Soil Health and Intensification of Agroecosystems examines the climate, environmental, and human effects on agroecosystems and how the existing paradigms must be revised in order to establish sustainable production. The increased demand for food and fuel exerts tremendous stress on all aspects of natural resources and the environment to satisfy an ever increasing world population, which includes the use of agriculture products for energy and other uses in addition to human and animal food. The book presents options for ecological systems that mimic the natural diversity of the ecosystem and can have significant effect as the world faces a rapidly changing and volatile climate. The book explores the introduction of sustainable agroecosystems that promote biodiversity, sustain soil health, and enhance food production as ways to help mitigate some of these adverse effects. New agroecosystems will help define a resilient system that can potentially absorb some of the extreme shifts in climate. Changing the existing cropping system paradigm to utilize natural system attributes by promoting biodiversity within production agricultural systems, such as the integration of polycultures, will also enhance ecological resiliency and will likely increase carbon sequestration.

27 chapter cover the distribution, economic importance, conventional propagation, micropropagation, tissue culture, and in vitro production of important medicinal and pharmaceutical compounds in various species of Ajuga, Allium, Ambrosia, Artemisia, Aspilia, Atractylodes, Callitris, Choisya, Cinnamomum, Coluria, Cucumis, Drosera, Daucus, Eustoma, Fagopyrum, Hibiscus, Levisticum, Onobrychis, Orthosiphon, Quercus, Sanguinaria, Solanum, Sophora, Stauntonia, Tanecetum, Vetiveria, and Vitis. Like the previous volumes 4, 7, 15, and 21 in the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants series, the volume is tailored to the need of advanced students, teachers, and research scientists in the area of plant biotechnology andbioengineering, pharmacy, botany and biochemistry.

The first chapter reviews evidence of the human health impact of wheat flour fortification and how it is measured and studied. The chapter explores the benefits to wheat flour fortification, citing the process's ability to address widespread health problems caused by nutrient deficiencies, such as iron deficiency and anaemia. The second chapter examines the biofortification of maize with Provitamin A carotenoids and its potential in improving micronutrient intake for the population of food insecure people. The chapter refers to the Zambia maize biofortification programme as a case study to demonstrate this. The third chapter similarly considers the rising threat of micronutrient malnutrition, but highlights the integral role biofortified legume crops have in offsetting this. The chapter reviews the genetic variability of iron and zinc content in many legume crops, and shows how this is being used to guide breeding efforts through both transgenic approaches and agronomic management. The final chapter assesses the problem of vitamin A deficiency in countries where cassava is considered a key crop and consumed as a main food source. The chapter reviews the HarvestPlus breeding programme for increasing the nutrient density of cassava, as well as strategies that can be implemented to promote the use of pro-vitamin A varieties by farmers and consumers.

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on crop rotations in agriculture. The first chapter discusses the effects of crop rotation and intercropping management practices and their impact on soil health enhancement and stability. It also considers the importance of leguminous crops and soil organic matter in maintaining healthy soils, sustaining crop productivity and enhancing biodiversity. The second chapter examines the principles of crop rotation, precrop effects in crop rotations, and the nutrient effects of legumes and other rotation crops. It also reviews the role of rotation crops in suppressing weeds, diseases and pests and studies rotations and crop yields, as well as the challenge of designing a crop rotation. The third chapter illustrates how crop models account for the interactions between soil, genotypes, management, and climate, on crops grown in various rotations, and their effects on yield and environmental outcomes under current and future climate scenarios. The fourth chapter assesses the potential of decision support systems for crop rotations in improving soil health and agricultural sustainability. The final chapter reviews how crop rotations with non-cereal species can be implemented to substantially reduce inoculum sources for residue-borne cereal leaf diseases.

Plant molecular biology came to the fore in the early 1980s and there has been tremendous growth in the subject since then. The study of plant genes and genomes, coupled with the development of techniques for the incorporation of novel or modified genes into plants, eventually led to the commercialisation of genetically modified (GM) crops in the mid-1990s. This was seen as the start of a biotechnological revolution in plant breeding. However, plant biotechnology became one of the hottest debates of the age and, in Europe at least, has been mired in controversy and over-regulation. Nevertheless, recent years have seen further technological innovation in the development of a range of techniques that enable scientists to make specific changes to target genes.Through a detailed history and development of the science and techniques that underpin crop biotechnology, this title is concise, comprehensive and readable. As well as new sections on genome editing, this edition includes expanded sections on current GM crops and future developments in plant biotechnology, and updated sections on techniques, legislation and the GM crop debate.The previous edition of this book, titled Genetically Modified Crops, 2nd Edition, was published in November 2011.

Plant disease management remains an important component of plant pathology and is more complex today than ever before including new innovation in diagnostic kits, the discovery of new modes of action of chemicals with low environmental impact, biological control agents with reliable and persistent activity, as well as the development of new plant varieties with durable disease resistance. This book is a collection of invited lectures given at the 9th International Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP 2008), held in Torino, August 24-29, 2008 and is part of a series of volumes on Plant Pathology in the 21st Century. It focuses on new developments of disease management and provides an updated overview of the state of the art given by world experts in the different fields of disease management. The different chapters deal with basic aspects of disease management, mechanisms of action of biological control agents, innovation in fungicide application, exploitation of natural compounds and resistance strategies. Moreover, the management of soil-borne diseases and disease management in organic farming are covered.

The Coconut: Phylogeny, Origins, and Spread comprehensively covers the botany, phylogeny, origins, and spread of the coconut palm. The coconut is used primarily for its oil, fiber, and as an article of food, including its tender-nut water. Until the 1950s, coconut oil used to rank first in the world in production and international trade among all the vegetable oils. Since then, lower-cost sources such as the African oil palm, soybean, canola, and others have overtaken the coconut in oil production and trade. The coconut, Cocos nucifera L. (Arecaceae), is a dominant part of the littoral vegetation across the tropics. In addition to discussing the origins of the coconut and its use as a crop, the book covers the resurgence in the use of the coconut in food, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals.

Advances in Agronomy, Volume 141 carries on the stellar reputation of this leading reference and first-rate source for the latest research in agronomy. Each volume contains an eclectic group of reviews by leading scientists throughout the world. As always, the subjects covered are rich, varied, and exemplary of the abundant subject matter addressed by this long-running serial.

Diseases of Fruits and Vegetable Crops: Recent Management Approaches covers certain basic aspects of knowledge on diagnostic symptoms, modes of perpetuation and dissemination of pathogens, favorable conditions for disease development, and the latest management strategies for disease prevention and mitigation in vegetable crops, fruit crops, and plantation crops. With chapters written by experts working on specific fruit and vegetables disease, the volume covers many vegetable and fruit crops, including pineapples, grapes, apples, guava, litchi, potatoes, peas, beans, ginger and turmeric, and many more. Each chapter reviews the specific diseases relevant to the crop and their management and includes recent research findings. The information presented here will be valuable for plant protection officers, district horticulture officers, and other government personnel in the directorates and agencies of agriculture, horticulture and plant protection, as well as plant protection experts, vegetable specialists, and others.

If there was ever a time to make the most of American hemp, our newest cash crop, the time is now. The blueprint is here; you're reading it.-Governor Jesse Ventura December of 2018 marked a largely unprecedented victory for cannabis. The 2018 Farm Bill passed and with it hemp became legal. What the federal government listed for decades as a schedule 1 narcotic was finally classified as an agricultural crop, giving great promise to the rise of a new American hemp industry. Filled with catchall research, American Hemp examines what this new domestic crop can be used for, what makes it a superior product, and what made it illegal in the first place; the book also delves into the many health and medical benefits of the plant. Hobbs weighs in on how hemp can improve existing industries, from farming to energy to 3D printing, plus how it can make a serious impact on climate change by removing toxins from the soil and by decreasing our dependence on plastics and fossil fuels. The table of contents includes: CHAPTER 1: How to Identify Hemp CHAPTER 2: History of Hemp CHAPTER 3: Hemp as a Wartime Crop CHAPTER 4: The Return of American Hemp CHAPTER 5: Hemp Disrupts American Farming CHAPTER 6: Hemp Health and Nutrition CHAPTER 7: Hemp-CBD: A Super Medication CHAPTER 8: Hemp Cures Poisoned Land CHAPTER 9: The EPA Is Not Your Friend CHAPTER 10: Clean Up with Hemp CHAPTER 11: Building with Hemp CHAPTER 12: Our Future with Hemp American Hemp lays out where we are as a nation on expanding this entirely new (yet ancient) domestic industry while optimistically reasoning that by sowing hemp, we can grow a better future and save the planet in the process.

Plants often encounter abiotic stresses including drought, salinity, flooding, high/low temperatures, and metal toxicity, among others. The majority of these stresses occur simultaneously and thus limit crop production. Therefore, the need of the hour is to improve the abiotic stresses tolerance of crop plants by integrating physiology, omics, and modern breeding approaches. This book covers various aspects including (1) abiotic stress responses in plants and progress made so far in the allied areas for trait improvements, (2) integrates knowledge gained from basic physiology to advanced omics tools to assist new breeding technologies, and (3) discusses key genes, proteins, and metabolites or pathways for developing new crop varieties with improved tolerance traits.

Plants often encounter abiotic stresses including drought, salinity, flooding, high/low temperatures, and metal toxicity, among others. The majority of these stresses occur simultaneously and thus limit crop production. Therefore, the need of the hour is to improve the abiotic stresses tolerance of crop plants by integrating physiology, omics, and modern breeding approaches. This book covers various aspects including (1) abiotic stress responses in plants and progress made so far in the allied areas for trait improvements, (2) integrates knowledge gained from basic physiology to advanced omics tools to assist new breeding technologies, and (3) discusses key genes, proteins, and metabolites or pathways for developing new crop varieties with improved tolerance traits.

This book is an elaborate account of the effects of abiotic stressors on cereals crops. It not only discusses the impacts of abiotic stress on the crops but also the physiological, biochemical, and molecular strategies applied in plant of cereal crops to alleviate the detrimental effects of abiotic stressors. The book also elaborates on various molecular response to the abiotic stress. It is a knowledgebase providing readers latest updates on development of high-performance diagnostics, stress induced responses, genomics, phenomics and metabolomics involved in abiotic stress tolerance of cereal food crops. The book is useful for plant scientists and research scholars. Post graduate students of agriculture sciences, plant physiology, botany and biochemistry also benefit from this compilation.

Ethanol as an alternative fuel is receiving a lot of attention because it addresses concerns related to dwindling oil supplies, energy independence, and climate change. The majority of the ethanol in the US is produced from corn starch. With the US Department of Energy's target that 30% of the fuel in the US is produced from renewable resources by 2030, the anticipated demand for corn starch will quickly exceed the current production of corn. This, plus the concern that less grain will become available for food and feed purposes, necessitates the use of other feedstocks for the production of ethanol. For the very same reasons, there is increasing research activity and growing interest in many other biomass crops. Genetic Improvement of Bio-Energy Crops focuses on the production of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass, which includes corn stover, biomass from dedicated annual and perennial energy crops, and trees as well as a number of important biomass crops. The biomass is typically pretreated through thermochemical processing to make it more amenable to hydrolysis with cellulolytic enzymes. The enzymatic hydrolysis yields monomeric sugars that can be fermented to ethanol by micro-organisms. While much emphasis has been placed on the optimization of thermo-chemical pretreatment processes, production of more efficient hydrolytic enzymes, and the development of robust microbial strains, relatively little effort has been dedicated to the improvement of the biomass itself.

Global food security is increasingly challenging in light of population increase, the impact of climate change on crop production, and limited land available for agricultural expansion. Plant breeding and other agricultural technologies have contributed considerably for food and nutritional security over the last few decades. Genetic engineering approaches are powerful tools that we have at our disposal to overcome substantial obstacles in the way of efficiency and productivity of current agricultural practices. Genome engineering via CRISPR/Cas9, Cpf1, base editing and prime editing, and OMICs through genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, phenomics, an metabolomics have helped to discover underlying mechanisms controlling traits of economic importance. Principle and Practices of OMICs and Genome Editing for Crop Improvement provides recent research from eminent scholars from around the world, from various geographical regions, with established expertise on genome editing and OMICs technologies. This book offers a wide range of information on OMICs techniques and their applications to develop biotic, abiotic and climate resilient crops, metabolomics and next generation sequencing for sustainable crop production, integration bioinformatics, and multi-omics for precision plant breeding. Other topics include application of genome editing technologies for food and nutritional security, speed breeding, hybrid seed production, resource use efficiency, epigenetic modifications, transgene free breeding, database and bioinformatics for genome editing, and regulations adopted by various countries around globe for genome edited crops. Both OMICs and genome editing are vigorously utilized by researchers for crop improvement programs; however, there is limited literature available in a single source. This book provides a valuable resource not only for students at undergraduate and postgraduate level but also for researchers, stakeholders, policy makers, and practitioners interested in the potential of genome editing and OMICs for crop improvement programs.

Advances in Agronomy continues to be recognized as a leading reference and first-rate source for the latest research in agronomy. Each volume contains an eclectic group of reviews by leading scientists throughout the world. Six volumes are published yearly, ensuring that the esteemed work of its contributors is disseminated in a timely manner. As always, the subjects covered are varied and exemplary of the myriad of subject matter dealt with by this long-running serial.

The safety of agri-food supply chains remains under constant threat from risks such as food adulteration, malicious contamination, microbiological and chemical hazards, as well as the presence of foreign bodies in food products. Developing smart agri-food supply chains: Using technology to improve safety and quality provides an authoritative assessment of recent developments to improve safety and quality at key points in the agri-food supply chain. This collection provides a comprehensive coverage of the methods used in tracking and traceability (including detecting genetically-modified organisms in food products), ways of assessing product integrity, dealing with malicious contamination as well as quality assessment and ensuring transparency in supply chains. Edited by Professor Louise Manning, Royal Agricultural University, UK, Developing smart agri-food supply chains: Using technology to improve safety and quality will be a standard reference for those researching food safety, agri-food logistics and supply chains in universities or other research centres, as well as government and commercial agencies responsible for safety and quality monitoring of agri-food supply chains. It will also be a key reference for supply chain actors, from farmers to food processors and retailers.

Although biochar has promise as a soil toxicity remedy, limited research is available, as well as books that summarize the current understanding of this topic. Using herbicides is a fundamental part of the current agricultural model and without the use of these products, food security is threatened on a global scale. Biochar is getting much attention in Korea and Brazil. The book would be of interest in these countries. This subject area has been highlighted due to the increased public concerns around pesticides and their fate in the environment.

Advances in Agronomy continues its reputation as a leading reference and first-rate source for the latest research in agronomy. Each volume contains an eclectic group of reviews by leading scientists throughout the world. Five volumes are published yearly, ensuring that the authors' contributions are disseminated to the readership in a timely manner. As always, the subjects covered are varied and exemplary of the myriad of subject matter dealt with by this long-running serial.

Environmental Stress Conditions in Soybean Production: Soybean Production, Volume Two, examines the impact of conditions on final crop yield and identifies core issues and methods to address concerns. As climate and soil quality changes and issues continue to manifest around the world, methods of ensuring sustainable crop production is imperative. The care and treatment of the soil nutrients, how water availability and temperature interact with both soil and plant, and what new means of crop protection are being developed make this an important resource for those focusing on this versatile crop. The book is a complement to volume one, Abiotic and Biotic Stresses in Soybean Production, providing further insights into crop protection.

Sorghum Biochemistry: An Industrial Perspective explores the many uses for sorghum in industry and biofuels. Not only does it offer a detailed understanding of the physical and biochemical qualities of the grain, it also takes an in-depth look at the role sorghum plays in such industries as brewing and ethanol production and the mechanics of post-harvest processing and value addition. Sorghum has long been an important staple in Africa and Asia, but its value goes far beyond its uses in human and animal consumption. Sorghum is also used in many industries, including waxes, packing material, wall board, ethanol, beverages, and brewing, and one variety called sweet sorghum has also been used as a bioenergy crop. Sorghum Biochemistry: An Industrial Perspective offers a closer look at how the grain is used in such a variety of ways, and how we can continue to optimize its potential.

Phenotyping Crop Plants for Physiological and Biochemical Traits presents a proven range of methodologies and practices for effective, efficient, and appropriate typing of crop plants. By addressing the basic principles and precautions needed when conducting crop-based experiments, this book guides the reader in selecting the appropriate method based on the growing environment, whether greenhouse, pot, field, or liquid (hydroponic). By addressing the quantification of seed traits related to growth experiments, including their viability and vigor, this book presents methodology options for optimum yield based on potential abiotic stresses.

A Guide to Filtration with String Wound Cartridges: Influence of Winding Parameters on Filtration Behaviour of String Wound Filter Cartridges explains the science behind winding phenomena with reference to the use of string wound cartridges in various environments, and is helpful in educating aspiring researchers and technicians on these new technologies that seek to quell the ongoing scarcity of water through the use of new and emerging filtration techniques. The book provides detailed information about cartridge winding parameters, the number of layers put on the cartridge, their necessary availability, and the retention capacity and pressure drop. In addition, the book provides guidelines regarding the selection of winding variables so that new cartridges that cater to the specific porosity of different sized particles can be developed.

This long-needed book highlights how traditional Mexican agriculture has changed according to environmental, climatic, geographical, social and cultural conditions. Grounded in archaeological-historical data from interrelated research of various scientific disciplines, the book also draws on studies made by anthropologists of varied small-scale agricultural groups. Traditional Mexican Agriculture is the result of a holistic study of Mexican agriculture. It offers the reader a perspective of traditional agriculture in Mexico from social, cultural and ecological Anthropology, Ethnology, regional and environmental History, and Agroecology, to help obtain sustainable agroecology where human societies obtain better ways of life and a healthy and nutritious food system. The book further aims to recover ideas, management, and components of local knowledge of small-scale farmers. Pitched at university students and academics, as well as researchers and developers of agricultural matters, this book will be ideal reading at agrarian universities and related institutions. It provides a basis for future studies in sustainable agricultural systems in this region.

This new volume, Biofertilizers and Biopesticides in Sustainable Agriculture, presents strategies for the management of soil and crop diseases. Microbes have attracted worldwide attention due to their role in disease management and remediation of polluted soils. Taking a sustainable approach, this book explores the means of integrating various microbial management approaches to achieve the desired levels of crop yield under both conventional soils and neglected soils through the use of biopesticides and other botanicals as well as biomolecules. This book also presents a broad and updated view of molecular nitrogen fixation and phosphate-solubilizing and sulfur-transforming microbes for nutrition of crops in relation to the role of metal tolerant microbes in providing protection to plants grown in metal-contaminated soils. The preparation and application of biofertilizers, utilization of household waste materials, and use of genetically modified microorganisms (GMOs) in plant growth and development are also well discussed in the volume.