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Books > Professional & Technical > Agriculture & farming > Agricultural science
Dokuchaev carried out most of his research in Ukraine. His student
and friend, Volodymyr Vernadsky, went on to create
trans-disciplinary environmental sciences and the concept of Earth
as a living organism, famously taken up by James Lovelock. That
spring of ideas still flows and the researches captured in this
volume are relevant to present-day problems, and not only in
Ukraine. Soils have always been under stress but, in the
Anthropocene, mankind is in the driving seat. As a sequel to Soil
Science Working for a Living: Applications of soil science to
present-day problems, we consider issues of policy as well as soil
genesis, attributes and functions in various environments, natural
and man-made. We consider human impacts on the soil cover through
its use and misuse, highlight methods of research and assessment of
soil quality, and the threats of soil degradation. The
distinguished contributors also describe and propose various
options for evaluation and remediation of degraded soils, drawing
on the latest methods of modelling and cartography as well as
long-term field experiments and long experience. The book will be
invaluable to researchers and practitioners in soil science
including graduate and post-graduate education, academics and
professionals.
Vegetable production in our country is still dominated by the
locally available genotypes or open-pollinated varieties, which are
low-yielding and susceptible to various insect pest and diseases.
This is mainly due to farmers' ignorance and poor extension
activities. Hence, there is a need to grow vegetable hybrids for
increasing production and productivity along with quality.
Development or hybrids from the existing ones play a pivotal role
not only for increasing the productivity but also helps to combat
several problems faced by farmers. Thus to achieve these
objectives, the authors have made an effort to give information for
development of vegetables hybrid both theoretical and practical
aspects in the form of book entitled, Heterosis Breeding in
Vegetable Crops. This publication contains 17 s in two sections.
The first section includes 10 s related to theoretical aspect of
heterosis. viz. i Introduction to Heterosis ii Basis of Heterosis
iii Commercial Exploitation of Heterosis iv Reproduction, Pollen
and Pollen Biotechnology v Population Improvement of
Parents/Hybrids Varieties vi Genetic Purity Testing of Hybrids vii
Hybrid Varieties Testing and Release Procedures in India viii
Biotechnology and Vegetable Improvement xi Intellectual Property
Right related Issues in Hybrid Technology and x Economics, Import
and Export. Second section consists of practical aspect of hybrid
seed production deals seven s, viz. xi Solanaceous Crops-tomato,
brinjal, chilli and bell pepper, xii Malvaceous Crops-okra, xiii
Cole crops-cabbage and cauliflower xiv Cucurbitaceous Crops-bitter
gourd, bottle gourd, cucumber, muskmelon, watermelon, pumpkin,
ridged and smooth gourd xv Root Crops-carrot. xvi Bulb Crops-onion
and xvii Hints for Hybrid Cultivation. All the s cover references,
illustrations and tables. The publication also contains
characteristics of national released hybrids with colored
photographs. This would be useful to teachers, scientists,
students, extension workers, vegetable industry and farmers of this
country.
Providing an exhaustive background on the history of genetically
modified organism (GMO) crops and foods as well as the
controversies surrounding these products, this book allows readers
to develop their own particular viewpoint on the production and use
of GMO substances. Genetic engineering has long been used to impart
desirable characteristics to food plants in order to improve crop
yield, pest resistance, and herbicide tolerance. Genetic
modification of foods, however, has created a storm of controversy
everywhere in the world-including the United States. What are the
benefits of and risks involved with genetically modified organisms
(GMO) and crops? What powerful industry pressures have extended the
sale and use of GMO foods and crops globally? And how should
consumer food products that involve GM ingredients be labeled? GMO
Food: A Reference Handbook addresses these questions and the
complex issues involved, allowing readers to fully understand why
genetically modified organisms represent one of the most important
issues in the 21st century. The book provides clear, factual
information and background on the history of genetically modified
crops and foods, covering topics such as the historic methods of
plant and animal modification (such as cross-breeding) and
important discoveries in genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology,
genetic engineering, and related fields; the social, political,
philosophical, and economic issues that have arisen with these
scientific advances; and the laws and regulations that have
resulted from the range of attitudes about GMO foods. The book also
supplies additional resources for readers performing extensive
research in an annotated bibliography of books, articles, reports,
and web pages. Presents both historical and current views of the
topic that provide readers with a neutral presentation of the hard
science as well as the social issues in question Includes
perspective essays written by individuals with expertise in issues
related to the production and distribution of GMO foods in the
United States and other parts of the world Assesses the
long-existing differences in attitudes toward the development and
commercialization of GMO foods and crops in the United States
versus in the European Union Addresses the ongoing debate regarding
whether and how genetically modified products should be labeled for
sale
This book provides a didactic overview of techniques for inferring
information from soil spectroscopic data, and the codes in the R
programming language for performing such analyses. It is intended
for students, researchers and practitioners looking to infer soil
information from spectroscopic data, focusing mainly on, but not
restricted to, the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Little prior knowledge of the R programming language or digital
soil spectra is required. We work through the steps to process
spectroscopic data systematically.
This book analyses the important role of agribusiness and rural
enterprises in economic growth and development. China's inclusive
development of agribusiness and rural enterprises has played a
pivotal role in economic growth, sustainable development and
poverty reduction. This book analyses how market, price and
institution are important factors for China's inclusive development
of agribusiness and rural enterprises. Incentive property rights of
farming lands have impacted the allocation efficiency of resources
in markets, which contributed to the growth of its agro-industrial
development and the families-agribusiness. The technological
changes contributed to the agricultural growth in China pre and
post economic reform phases. The book introduces the combination
development approach (CDA) of agribusiness and rural enterprises.
The combination development approach of agribusiness and rural
enterprises facilitates developing countries to upgrade into
emerging economies and industrial economies. The book presents
theoretical perspectives of development economics, and it
introduces cutting-edge international development issues, and
China's international economic cooperation on international trade
and enterprises development. New technology and information
technology bring new business opportunities to smallholder farmers
in transitional economies and developing countries to access global
value chain in the future.
Water pollution control has been a top environmental policy
priority of the world's most developed countries for decades, and
the focus of significant regulation and public and private
spending. Yet, significant water quality problems remain, and
trends for some pollutants are in the wrong direction. This book
addresses the economics of water pollution control and water
pollution control policy in agriculture, with an aim towards
providing students, environmental policy analysts, and other
environmental professionals with economic concepts and tools
essential to understanding the problem and crafting solutions that
can be effective and efficient. The book will also examine existing
policies and proposed reforms in the developed world. Although this
book addresses and has a general applicability to major water
pollutants from agriculture (e.g., pesticides, pharmaceuticals,
sediments, nutrients), it will focus on the sediment and nutrient
pollution problem. The economic and scientific foundations for
pollution management are best developed for these pollutants, and
they are currently the top priorities of policy makers.
Accordingly, the authors provide both highly salient and
informative cases for developing concepts and methods of general
applicability, with high profile examples such as the Chesapeake
Bay, Lake Erie, and the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone in the US; the
Baltic Sea in Northern Europe; and Lake Taupo in New Zealand.
In A Theory of Environmental Leadership, Mark Manolopoulos draws on
his original model of leading outlined in his cutting-edge book
Following Reason to derive and develop the first properly
systematic model of eco-leadership. Suppose humanity's relation
with the Earth may be described in terms of leadership "stages" or
modalities: once upon a time, the Earth led or ruled humanity, and
now we humans rule or lead the Earth. When the Earth led, the Earth
flourished; now that humankind leads, the Earth flounders -
ecological crises multiply and intensify. However, there might be a
third stage or modality of leadership: humanity leading for the
Earth, leading in a way that allows the world, including humans, to
re-flourish. What would be the nature of this truly environmental
form of leadership? A Theory of Environmental Leadership identifies
and critically analyzes the two basic and incompatible positions
associated with the way we construe and interact with the
non-human: anthropocentrism (human supremacism) and ecocentrism
(ecological egalitarianism). By rigorously analyzing and leveraging
this polarity, this book outlines an innovative theory of
eco-leadership together with some of its confronting-but-necessary
measures. Expansive and incredibly timely, A Theory of
Environmental Leadership is ideal for a range of audiences, from
scholars and students of environmental leadership studies to
activists and policymakers. The book's remarkable clarity and
engaging character also makes it suitable for the general public.
This book, as a part of a series of CERES publications, provides a
multi-regional and cross-sectoral analysis of food and water
security, especially in the era of climate risks, biodiversity
loss, pressure on scarce resources, especially land and water,
increasing global population, and changing dietary preferences. It
includes both conceptual research and empirically-based studies,
which provides context-specific analyses and recommendations based
on a variety of case studies from Africa, Middle East, and Asia
regarding the fostering of long-term resilience of food and water
security. The core approach of the volume consists of: assessing
the structural drivers affecting the vulnerability of food and
water security, under the persistence of current trends;
identifying the best solutions and practices to enhance the climate
resilience for food and water security; and fostering climate
adaptation and biodiversity protection for food and water security.
Abiotic and biotic stress factors, including drought, salinity,
waterlog, temperature extremes, mineral nutrients, heavy metals,
plant diseases, nematodes, viruses, and diseases, adversely affect
growth as well as yield of crop plants worldwide. Plant
growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM) are receiving increasing
attention from agronomists and environmentalists as candidates to
develop an effective, eco-friendly, and sustainable alternative to
conventional agricultural (e.g., chemical fertilizers and
pesticide) and remediation (e.g., chelators-enhanced
phytoremediation) methods employed to deal with climate
change-induced stresses. Recent studies have shown that plant
growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), rhizobia, arbuscular mycorrhizal
fungi (AMF), cyanobacteria have great potentials in the management
of various agricultural and environmental problems. This book
provides current research of biofertilizers and the role of
microorganisms in plant health, with specific emphasis on the
mitigating strategies to combat plant stresses.
Selenium plays a significant role in preventing certain types of
cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The level of Selenium in the
human body depends on its concentration in food. In turn, the
content in vegetable crops is a function of the soil-plant system.
There are many countries in the world with low Selenium content in
the soil. The average daily human intake is thus limited through
food chain. Analysis of Selenium status suggests that fortification
of the soil substrate with Sodium Selenate, and foliar application
to agricultural crops are both effective means of Selenium
enrichment. Our intention for this publication is to present the
possibilities of augmenting Selenium content by biofortification of
soils and plants through differentiated nutrition. In the first
part of the monograph, the results of Selenium supplementation in
model vegetation experiments are presented. The next part of the
monograph presents the results of foliar supplementation of
Selenium in field conditions. This book is an outstanding reference
source for plant breeders and researchers engaged in
biofortification of horticulture crops. It is also beneficial to
agricultural companies and other stakeholders.
The Bambara groundnut (BGN) or Vigna subterranea is an extremely
hardy grain legume. As it produces reasonable yields even under
conditions of drought and low soil fertility, it is also a
climate-smart crop. Previously underutilized, BGN is the subject of
growing interest among researchers and consumers for its balanced
nutritional profile. Indigenous consumers of BGN report medicinal
benefits from the plant; however, such knowledge is at risk of
being lost with the urbanization and changing lifestyles of younger
generations. To date, there is no comprehensive resource on the
Bambara groundnut, despite market demand for plant proteins around
the globe. Authored by scientists who have researched and developed
patents using BGN, Bambara Groundnut: Utilization and Future
Prospects aims to fill this gap. The text provides in-depth
coverage on breeding, food and feed utilization, medicinal benefits
and future research prospects. Drawing on both indigenous knowledge
and cutting-edge research, Bambara Groundnut is the first book to
fully explore the potential of this remarkable crop.
Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), the
spotted wing drosophila (SWD), is the most important pest affecting
berry crop production worldwide. The global fresh fruit trade,
coupled with the ability of the larvae to hide inside the fruit
undetected until after transportation, facilitate their
distribution. SWD is native to Asia, but is increasingly found in
other regions: occurrences have been recorded in the Americas and
Europe, and Africa, and the insects have the potential to adapt and
become established in Oceania. Gathering the experiences of leading
scientists in the management of D. suzukii around the globe, the
book addresses D. suzukii monitoring; biological, chemical and
cultural control; sterile insect technique (SIT); integrated pest
management (IPM), and other control methods. It also discusses the
use of drones, GPS, biotechnology, telemetry and other
technological tools to make the management of this pest more
efficient and accurate. As such, it is a valuable resource for
scientists, professionals and students.
Investigation on biobased nanomaterials has provided new insights
into the rapidly advancing fields of the biomedical and
environmental sciences by showing how these nanomaterials are
effective in biomedicine and environmental remediation. These
particles hold tremendous prospective applications, and are likely
to become the next generation of particles in these areas. As such,
research is ongoing and the data generated should have the
potential for a sustainable future in both the environmental and
biomedical fields. This book presents important findings on the
role of and identification of novel applications of biobased
nanomaterials. Unlike other books in this field, this book focuses
entirely on sustainable application and remediation in biomedicine
and environmental science. The chapters are written in such a way
as to make them accessible to the reader, and furthermore, the
volume can be readily adopted as a reference, or used as a guide
for further research. This project was based on recent research
(the last 5 years) and developed through an extensive literature
search. The editors have also compiled some advanced, outstanding
texts that should be of benefit to graduate students in their
research.
Blast is an important foliar disease that infects the majority of
cereal crops like rice, finger millet, pearl millet, foxtail millet
and wheat, and thus resulting in a huge economic impact. The
pathogen is responsible for causing epidemics in many crops and
commonly shifts to new hosts. Magnaporthe spp. is the most
prominent cause of blast disease on a broad host range of grasses
including rice as well as other species of poaceae family. To date,
137 members of Poaceae hosting this fungus have been described in
Fungal Databases. This book provides information on all blast
diseases of different cereal crops. The pathogen evolves quickly
due to its high variability, and thus can quickly adapt to new
cultivars and cause an epidemic in a given crop. Some of the topics
covered here include historical perspectives, pathogen evolution,
host range shift, cross-infectivity, and pathogen isolation, use of
chemicals fungicides, genetics and genomics, and management of
blast disease in different cereal crops with adoption of suitable
methodologies.In the past two decades there have been significant
developments in genomics and proteomics approaches and there has
been substantial and rapid progress in the cloning and mapping of R
genes for blast resistance, as well as in comparative genomics
analysis for resolving delineation of Magnaporthe species that
infect both cereals and grass species. Blast disease resistance
follows a typical gene-for-gene hypothesis. Identification of new
Avr genes and effector molecules from Magnaporthe spp. can be
useful to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the fast
evolution of different strains of this fungal genus. Advances in
these areas may help to reduce the occurrence of blast disease by
the identification of potential R genes for effective deployment.
Additionally, this book highlights the importance of blast disease
that infects different cereal hosts in the context of climate
change, and genomics approaches that may potentially help in
understanding and applying new concepts and technologies that can
make real impact in sustainable management of blast disease in
different cereal crops.
Plant improvement has shifted its focus from yield, quality and
disease resistance to factors that will enhance commercial export,
such as early maturity, shelf life and better processing quality.
Conventional plant breeding methods aiming at the improvement of a
self-pollinating crop, such as wheat, usually take 10-12 years to
develop and release of the new variety. During the past 10 years,
significant advances have been made and accelerated methods have
been developed for precision breeding and early release of crop
varieties. This edited volume summarizes concepts dealing with
germplasm enhancement and development of improved varieties based
on innovative methodologies that include doubled haploidy, marker
assisted selection, marker assisted background selection, genetic
mapping, genomic selection, high-throughput genotyping,
high-throughput phenotyping, mutation breeding, reverse breeding,
transgenic breeding, shuttle breeding, speed breeding, low cost
high-throughput field phenotyping, etc. It is an important
reference with special focus on accelerated development of improved
crop varieties.
Nature is all around us, in the beautiful but also in the
unappealing and functional, and from the awe-inspiring to the
mundane. It is vital that we learn to see the agency of the natural
world in all things that make our lives possible, comfortable and
profitable. The Ecology of Everyday Things pulls back the veil of
our familiarity on a range of 'everyday things' that surround us,
and which we perhaps take too much for granted. This key into the
magic world of the everyday can enable us to take better account of
our common natural inheritance. Professor James Longhurst,
Assistant Vice Chancellor, University of the West of England (UWE
Bristol) For many people, ecosystems may be a remote concept, yet
we eat, drink, breathe and interface with them in every moment of
our lives. In this engaging textbook, ecosystems scientist Dr. Mark
Everard considers a diversity of 'everyday things', including
fascinating facts about their ecological origins: from the tea we
drink, to the things we wear, read and enjoy, to the ecology of
communities and space flight, and the important roles played by
germs and 'unappealing creatures' such as slugs and wasps. In
today's society, we are so umbilically connected to ecosystems that
we fail to notice them, and this oversight blinds us to the
unsustainability of everyday life and the industries and policy
environment that supports it. The Ecology of Everyday Things takes
the reader on an enlightening, fascinating voyage of discovery, all
the while soundly rooted in robust science. It will stimulate
awareness about how connected we all are to the natural world and
its processes, and how important it is to learn to better treat our
environment. Ideal for use in undergraduate- and school-level
teaching, it will also interest, educate, engage and enthuse a wide
range of less technical audiences.
Focusing on the demands of the new innovative, sustainable and
inclusive rural development paradigm, the monograph raises the
discussion regarding new approaches and success factors that are
vital in current rural socio-economic development and policy
transformations. The bottom-up policymaking, self-organization,
creative use of knowledge in rural areas, and many other rural
innovations are aligned in this book with new social movements'
theories, which help disclose, explore and explain the rural
development paradigm shift. Rural development forces of the 21st
century center on the agents of change - rural population, and,
surprisingly - urban population(!), and the political debate
concerning EU Common Agricultural Policy and European Green Deal,
illustrated with multiple case studies. This book will be of
interest to a broad audience of readers, keen on scientific,
political, and practical issues of innovations in rural areas and
their future development pathways. The monograph is authored by a
team of scholars from the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences,
Institute of Economics and Rural Development, Department of Rural
Development.
This book presents abiotic stresses that cause crop damage in the
range of 6-20%. Understanding the interaction of crop plants to the
abiotic stresses caused by heat, cold, drought, flooding,
submergence, salinity, acidity, etc., is important to develop
resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and
genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding,
transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding, and the recently emerging
genome editing for developing resistant varieties in cereal crops
is imperative for addressing FPNEE (food, health, nutrition,
energy, and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these
crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing has facilitated precise
information about the genes conferring resistance useful for gene
discovery, allele mining, and shuttle breeding which in turn opened
up the scope for 'designing' crop genomes with resistance to
abiotic stresses. The nine chapters each dedicated to a cereal crop
in this volume are deliberate on different types of abiotic
stresses and their effects on and interaction with crop plants;
enumerate on the available genetic diversity with regard to abiotic
stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the
potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene
transfer; are brief on the classical genetics of stress resistance
and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated
counterparts; elucidate on the success stories of genetic
engineering for developing abiotic stress-resistant crop varieties;
discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying stress
resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite
varieties; enunciate on different emerging genomics-aided
techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene
discovery, and gene pyramiding for developing adaptive crop
varieties with higher quantity and quality, and also elaborate some
case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for
generating abiotic stress-resistant crops.
Numerous solvents used in chemical processes have poisonous and
unsafe properties that pose significant ecological concerns ranging
from atmospheric emissions to the contamination of water effluents.
To combat these ecological threats, over the course of the past two
decades, the field of green chemistry has grown to develop more
natural reaction processes and techniques involving the use of
nonconventional solvents to diminish waste solvent production and
thus decrease negative impact on the environment. Ionic liquids in
particular are more environmentally friendly substitutes to
conventional solvents, and as such, have seen more widespread use
in the past decade. They have been used in such processes as
extraction, separation, purification of organic, inorganic, and
bioinorganic compounds, reaction media in biochemical and chemical
catalysis, green organic and drug synthesis, among other industrial
applications. Thus, in proving themselves a suitable greener media
for economic viability in chemical processes, ionic liquids are
leading to more sustainable development. This edition explores the
application of ionic liquids as a green solvent. It contains a
state-of-the-art overview on ionic liquids as green solvents for
chemical processes and techniques, as well as some of their useful
industrial applications.
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