximum anthocyanin and antioxidant activity compared to gum arabic and tapioca starch. The best spray dried product, was obtained at 150 ℃. The most acceptable was the freeze dried product with maximum anthocyanin content, antioxidant activity, water solubility index, encapsulation efficiency and colour change.

L.) is a bulbous flowering plant belongs to the family of Amaryllidaceae and is a predominant horticultural crop originating from central Asia. Garlic and its products are chiefly used for culinary and therapeutic purposes in many countries. Bulbs of raw garlic have been investigated for their role in oral health, which are ascribed to a myriad of biologically active compounds such as alliin, allicin, methiin, S-allylcysteine (SAC), diallyl sulfide (DAS), S-ally-mercapto cysteine (SAMC), diallyl disulphide (DADS), diallyl trisulfide (DATS) and methyl allyl disulphide. A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA statement. Scopus, PubMed, Clinicaltrials.gov, and Science direct databases were searched between 12 April 2021 to 4 September 2021. A total of 148 studies were included and the qualitative synthesis phytochemical profile of GE, biological activities, therapeutic applications of garlic extract (GE) in oral health care system, and its mechanism of action in curing various oral pathologies have been discussed. Furthermore, the safety of incorporation of GE as food supplements is also critically discussed. To conclude, GE could conceivably make a treatment recourse for patients suffering from diverse oral diseases.