Sugarcane is the most important plant source for sugar and alcohol production and is cultivated in more than 80 countries in tropical and subtropical areas. However, environmental factors negatively influence its yield and jeopardize the prospect to meet the increasing demand for sugar, other sugarcane derived by products and bioethanol. The development of stress tolerant plants is fundamental for the maintenance and increase of crop yields. Biotechnology to Enhance Sugarcane Productivity and Stress Tolerance provides a comprehensive account of both theoretical and practical aspects of sugarcane production. It contains extensive coverage of genome mapping and molecular breeding in sugarcane and presents the status of the elucidation and improvement of plant genomes of economic interest. Through 14 chapters written by eminent scientists with global influence, this book examines various methods for sugarcane improvement through biotechnology. The book focuses on genetic and physical mapping, positioning, cloning, and monitoring of desirable genes using biotechnological approaches for high sugarcane productivity and the development of stress tolerance. Additional information includes the bioengineering of sugarcane, procedures to boost productivity, genetics and assessments for resistance to drought and salinity, genetics for high yields, and various topics of research on sugarcane genetics. It serves as a detailed reference source for cane growers, sugar and sugarcane technologists, students, and professors.

This book is the first comprehensive compilation of existing knowledge on the impact of cisgenic crops on biodiversity, environment, and ecosystem. Strategies to create and access cisgenic crops, potential risks assessment, and legal implications across the globe (European Union, North and South Americas, Africa, and Asia) are enumerated. Ethics, economics, safety, social concerns, and consumer acceptance of cisgenic foods are deliberated. Policy paradigm and ways to overcome GM regulations through cisgenic crops are highlighted. The book has 12 chapters authored by internationally leading experts on the subject. This book will be useful especially for the policy makers and GMO regulators, while the students, teachers, and researchers from across the globe will be equally benefited.

Completely updated with new content and full-colour figures throughout, the second edition of this successful book continues to provide complete coverage relating to the production of cucurbits, including cucumbers, gourds, muskmelons, pumpkins, squashes and watermelons. These crops are grown worldwide and represent one of the largest and most important groups of horticultural food plants. This second edition of Cucurbits provides up-to-date, succinct and authoritative knowledge on this variety of crops and reflects on significant advances in the areas of production, breeding and evolution. This new edition: - Contains new chapters on abiotic stresses and cucurbits for health - Includes major updates in research on the evolution, movement and distribution of species - Explores new genetic resources and breeding advancements - Delivers current information on methods of improving yield (e.g. grafting) and the management and resistance for pests and diseases - Has an updated list of the most recent taxonomic names This book represents a current and comprehensive guide to cucurbits, is highly illustrated and written in an accessible style. It is an essential resource for students, growers and researchers.

This is the first volume in a three volume comprehensive reference work presenting detailed information on the breeding of horticultural crops. In a systematic way, the work presents: the history and commercial importance of each fruit, the origin and early development of cultivation, regional characteristics, breeding objectives, fruit characteristics such as color and shape, and disease resistance. Volume 1 deals with tree fruits: Apples, Apricots, Avocado, Banana/Plantain, Cherry, Peach, Pear, and Plum.

Advances in Agronomy, Volume 144, the newest release in a serial that continues to be recognized as a leading reference and first-rate source for the latest research in agronomy presents new information on the following topics: An Important Tool with No Instruction Manual: A Review of Gypsum Use in Agriculture, Preventive Weed Management in Direct-Seeded Rice: Targeting the Weed Seedbank, Current Approaches and Future Trends in Compost Quality Criteria for Agronomic, Environmental and Human Health Benefits, and Grain Legume Production and Use in European Agricultural Systems. This highly regarded series contains an eclectic group of reviews by leading scientists throughout the world. As always, the subjects covered are rich, varied and comprehensively covered.

Plant Hormones in Crop Improvement examines the signaling pathways and mechanisms associated with phytohormones, with particular focus on stress resilience. The growing population of world and unpredictable climate puts pressure on the agriculture production. Current constraints such as increasing temperatures, drought, salinity, cold, nutrient deficiency, along with biotic interactions trigger exquisitely tuned responsive mechanisms in plants. The main coordinators of all stress-related mechanisms are phytohormones, which can be transported over long distances and play a significant role in controlling physiological, agronomic and growth traits, metabolites and sustained crop productivity. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms influencing the stress responses mediated by phytohormones is crucial to ensure the continuity of agricultural production and food security. This book aims to address sustainable agricultural approaches to improve biotic and abiotic stress resilience in crop plants, covering different topics from perception and signaling plant hormones to physiological and molecular changes under different cues. Plant Hormones in Crop Improvement is an essential read for students, researchers and agriculturalists interested in plant physiology, plant genetics and crop yield improvement.

This volume responds to the growing interest in adopting aerial robots (UAVs, or drones) for agricultural crop production, which are revolutionizing farming methods worldwide. The book provides a detailed review of 250 UAVs that examines their usefulness in enhancing profitability, yield, and quality of crop production. Recent trends indicate an increase in agricultural drone production and use. Millions of dollars have been invested in start-ups that produce agro-drones in the past several years. North America, Europe, China, and the Far East have excelled in offering a large number of UAV models. Some of them are versatile, a few are specific, and many of them are low cost. With so many drone models (over 1200) available, how do farmers and agricultural specialists choose the models best for them? This compendium examines the most useful drones and provides the pertinent details about each drone, its producer, cost incurred, and its pros and cons. It covers their technical specifications, suitability for various purposes, previous performances in farms, and possible benefits to farmers. It covers fixed-wing drones, fixed-winged (hybrid) VTOL helicopters, multi-copters, tilted-wing drones, etc. The book includes a few drones meant more for military or other purposes (e.g. recreation/fun) but that could be easily modified and adapted for the farming sector. The reviews compare activities among the UAVs, such aerial imagery of crops, ability to provide spectral analyses to collect useful data about a crop's growth patterns, and how they can be used to gauge crop canopy temperature (i.e. water stress index), determine grain maturity, and much more.

The common fig Ficus carica L. is an ancient fruit native to the Mediterranean. Dried figs have been successfully produced and processed in arid regions with little sophisticated infrastructure for centuries. Figs are rich in fibre, trace minerals, polyphenols and vitamins, with higher nutrient levels than most fruits. Advances in agricultural production and postharvest technologies have not only improved the efficiency of dried fig production but have facilitated the development of high value fresh fig industries both for export and domestic markets. The result is high quality fresh figs that are marketed internationally throughout the year. This book provides a comprehensive summary of fig growing, processing and marketing from a scientific and horticultural perspective. It is comprised of 19 chapters that include in-depth discussions of: History of fig cultivation; Physiology; Breeding and cultivars; Propagation; Site selection and orchard establishment; Nutrition and irrigation management; Pollination management; Integrated pest management; Greenhouse production; Harvesting, dried and fresh fig processing; The medicinal uses of figs; and World fig markets. The Fig: Botany, Production and Uses is a comprehensive applied resource for academic researchers, as well as producers, processors, and marketers of dried and fresh figs.

Crop Physiology: Case Histories of Major Crops updates the physiology of broad-acre crops with a focus on the genetic, environmental and management drivers of development, capture and efficiency in the use of radiation, water and nutrients, the formation of yield and aspects of quality. These physiological process are presented in a double context of challenges and solutions. The challenges to increase plant-based food, fodder, fiber and energy against the backdrop of population increase, climate change, dietary choices and declining public funding for research and development in agriculture are unprecedented and urgent. The proximal technological solutions to these challenges are genetic improvement and agronomy. Hence, the premise of the book is that crop physiology is most valuable when it engages meaningfully with breeding and agronomy. With contributions from 92 leading scientists from around the world, each chapter deals with a crop: maize, rice, wheat, barley, sorghum and oat; quinoa; soybean, field pea, chickpea, peanut, common bean, lentil, lupin and faba bean; sunflower and canola; potato, cassava, sugar beet and sugarcane; and cotton.

Many biological studies on insect management do not consider economics or fundamental economic principles. This book brings together economists and entomologists to explain the principles, successes, and challenges of effective insect management. It highlights the importance of economic analyses for decision making and the feasibility of such approaches, and examines integrated pest management (IPM) practices from around the world with an emphasis on agriculture and public health. The book begins by establishing an economic framework upon which to apply the principles of IPM. It continues to examine the entomological applications of economics, specifically, economic analyses concerning chemical, biological, and genetic control tactics as well as host plant resistance and the cost of sampling and is illustrated with case studies of economic-based IPM programs from around the world.

Root and tuber crops are important to agriculture, food security and income for 2.2 billion people in developing countries. These species produce large quantities of dietary energy and have stable yields under difficult environmental conditions. This second edition of Tropical Root and Tuber Crops is an authoritative treatment of four important root and tuber crops: cassava. sweet potato, yams, and aroids. The same format is followed for each crop: Origin and History, Taxonomy and Botany, Breeding and Genetics, Developmental Physiology, Agronomy, Pests and Diseases, Post-Harvest Quality and Marketing. This new edition reviews the scientific literature produced during the last decade and presents major technical advancements. Modern molecular tools have been used to clarify the phylogeny, taxonomy and origin of these species. Similar advances have been made in physiology, agronomy, pathology and product chemistry. It is essential reading for students, researchers and horticulturists.

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.

Advances in Agronomy, Volume 178, the latest release in this leading reference on agronomy, contains a variety of updates and highlights new advances in the field, with each chapter written by an international board of authors.

Agroforestry is a land use system that allows for the concurrent production of trees and agricultural crops and/or animals from the same piece of land. It has a rich history of development and has been practised in some parts of the world for more than 6,000 years. In 1997, CABI published the seminal book on this subject, Temperate Agroforestry Systems, which was a break from the norm as almost all agroforestry texts up to that date were only relevant to tropical areas. The book explored the development of temperate agroforestry and agroforestry systems, concentrating on those areas within temperate zones where the greatest advances, adoptions and modifications had taken place up to that time: North and South America, China, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. This second fully-updated and expanded edition includes additional chapters on India and Chile and, as a result of ongoing advances in the field, separate chapters on the US, Canada, the UK and continental Europe. Today's challenges of climate change, population growth and food security, in concert with the ongoing global requirement for the energy and water needed for a resilient agricultural paradigm, can be met through the wide-scale adoption of agroforestry practices, in both tropical regions and temperate zones. The 2nd edition ofTemperate Agroforestry Systems brings together many examples of temperate agroforestry and will make valuable reading for all those working in this area as researchers, practitioners and policy makers. The book is also of importance to students and teachers of agriculture, ecology, environmental studies and forestry in temperate regions.

This comprehensive reference delivers key information on all aspects of sunflower. With over 20 chapters, this book provides an extensive review of the latest developments in sunflower genetics, breeding, processing, quality, and utilization; including food, energy and industrial bioproduct applications. World-renowned experts in this field review U.S. and international practices, production, and processing aspects of sunflower.

In light of public concerns about sustainable food production, the necessity for human and environmental protection, along with the evolution of herbicide resistant weeds, call for a review of current weed control strategies. Sustainable weed control requires an integrated approach based on knowledge of each crop and the weeds that threaten it. This book will be an invaluable source of information for scholars, growers, consultants, researchers and other stakeholders dealing with either arable, row, cash, vegetables, orchards or even grassland-based production systems. The uniqueness of this book comes from the balanced coverage of herbicide effects on humans and environment in relation to best weed control practices of the most important cropping systems worldwide. Furthermore, it amalgamates and discusses the most appropriate, judicious and suitable weed control strategies for a wide range of crops. It reviews the available information and suggests solutions that are not merely feasible but also optimal.

New technologies are becoming available for managing glyphosate resistant (GR) weeds and reducing their spread. GR crop technology has revolutionized crop production in the developed world and the benefits are gradually spilling over to the developing world. In order to sustain an effective, environmentally safe herbicide such as glyphosate and the GR crop technology well in to the future, it is imperative that the issue of GR weeds be comprehensively understood. This book provides such an essential, up-to-date source of information on glyphosate resistance for researchers, extension workers, land managers, government personnel, and other decision makers. * Provides comprehensive coverage of the intensely studied topic of glyphosate resistant (GR) in crops * Details the development of glyphosate resistance and how to detect and manage the problem in crops * Helps standardize global approaches to glyphosate resistance * Encompasses interdisciplinary approaches in chemistry, weed science, biochemistry, plant physiology, plant biotechnology, genetics, ecology * Includes a chapter on economic analysis of GR impact on crops

Advances in Agronomy continues to be recognized as a leading reference and a first-rate source for the latest research in agronomy. As always, the subjects covered are varied and exemplary of the myriad of subject matter dealt with by this long-running serial

The Plant Hormone Ethylene: Stress Acclimation and Agricultural Applications presents current knowledge on our understanding of ethylene perception and signaling, its role in the regulation of plant physiological processes, and its contribution to acclimation in stressful environments. Plants regularly face environmental constraints due to their immobile nature. In persistently changing environmental conditions, several stress factors influence cellular metabolism, ultimately causing reduced plant growth and development with a significant loss in agricultural productivity. Sustainable agriculture depends on the acclimation of plant processes to the changing environment through altered physiological and molecular responses, which are controlled by plant hormones, including ethylene. Ethylene interacts with other plant hormones and signaling molecules to regulate several cellular processes, plant growth and development, and, ultimately, crop productivity. This book begins with an introduction to ethylene before providing a detailed study of the latest findings on the role of ethylene in plants, including its role in photosynthetic processes, flower development, leaf senescence, nutrients acquisition, and regulation of abiotic stress responses as well as its application in agriculture. The book is an ideal guide for researchers exploring plant physiology and biochemistry as well as for those investigating the use of ethylene knowledge in agriculture in persistently changing environmental conditions.

From climate change to farming systems to genetic modification of organisms, Crop Physiology, Second Edition provides a practical tool for understanding the relationships and challenges of successful cropping. With a focus on genetic improvement and agronomy, this book addresses the challenges of environmentally sound production of bulk and quality food, fodder, fiber, and energy which are of ongoing international concern. The second edition of Crop Physiology continues to provide a unique analysis of these topics while reflecting important changes and advances in the relevant science and implementation systems. Contemporary agriculture confronts the challenge of increasing demand in terms of quantitative and qualitative production targets. These targets have to be achieved against the background of soil and water scarcity, worldwide and regional shifts in the patterns of land use driven by both climate change and the need to develop crop-based sources of energy, and the environmental and social aspects of agricultural sustainability.

"Emerging Technologies and Management of Crop Stress Tolerance: Volume II - A Sustainable Approach" helps readers take technological measures to alleviate plant stress and improve crop production in various environmental conditions.

This resource provides a comprehensive review of how technology can be implemented to improve plant stress tolerance to increase productivity and meet the agricultural needs of the growing human population. The book considers issues of deforestation, disease prevention, climate change and drought, water and land management, and more. It will help any scientist better understand environmental stresses to improve resource management within a world of limited resources.
Includes the most recent advances methods and applications of biotechnology to crop sciencePromotes the prevention of potential diseases to inhibit bacteria postharvest quality of fruits and vegetable crops by advancing application and researchPresents a thorough account of research results and critical reviews

The common fig (Ficus carica L.) is one of the oldest fruits domesticated by humans, and is native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean. Figs have been associated with health and prosperity since ancient times. They are rich in fibre, potassium, calcium, and iron, as well as being an important source of vitamins, amino acids, and antioxidants. In recent years, increased consumption has caused fig production to shift to new countries such as Mexico, Brazil, India, and China. However, fig is a challenging fruit crop to grow. It is susceptible to insect pests and diseases as well as injuries from abiotic stress during fruit development and ripening. As a delicate fruit it also requires complicated postharvest procedures and climate change presents additional challenges. Comprising 29 chapters written by international experts, the book includes sections on: History Biology and Orchard Management Fruit Ripening and Postharvest Management Pests and Diseases Omics Analysis Cultivars and Breeding Products and Trade. This volume serves as a comprehensive reference for current and future practices of fig production, consumption, research and innovation, and is essential for academic researchers, and those involved in research and development in the fig industry.