The 14th International Nitrogen Fixation Congress was held in Beijing, China from October 27th through November 1st, 2004. This volume constitutes the proceedings of the Congress and represents a compilation of the presentations by scientists from more than 30 countries around the World who came to Beijing to discuss the progress made since the last Congress and to exchange ideas and information. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the first Congress held in Pullman, Washington, USA, in 1974. Since then, this series of Congresses has met five times in North America (three in the United States and once each in Canada and Mexico), once in South America (Brazil), four times in Western Europe (once each in Spain, The Netherlands, Germany and France), once in Eastern Europe (Russia), and once in Australia; and now for the first time in Asia. China was a most appropriate choice because China is a big country with the largest population in the World, about 1. 3 billion people, which is about 22% of the World's population. It is traditionally an agricultural country, even though China has only 7% of the available farming land. This situation explains why agriculture and its productivity are major issues for the Chinese people, its government and the scientists in the field.

The book presents an overview of the International practices and state-of-the-art of LCA studies in the agri-food sector, both in terms of adopted methodologies and application to particular products; the final purpose is to characterise and put order within the methodological issues connected to some important agri-food products (wine, olive oil, cereals and derived products, meat and fruit) and also defining practical guidelines for the implementation of LCAs in this particular sector. The first chapter entails an overview of the application of LCA to the food sector, the role of the different actors of the food supply chain and the methodological issues at a general level. The other chapters, each with a particular reference to the main foods of the five sectors under study, have a common structure which entails the review of LCA case studies of such agri-food products, the methodological issues, the ways with which they have been faced and the suggestion of practical guidelines.

Climate change is expected to have a drastic impact on agronomic conditions including temperature, precipitation, soil nutrients, and the incidence of disease pests, to name a few. To face this looming threat, significant progress in developing new breeding strategies has been made over the last few decades.

The first volume of "Genomics and Breeding for Climate-Resilient Crops" presents the basic concepts and strategies for developing climate-resilient crop varieties. Topics covered include: conservation, evaluation and utilization of biodiversity; identification of traits, genes and crops of the future; genomic and molecular tools; genetic engineering; participatory and evolutionary breeding; bioinformatics tools to support breeding; funding and networking support; and intellectual property, regulatory issues, social and political dimensions.

A deficiency of one or more of the eight plant micronutrients (boron, chlorine, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel and zinc) will adversely affect both the yield and quality of crops. Micronutrient deficiencies in crops occur in many parts of the world, at various scales (from one to millions of hectares), but differences in soil conditions, climate, crop genotypes and management, result in marked variations in their occurrence. The causes, effects and alleviation of micronutrient deficiencies in crops in: Australia, India, China, Turkey, the Near East, Africa, Europe, South America and the United States of America, are covered, and these are representative of most of the different conditions under which crops are grown anywhere in the world.

Links between low contents of iodine, iron and zinc (human micronutrients) in staple grains and the incidence of human health problems are discussed, together with the ways in which the micronutrient content of food crops can be increased and their bioavailability to humans improved. Detailed treatment of topics, such as: soil types associated with deficiencies, soil testing and plant analysis, field experiments, innovative treatments, micronutrients in the subsoil, nutrient interactions, effects of changing cropping systems, micronutrient budgets and hidden deficiencies in various chapters provides depth to the broad coverage of the book.

This book provides a valuable guide to the requirements of crops for plant micronutrients and the causes, occurrence and treatment of deficiencies. It is essential reading for many agronomy, plant nutrition and agricultural extension professionals.

Forty chapters deal with various aspects of tissue culture, in vitro manipulation, and other biotechnological approaches to the improvement of maize.
They are arranged in eight sections: - In Vitro Technology, Callus Cultures and Regeneration of Plants, Somatic Embryogenesis. - Wide Hybridization, Embryo, Ovule, and Inflorescence Culture, in Vitro Fertilization. - Production of Haploids and Double Haploids, Anther and Pollen Culture. - Protoplast Culture, Genetic Transformation. - Somaclonal Variation and Mutations. - Molecular Biology and Physiological Studies. - Proteins and Nutritional Improvement. Pollen Storage, Cryopreservation of Germplasm.

The Asian beans and grams, the species of Vigna (subgenus Ceratotropis), include several legumes that are an essential component in the diets of a large proportion of Asia's population, and interest in these legumes is growing as ethnic cuisine spreads worldwide. However, this important group of legumes is little known compared to the closely related Phaseolus beans and soybean. That deficiency is addressed for the first time in this fully illustrated comprehensive conservation, genetics, taxonomic, and agricultural monograph on the genetic resources of the Asian Vigna. The book deals with the phylogeny of the group from the perspectives of morphological and molecular analyses, ex situ and in situ conservation, eco-geographical analyses, and research. In addition, morphological descriptions, keys, and eco-geographic details of each species in the group are provided. This genetic resources handbook and guide to the Asian Vigna will be a valuable reference for agriculturists, conservationists, taxonomists, other scientists, and students interested in the legumes and plant genetic resources.

Medicinal Agroecology: Reviews, Case Studies and Research Methodologies presents information on applications of 'green therapies' in restoration towards global sustainability. These practices connect the world of medicinal plants with ecologic farming practice creating a compassionate socio-political worldview and heartfelt scientific research towards food sovereignty and a healthier future on planet Earth. The book communicates benefits of using plant-based solutions to manage the challenges of unsustainable practices in human healthcare, veterinary medicine, agriculture, forestry, and water management. The contributions introduce advances around plants and their active components to potentially treat disease, regulate dysfunction, and balance ecosystems. These practices are explored in further depth through three sections - I. POLICIES & FRAMEWORKS, II. INSIGHTS & OVERVIEWS, III. CASE STUDIES & RESEARCH METHODS. Edited by Immo Fiebrig, Medicinal Agroecology: Reviews, Case Studies and Research Methodologies appeals to those in various disciplines including agriculture and agroecology, healthcare, environmental sciences, and veterinary medicine.

The status of crop biotechnology before 2001 was reviewed in Transgenic Crops I-III, but recent advances in plant cell and molecular biology have prompted the need for new volumes. This volume is devoted to fruit, trees and beverage crops. It presents the current knowledge of plant biotechnology as an important tool for crop improvement and includes up-to-date methodologies.

The West African Sahel is the transition zone between the Saharadesert in the north of Africa and the more humid Sudanian zones in the south. Although diverse in many ways, the Sahelian countries have the common problem of a fragile agricultural sector. This predicament is mainly caused by low inherent soil fertility, limited and unpredictable rainfall, frequent droughts, and wind erosion that accelerates soil degradation and desertification, compounded by To assure food production in the future, means rapidly growing populations. of declining soil fertility and increasing must be found to offset the trends soil degradation through wind erosion. This is a challenge for agricultural research. Since 1985, the Special Research Program 308 'Adapted Farming in West Africa' at the UniversityofHohenheimin collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Niger, has pursued the developmentof agricultural innovations for smallholder farmers in one of the most ecologically fragile regions of the world. The prevention of soil degradation, the restoration and maintenance of soil fertility, and the increase of land and labor productivity are key objectives of this multidisci plinary research program. From the beginning, a major focus of research has been wind erosion.

Forage and turf are the backbone of sustainable agriculture and contribute extensively to the world economy. The fast-paced advancement of cellular and molecular biology provides novel methods to accelerate or complement conventional breeding efforts. This book contains the most comprehensive reviews on the latest development in applications of molecular techniques for the improvement of forage grasses, forage legumes and turf grasses. Detailed accounts and future opportunities in molecular breeding of forage and turf, from gene discovery to development of improved cultivars, are described in the book. Almost all relevant areas are explored in detail, including tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses; flowering control; plant-symbiont relations; breeding for animal, human and environmental welfare; molecular markers; transgenics; bioinformatics; population genetics; genomics of the model legume M. truncatula; field testing and risk assessment as well as intellectual property rights. This book will be of interest to researchers in both academia and industry who are involved in forage and turf improvement. It will be especially important to breeders, molecular biologists, geneticists, physiologists and agronomists.

Haploid plants have the gametophytic number of chromosomes. They are of great importance, especially in studies on the induction of muta tions and also for the production of homozygous plants, they are needed in large numbers. The conventional methods employed by plant breeders for their production are cumbersome, time-consuming, laborious and rather inefficient. Sometimes it may take years to produce a pure line. However, with the introduction of in vitro techniques, especially anther culture for the induction of androgenesis, it has become increasingly evi dent that these methods considerably accelerate the production of haploids for plant breeding programs. During the last decade, in vitro-produced haploids have been incor porated into breeding programs of many agricultural crops, and positive results have been obtained especially with rice, wheat, potato, barley, maize, asparagus, sunflower, brassica, tobacco, etc. Among these, rice and wheat are the best examples in which a number of improved varieties have been released. In wheat, the breeding cycle can be shortened by three or four generations when the pollen haploid breeding method is used instead of conventional cross-breeding. The release of the wheat varieties Jinghua 1 and Florin is a typical example of what can be achieved with other crops. Taking these developments into considera tion, the present volume, Haploids in Crop Improvement I, was compil ed."

The Monograph deals with the conception, planning, implementation, results and conclusions of the International Witches' Broom Project (IWBP), which was set up in 1985 with the aim of producing an economic management system for witches' broom disease of cocoa. The contributions of the various sponsors, and the roles played by the participating organizations and scientists are described in the introductory chapter. Chapter 2 provides a review of what was, and what was not known from published literature about the cocoa witches' broom pathosystem in 1989. The scope of the project and the approaches used are covered in Chapter 3, while Chapters 4 to 13 report on the field studies themselves in detail. The recent appearance of witches' broom in the important cocoa area of Bahia in Brazil is described in Chapter 14, before disease management recommendations are summarised and future prospects considered in the closing chapters. The many man-years of field research in the IWBP in a total of six countries generated much useful information which was analyzed both in the individual countries and collectively. Even with a document of this size, certain information and analyses with less direct relevance to disease management had to be omitted. It is expected that more detailed treatments of certain aspects will emerge in scientific papers, and further analyses will be undertaken."

The practical side of using rockdusts as fertilizers, compost enrichers, and plant growth enhancers is discussed in this exciting book from Acres U.S.A. Beginning with an explanation of the spiritual, cosmic side of rocks and drawing from his extensive knowledge of biodynamic techniques and dowsing, Lisle explains how to utilize these materials in agriculture. Peppered with in-depth quotations from other writings on the forces within rocks, this is destined to be the definitive work on the subject. Life's tenuous connections to the cosmos is a concept almost all literate people think they understand. And yet the principles that enliven the engine of photosynthesis remain as elusive as our perceived comprehension of nature's tap into the Sun. Standing on the shoulders of giants -- Rudolf Steiner, Julius Hensel, von Helmont, Phil Callahan, and dozens more -- Harvey Lisle has captured for us both the physical and spiritual connection that links rock powders to life, to agriculture, to cell and plant development.By taking crop production away from a single-factor analysis, Lisle has performed on par with the great innovators and has caused us all to consider anew the sacred text: "Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. "

The future of agriculture greatly depends on our ability to enhance productivity without sacrificing long-term production potential. The application of microorganisms, such as the diverse bacterial species of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), represents an ecologically and economically sustainable strategy. The use of these bio-resources for the enhancement of crop productivity is gaining importance worldwide. Bacteria in Agrobiology: Crop Productivity focus on the role of beneficial bacteria in crop growth, increased nutrient uptake and mobilization, and defense against phytopathogens. Diverse group of agricultural crops and medicinal plants are described as well as PGPR-mediated bioremediation leading to food security.

This book aims to assess, evaluate and critically analyze the methods that are currently available for a judicious pest management in durable food. It presents and analyzes a vast amount of methods that are already in use in "real world" industrial applications. After the phase-out of methyl bromide, but also the withdrawal of several insecticides and the continuously updated food safety regulations, there is a significant knowledge gap on the use of risk-reduced, ecologically-compatible control methods that can be used with success against stored-product insect species and related arthropods. The importance of integrated pest management (IPM) is growing, but the concept as practiced for stored products might differ from IPM as historically developed for field crops. This book discusses a wide variety of control strategies used for stored product management and describes some of the IPM components. The editors included chemical and non-chemical methods, as both are essential in IPM. They set the scene for more information regarding emerging issues in stored product protection, such as emerging, alien and invasive species as threats for global food security, as well as the importance of stored-product arthropods for human health. Finally, the analysis of the economics of stored product protection is presented, from theory to practice.

This book presents a flavour of activities focussed on the need for sustainably produced biomass to support European strategic objectives for the developing bioeconomy. The chapters cover five broad topic areas relating to the use of perennial biomass crops in Europe. These are: 'Bioenergy Resources from Perennial Crops in Europe', 'European Regional Examples for the Use of Perennial Crops for Bioenergy', 'Genotypic Selection of Perennial Biomass Crops for Crop Improvement', 'Ecophysiology of Perennial Biomass Crops' and 'Examples of End-Use of Perennial Biomass Crops'. Two major issues relating to the future use of biomass energy are the identification of the most suitable second generation biomass crops and the need to utilise land not under intensive agricultural production, broadly referred to as 'marginal land'. The two main categories of plants that fit these needs are perennial rhizomatous grasses and trees that can be coppiced. The overarching questions that are addressed in the book relate to the suitability of perennial crops for providing feedstocks for a European bioeconomy and the need to exploit environments for biomass crops which do not compete with food crops. Bioenergy is the subject of a wide range of national and European policy measures. New developments covered are, for example, the use of perennial grasses to produce protein for animal feed and concepts to use perennial biomass crops to mitigate carbon emissions through soil carbon sequestration. Several chapters also show how prudent selection of suitable genotypes and breeding are essential to develop high yielding and sustainable second generation biomass crops which are adapted to a wide range of unfavourable conditions like chilling and freezing, drought, flooding and salinity. The final chapters also emphasise the need to be kept an eye out for potential new end-uses of perennial biomass crops that will contribute further to the developing bioeconomy.

Cereal uses range from human food and beverages to animal feeds and industrial products. It is human food and beverages which are the predominant uses covered in this book, since the nutritional quality of cereals for animal feed is described in other publications on animal nutrition, and industrial products are a relatively minor use of cereals. Cereals are the main components of human diets and are crucial to human survival. Three species, wheat, rice and maize, account for the bulk of human food. Barley is the major raw material for beer production and ranks fourth in world production. Other species such as sorghum are regionally important. This book covers all the major cereal species: wheat, rice, maize, barley, sorghum, millet, oats, rye and triticale. Specific chapters have been devoted to a description of the major end-uses of each of the species and to definition of the qualities required for each of their end uses. The functional and nutritional quality of cereals determines their suitability for specific purposes and may limit the quality of the end product, influencing greatly the commercial value of grain. An under standing of the factors that determine grain quality is thus important in the maintenance of efficient and sustainable agricultural and food production. The biochemical constituents of the grain that determine quality have been described in chapters on proteins, carbohydrates and other components. An understanding of the relationships between grain composition and quality is important in selecting grain for specific uses."

Composting is increasingly used as a recycling technology for organic wastes. Knowledge on the composition and activities of compost microbial communities has so far been based on traditional methods. New molecular and physiological tools now offer new insights into the "black box" of decaying material. An unforeseen diversity of microorganisms are involved in composting, opening up an enormous potential for future process and product improvements. In this book, the views of scientists, engineers and end-users on compost production, process optimisation, standardisation and product application are presented.

This book provides insights into the genetics and the latest advances in genomics research on the common bean, offering a timely overview of topics that are pertinent for future developments in legume genomics. The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important grain legume crop for food consumption worldwide, as well as a model for legume research, and the availability of the genome sequence has completely changed the paradigm of the ongoing research on the species. Key topics covered include the numerous genetic and genomic resources, available tools, the identified genes and quantitative trait locus (QTL) identified, and there is a particular emphasis on domestication. It is a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in the genetics and genomics of the common bean and legumes in general.

The plant species that humans rely upon have an extended family of wild counterparts that are an important source of genetic diversity used to breed productive crops. These wild and weedy cousins are valuable as a resource for adapting our food, forage, industrial and other crops to climate change. Many wild plant species are also directly used, especially for revegetation, and as medicinal and ornamental plants. North America is rich in these wild plant genetic resources. This book is a valuable reference that describes the important crop wild relatives and wild utilized species found in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The book highlights efforts taken by these countries to conserve and use wild resources and provides essential information on best practices for collecting and conserving them. Numerous maps using up-to-date information and methods illustrate the distribution of important species, and supplement detailed description on the potential value these resources have to agriculture, as well as their conservation statuses and needs. There is broad recognition of the urgent need to conserve plant diversity; however, a small fraction of wild species is distinguished by their potential to support agricultural production. Many of these species are common, even weedy, and are easily overshadowed by rare or endangered plants. Nevertheless, because of their genetic proximity to agriculturally important crops or direct use, they deserve to be recognized, celebrated, conserved, and made available to support food and agricultural security. This comprehensive two-volume reference will be valuable for students and scientists interested in economic botany, and for practitioners at all levels tasked with conserving plant biodiversity.

Plant breeders have used mutagenic agents to create variability for their use in crop improvement. However, application of mutagenic agents has its own drawbacks, such as non-specificity and random nature, simultaneous effect on large numbers of genes, and induction of chromosomal aberrations. To overcome these limitations, several genome editing systems have been developed with the aid of cutting-edge technology rooted in the expertise of several research fields. Molecular Plant Breeding and Genome Editing Tools for Crop Improvement is a pivotal reference source that provides an interdisciplinary approach to crop breeding through genetics. Featuring coverage of a broad range of topics including software, molecular markers, and plant variety identification, this book is ideally designed for agriculturalists, biologists, engineers, advocates, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.

The field of plant breeding has grown rapidly in the last decade with breakthrough research in genetics and genomics, inbred development, population improvement, hybrids, clones, self-pollinated crops, polyploidy, transgenic breeding and more. This book discusses the latest developments in all these areas but explores the next generation of needs and discoveries including omics beyond genomics, cultivar seeds and intellectual and property rights. This book is a leading-edge publication of the latest results and forecasts important areas of future needs and applications.

Wheat provides over 20% of the calories for the world population of 5. 3 billion persons. It is widely grown in five of the six continents. It is a highly versatile food product in that it can be stored safely for long periods of time and transported in bulk over long distances. In relative terms, it is reasonably priced; over the past quarter century, the inflation-adjusted price of wheat has been declining. Modern milling and baking technology required for the transformation of wheat grain into consumable baked products is available or accessible in all countries of the world. For these reasons, and because Canada is one of world's leading wheat producing countries, it seemed appropriate to include a major symposium on wheat in the scientific and technical program of the 8th World Congress of Food Science and Technology held in Toronto, Canada during September 29-0ctober 4, 1992. In selecting the topics for the symposium on wheat, we attempted to cover a full range of subjects including economics and marketing, nutrition, grading, processing, constituent chemistry and functionality, biote- nology, and safety of genetically modified wheat varieties. The major focus was on common hard (bread) wheats; separate papers were devoted to the unique characteristics and technological properties of common soft (biscuit) and durum (pasta) wheats. Each paper was presented by an acknowledged international expert. This book provides a more permanent record of the papers presented at the symposium.

From the pre-historic era to modern times, cereal grains have been the most important source of human nutrition, and have helped sustain the increasing population and the development of human civilization. In order to meet the food needs of the 21st century, food production must be doubled by the year 2025, and nearly tripled by 2050. Such enormous increases in food productivity cannot be brought about by relying entirely on conventional breeding methods, especially on less land per capita, with poor quality and quantity of water, and under rapidly deteriorating environmental conditions. Complementing and supplementing the breeding of major food crops, such as the cereals, which together account for 66% of the world food supply, with molecular breeding and genetic manipulation may well provide a grace period of about 50 years in which to control population growth and achieve sustainable development. In this volume, leading world experts on cereal biotechnology describe the production and commercialization of the first generation of transgenic cereals designed to substantially reduce or prevent the enormous losses to cereal productivity caused by competition with weeds, and by various pests and pathogens, which is an important first step in that direction.

Genetic erosions in plant cell cultures, especially in chromosome number and ploidy level, have now been known for over 25 years. Until the mid -1970ssuch changes were consideredundesirable and thereforediscarded because the main emphasis wason clonal propagation and genetic stability of cultures. However, since the publication on somaclonal variation by Larkin and Scowcroft (1981) there has been a renewed interest to utilize these in vitro obtained variations for crop improvement. Studies conduc- ted during the last decade have shown that callus cultures, especially on peridical subculturing over an extended period of time, undergo morpho- logical and genetic changes, i. e. polyploidy, aneuploidy, chromosome breakage, deletions, translocations, gene amplification, inversions, muta- tions, etc. In addition, there are changes at the molecular and biochemical levelsincluding changes in the DNA, enzymes,proteins, etc. Suchchanges are now intentionally induced, and useful variants are selected. For instance in agricultural crops such as potato, tomato, tobacco, maize, rice and sugarcane, plants showing tolerance to a number of diseases, viruses, herbicides and salinity, have been isolated in cell cultures. Likewise induction of male sterility in rice, and wheat showing various levels of fer- tility and gliadin, have been developed in vitro. These academic excercises open new avenues for plant breeders and pathologists. Another area of tremendous commercial importance in the pharmaceuti- cal industry is the selection of cell lines showing high levels of medicinal and industrial compounds. Already high shikonin containing somaclones in Lithospermum are being used commercially.