This book examines the most up-to-date research in the agricultural field. Chapter One reviews the role of plant cuticle in the postharvest of fruits and vegetables. Chapter Two provides a critical comparison between some emergent methods for bioactive compound extraction from fruits and vegetables residues. Chapter Three analyses the effect of exogenous abscisic acid spray on phenolic and scavenging free radical activity of olives during storage. Chapter Four studies the sustainable production of maguey (Agave salmiana) to improve the mezcal agroindustry competitiveness. Chapter Five describes the structure, sources, properties and potential applications of cereal arabinoxylans. Chapter Six focuses on the problems that arise from the wide use of pharmaceutical drugs and their entry routes to the natural systems. Chapter Seven describes the effect of a microwave-assisted hydrolytic treatment on the degradability of shrimp exoskeletons.

This book examines the most up-to-date research in the agricultural field. Chapter One analyses the achievements, applications, potential and the future avenues of bioenergy production from sugarcane. Chapter Two discusses the importance of humic substances for soil quality and plant protection. Chapter Three studies corn production intercropping with the fodder plant Urochloa brizantha in different production systems. Chapter Four reviews the potential applications of the hydrolysates for the production of fuels and valuable chemicals. Chapter Five describes the characteristics, cultivation techniques, and post-harvest management of red kiwifruit. Chapter Six discusses the importance and methods for valorisation of five different fruits of the forest. Chapter Seven reports the development of an efficient and affordable micro-irrigation system that could help enhance farm productivity especially during conditions where water supply is very limiting.

This book examines the most up-to-date research in the agricultural field. Chapter One reviews the use of agricultural waste as potential feedstock for activated carbon development. Chapter Two presents the potential uses of chlorogenic acid from vegetables and industrial waste. Chapter Three provides an overview consuming antioxidants from fruits and vegetables for sustainable human wellness. Chapter Four analyses advances in fruit growing technology. Chapter Five focuses on plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) mediated plant disease resistance.

Cassava produces about 10 times more carbohydrates than most cereals per unit area, and are ideal for production in marginal and drought prone areas. Cassava, which originated from tropical South America, is a perennial woody shrub with an edible root, which today is grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world where it provides energy food and serves as a veritable source of food and income for over a billion people. This handbook provides new research on the production, consumption and potential uses of cassava.

This is the story of the bean, the staple food cultivated by humans for over 10,000 years. From the lentil to the soybean, every civilization on the planet has cultivated its own species of bean. The humble bean has always attracted attention - from Pythagoras' notion that the bean hosted a human soul to St. Jerome's indictment against bean-eating in convents (because they "tickle the genitals"), to current research into the deadly toxins contained in the most commonly eaten beans. Over time, the bean has been both scorned as "poor man's meat" and praised as health-giving, even patriotic. Attitudes to this most basic of foodstuffs have always revealed a great deal about a society. Featuring a new preface from author Ken Albala, Beans: A History takes the reader on a fascinating journey across cuisines and cultures.

Water is the most limiting factor for irrigated agriculture in arid and semi-arid areas of European Mediterranean countries. In this book, the authors' explore the different mechanisms and robust tools to monitor plant-water status, with the aim of keeping crops within a certain threshold of moderate-to-mild water stress. Other chapters include research on agricultural techniques in semi-arid environments that would benefit the surrounding environment and impact soil management. The third chapter includes site-specific documentation of landforms developed in the Ejina Basin in Central Asia and its implications for late quaternary landscape evolution and palaeoenvironmental change. The fourth chapter focuses on the links between economic value addition, demographics, personal income and entrepreneurship in selected South African towns. The last chapter reviews thirty years of ecological monitoring in Algerian arid rangelands.

Crop nutrition is an essential discipline of plant science of crop production. The importance of crop nutrition for increasing yield and the quality of crops is difficult to explain. In simple words, crop nutrition is the study of uptake and utilization of elements for the growth and development of crop plants. This book includes the classification of essential nutrients in various aspects with special emphasis on the physiological and biochemical functions, and their uptake process through the membrane. Much emphasis has been given on the root structure and rhizosphere in relation to nutrient uptake and their assimilation in the cellular level. The goal of this book is to establish a thorough understanding of plant nutrition. It is a textbook for agriculturists, researchers in the field of crop science, students', and academicians and for crop cultivators as a whole. Finally, it is a consolidated book, comprising different areas of plant nutrition and the stakeholders will benefit from a book like this.

Tomatoes are a $2-billion industry in the United States. The commercially grown varieties are intended to ship well and have a long shelf life, but how do they actually taste? In the search for a superior alternative to bland and mealy grocery-store tomatoes, horticultural scientist Harry Klee and renowned taste researcher Linda Bartoshuk teamed up and embarked on a mission to find a specimen that will have you thinking you just picked it in your own back yard. Gatorbytes highlight for the intellectually-curious the world of innovative research happening at the University of Florida. Written by professional journalists, Gatorbytes feature the top research and preeminence work being conducted at the University of Florida, written in a way that's easy to understand.

Major world oil crops and their products are among the most valuable commodity in today's world trade. Over the past couple of decades, oilseed production has increased to become the most important world sources of vegetable oils, in response to the rising world population and living standard. Recent technological advances made in breeding major world oil crops have led to higher production and improved product quality.This comprehensive volume encompasses recent innovations and practice in the production and use of different oil crops, including Brassica, Sunflower, Safflower, Cottonseed, Castor, Olive, Coconut, Oilpalm, Sesame, Groundnut, and Soybean. The contributors are leading specialists from different countries of the world. Much of the literature available on these crops is not up-to-date; hence this volume is a ready reference for researchers, breeders, biotechnologists, industrialists, and nutritionists. Dr. Surinder Kumpar Gupta, born in 1959, is currently working as Professor/Chief Scientist (Oilseeds) Plant Breeding & Genetics and Nodal officer in the School of Biotechnology, S K University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology. He holds a brilliant academic and service record and has been devoted to research on Oilseed Brassicas for nearly two decades. He obtained his post-graduate degree and PhD from Punjab Agricultural University. He is a recipient of a post-doctoral Fellowship in Plant Biotechnology and has published more than 100 research papers in esteemed national and international journals, mostly on Brassicas. He has already developed five varieties of rapeseed-mustard, and has written two books and edited three volumes on rapeseed & mustard breeding. For his excellent scientific endeavors, he has been conferred the 'Young Scientists Award: 1993-1994' by the State Department of Science & Technology.

U.S. farmers grow over 350 types of fruit, vegetable, tree nut, flower, nursery, and other horticultural crops in addition to the major bulk commodity crops. Speciality crop producers are ineligible for the federal commodity price and income support programs that benefit commodity crop producers (e.g. grains and cotton); however, they are eligible for other types of USDA support. Unlike federal support for commodity crops, support for speciality crops spans a wide range of existing USDA programs, many of which also provide support to other agricultural commodities. These include marketing and promotion programs, crop insurance and disaster assistance, plant pest and disease protections, trade assistance, and research and extension services. This book examines speciality crop federal programs and insurance with a focus on their background and legislative proposals.

Biotechnology crop production area increased from 1.7 million hectares to 148 million hectares worldwide between 1996 to 2010. While genetically modified food is a contentious issue, the debates are usually limited to health and environmental concerns, ignoring the broader questions of social control that arise when food production methods become corporate-owned intellectual property. Drawing on legal documents and dozens of interviews with farmers and other stakeholders, Corporate Crops covers four case studies based around litigation between biotechnology corporations and farmers. Pechlaner investigates the extent to which the proprietary aspects of biotechnologies-from patents on seeds to a plethora of new rules and contractual obligations associated with the technologies-are reorganizing crop production. The lawsuits include patent infringement litigation launched by Monsanto against a Saskatchewan canola farmer who, in turn, claimed his crops had been involuntarily contaminated by the company's GM technology; a class action application by two Saskatchewan organic canola farmers launched against Monsanto and Aventis (later Bayer) for the loss of their organic market due to contamination with GMOs; and two cases in Mississippi in which Monsanto sued farmers for saving seeds containing its patented GM technology. Pechlaner argues that well-funded corporate lawyers have a decided advantage over independent farmers in the courts and in creating new forms of power and control in agricultural production. Corporate Crops demonstrates the effects of this intersection between the courts and the fields where profits, not just a food supply, are reaped.

The 5th International Symposium on the Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf covers all aspects of molecular breeding of forage and turf plants, from gene discovery, functional genomics, molecular genetics and marker technology, marker-assisted selection, transgenesis to transgenic molecular breeding; address applications - among others - for enhanced quality, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses; relating to forage grasses, forage legumes, their bacterial and fungal endosymbionts, as well as turf grasses.

The Symposium includes keynote presentations from international science leaders in the above fields and offer abstracts in the following topics - breeding and functional genomics for tolerance to biotic stress, - Molecular breeding and functional genomics for tolerance to abiotic stress, - Molecular genetics and modification of flowering and reproductive development, - Genomics of plant-symbiont relations, - Molecular breeding for animal, human and environmental welfare, - Development and Application of molecular technologies in forage and turf improvement, - Bioinformatics-bringing data to a usable form for breeders, - Population and quantitative genetic aspects of molecular breeding, - Gene manipulation, field testing, risk assessment and biosafety, - Intellectual property rights for molecular tools or marker systems.

"Organic Crop Breeding" provides readers with a thorough review of the latest efforts by crop breeders and geneticists to develop improved varieties for organic production. The book opens with chapters looking at breeding efforts that focus on specific valuable traits such as quality, pest and disease resistance as well as the impacts improved breeding efforts can have on organic production. The second part of the book is a series of crop specific case studies that look at breeding efforts currently underway from around the world in crops ranging from carrots to corn. "Organic Crop Breeding" includes chapters from leading researchers in the field and is carefully edited by two pioneers in the field.

"Organic Crop Breeding" provides valuable insight for crop breeders, geneticist, crop science professionals, researchers, and advanced students in this quickly emerging field.