The future of agriculture strongly depends on our ability to enhance productivity without sacrificing long-term production potential. An ecologically and economically sustainable strategy is the application of microorganisms, such as the diverse bacterial species of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). The use of these bio-resources for the enhancement of crop productivity is gaining worldwide importance.

""Bacteria in Agrobiology: Plant Probiotics"" discusses the current trends and future prospects of beneficial microorganisms acting as Probiotics. Topics include the application for the aboveground fitness of plants, in mountain ecosystems, in tropical and Mediterranean forests, and in muga sericulture. Further aspects are "Arabidopsis" as a model system for the diversity and complexity of plant responses, plant parasitic nematodes, nitrogen fixation and phosphorus nutrition."

This book presents an exploration of linkages among soil-water, agriculture, and climate change with a special focus on thematic areas for assessment, mitigation, and management of natural resources under climate change conditions. This book covers advances in modelling approaches, including machine learning (ML)/ artificial intelligence (AI) applications; GIS and remote sensing; sensors; impacts of climate change on agriculture; subsurface water; contaminants; and socio-economic impacts, which are lacking in a more comprehensive manner in the previous titles. This book encompasses updated information as well as future directions for researchers working in the field of management of natural resources. The goal of this book is to provide scientific evidence to researchers and policymakers and end-to-end value chain practitioners which may help in reducing the overall adverse impacts of climate change on water resources and the related mitigation strategies. This book focuses on the knowledge, modern tools, and techniques, i.e., machine learning, artificial intelligence, etc. for soil-water, agriculture, and climate change. Further, nature-based solutions for management of natural resources with special targets on contaminants, extreme events, disturbances, etc. will be targeted. The book provides readers with the enhanced knowledge for application of engineering principles and economic and regulatory constraints to determine a soil-water, agriculture production action strategy, and select appropriate technologies to implement the strategy for a given data set at a site. It would also cover the application of laboratory, modeling, numerical methods for determination and forecasting of climate change impacts, agriculture production, pollution, soil health, etc. Overall, it provides hydrologists, environmental engineers, administrators, policy makers, consultants, and industrial experts with essential support in effective management of soils health, agricultural productions, and mitigation of extreme climatic events.

Focusing on ethnography and interviews with subsistence food producers, this book explores the resilience, innovation and creativity taking place in subsistence agriculture in America. To date, researchers interested in alternative food networks have often overlooked the somewhat hidden, unorganized population of household food producers. Subsistence Agriculture in the US fills this gap in the existing literature by examining the lived experiences of people taking part in subsistence food production. Over the course of the book, Colby draws on accounts from a broad and diverse network of people who are hunting, fishing, gardening, keeping livestock and gathering and looks in depth at the way in which these practical actions have transformed their relationship to labor and land. She also explores the broader implications of this pro-environmental activity for social change and sustainable futures. With a combination of rigorous academic investigation and engagement with pressing social issues, this book will be of great interest to scholars of sustainable consumption, environmental sociology and social movements.

Following the crisis of the Special Period, Cuba promoted urban agriculture throughout its towns and cities to address food sovereignty and security. Through the adoption of state recommended design strategies, these gardens have become places of social and economic exchange throughout Cuba. This book maps the lived experiences surrounding three urban farms in Havana to construct a deeper understanding about the everyday life of this city. Using narratives and drawings, this research uncovers these sites as places where education, intimacy, entrepreneurism, wellbeing, and culture are interwoven alongside food production. Henri Lefebvre's latent work on rhythmanalysis is used as a research method to capture the everyday beats particular to Havana surrounding these sites. This book maps the many ways in which these spaces shift power away from the state to become places that are co-created by the community to serve as a crucial hinge point between the ongoing collapse of the city and its future wellbeing.

This book provides a fresh perspective on the ever-growing relevance of input-output analysis in problem solving. It is based on the "19th National Conference of the Input-Output Research Association of India (IORA)", held in 2017 in Mumbai, India. The conference promoted the exchange of ideas on input-output analysis and related methods among economists, government officials, policymakers, academicians and industrialists. The book captures the unique ideas of prominent scholars, extends the basic "input-output framework," analytical tool, outlines the possible impacts of some major policy decisions adopted by the Government of India, and puts forward concrete policy suggestions. In addition, it highlights the versatility of the Leontief model, which is currently being extended to cover a diverse spectrum of policy issues, ranging from agricultural productivity to science and technology and from carbon hotspots to energy and environmental consequences. A perfect blend of theory and application, the book provides a realistic outlook on sensitive economies and interdependencies between sectors.

Plant secondary metabolites are plant-based natural products that display a variety of pharmacological effects. This book discusses the invaluable bioactivity and multifaceted potential of these compounds. The book describes the physico-chemical and biochemical aspects of the plant secondary metabolites along with the chemistry, therapeutics and future perspectives of these plant secondary metabolites. Moreover, the book also discusses about various sources of plant secondary metabolites, and the metabolite determination through various analytical techniques. It further describes the potential applications of plant secondary metabolites as anticancer and chemo preventive agents, their role as cosmetic ingredients and activity in skin cancer therapy. Further chapters emphasize upon the plethora of roles of plant secondary metabolites, including those as antivirals, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory drugs, cardioprotective agents etc. The book culminates with chapters on the impact of certain plant secondary metabolites in plant defence and human healthcare. This book is meant for researchers and students in the field of pharmacology and plant sciences. Moreover, this book is also useful for industry experts especially working in the field of herbal therapeutics.

This book is the first comprehensive compilation of deliberations on whole genome sequencing of sesame including genome assembly, annotation, structure and synteny analysis, and sequencing of its chloroplast genome and also its wild species. It presents narratives on classical genetics and breeding, tissue culture and genetic transformation, molecular mapping and breeding. Other chapters describe the beneficial components in sesame protein and oil, botanical depictions and cytological features. Prospects of designed breeding in the post-genomics era including gene discovery have also been enumerated. Altogether, the book contains 19 chapters authored by globally reputed experts on the relevant field in this crop. This book is useful to the students, teachers, and scientists in the academia and relevant private companies interested in classical and molecular genetics, biotechnology, breeding, biochemistry, traditional and molecular breeding, and structural and evolutionary genomics. The work is also useful to seed and oil industries.

This contributed volume aims at bringing together all the genetic engineering tools for managing various types of crop pests. The main focus of this book is to explore the application of these tools in pest management. Major pest groups covered in this book are insects, mites and nematodes.The first section covers all major genetic tools and molecular approaches. The second section deals with genetic tools for of beneficial containing three chapters involving honey bees, silkworms and natural enemies. Next section deals with genetic interactions against pests in diverse geographical regions with special focus on Africa, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. Sections four and five addresses diverse aspects as management of pests, genetic behavior, gene expression, plasticity, pathways and interactions and options for mitigation of pests.It serves as a useful resource for professionals in the fields of entomology, agronomy, horticulture, ecology, and environmental sciences, as well as to agricultural producers and plant biotechnologists.

The soil is the medium through which pollutants originating from human activities, both in agriculture and industry, move from the land surfaces to groundwater. Polluting substances are subject to complex physical, chemical and biological transformations during their movement through the soil. Their displacement depends on the transport properties of the water-air-soil system and on the molecular properties of the pollutants. Prediction of soil pollution and restoration of polluted soils requires an under standing of the processes controlling the fate of pollutants in the soil medium and of the dynamics of the contaminants in the un saturated zone. Our book was conceived. as a basic overview of the processes governing the behavior of pollutants as affected by soil constituents and environmental factors. It was written for the use of specialists working on soil and unsaturated zone pollution and restoration, as well as for graduate students starting research in this field. Since many specialists working on soil restoration lack a back ground in soil science or a knowledge of the properties of soil pollutants, we have included this information which forms the first part of the book. In the second part, we discuss the partitioning of pollutants between the aqueous, solid and gaseous phase of the soil medium. The retention, transformation and transport of pollutants in the soils form the third section."

This book is the first comprehensive compilation of deliberations on domestication, genetic and genomic resources, breeding, genetic diversity, molecular maps & mapping of important biotic stress as well as nutritional quality traits, genome sequencing, comparative genomics, functional genomics and genetic transformation. The economic, nutritional and health benefits especially antioxidants mediated antiaging effects of finger millet are also discussed. It also presents the input use efficiency, wide adaptation, post-harvest processing and value addition of the crop. Altogether, the book contains about 300 pages over 16 chapters authored by globally reputed experts on the relevant field in this crop. This book is useful to the students, teachers and scientists in the academia and relevant private companies interested in genetics, pathology, molecular genetics and breeding, genetic engineering, structural and functional genomics and nutritional quality aspects of the crop. This book is also useful to seed and pharmaceutical industries.

This new book takes us through a journey from early life to modern agriculture. The thirty eight authors present current studies on the interrelation of plants-animals. This topic has always fascinated man, as evidenced even by the first chapters of Genesis. The world of aqueous and terrestrial fauna appeared on early earth only after the flora covered the areas with the green pigmentation. Almost all life depends upon sunlight via the photosynthesis of the botanical world. We read abut the harnessing of bee pollination of crops to make it an essential component of modern agriculture endeavor. Some plants seduce insects for pollination by their appearance (e.g., disguised orchids entice visitors); there is the production of sweet nectar as a bribe in flowers to attract bees, butterflies, and honey-sucking birds. A particular outstanding phenomena are the carnivorous plants that have developed trapping and digesting systems of insects and higher animals.

This edited volume covers all aspects of the latest research in the field of soil formation and its functioning, soil diversity, soil proteomics, the impact of anthropogenic activities on the pedosphere, plant-microbe interactions in the pedosphere, and factors influencing the formation and functioning of the soils. In the pedosphere, all forms of soils possess a particular type of structure and different organic and mineral components. Thus, the pedosphere as a whole plays a significant role in providing unique habitats for a vast diversity of life forms, developing a link between geological and biological substances circulation in the terrestrial ecosystems. In the processes making available vital mineral elements to plants and supporting human health as various trace elements in the lithosphere are accessed by people through the formation of soils and such soils are utilized for food production. With the depth of information on different aspects of soil, this extensive volume is a valuable resource for the researchers in the area of soil science, agronomy, agriculture, scientists in academia, crop consultants, policymakers, government from diverse disciplines, and graduate and post-graduate students in the area of soil and environmental science.

Agricultural systems are uniquely complex systems, given that agricultural systems are parts of natural and ecological systems. Those aspects bring in a substantial degree of uncertainty in system operation. Also, impact factors, such as weather factors, are critical in agricultural systems but these factors are uncontrollable in system management. Modern agriculture has been evolving through precision agriculture beginning in the late 1980s and biotechnological innovations in the early 2000s. Precision agriculture implements site-specific crop production management by integrating agricultural mechanization and information technology in geographic information system (GIS), global navigation satellite system (GNSS), and remote sensing. Now, precision agriculture is set to evolve into smart agriculture with advanced systematization, informatization, intelligence and automation. From precision agriculture to smart agriculture, there is a substantial amount of specific control and communication problems that have been investigated and will continue to be studied. In this book, the core ideas and methods from control problems in agricultural production systems are extracted, and a system view of agricultural production is formulated for the analysis and design of management strategies to control and optimize agricultural production systems while exploiting the intrinsic feedback information-exchanging mechanisms. On this basis, the theoretical framework of agricultural cybernetics is established to predict and control the behavior of agricultural production systems through control theory.

The concept of using mathematical models to investigate crop growth and productivity has attracted much attention in recent years. A major reason is that modelling can allow an expert in one area to assess the impact of his ideas in the light of other advances in our understanding of crop performance. Whether or not many of the claims made for or the demands made of models can ever be satisfied, this role as a focus for quantitative definition of crop growth is an important one. One consequence is that the development and appraisal of such models requires the efforts of scientists from a wide range of disciplines. This NATO Advanced Research workshop was designed to bring together such a range of scientists to consider the wheat crop, and assess our understanding of the crop and our ability to model its growth and yield. The ideas and organization behind the workshop involved many people. The U. K. interest in a computer model of wheat growth was instigated by Dr. Joe Landsberg (then of Long Ashton Research Station, but now Director of CSIRO Division of Forest Research), who in 1979 started a modelling exercise as part of a collaborative study of the causes of yield variation in winter wheat, involving four research institutes supported by the Agricultural and Food Research Council. Dr.

There isn't one conversation about animal ethics. Instead, there are several important ones that are scattered across many disciplines.This volume both surveys the field of animal ethics and draws professional philosophers, graduate students, and undergraduates more deeply into the discussions that are happening outside of philosophy departments. To that end, the volume contains more nonphilosophers than philosophers, explicitly inviting scholars from other fields-such as animal science, ecology, economics, psychology, law, environmental science, and applied biology, among others-to bring their own disciplinary resources to bear on matters that affect animals. The Routledge Handbook of Animal Ethics is composed of 44 chapters, all appearing in print here for the first time, and organized into the following six sections: I. Thinking About Animals II. Animal Agriculture and Hunting III. Animal Research and Genetic Engineering IV. Companion Animals V. Wild Animals: Conservation, Management, and Ethics VI. Animal Activism The chapters are brief, and they have been written in a way that is accessible to serious undergraduate students, regardless of their field of study. The volume covers everything from animal cognition to the state of current fisheries, from genetic modification to intersection animal activism. It is a resource designed for anyone interested in the moral issues that emerge from human interactions with animals.

Internet of things (IoT) is a new type of network that combines communication technology, expanded applications, and physical devices. Among them, agriculture is one of the most important areas in the application of the IoT technology, which has its unique requirements and integration features. Compared to the information technology in traditional agriculture, the agricultural IoT mainly refers to industrialized production and sustainable development under relatively controllable conditions. Agricultural IoT applies sensors, RFID, visual capture terminals and other types of sensing devices to detect and collect site information, and with broad applications in field planting, facility horticulture, livestock and poultry breeding, aquaculture and agricultural product logistics. It utilizes multiple information transmission channels such as wireless sensor networks, telecommunications networks and the internet to achieve reliable transmission of agricultural information at multiple scales and intelligently processes the acquired, massive information. The goals are to achieve (i) optimal control of agricultural production process, (ii) intelligent electronic trading of agricultural products circulation, and (iii) management of systematic logistics, quality and safety traceability. This book focuses on three levels of agricultural IoT network: information perception technology, information transmission technology and application technology.

This book is the third volume on Nanoscience in Food and Agriculture, published in the Sustainable Agriculture Reviews series. In this book we present ten chapters describing the synthesis and application of nanomaterials for health, food, agriculture and bioremediation.Nanomaterials with unique properties are now being used to improve food and agricultural production. Research on nanomaterials is indeed revealing new applications that were once thought to be imaginary. Specifically, applications lead to higher crop productivity with nanofertilisers, better packaging, longer food shelf life and better sensing of aromas and contaminants. These applications are needed in particular in poor countries where food is scarce and the water quality bad. Nanotechnology also addresses the age old issue of water polluted by industrial, urban and agricultural pollutants. For instance, research produces nanomaterials that clean water more efficiently than classical methods, thus yielding water for drinking and irrigation. However, some nano materials have been found to be toxic. Therefore, nanomaterials should be engineered to be safe for the environment.

This textbook discusses environmental and natural resource economics. It presents foundational knowledge for applying economics to understand environmental economics as well as for managing environmental problems and optimizing the level of natural resource extraction. Environmental and Natural Resource Economics bridges knowledge between the major natural environmental issues and which economic policies could be applied for reducing human impacts on such issues. It is distinctive from other environmental economics textbooks by covering not only basic concepts introduced in environmental economics but also explains economic models developed in resource economics for optimizing the use of non-renewable and renewable resources for sustainability. This textbook will help students understand how to apply economics for utilizing policies to mitigate environmental issues caused from the output side of economic activities such as emitting pollutants or generating wastes and those derived from the input side such as natural resource extractions.

This book informs about knowledge gain in soil and land degradation to reduce or prevent it for meeting the mission of the Sustainable Developments Goals of the United Nations. Essence, extent, monitoring methods and implications for ecosystem functioning of main soil degradation types are characterized in overview chapters and case studies. Challenges, approaches and data towards identification of degradation in the frame of improving functionality, health and multiple ecosystem services of soil are demonstrated in the studies of international expert teams. The book consists of five parts, containing 5-12 single chapters each and 36 in total. Parts are explaining (I) Concepts and Indicators, (II) Soil Erosion and Compaction, (III) Soil Contamination, (IV) Soil Carbon and Fertility Monitoring and (V) Soil Survey and Mapping of Degradation The primary audience of this book are scientists of different disciplines, decision-makers, farmers and further informed people dealing with sustainable management of soil and land.

Technology is rapidly advancing in all areas of society, including agriculture. In both conventional and organic systems, there is a need to apply technology beyond our current approach to improve the efficiency and economics of management. Weeds, in particular, have been part of cropping systems for centuries often being ranked as the number one production cost. Now, public demand for a sustainably grown product has created economic incentives for producers to improve their practices, yet the development of advanced weed control tools beyond biotech has lagged behind. An opportunity has been created for engineers and weed scientists to pool their knowledge and work together to 'fill the gap' in managing weeds in crops. Never before has there been such pressure to produce more with less in order to sustain our economies and environments. This book is the first to provide a radically new approach to weed management that could change cropping systems both now and in the future.

This book celebrates the dawn of the rye genomics era with concise, comprehensive, and accessible reviews on the current state of rye genomic research, written by experts in the field for students, researchers and growers. To most, rye is the key ingredient in a flavoursome bread or their favourite American whisky. To a farmer, rye is the remarkable grain that tolerates the harshest winters and the most unforgiving soils, befitting its legacy as the life-giving seed that fed the ancient civilisations of northern Eurasia. Since the mid-1900s, scientists have employed genetic approaches to better understand and utilize rye, but only since the technological advances of the mid-2010s has the possibility of addressing questions using rye genome assemblies become a reality. Alongside the secret of its unique survival abilities, rye genomics has accelerated research on a host of intriguing topics such as the complex history of rye's domestication by humans, the nature of genes that switch fertility on and off, the function and origin of accessory chromosomes, and the evolution of selfish DNA.

Volume 9 is part of a multicompendium Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants, on plants with edible modified stems, roots and bulbs from Acanthaceae to Zygophyllaceae (tabular) and 32 selected species in Alismataceae, Amaryllidaceae, Apiaceae, Araceae, Araliaceae, Asparagaceae, Asteraceae, Basellaceae, Brassicaceae and Campanulaceae in detail. This work is of significant interest to medical practitioners, pharmacologists, ethnobotanists, horticulturists, food nutritionists, botanists, agriculturists, conservationists, and general public. Topics covered include: taxonomy; common/ vernacular names; origin/ distribution; agroecology; edible plant parts/uses; botany; nutritive/medicinal properties, nonedible uses and selected references.

This set of proceedings volumes provides a broad coverage of basic and applied research projects dealing with the application of engineering principles to both food production and processing. The set consists of the following four volumes: Land and water use, Agricultural buildings, Agricultural mechanisation and Power, processing and systems. Includes about 450 papers from over 50 countries worldwide, drawn from the Eleventh International Congress on Agricultural Engineering, Dublin, 4-8 September 1989.