Learn how to best improve yield in cereal plantseven in dry conditions The impact of drought on crop production can be economically devastating. Drought Adaptation in Cereals provides a comprehensive review of the latest research on the tolerance of cereal crops to water-limited conditions. Renowned experts extensively describe basic concepts and cutting-edge research results to clearly reveal all facets of drought adaptation in cereals. More than simply a fine reference for plant biology and plant improvement under water-limited conditions, this book spotlights the most relevant biological approaches from plant phenotyping to functional genomics. The need to understand plant response to the lack of water is integral to forming strategies to best manage crops. Drought Adaptation in Cereals starts by offering an overview of the biological basis and defines the adaptive mechanisms found in plants under water-limited conditions. Different approaches are presented to provide understanding of plant genetics basics and plant breeding, including phenotyping, physiology, and biotechnology. The book details drought adaptation mechanisms at the cellular, organ, and entire plant levels, focusing on plant metabolism and gene functions. This resource is extensively referenced and contains tables, charts, and figures to clearly present data and enhance understanding. After a foreword by J. O'Toole and a prologue by A. Blum, Drought Adaptation in Cereals presents a full spectrum of informative topics from other internationally respected scientists. These include: drought's economic impact (P. Heisey) genotype-by-environment interactions (M. Cooper) secondary traits for drought adaptation (P. Monneveux) leaf growth (F. Tardieu) carbon isotope discrimination (T. Condon) drought adaptation in barley (M. Sorrells), maize (M. Sawkins), rice (R. Lafitte), sorghum (A. Borrell) and wheat (M. Reynolds) carbohydrate metabolism (A. Tiessen) the role of abscisic acid (T. Setter) protection mechanisms and stress proteins (L. Mtwisha) genetic basis of ion homeostasis and water deficit (H. Bohnert) transcriptional factors (K. Yamaguchi-Shinozaki) resurrection plants (D. Bartels) Drought Adaptation in Cereals is a unique, vital reference for scientists, educators, and students in plant biology, agronomy, and natural resources management.

Identity-Preserved Systems: A Reference Handbook provides background for the development of processes or systems of maintaining the segregation of and documenting the identity of a product. Growers and other parties that handle, transport, condition, or process the identity-preserved (IP) product must follow strict growing and handling practices, including segregation, inspections, and cleaning of equipment to prevent other varieties from mixing with or contaminating the IP variety. The key to this system is traceability. Each production, processing, and delivery step is documented, so that products can be traced from the store shelf back to the farmers' fields and every stage in between.

The need for Identity Preservation (IP) is rapidly becoming of major importance in the world trade of agricultural crops that are enhanced genetically, grown under specific conditions, or have specific characteristics which must be identified and maintained from the seed planted to the delivery of the crop to the end-user. The handbook serves as an authoritative resource that unifies IP efforts, outlines the protocols for IP systems, and includes an operational manual that may be used at any point in the value-chain of the production and marketing effort.

This handbook describes an overall identity-preserved (IP) system, which may be utilized in ways that will meet the particular needs of the parties involved in specific trade agreements. It discusses the background of IP systems originating in the seed industry, the basics of a total IP system, and the potential electronic transfer of data and documents. By using the system of identity-preserved verification provided in Identity-Preserved Systems, the seed, specialty crop, and grain and oilseed industries can easily provide products that are identified with a paper trail verifying identity, product quality, and special characteristics.

The domestication of wheat, more than any other plant, has allowed food to be produced in sufficient quantities to support community settlement, cultural development and population growth. Wheat is one of the major sources of energy, protein and dietary fiber in human nutrition. This book comprehensively describes how wheat is produced and used. It begins with a consideration of how the different grain characteristics influence the subsequent utilization of the harvested wheat. A large part of the book is then devoted to advice and discussion concerning establishing, managing and harvesting a successful crop, including the control of disease, and the use of wheat as forage. There is also a thorough consideration of the storage and use of the crop post-harvest. Wheat is grown and used throughout the world and the book reflects this by containing examples from many different countries. Research on the impact of the environment on the quality of the grain is presented and discussed, and the challenges facing growers and wheat researchers in different geographical locations are examined throughout the book. This book is essential reading for all agronomy lecturers and students at universities and colleges. By bringing together recent research and practice it is also a valuable resource for researchers and advisors in this area, such as plant breeders, agronomists and pathologists.

This topic is central to contemporary concerns for more sustainable agricultural development. This is a well-written and clear book, with excellent data, tables and illustrations, addressing issues of water use, climate change, poverty and small farmers. The authors are highly respected and complement each other's acknowledged international expertise.' Professor Jules Pretty, University of Essex, UK 'This useful guide shows that there is great potential for increasing the productive capacity of smallholder farms in the drylands via a range of water management techniques, from the simple to the more complex. Providing a theoretical grounding and a practical guide, Water and cereals in the drylands will appeal to workers on-location as well as students, researchers and policymakers.' New Agriculturalist Cereals are by far the most important source of food throughout the world, either directly for human consumption or indirectly in the form of animal feed for livestock products consumed as food. With world population set to rise to nine billion by 2050, there is an urgent need to examine ways to increase cereal production. Indeed recently the future of cereal production and consumption has been complicated by rising energy prices and the economics of biofuels, which are competing for the use of cereals. One way to increase cereal production is by the more effective use of marginal dryland areas. This book reviews the potential for increased cereal production in drylands across the world, from the USA, Australia and Southern Europe to Asia and Africa. It describes how improved water conservation, water harvesting and investment options can contribute to this, and suggests policies for the more efficient use of existing natural resources in order to lessen the dependence of agriculture on further irrigation development.

To designate Sorghum as a "lost" crop, on the face of it, seems like a gross mistake. After all, the plant is Africa's contribution to the world's top crops. It belongs to the elite handful of plants that collectively provide more than 85 percent of all human energy. Globally, it produces approximately 70 million metric tons of grain from about 50 million hectares of land. Today, it is the dietary staple of more than 500 million people in more than 30 countries, let alone in Africa it is an important crop for 300 million people. Only rice, wheat, maize, and potatoes surpass it in feeding the human race.

For all that, however, Sorghum now receives merely a fraction of the attention it warrants and produces merely a fraction of what it could. Not only is it inadequately supported for the world's fifth major crop, it is under-supported considering its vast and untapped potential. Viewed in this light it is indeed "lost."

But this situation may not continue much longer. A growing number of researchers in governmental institutions and companies already see that a new and enlightened Sorghum era is just around the corner. Accorded research support at a level comparable to that devoted worldwide to wheat or rice or maize, Sorghum could contribute a great deal more to food supplies than it does at present. And it would contribute most to those regions and peoples in greatest need. Indeed, if the twentieth century has been the century of wheat, rice, and maize, the twenty-first century could become the one of Sorghum. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in close collaboration with Africa Harvest will make it possible to foster biofortification of this wonderful crop, a crop, which has already proven its big potential for subsistence and commercial farming.

The book presented should help to synthesize the literature and achievements in the research on the biology of Sorghum in the wake of the 21st century. May it be of help for future research and development of Sorghum.

With a focus on environmentally friendly rice farming, this unique book integrates both ecosystem and human dimensions of ecological restoration to provide strategies to promote sustainable agriculture and rural development. Paddy fields have multiple functions beyond their role of producing rice: They serve as refuge habitats for a range of wildlife that once inhabited floodplain wetlands and contain a number of unique and threatened aquatic species. They also provide various ecosystem services for regional communities such as water retention, erosion control, flood control, fish culture, and educational opportunities. However, rice paddies are threatened worldwide due to the modernization of agriculture and abandonment of farmland caused by depopulation and the aging of rural communities. Therefore, multiple ecological and sociological aspects must be considered in the ecological restoration of paddy fields. This book aims to do so by incorporating various disciplines of natural and social sciences. Strategies for sustainable agriculture are reviewed, including financial incentives for farmers and the use of flagship wildlife species such as the crested ibis (toki) to promote ecological restoration. With the increasing popularity of environmentally friendly rice farming in parts of Asia and the western United States, this book offers model cases for sustainable management of paddy-dominated landscapes.