I don't often share a resource in this way but when a gem of a resource like this crosses my path I have to let you all know about it. Huw Richards, author of Grow Food for Free Palmer's book is full of recipes using locally sourced material to create mineral and biological extracts to feed plants. the Guardian Perfect for fans of Charles Dowding and Huw Richards! In The Regenerative Grower's Guide to Garden Amendments, experimental gardener and author Nigel Palmer provides practical, detailed instructions that are accessible to every grower who wants to achieve a truly sustainable garden ecosystem - all while enjoying better results at a fraction of the cost of commercial fertilisers. These recipes go beyond compost by allowing you to make your own biologically diverse inoculants and mineral-rich amendments using leaf mould, weeds, eggshells, bones and other common materials available for little or no cost. Recipes include: Extracting nutrients from plant residues using simple rainwater techniques Extracting minerals from bones and shells using vinegar Fermenting plant juices and fish Culturing indigenous microorganisms (IMO) Inspired by the work of many innovative traditional agricultural pioneers, especially Cho Ju-Young (founder of the Korean Natural Farming method), The Regenerative Grower's Guide to Garden Amendments also includes a primer on plant-soil interaction, instructions for conducting a soil test, and guidance on compost, mulching and so much more!

Grasslands are among the largest ecosystems in the world and consequently are of great importance to mankind. The genotypes of the species which are the main components of the grasslands have great influence on total outcome and successful utilization of grasslands. Therefore fodder crops and turf swards should be constantly improved to follow modern trends in agriculture production and landscape architecture. The wide range of breeding programs for forage and amenity species, as well as new breeding methods and techniques, is rapidly expanding the boundaries and is making it possible to achieve outstanding breeding results. This book includes papers presented at the 30th EUCARPIA Fodder Crops and Amenity Grasses Section Meeting. The challenging title of the book focuses on breeding of quantitative traits, which directly impact the profitability and sustainability of grasslands and fodder crops production, as well as on multidisciplinary approach in grassland research and utilisation. Included papers offer a unique collection of ideas and breakthroughs in the fields of fodder crops and amenity grasses breeding and genetics, as well as in the creative and innovative application of new tools in practical breeding.

The recent advent of molecular technologies has changed the way plant breeders identify and select their germplasm as genetic variation can now be assessed at the DNA level. Crop Breeding: Methods and Protocols presents detailed guidelines and tutorials that suit different needs and capacity from small laboratories analyzing molecular markers on a one-by-one basis to the increasingly popular high-throughput protocols for high capacity laboratories. Topics covered include breeding strategy for the selection of an ideal variety or genetic ideo type, protocols for breeders using molecular markers in selection programs and for laboratories providing molecular services to breeding programs, statistical programs and software to aid implementation of molecular data into breeding programs and methodologies that facilitate the generation of genetic diversity and its characterization. Written in the successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, Crop Breeding: Methods and Protocols will help in expanding the use of molecular technologies for the creation of tomorrow's crop varieties.

Central Asia is a large and understudied region of varied geography, ranging from the high passes and mountains of Tian Shan, to the vast deserts of Kyzyl Kum, Taklamakan to the grassy treeles steppes. This region is faced with adverse conditions, as much of the land is too dry or rugged for farming. Additionally, the rich specific and intraspecific diversity of fruit trees and medicinal plants is threatened by overgrazing, oil and mineral extraction, and poaching. Countless species from the approximately 20 ecosystems and 6000 plant taxa are now rare and endangered. Traditional vegetation studies in this region are far from adequate to handle complex issues such as soil mass movement, soil sodicity and salinity, biodiversity conservation, and grazing management. However, data analysis using a Geographical Information System (GIS) tool provides new insights into the vegetation of this region and opens up new opportunities for long-term sustainable management. While vegetation planning can occur at a property scale, it is often necessary for certain factors, such as salinity, to be dealt with on a regional scale to ensure their effective management. GIS increases the effectiveness and accuracy of vegetation planning in a region. Such regional planning will also greatly increases biodiversity values. This book systematically explores these issues and discuses new applications and approaches for overcoming these issues, including the application of GIS techniques for sustainable management and planning. Professional researchers as well as students and teachers of agriculture and ecology will find this volume to be an integral resource for studying the vegetation of Central Asia.

The use of renewable bioenergy is increasing, and so is the production of associated wastes: biomass ashes. This book presents eleven chapters on the options for recycling such biomass ashes, ranging from their use as fertilizer in agriculture and forestry to their application as a supplement for the production of cement-based materials or bricks. The book also examines the pros and cons for each of the different uses of biomass ashes.

This is the story of tropical agricultural science and agricultural development in the 20th century, focusing on the African farmer and African farming methods. It describes successes as well as fads and failures, many based on the author 's first-hand observations during more than 40 years in tropical agronomy-related fields. Moving into the 21st century, the book explores the rise of computer modeling of crops and crop production.

SOIL: beneath our feet / food and fiber / ashes to ashes, dust to dust / dirt

Soil has been called the final frontier of environmental research. The critical role of soil in biogeochemical processes is tied to its properties and place porous, structured, and spatially variable, it serves as a conduit, buffer, and transformer of water, solutes and gases. Yet what is complex, life-giving, and sacred to some, is ordinary, even ugly, to others. This is the enigma that is soil.

Soil and Culture explores the perception of soil in ancient, traditional, and modern societies. It looks at the visual arts (painting, textiles, sculpture, architecture, film, comics and stamps), prose & poetry, religion, philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, wine production, health & diet, and disease & warfare.

Soil and Culture explores high culture and popular culture from the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch to the films of Steve McQueen. It looks at ancient societies and contemporary artists. Contributors from a variety of disciplines delve into the mind of Carl Jung and the bellies of soil eaters, and explore Chinese paintings, African mud cloths, Mayan rituals, Japanese films, French comic strips, and Russian poetry.

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How will the world be able to feed close to 9 billion people in 2050 and still maintain the ecosystems? In this perspective, INRA and CIRAD launched the initiative, in 2006, to develop a foresight project for analysing issues pertaining to the world's food and agricultural systems on the 2050 timeline. This book provides a synthetic presentation of the main conclusions that this foresight project has yielded. First, it recapitulates the main statistical references for the period 1961 to 2003, before going on to describe the Agribiom simulation tool used to calculate food biomass resource use balances. Two scenarios on the 2050 timeline are then considered: Agrimonde GO is a trend-based scenario that bets on economic growth to feed the world, in a context where environmental protection is not a priority; in contrast, the idea in Agrimonde 1 is to feed the world while preserving its ecosystems.

Agroforestry research is central to developing methods for the sustainable use of natural renewable resources, evolving to address the needs of the coming century. It is now necessary to consolidate the scientific gains now being made in process-oriented research and to develop a policy framework to encourage the adoption of sustainable land use practices. Agroforestry plays an important role in conserving forest resources, reducing the need for deforestation. Further, if forest' is broadly defined as tree cover, agroforestry will also increase the proportion of woody biomass in farming landscapes. The papers selected for inclusion in Agroforestry: Science, Policy, and Practice establish agroforestry as an interdisciplinary science focused on the practical imperative of assisting farmers, forest dwellers and landscape-level planners to achieve sustainable food, fuel and timber production into the 21st century.

The book is about the seed development in the model and crop plants. Seed development is a key step of the plant life cycle that determines the nutrient value of seeds - the life for human civilization, growth, and development. The nutrient value of seeds is mainly due to storage reserve products such as carbohydrates, lipids (triacylglycerols), and proteins. The book primarily focuses on application of the 21st century high-throughput technologies transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and systems biology in near complete understanding of the various processes involved in seed development in different crop plants. The book reveals how such technologies have revolutionized our understanding of the multilayer processes and regulations involved therein by generating large-scale datasets. Accumulated datasets provide basic knowledge to develop integrated strategies to eventually improve the nutritional value of plant seed and crop yield, a critical goal in food security issues around the globe.

New research reveals that plants actively acquire nutrients; the acquisition process is not a passive one in which plants simply wait for dissolved nutrients to come closer to their roots. In fact plants play a far more active role than once was understood to be possible in nutrient acquisition and in adaptation to problem soils. This book presents an excellent overview and summary of new concepts of plant nutrient acquisition mechanisms, and sets forth their practical implications in crop production. The scope is wide ranging, from biochemical, molecular, and genetic analysis of nutrient acquisition to global nutritional problems. Especially noteworthy are the sections on the cell apoplast, phosphorus-solubilizing organisms, and direct uptake of macro-organic molecules. With contributions by leading scientists worldwide, the book provides an invaluable resource for researchers in plant and environmental sciences and in agronomy and other branches of agriculture.

This compilation has been designed to provide a comprehensive source of theoretical and practical update for scientists working in the broad field of soil science. The book explores all possible mechanisms and means to improve nutrient use efficiencies involving developing and testing of nanofertilizers, developing consortia based microbial formulations for mobilization of soil nutrients, and engineering of nutrient efficient crops using molecular biology and biotechnological tools. This is an all-inclusive collection of information about soil science. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, soil scientists, capacity builders and policymakers. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of soil science, quantitative ecology, earth sciences, GIS and geodetic sciences, as well as geologists, geomorphologists, hydrologists and landscape ecology. National and international agriculture and soil scientists, policy makers will also find this to be a useful read.

This proceedings volume contains the invited and a selection of the contributed papers of the 8th International Workshop on Sulfur Metabolism in Higher Plants, which was held at Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, University of Melbourne, Water Street, Creswick, Victoria 3363, Australia from November 22-27, 2010. Content of the volume shows that the understanding of sulfur metabolism in plants and the interaction of the environment are rapidly progressing.

This volume covers various aspects of the regulation of sulfate uptake and assimilation in plants, from a cellular to a whole plant level, and additionally emphasizes interactions with other minerals. Moreover the significance of sulfur metabolism in biotic and abiotic stress responses, in food security and quality, and in relation to interactions with global change factors is discussed in detail.

This book outlines the latest trends in the use of multicriteria analysis in agriculture by highlighting recent applications for modeling agricultural decision-making. It introduces specific case studies using multicriteria analysis as a method for selecting multiattribute discrete alternatives or solving multiobjective planning problems. The book is intended for a broad readership, including agricultural and environmental economists, engineers and all scientists whose work involves the management of agricultural resources and decision-making in agriculture. The methods and applications presented in this book cover decision-making processes in agricultural and environmental contexts. The methodologies described consider multiple criteria simultaneously in a wide range of complex decision-making contexts by taking into account multiple, conflicting criteria. Given the wide range of case studies covered, the book offers a comprehensive guide to decision-making in the agricultural context and beyond.

Through Green Revolution in late 1960s, India achieved self-sufficiency in food production, but still the country has not achieved self-sufficiency in production of horticultural crops. Most of the growth in food production during the green revolution period is attributed to the use of higher levels of fertilizers and pesticides which are continuing to destroy stable traditional ecosystems. The challenge before the crop protection scientist is to increase yields from the existing land without harming the environment and resource base. This can be achieved by adopting eco-friendly Biointensive Integrated Pest Management (BIPM) strategy.

BIPM incorporates ecological and economic factors into agricultural system design and decision making, and addresses public concerns about environmental quality and food safety. The benefits of implementing BIPM can include reduced chemical input costs, reduced on-farm and off-farm environmental impacts, and more effective and sustainable pest management. An ecology-based IPM has the potential of decreasing inputs of fuel, machinery, and synthetic chemicals-all of which are energy intensive and increasingly costly in terms of financial and environmental impact. Such reductions will benefit the grower and society.

The present book deals with the most recent biointensive integrated approaches for pest management utilizing components such as bioagents predators, parasitoids and pathogens (bacteria, fungi, viruses)], botanicals (biofumigation, oil cakes, FYM, compost, crop residues, green manuring and other organic amendments), arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, physical methods (hot water treatment of planting material, soil solarization), cultural methods (crop rotation, summer ploughing, fallowing, intercropping, pruning, mulching, spacing, planting date, trap cropping, "etc."), biorational chemicals (pheromones) and resistant cultivars. This book can serve as a useful reference to policy makers, research and extension workers, practicing farmers and students. The material can also be used for teaching post-graduate courses."

This book focuses on the conventional breeding approach, and on the latest high-throughput genomics tools and genetic engineering / biotechnological interventions used to improve rice quality. It is the first book to exclusively focus on rice as a major food crop and the application of genomics and genetic engineering approaches to achieve enhanced rice quality in terms of tolerance to various abiotic stresses, resistance to biotic stresses, herbicide resistance, nutritional value, photosynthetic performance, nitrogen use efficiency, and grain yield. The range of topics is quite broad and exhaustive, making the book an essential reference guide for researchers and scientists around the globe who are working in the field of rice genomics and biotechnology. In addition, it provides a road map for rice quality improvement that plant breeders and agriculturists can actively consult to achieve better crop production.

"Advanced Techniques in Soil Microbiology" presents a wide range of biotechnological methods for application in soil microbiology analysis. These include all essential methods involving molecular biology, immunology, microbiology, and structural biology, such as transcriptome analysis, RNAi technology, molecular matchmaking, RAPD, T-RFLP and FT/MS.

The techniques and procedures have been selected with the aim of offering practical guides for immediate use in the laboratory. The systems investigated range from individual molecules and cells to entire eukaryotic organisms, with a focus on bacteria, fungi, mycorrhiza, and higher plants. This volume of state-of-the-art, practice oriented methods will be of great use both to the first-timer and to the experienced scientist.

Plant Cold Acclimation: Methods and Protocols details many of the methods and protocols commonly used to study plant cold acclimation and freezing tolerance, breeding, genetics, physiology or molecular biology, or any combination of these specialties. Chapters focus on interdisciplinary approaches, experimental methods, and concepts from different areas of science. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Plant Cold Acclimation: Methods and Protocols seeks to help not only new researchers starting in this field, but also those already working in a particular area of cold acclimation and freezing tolerance research who are looking to expand their range of experimental approaches.

This book provides in-depth reviews of the effects of nanoparticles on the soil environment, their interactions with plants and also their potential applications as nanofertilizers and pesticides. It offers insights into the current trends and future prospects of nanotechnology, including the benefits and risks and the impact on agriculture and soil ecosystems. Individual chapters explore topics such as nanoparticle biosynthesis, engineered nanomaterials, the use of nanoclays for remediation of polluted sites, nanomaterials in water desalination, their effect on seed germination, plant growth, and nutrient transformations in soil, as well as the use of earthworms as bioremediating agents for nanoparticles. It is a valuable resource for researchers in academia and industry working in the field of agriculture, crop protection, plant sciences, applied microbiology, soil biology and environmental sciences.

Root hairs are tip-growing cells that originate from epidennal cells called trichoblasts. Their role may be simply thought of as extending the surface area of the root to facilitate absorption of nutrients and water. However, as you will see in this book, the root hair is far more than that. To an increasingly larger number of plant biologists, the root hair is a model cell. It grows in much the same way as a pollen tube, by sending vast numbers of vesicles containing cell wall precursors to a rounded apical dome, the tip. Once the trichoblast becomes committed to root hair fonnation, it no longer divides. The root hair cell has a migrating nucleus and a complex cytoskeleton. It has a varied cell wall. It is easy to observe through differential interference contrast microscopy because there are no other cells around it to disturb the image. Cytoplasmic streaming is exceptionally clear, and amyloplasts and even mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum can be seen without reporter labelling in some species. Root hair mutants are easy to distinguish and catalogue. Plant honnones are involved in their growth and development. It is thus an almost ideal plant cell for experimental manipulation and observation. The root hair is also involved in interactions with soil microbes, as you will learn from later chapters of the book.

This book discusses advances in our understanding of the structure and function of the maize genome since publication of the original B73 reference genome in 2009, and the progress in translating this knowledge into basic biology and trait improvement. Maize is an extremely important crop, providing a large proportion of the world's human caloric intake and animal feed, and serving as a model species for basic and applied research. The exceptionally high level of genetic diversity within maize presents opportunities and challenges in all aspects of maize genetics, from sequencing and genotyping to linking genotypes to phenotypes. Topics covered in this timely book range from (i) genome sequencing and genotyping techniques, (ii) genome features such as centromeres and epigenetic regulation, (iii) tools and resources available for trait genomics, to (iv) applications of allele mining and genomics-assisted breeding. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and students interested in maize genetics and genomics.

Jointly published with INRA, Paris.
Bacterial wilt, caused by "Ralstonia solanacearum," is a very destructive plant disease that attacks over 450 different species, including many of the most important economic crop plants. Often endemic, the bacterium transmits through the soil, penetrates the plant root system and eventually causes irreversible wilting and death. This book summarizes the current information on bacterial wilt for both the basic research community and for concerned professionals who are faced with the disease in the field, offering the latest approaches to diagnosis and control of the disease. Emphasis is placed on integrated and biologically sustainable control methods. Also presented is the most recent genetic/biochemical research exploring the interaction between the bacterium and its plant host at the molecular level.

This book presents an overview of the state-of-the-art in barley genome analysis, covering all aspects of sequencing the genome and translating this important information into new knowledge in basic and applied crop plant biology and new tools for research and crop improvement. Unlimited access to a high-quality reference sequence is removing one of the major constraints in basic and applied research. This book summarizes the advanced knowledge of the composition of the barley genome, its genes and the much larger non-coding part of the genome, and how this information facilitates studying the specific characteristics of barley. One of the oldest domesticated crops, barley is the small grain cereal species that is best adapted to the highest altitudes and latitudes, and it exhibits the greatest tolerance to most abiotic stresses. With comprehensive access to the genome sequence, barley's importance as a genetic model in comparative studies on crop species like wheat, rye, oats and even rice is likely to increase.

This book focuses on the taxonomic diversity of the genus Tuber as economically important truffles. In contributions by internationally respected scientists, it examines truffle systematics, interactions with abiotic and biotic environments, strategies for spore dispersal, and molecular processes in truffles. Topics discussed include: evolutionary theories and phylogeny of Tuber species from Asia, Europe and North-America; the influence of climate on the natural distribution of Tuber species and fruiting body production, soil characteristics and vegetation in natural habitats; tools for tracing truffles in soil, host diversity, truffle inhabiting fungi and truffle-associated bacteria; and the relationships of small mammals and wild boars with truffles, as well as the smell of truffles.This book offers a valuable reference guide for all researchers working in the fields of mycology, ecology and the soil sciences, and will also be useful for farmers and foresters interested in truffle cultivation worldwide.