It is difficult to forecast the serious consequences of damage to soil health on plants, animals and human beings. Agricultural soils across the globe are affected by erosion, degradation, nutrient depletion, pollution, organic matter decline and faulty management practices. This has resulted into 'Plant nutrient disorders' due primarily to imbalances, interactions, deficiencies or toxicities of one or more plant nutrients. Quality of irrigation water and environmental stress has a profound influence on this process. The present book provides an insight into the reasons for occurrence of such nutrient disorders, methodologies to monitor soil, plant, water and environment and ways to diagnose the problem through analytical and instrumental techniques. Widespread occurrence of secondary and micronutrient deficiencies in soils have resulted into low uptake of these nutrient ions by plants with adverse impact on human and animal health. Continuous cropping without due care of efficient soil and water use, have resulted in poor crop performances with low yields in many areas. This book attempts to provide answers to some pertinent questions on the subject i.e. I. Why plant nutrient disorders occur? II. Whether these are site or crop specific? III. How best one can diagnose the problem, by adopting sound analytical techniques? IV. What are the major concerns? V. How best one can manage such disorders to sustain soil health for crop production? Implementing scientific soil management programme requires good team work among scientists, extension workers & field staff with governmental support and farmer's participation. It is hoped that this book written in a simple language will be very useful for the students and teachers of Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Fisheries & allied disciplines.

Plants constitute an excellent ecosystem for microorganisms. The environmental conditions differ considerably between the highly variable aerial plant part and the more stable root system. Microbes interact with plant tissues and cells with different degrees of dependence. The most interesting from the microbial ecology point of view, however, are specific interactions developed by plant-beneficial (either non symbiotic or symbiotic) and pathogenic microorganisms. Beneficial interactions are caused by symbiotic and non-symbiotic bacteria and a highly specialized type of fungi, the mycorrhizae. The pathogenic and detrimental interactions of microbes involve viroids, viruses, bacteria and fungi, and lead to infectious diseases affecting only the plant kingdom. Microflora composition of any agro-ecosystem is governed by the equilibrium created by the associations and interactions of all flora and fauna found in the community. In soil, microorganisms live in close proximity and interact among themselves as well as with existing plant communities in different ways, which could be beneficial (mutualism, commensalism, proto-cooperation) or neutral (epiphytic). These microbial interactions govern the functioning and stability of agro-ecosystem, playing significant role in the production and productivity crops. Hence, this book on Plant-Microbe Interactions is aimed at bringing out the recent developments in this field including the molecular mechanisms and proteomics involved in the establishment of Plant-Microbe Interactions. The book reviews the enormous diversity of plant associated microbes, and their molecular mechanisms, small molecules and proteomics involved in the establishment of their mutual interactions. Utilization of these rhizosperic, phyllospheric and endophytic microbes as nutrient providers, in combating phytopathogens and ameliorating the stressed and polluted soils is also explained. Importantly, the book also throws light on the unanswered questions and future direction of research in the field. It illustrates how the basic knowledge can be amalgamated with advanced technology to design the future bio-formulations. This book will be useful in providing latest information in this topic to Scientists, Researchers, Ph.D and PG students working in the field of Plant Sciences.

Covers recent advancement in potato improvement in the post-genomics era after the potato genome sequencing in 2011. Includes integration of modern technological technologies in potato improvement. Implicates resequencing of potato genomes and discovery of SNP markers to accelerate next-generation potato breeding. Incorporates genomics-aided progress in germplasm management, pre-breeding genomics, gene mapping and cloning, transgenics, omics studies (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and phenomics), genome editing and bioinformatics.

This book is a single hand source book which deals with all aspects and facts of Spices, Plantation Crops, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants which may meet the requirements of all those who are pursuing their interest in any fields related to spices, medicinal plants, aromatic plants etc. Along with students who are preparing themselves for the RF, SRF, NET, Ph.D., ARS, and other competitive examinations. The book has been divided into major sections covering more than 200 crops on: o Spices and Condiments o Plantation Crops o Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Within depth knowledge and information on below given topics of more than o Importance and technical Information o Crop Improvement o Crop Production o Crop Protection o Diseases and Insect Pest Management o Post Harvest Technology

The basic aim of this manual is to provide useful resource materials for training young students and faculties working in the area of plant systematics. The manual provides updated information on basic as well as applied aspects of plant systematics on various groups of plants like Algae, Lichens, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms. 1 to 3 describe the various approaches and methods to study microbial and fungal diversity, which is basically a very useful precursor to the students and young researchers. 4 and 5 provide deals with the multi-dimensional approaches in Lichen systematics. The book progresses upwards through the plethora of information on the diversity and systematics of Algae, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms ( 6-10). 11 to 15 contain on the plant methodological details identification, approaches and methods of Flora, revision, monograph and development of herbarium. This information is very important for the students and young faculties who intend to pursue their researches in plant taxonomy. 14 and 15 particularly provide all the relevant information on the International Code of Plant nomenclature including cultivated plants. These s per se are very significant for the amateur as well as serious readers of plant taxonomy. Plant taxonomy and biosystematics is a dynamic subject, as it derives information from various other disciplines like palynology, seed morphology, pharmacognosy, molecular biology, etc. We have, therefore, broaden the scope of this book by including the s on palynology, seed morphology, molecular systematics, biostatistics, ecological and remote sensing methods for diversity analyses, and pharmacognostical tools for identification of herbal drugs ( 16-22). The knowledge and information on these applied aspects of biology in relation to taxonomy will certainly infuse the interest in readers, who are pursuing plant taxonomy as their scientific pursuits. 23 and 24 describe the various methods of characterization and evaluation of ornamental and medicinal plants. The last (25) of the book provides the information about CSIR-NBRI Botanic Garden and its various repositories, which could be of great interest to the readers from the perspectives of plant conservation.

Cancer is a leading cause of death among adults. Research has shown that the chances of developing cancer can be reduced by lifestyle changes. Increasing numbers of people are turning to the use of dietary vegetables, medicinal herbs, and plant extracts to prevent or treat cancer. Their ready availability as over the counter supplements has contributed to an explosion in the use of herbal extracts and related compounds for health enhancement. The spectacular growth of the multi-billion dollar functional food and nutraceutical business, touting health claims sometimes based upon limited research data, underscores the need for this up-to-date reference. This book brings together a leading group of experts on the different aspects of nutrient supplementation, foods, and plant extracts in cancer prevention and treatment. Their conclusions and recommendations present the most current knowledge from which to springboard future research and create a scientific database for accurate health claims.

Provides in-depth information on the pre and post-harvest processing of plum Integrates coverage on plum harvesting, handling, and storage practices Discusses plum byproduct utilization and potential health benefits

The major purpose of this book is to give hand on information on the subject to the person who wants to take hold of the particulars of post harvest technology of horticulture crops. The book is designed to provide as versatile steer for student preparing for a range of competitive exams like ICAR-JRF, SRF, NET ARS, FCI, UPSC, STATE PCSs and access test for M.Sc. and Ph.D. in post harvest technology (Horticulture).

Orchids are widely considered to be the most highly evolved of all flowering plants. They are amongst the most beautiful flowers of the entire plant kingdom, combining exotic looks with a diverse set of characteristics. Orchid plants are capable of growing indoors and outdoors, and are no doubt unique difficult to grow successfully. Among flower crops, orchids play a key role in Indian floral economy as they share sizeable export. The vast area and the varied agro-climatic conditions of our country, ranging from tropical to temperate region make possible to grow all kinds of orchids. In this context, a need of simple book on recent advances in cultivation and management of orchid is highly demanded by students of Horticulture & Forestry and florists of India. Thus, this book is brought about mainly to fulfil the above requirement and is also the outcome of our teaching, research and field experiences of several years. Orchid's morphology, propagation methods, cultivation, breeding, post harvest management, diseases and insect pest management describes in details in this book.

The book carries 17 s dealing with space saving, maximizing the efficiency of fertigation, mulching, integrated pest, disease and nutrient management (IPDNM) and engineering aspects of structures.Net houses, poly houses, rain shelters, poly tunnels, uses of plastics in horticulture and cold chains for storage and marketing are elaborated. Hydroponics and aeroponics are discussed.

In semi arid and arid regions of the country, a vast land resource (39.54 m ha) is available which is underutilized, having good potential of expansion for quality production of several horticultural, medicinal, spices, ornamental and crops of economic importance. The horticulture can play vital role in diversification of these untapped natural resources. The development of arid horticulture is not very old; the published literature on many crops of economic importance and their multiplication is also scanty. Looking to prospects of such underutilized crop, its propagation methodology should be standardized for large scale plantation through availability of quality planting material. The work on production technology of underutilized arid horticultural crops in limited and scattered. Therefore, an effort was made to compile the work done so far in the field of multiplication of semi- arid and arid horticultural plants with special reference to Indian scenario in the form of a book to develop the knowledge base of all those involved in research and development of cold and hot arid lands. This book will be useful for the scientists, teachers, researchers, students, growers, policy makers and also for the personnel engaged in nursery management. The contributors of different s included in the book are well known personality in their field.

Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) is a subtropical evergreen fruit tree indigenous to China. Records show it has been cultivated in China for over 2000 years. From this beginning, loquat has spread to more than 30 countries around the world. Grown in various regions of Asia, the Mediterranean and across the Americas, loquats suit both temperate and subtropical areas, sharing the same environmental conditions as citrus. Loquat is an increasingly commercial crop in some Asian and European countries with a good amount of international trade. Recent research has focused on improving crop yields and quality. Over 100 different varieties have been developed to meet both growers' and consumers' demands. These developments have contributed to a better understanding of the crop environment, plant growth and physiology of tree and fruit development with implications for both breeding and cultivation. This book is to be the first to provide a comprehensive coverage of the history, physiology, culture and marketing of loquat throughout the world.

Physiological or abiotic disorders are mainly caused by changing environmental conditions such as temperature, moisture, unbalanced soil nutrients, inadequate or excess of certain soil minerals, extremes of soil pH and poor drainage. The distinction between physiological or abiotic disorders from other disorders is that they are not caused by living organisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi, insects, etc.), but they are the result of abiotic situations (inanimate) i.e. their agents are non-living in nature which causes deviation from normal growth. They results in physical or chemical changes in a plant which is far away from what is normal and is generally caused by an external factor. Non-infectious disorders in some cases are easy to identify, but others are difficult or even impossible to recognize. Most of them are non reversible once they have occurred. For the identification of physiological disorders it is important that one must know that: a) Physiological disorders are often caused by the deficiency or excess of something that supports life or by the presence of something that interferes with life. b) Physiological disorders can affect plants in all stages of their development. c) They are non-transmissible because they occur without or in absence of infectious agents. d) Plant reacts differently to the same agent and sometimes response is seen as a little reaction to death. e) Dealing with physiological disorders often means dealing with the consequences from a past event. f) Generally damaged and undamaged tissue is clearly demarcated. g) Physiological disorders not only causes damage themselves but also serve as the 'open door' (entry) for pathogens.

A presentation of strategies for managing woody plants and using research data to select the most appropriate control methods. It analyzes the responses of over 370 North American woody plants to commercially available herbicides. The authors provide methods to manage woody plants that interfere with recreation, watershed yield, animal and plant diversity, resource conservation, wildlife and livestock needs, and wood production on grazing, forest, and related land.

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.

Vegetables are important source of dietary fibers, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins. Shifting from a non-vegetarian diet to vegetarian, global recognition of the importance of vegetables for human health and their medicinal and nutritional value have contributed to a steady upward trend in vegetable production system. China is ranked first in the world and currently produces around 237 million tons of vegetable. The total vegetable production of India during the year 2009-10 was approximately 90 million tons. Pesticides are valuable tools in sustainable vegetable production, but unfortunately they are often being used irresponsibly, causing hazards to producers, consumers and the environment. In addition, they can exacerbate pests and diseases problems by inducing resistance and suppressing the natural enemies which exert natural biological control. This book aims to promoting an integration of appropriate chemical, cultural, physical, genetic and biological technologies into Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies for vegetable crop protection.

This perplexity of common people inspired me to record technical information in concise way on garden designing in the form of this book. The main purpose is to provide basic information on design, features, plants, maintenance and how to combine these in the form of gardens. The way these have been illustrated with examples, photographs and list of plants for each feature will certainly help all for finalizing various issues of garden developments. Students of ornamental horticulture and researchers will find s on historical aspects, principles and various styles of garden designing of the world supported with relevant reference for further studies. Amateur garden lovers and house owners who like to do designing, selection of plants for their own garden, will find the practical guidelines contained in the book most useful. Professionals, who are associated with designing and development of gardens, will find complete guidelines in the form of designs, features, plants and maintenance of specialized gardens to fulfill the requirements of various situations like factories, temples, avenues, airports, home etc. Those who like to get the garden development job thorough agencies / landscape contractors will find relevant information in the appendix. Even sources of supplies in different region have been provided for facilitating procurement of plant and sundries. By that way, the book will serve as a complete guide for those who are in need of technical information on garden development.

India has achieved self sufficiency in food grain production in recent years with record production of 250 mt during 2011-12. However, the pulses production remained low and considered to be the major concern for researchers and development planners. Considering the much more importance in near future and to avoid pulses crisis situation, the present attempt was made to compile the available scientific information, so as to highlight the issues, technologies and strategies in the title of "Solving Pulses Crisis" in India. The publication is divided into two parts. The first part deals national issues, technologies and strategies while the second part deals with crop based issue and technologies. The first part consists of 13 s. The first three s deals with pulses related national issues, technologies and strategies including NEH region too. The IV deals with crop diversification involving pulses while V focused on pulses production under organic system. The issues related to legumes as a nutrient supplement in VI, tillage and crop establishment in VII water management in pulses in VIII and Integrated nutrient management in IX are discussed in detail. The aspects of weed and pest management are presented in X to XI, respectively. The specific issues related to post harvest, value addition are discussed in XII, while trade related policy issues are focused in XIII. In part second, the crop issues, strategies and technologies are presented. Accordingly, XIV deals with pigeonpea while in XV issues related to greengram and black gram are discussed. The XVI to XIX deals with chickpea, lentil, field pea and lathyrus while in XX the issues technologies and prospects of Guar are discussed. In last XXI the issues and technologies related to arid legumes (mothbean, cowpea and horsegram) with special reference to arid areas are discussed. Hopefully, the publication will prove to be a reference and a way forward for solving pulses crisis in India and achieving the targets matching with food production strategies in years to come.

Climatic variations often tend to have adverse effect on the yield and production of crops. Efforts have, therefore, been on for harnessing this natural resource through artificial means for increasing crop productivity. One such technology is protected cultivation. This technique is well adopted in Europe and USA and now China and Japan are leading in controlled sphere production of horticultural crops. In India, the technology is making breakthrough in Karnataka and Maharashtra in protected cultivation of pepper, tomato, cucumber, muskmelon, baby corn etc. Precision farming is defined as the cultivation by adopting technologies which give maximum precision in production of a superior crop with a desired yield levels and quality at competitive production. These include use of genetically modified crop varieties, micropropagation, integrated nutrient, water and pest managements, protected cultivation, organic farming, hi-tech horticulture, and post harvest technology. Post-harvest sector needs lot of precision. Peels, rags, etc. go waste. Many times, peels being rich in polyphenols, colouring pigment, nutrients etc are richer in antioxidant than what we actually eat. Here, we need precision. Precision in management, precision in product diversification, precision in value addition are much sought after aspect.

The objectives of the book is to highlight the relevance of traditional medicine and way towards ethnopharmacology, to share research achievements and innovations in herbal science, to evaluate and review opportunities for advancing herbal drug research in the region, to provide a platform to map an agenda for the development of phytomedicine, to address issues concerning conservation of medicinal plants. The book has been compiled with 30 articles based on the original research work by eminent academicians and scientists of the country on different areas of phytomedicine. Recent trends and techniques involved from the search, documentation, processing, sustainable utilization and conservation of medicinal plants are the highlights of this book. It will provide a unique opportunity to boost up the knowledge in various aspects of medicinal plant research.

This book has been written, primarily due to my own felt need to have a comprehensive text book on the pests of horticultural crops and methods to manage it, in the integrated way. Due to the widespread use of digital color photography and the good resolution that you get in even the basic level digital cameras, it is possible to get good photos. It was thus more of a need to have a text book to teach the UG and PG students, that this book was written. It was also necessary that any practicing field level worker like officers of the state department of Agriculture and commodity boards, and every practicing farmer with an ability to read English text book, should be guided into the basic facts about the pests of crops. It is most likely that most of the information is available in this book itself, as pest of some other crop. It will then be possible to read on the pest in that , and manage the pest effectively using the latest techniques available to the crop management expert.

The book is intended to provide a clear overview on the management of pests and diseases of horticulture crops, associated soil and beneficial fauna, residue status of pesticides and their estimation techniques. It is divided in four parts: Part I explain the practices followed in the pest management of horticulture crops. s include pest status of insects, mites, rodents, and diseases in fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, spices and mushrooms and their management. Different aspects of biological, cultural, and mechanical controls are also highlighted. Harmful and beneficial soil fauna associated with horticulture crops are dealt in Part II. Keeping in view the potential of beneficial organisms, the effects of pesticides on predators, parasites and pollinators have also been discussed in this section. The recent scientific developments related to residue status in vegetables, fruits and spices are provided in Part III. Part IV includes the residue estimation techniques of various pesticides.

Diagnosis involves careful observation of crop with a thorough knowledge of crop behaviour as well as a complete understanding of functions of nutrients and their deficiency symptoms. Diagnostic techniques vary from crop to crop depending upon the field condition in which the deficiency occurs. Indian agriculture has entered into an era of multiple nutrient deficiencies. Realizing the gravity of emerging problem of nutrient deficiencies and to fulfill an immediate need to tackle them more efficiently, a guide on diagnosis of nutritional disorders and their corrections in crop plants has been prepared. All the new diagnostic techniques have been discussed in a simple language. The book has been designed in such a way as to improve the knowledge on diagnosis of deficiencies of mineral elements essential for normal plant growth, and of the methods by which such deficiencies may most effectively be remedied. The main feature of this book is the detailed description of the various visual deficiency symptoms exhibited by the fruit crops. The book has been written primarily for the use of the students of Horticulture and Agriculture to help update their knowledge on nutritional and physiological disorders of fruit crops. It is also felt that the book will provide a suitable basis for those engaged in the profession of agriculture like extension workers and progressive farmers. We hope that this book will go a long way to help in increased fruit production by proper diagnosis and suitable correction of nutritional disorders in fruit crops.

This is a must-have book for all commercial and hobby growers - it serves as a production guide to cannabis producers, researchers, industry supporters and students!! Contains comprehensive information on all aspects of cannabis production. There are a few hundred large and many small cannabis production operations in North America - contact them. Contact suppliers including fertilizer companies, insect control companies, pathogen control companies, water treatment companies, greenhouse and environmental control companies, and lighting companies. Many countries are legalizing the medical use of cannabis the medical use and recreational use of cannabis - this teaches users optimal drug harvesting techniques for key quality through controlled environments. Although there are many books published on cannabis, they do not focus on cultivation - this book is the first of its kind (the proposal reviewers say it is desperately needed) and is written by scientists at different universities or research institutions who have been conducting cannabis research; some chapters are written in collaboration with university trained practitioners who are currently involved in commercial cannabis production. University of Guelph has developed and currently teaching a fourth-year undergraduate course titled "Cannabis Production." More institutions, both in Canada and in other countries, are currently planning to offer this course to more and more students.