New evidence that the ancient Mayas practiced intensive, often irrigated, agriculture on a massive scale has forced revision in current thinking about that civilization. Yet, little study has focused on the heirs of this agricultural tradition; in areas of highland Guatemala, Mayan farmers today carry on forms of intensive, irrigated horticulture t

Plant Breeding Reviews, Volume 24, Part 1 presents state-of-the-art reviews on plant genetics and the breeding of all types of crops by both traditional means and molecular methods. The emphasis of the series is on methodology, a practical understanding of crop genetics, and applications to major crops.

A Produce Reference Guide to Fruits and Vegetables from Around the World: Nature's Harvest answers the many questions consumers have about various fruits and vegetables. Providing basic, clear, and understandable information for each produce item, this reference guide gives you a synopsis of the fruit or vegetable, a short history of the item, the common and uncommon name, what it looks and tastes like, how it is used, and the time of year it is available. Information on nutrition, serving sizes, yields, and optimal storage conditions is also provided. From potatoes to shepherd's purse and from grapes to the Clementine tangor, A Produce Reference Guide to Fruits and Vegetables from Around the World covers both the familiar and the exotic. Other than the obvious fruits and vegetables (such as 12 varieties of cherries and 10 different kinds of squash) you?ll also read about herbs, mushrooms, sprouts, and nuts. A Produce Reference Guide to Fruits and Vegetables from Around the World is packed with useful information. From practical advice to interesting trivia, some of the things you?ll learn include: You should not eat any green parts of potatoes--it will make you sick.How to classify a peach--clingstone vs. freestone and white vs. yellow.The Texas 1015 Supersweet onion is named after its recommended planting date, October 15.Kiwis (originally from China, not Australia) contain an enzyme that tenderizes meat.Women in China once made a dye from the skin of eggplants to stain their teeth black.The famous mutiny by Captain Bligh's crew was caused by breadfruit.Gourds may have spread between continents by floating in the ocean, as they can float in sea water for 220 days without losing seed viability.The two nuts mentioned in the Bible--almonds and pistachios.As new methods in farming, storing, and shipping are allowing exotic fruits and vegetables unheard of a few years ago to become available, consumers are coming up with more and more questions that many professionals are unable to answer. A Produce Reference Guide to Fruits and Vegetables from Around the World is the tool you can use to find answers. The guide is especially useful for specialty produce outlets and wholesalers, importers/exporters of fruits and vegetables, produce brokers and buyers, supermarket and independent food store produce departments, military commissaries, and the general public.

The three-volume set IFIP AICT 368-370 constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 5th IFIP TC 5, SIG 5.1 International Conference on Computer and Computing Technologies in Agriculture, CCTA 2011, held in Beijing, China, in October 2011. The 189 revised papers presented were carefully selected from numerous submissions. They cover a wide range of interesting theories and applications of information technology in agriculture, including simulation models and decision-support systems for agricultural production, agricultural product quality testing, traceability and e-commerce technology, the application of information and communication technology in agriculture, and universal information service technology and service systems development in rural areas. The 62 papers included in the first volume focus on decision support systems, intelligent systems, and artificial intelligence applications.

Bramble Production provides growers with a basic understanding of how raspberry and blackberry plants grow and respond to changes in their environment. Author Perry Crandall includes management practices used by successful growers, making this book a helpful production guide that you can use for making rational decisions. This knowledge of successful production can be used to recommend or adopt management programs specially designed to produce optimum yields with maximum profits.Students and professionals will find Bramble Production to be a scientifically based, easy-to-understand, comprehensive discussion of all facets of berry production. The principle emphasis is on American production, but grower practices in other parts of the world are included, which makes this a valuable guide book for growers all around the world.To provide you with a thorough understanding of how to produce maximum yields, Crandall covers raspberries and blackberries individually. Each fruit has chapters on its: genetic derivation botany physiology site selection and preparation most popular varieties soil management and cultural practices insect and disease identification and control nutrient deficiency symptoms irrigation harvesting, handling, and marketing worldwide distribution Bramble Production is a valuable supplemental reference text for university, junior college, and high school instructors. Cooperative extension specialists, farm advisors, industry representatives, and research personnel can use it as a basis for diagnoses and recommendations, as can commercial growers, master gardeners, and more sophisticated or curious home gardeners.

Bramble Production provides growers with a basic understanding of how raspberry and blackberry plants grow and respond to changes in their environment. Author Perry Crandall includes management practices used by successful growers, making this book a helpful production guide that you can use for making rational decisions. This knowledge of successful production can be used to recommend or adopt management programs specially designed to produce optimum yields with maximum profits. Students and professionals will find Bramble Production to be a scientifically based, easy-to-understand, comprehensive discussion of all facets of berry production. The principle emphasis is on American production, but grower practices in other parts of the world are included, which makes this a valuable guide book for growers all around the world. To provide you with a thorough understanding of how to produce maximum yields, Crandall covers raspberries and blackberries individually.Each fruit has chapters on its: genetic derivation botany physiology site selection and preparation most popular varieties soil management and cultural practices insect and disease identification and control nutrient deficiency symptoms irrigation harvesting, handling, and marketing worldwide distributionBramble Production is a valuable supplemental reference text for university, junior college, and high school instructors. Cooperative extension specialists, farm advisors, industry representatives, and research personnel can use it as a basis for diagnoses and recommendations, as can commercial growers, master gardeners, and more sophisticated or curious home gardeners.

Perhaps the least appreciated dramatis personae in human history are plants. Humans, like all other animals, cannot produce their own food as plants do through photosynthesis, and must therefore acquire organic material for survival and growth by eating plants or by eating other animals that eat plants. Humans depend on plants not only as a food source, but also as building and clothing materials and as sources of medicines, psychoactive substances, spices, pigments, and more. With plants being such valuable resources, it is therefore not surprising that plants have been involved in practically all violent conflicts among different human societies. Ironically, plants have also been the source of materials to construct weapons or weapon parts. Wars have always constituted a large part of human history, and the overall theme of this book is that to understand the history of violent human conflict, we need to understand what specific materials plants make that people find so useful and worth fighting over, and what roles such plant products have played in specific conflicts. To do so, Plants and Human Conflict begins with a chapter explaining the basic biological facts of the interdependence between plants and humans, and the subsequent seven chapters describe the physical and chemical properties of specific plant products demonstrating how the human need for these products has led to wars as well as contributed to the prosecution of wars. These chapters recount some well-known (and some lesser known) historical events in which plants have played a central role. This book uniquely combines the modern scientific knowledge of plants with the human history of war, introducing readers to a new paradigm that will make them reconsider their understanding of human history, as well as to bring about a greater appreciation of plant biology.

This Second Edition of Management of Turfgrass Diseases has been completely revised and updated to provide the latest information on maintaining a healthy turf and identifying turf diseases. Written by a leading international lecturer on turf grasses, the book covers cultural, genetic, biological, and chemical approaches to turf management and provides practical solutions to everyday problems. Fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases; black layer disease; and diseases caused by nematodes are addressed for all major grasses. You'll learn about cool and warm season grasses, growing conditions, new diseases, symptoms, and identification and management techniques. Valuable tips on irrigation, fertilization, and grass culture as well as 72 full-color photographs and more than 100 figures ensure this book will be dog-eared from use. It's almost like having your own private turfgrass consultant sitting right on your bookshelf.
What's New in the Second Edition?
This second edition features new grasses, new diseases, and the latest research findings and practices. You'll have the most up-to-date information available on these major grasses:

Cut and come again forestry - reviving the ancient practice of resprout silviculture to power local woodland-based economies. Coppice Agroforestry is a richly illustrated, comprehensive guide to resprout silviculture - managing trees and shrubs by coppicing, pollarding, shredding, and pleaching - for a continuous supply of small diameter polewood for products from firewood to fine furniture. Contextualizing resprout silviculture historically, ecologically, and economically, Coppice Agroforestry explores the potential of this ancient practice for modern times. Coverage includes: The cultural history of coppicing in Europe and North America Tree and shrub anatomy, biology, and woodland ecology A suite of woodland management systems Dozens of handcrafted wood products on a continuum of value, offering a wide range of business opportunities Case studies of diverse coppice-based enterprises Assessing existing forests for coppice potential Designing new resprout silviculture systems Tables highlighting diverse species for various uses A vision of a modern resprout silviculture renaissance. A decade in the making, encyclopedic in scope, and written by the hand of a woodsman, Coppice Agroforestry is a deep dive into this ancient practice, blending it with modern science, systems thinking, and tools to land it firmly into the 21st century. Whether you have a few trees or an entire forest, Coppice Agroforestry is the must-have practical guide for homesteaders, farmers, foresters, land managers, and educators who ally themselves with the remarkable resilience of woody plants.

This Trilogy explains What is Horticulture? . Volume three of Horticulture: Plants for People and Places presents readers with detailed accounts of the scientific and scholastic concepts which interact with the arts and humanities and which now underpins the rapidly evolving subject of Social Horticulture. This discipline transcends the barriers between science, medicine and the arts. This volume covers: - Horticulture and Society, Diet and Health, Psychological Health, Wildlife, Horticulture and Public Welfare, Education, Extension, Economics, Exports and Biosecurity, Scholarship and Art, Scholarship and Literature, Scholarship and History and the relationship between Horticulture and Gardening. This volume brings the evolution of the Discipline and Vocation of Horticulture firmly into the 21st Century. It covers new ground by providing a detailed analysis of the value of Horticulture as a force for enhancing society in the forms of social welfare, health and well-being, how knowledge is transferred within and between generations, and the place of Horticulture in the Arts and Humanities. Substantial emphasis is given to the relationships between health, well-being and plants by the internationally acclaimed authors who have contributed accounts of their work in this book."

The grove, a grouping of trees, intentionally cultivated or found growing wild, has a long diverse history entwined with human settlement, rural practices and the culture and politics of cities. A grove can be a memorial, a place of learning, a site of poetic retreat and philosophy or political encampment, a public park or theatre, a place of hidden pleasures, a symbol of a vanished forest ecology, or a place of gods or other spirits. Yet groves are largely absent from our contemporary vocabulary and rarely included in today's landscape practice, whether urban or rural. Groves are both literal and metaphorical manifestations, ways of defining spaces and ecologies in our cultural life. Since they can add meaning to urban forms and ecologies and contribute meaningfully to the significance of place, critical examination is long overdue. The editors have taken care to ensure that the text is accessible to the general reader as well as specialists.

An informative selection of papers presented at the Medical Workshop on Pesticide-Related Illnesses It is vital to understand the public health impact of pesticides used in modern day agriculture. Unfortunately, scientifically valid information is often scattered and hard to find. Proceedings from the Medical Workshop on Pesticide-Related Illness is the essential text that fills these two voids. The papers collected here make up a volume that is a timely review of key issues in both the acute and chronic health effects of pesticide exposure. Proceedings from the Medical Workshop on Pesticide-Related Illness offers work originally presented at the groundbreaking 2002 International Conference on Pesticide Exposure and Health in Washington, DC. However, in order to reflect recent developments in the field, all of the authors have revised, updated, and expanded their presentations to address the current status of knowledge in pesticide health effects upon the major body organ systems. This up-to-date reference not only provides a wealth of relevant information on pesticide intoxication, it also offers viable solutions to the challenges of understanding the effects exposure has on health. Papers featured in Proceedings from the Medical Workshop on Pesticide-Related Illness examine: potential mechanisms, examples for each, and an algorithm for etiologic diagnoses of contact dermatitis in agriculture the specific acute and chronic neurological effects of pesticides on both central and peripheral nervous systems in-depth examples of male and female reproductive disorders associated with pesticide exposure and timeframes of diagnosis from weeks to months to years anatomical site-based outlines for the role of pesticide exposures in the etiology of human cancer and evaluations of recent developments in exposure assessment and molecular epidemiology in adults and children goals, components, and

Thirty years ago, in vitro propagation was a new technique for producing plants, and Lydiane Kyte s Plants from Test Tubes became the standard work on the topic.The new fourth edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect the many advances in science and technology, including the five accepted sequential stages of micropropagation. Ten new plants have been added. This in turn has greatly expanded the already extensive bibliography. Among the new topics that have been introduced or expanded on are embryo culture for breeding, somaclonal variation, anther culture, somatic embryogenesis, cryopreservation, and genetic engineering. More ornamental plant examples are given and many new illustrations provided, including a chronology of discoveries in micropropagation."

This volume contains the proceedings of a meeting organised by the Commission of the European Communities and the International Organisation for Biological ad Integrated Control. It includes full communications by experts from 17 different countries and 3 international organisations. The work of the IOBC/WPRS Working Group 'Fruit flies of economic importance is also reported.

Although urban allotment gardening dates back to the nineteenth century, it has recently undergone a renaissance of interest and popularity. This is the result of greater concern over urban greenspace, food security and quality of life. This book presents a comprehensive, research-based overview of the various features, benefits and values associated with urban allotment gardening in Europe. The book is based on a European COST Action project, which brings together researchers and practitioners from all over Europe for the first detailed exploration of the subject on a continent-wide scale. It assesses the policy, planning and design aspects, as well as the social and ecological benefits of urban allotment gardening. Through an examination of the wide range of different traditions and practices across Europe, it brings together the most recent research to discuss the latest evolutions of urban allotment gardening and to help raise awareness and fill knowledge gaps. The book provides a multidisciplinary perspective, including insights from horticulture and soil science, ecology, sociology, urban geography, landscape, planning and design. The themes are underpinned by case studies from a number of European countries which supply a wide range of examples to illustrate different key issues.

Climate change and increased climate variability in terms of rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and increasing extreme weather events, such as severe drought and devastating floods, pose a threat to the production of agricultural and horticultural crops a threat this is expected to worsen.

Climate change is already affecting and is likely to increase invasive species, pests, and disease vectors, all adversely affecting agri-horticultural crop productivity. Advances in agricultural knowledge, science, and technology will be required to develop improved crop traits, such as temperature, drought, pest, and salt tolerance. This two-volume set gives readers an understanding of the issues and makes suggestions for ways to mitigate adverse climate change effects on crops.

The focus of Volume 1: The Principles and Applications in Horticultural Science is to identify impacts and suggest appropriate and effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. Volume 2: Impact, Adaptation, and Mitigation focuses on the impact of climate change on horticultural crops and offers ways to adapt practices to mitigate adverse effects. Together, the two volumes offer a diverse selection of chapters that address issues of importance to those in the horticulture industry, researchers, faculty, and others.

The two-volume set:

Provides a recent understanding about climate change effects on horticulture

Covers unique information regarding important fruit crops, including flowers, spices, and plantation crops

Serves as an excellent source for researchers to formulate their adaptation and mitigation strategies

Covers abiotic and biotic stresses in relation to climate change

Presents environmentally safe and recent technological approaches such as nanotechnology and biodynamics

Includes case studies

The books are an excellent resource for researchers; instructors; students in agriculture, horticulture, environmental science, and other allied subjects; and policymakers."

Horticultural Reviews is an open-ended series of review articles on research in the production of commercial horticultural crops: vegetables, fruits, nuts, and ornamental plants of commercial importance. The articles collect, compare, and contrast the primary journal literature to provide an overview of the topic.

For centuries, travel was an important part of a gardener's initial and continuing professional training. Educational journeys to parks and gardens at home and abroad were consistently recorded in lengthy reports and articles for professional journals. The travel report by Hans Jancke (1850-1920), a court gardener who served the Prussian kings in Potsdam, Germany, is typical of this genre. Jancke's manuscript, which until now remained unpublished, describes his 1874-1875 apprenticeship at Knowsley, the seat of the Earl of Derby near Liverpool, England.

Over the past decade there has been a resurgence of interest in growing fruit and vegetables in the garden and on the allotment. Part of the driving force behind this is an increased awareness of the health benefits that can be derived from fruit and vegetables in the diet. The 'five helpings a day' dictum reflects the correlation between a regular consumption of fruit and vegetables and a reduced incidence of, for example, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. Growing your own vegetables provides the opportunity to harvest them at their peak, to minimize the time for post-harvest deterioration prior to consumption and to reduce their 'food miles'. It also provides an opportunity to grow interesting and less common cultivars. The combination of economic advantages and recreational factors add to the pleasure of growing fruit and vegetables.

This book covers the natural products that have been identified in common 'home-grown' fruit and vegetables and which contribute to their organoleptic and beneficial properties. Over the last fifty years the immense advances in separation methods and spectroscopic techniques for structure elucidation have led to the identification of a wide range of natural products in fruit and vegetables. Not only have many of their beneficial properties been recognized but also their ecological roles in the development of plants have been identified. The functional role of many of these natural products is to mediate the balance between an organism and its environment in terms of microbial, herbivore or plant to plant interactions.

The book is aimed at readers with a chemical background who wish to know a little more about the natural products that they are eating, their beneficial effects, and the roles that these compounds have in nature. Developments in the understanding of the ecological and beneficial chemistry of fruit and vegetables have made the exploration of their chemical diversity a fascinating and expanding area of natural product chemistry and readers will obtain some 'taste' for this chemistry from the book. It develops in more detail the relevant sections from the earlier RSC book 'Chemistry in the Garden'.

The book begins with an outline of the major groups of compound that are found in fruit and vegetables. This is followed by a description of aspects of environmental chemistry that contribute to the successful cultivation of these crops. Subsequent chapters deal with individual plants which are grouped in terms of the part of the plant, roots, bulbs and stems, leaves, seeds, that are used for food. The final chapters deal with fruit and herbs. The epilogue considers some general aspects of ecological chemistry and climatic stress which may, in the future, affect the growth of fruit and vegetables in the garden particularly in the context of potential climate changes. The book concludes with a section on further reading, a glossary of terms used in plant chemistry and a list of the common fruit and vegetables grouped in their plant families.

First full biography of Richard Woods, the landscape designer, examining his work and restoring him to the attention he merits. A contemporary of the famous landscape designer "Capability" Brown, Richard Woods has never received the recognition he deserves: in contrast to Brown, he emphasised the pleasure ground and kitchen garden, with a more pronounced use of flowers than was general among the landscape improvers of his time. He liked variety and incident in his plans and, where he was employed on a larger scale, the encroachment of the pleasure ground into the park created the Woodsian "pleasure park". In this important work of detection and biography, Fiona Cowell analyses his designs, and explores his activities as a plantsman, a determined amateur architect and a farmer. In particular, she showsthe difficulties he found as a Catholic living in penal times, examining the difficulties encountered by both Woods and his Catholic patrons, and placing the man and his work in their wider social and economic context. Unjustly neglected in the past, he is here given his rightful place among the creators of the English landscape style.

Climate change, a global phenomenon, has attracted scientists to contribute in anticipatory research to mitigate adverse impacts, which are more important for horticulture, considering that the scenario is in the midst of revolution, reaching the production level of 250 million tonnes in India. Impacts of climate variability have, invariably, profound influence on production and quality. An understanding of the impacts and relevant adaptation strategies are of foremost importance to sustain the productivity and profitability of horticulture crops in the climate change scenario, which necessitates synthesis of current knowledge to develop strategies for adaptation and mitigation to achieve climate-resilient horticulture. The book Climate-resilient horticulture: adaptation and mitigation strategies addresses the effects of climate change on different horticultural crops and focuses on the adaptation strategies based on the scientific knowledge generated by the experts in different agro-climatic regions in India. Issues have been covered in various chapters to make this book a treasure of knowledge in horticulture vis-a-vis climate change. Some of the crops included in the book are apple, grapes, cashew, banana, litchi, mango, coconut, oil palm, potato, tomato, cucurbits and flowers. In addition to strategies to be adapted in these crops, various other important aspects like carbon sequestration, pests and diseases, and urban landscaping are also covered in the book. Information on climatic risks and adaptation options for resilience in horticultural crops and future strategies and information on pest and disease dynamics on horticultural crops in relation to climate change and available mitigation strategies have also been documented. The book is edited by Dr H P Singh, a visionary leader, and his colleagues, which will be highly valuable to research workers, students, policy planners and farmers to understand and checkmate the adverse effect of climate change, so as to convert weakness into opportunity.

This book combines several ideas and philosophies and provides a detailed discussion on the value addition of fruits, vegetables, spices, plantation crops, floricultural crops and in forestry. Separate chapters address the packaging, preservation, drying, dehydration, total quality management and supply chain management of horticultural crops. The book explains value addition as a process of increasing the economic value and consumer appeal of a commodity with special reference to horticultural crops. Each chapter focuses on a specific area, exploring value addition as a production/ marketing strategy driven by customer needs and preferences. But, as such, it is also a more creative field, calling for more imagination than calculated, routine work. Value is added to the particular produce item when the product is still available when the season is out and the demand for the product exceeds the available supply. Value addition is an important factor in the growth and development of the horticultural sector, both in India and around the world. But very little information is available on this particular aspect of horticulture. Albert Einstein famously said, "Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." This message is not only true for those people who want to make more of themselves, but also for those who want their creation or product in any form to excel. And it certainly applies to horticultural crops, which are extremely perishable. It is true that loss reduction is normally less costly than equivalent increases in production. The loss of fresh produce can be minimized by adopting different processing and preservation techniques to convert the fresh vegetables into suitable value-added and diversified products, which will help to reduce the market glut during harvest season. Value-added processed products are products that can be obtained from main products and by-products after some sort of processing and subsequently marketed for an increased profit margin. Generally speaking, value-added products indicate that for the same volume of primary products, a higher price is achieved by means of processing, packing, enhancing the quality or other such methods. The integrated approach from harvesting to the delivery into the hands of the consumer, if handled properly, can add value to fresh produce on the market. But most of the fresh produce has a limited life, although it can be stored at appropriate temperature and relative humidity for the same time. If such produce is processed just after harvesting, it adds value and stabilizes the processed products for a longer time. Preparing processed products will provide more variety to consumers and improve the taste and other sensory properties of food. This will also promote their fortification with nutrients that are lacking in fresh produce. By adopting suitable methods for processing and value addition, the shelf life of fresh produce can be increased manifold, which supports their availability year-round to a wider spectrum of consumers on both the domestic and international market. With increased urbanization, rising middle class purchasing power, changing food habits and a decline in making preserved products in individual homes, there is now a higher demand for industry-made products on the domestic market. In spite of all these aspects, only 1-2.2% of the total produce is processed in developing countries, as compared to 40-83% in developed countries. The horticultural export industry offers an important source of employment for developing countries. For instance, horticulture accounts for 30% of India's agricultural GDP from 8.5% of cropped area. India is the primary producer of spices, second largest producer of fruits and vegetables and holds a prominent position with regard to most plantation crops in the world. The cultivation of horticultural crops is substantially more labor-intensive than growing cereal crops and offers more post-harvest opportunities for the development of value-added products. This book offers a valuable guide for students of horticulture, as well as a comprehensive resource for educators, scientists, industrial personnel, amateur growers and farmers.