The book summarizes present scientific knowledge in plant physiology with regards to plant production. The authors, mainly professors of plant physiology at agricultural universities in Czechoslovakia, present the individual fields of plant physiology with regard to the demands of agricultural practice and education of students and doctorani at these universities.
The first chapters discuss metabolism ie. photosynthesis, respiration, mineral and heterotrophic nutrition, and water regime of plants. What follows is a discussion of the physiology of plant growth, development and movements, and finally resistance of plants against unfavourable abiotic and biotic effects.
The book shows how to increase the yield of crops by manipulating photosynthesis and also studies the possible flow of photosynthetic products to the commercially valuable parts of the biomass. Rational plant production, however, cannot do without knowledge of plant nutrition and water regime as a theoretical basis for fertilization and irrigation. The reader will find this knowledge detailed as well as information about the ecological and physiological principles of the resistance of plants against drought, frost, heat, diseases and other unfavourable effects.

The orchid family is one of the largest families of flowering plants known for their beauty and economic importance. This work provides information in key areas of research that are important to both scientists and commercial growers alike. The main purposes of this book are to provide key practical areas of research, such as, germination, micropropagation, traditional and current techniques related to plant improvement; document methods that ensure survival of plants from laboratories to greenhouses; promote communication between scientists and growers, so that their combined expertise on these areas will lead to the successful growth of orchids in their natural habitats or commercial greenhouses. This book can serve as reference for laymen with an interest in orchid growing.This book is divided into 5 parts. The first part emphasizes propagation methods using seeds and related techniques that are important to plant conservation and improvement. Successes in asymbiotic and symbiotic seed germination are keys to orchid conservation and their propagation. The second part summarizes micropropagation methods, common media, and newer methods of micropropagation such as the bioreactor culture procedures. The third part focuses on techniques related to the manipulation of explants in an in vitro environment. The fourth part covers cell biological methods and transformation techniques. Since the successes in a laboratory setting do not guarantee plant survival and propagation in greenhouses and in the natural environment, it discusses greenhouse propagation techniques that are essential to the survival of plants generated from a laboratory setting. The fifth part showcases recent successes on orchid propagation by documenting sample publications and how to present orchids in an artistic fashion for one's enjoyment.

This book is devoted to grain legumes and include eight chapters devoted to the breeding of specific grain legume crops and five general chapters dealing with important topics which are common to most of the species in focus. Soybean is not included in the book as it is commonly considered an oil crop more than a grain legume and is included in the Oil Crops Volume of the Handbook of Plant Breeding. Legume species belong to the Fabaceae family and are characterized by their fruit, usually called pod. Several species of this family were domesticated by humans, such as soybean, common bean, faba bean, pea, chickpea, lentil, peanut, or cowpea. Some of these species are of great relevance as human and animal food. Food legumes are consumed either by their immature pod or their dry seeds, which have a high protein content. Globally, grain legumes are the most relevant source of plant protein, especially in many countries of Africa and Latin America, but there are some constraints in their production, such as a poor adaptation, pest and diseases and unstable yield. Current research trends in Legumes are focused on new methodologies involving genetic and omic studies, as well as new approaches to the genetic improvement of these species, including the relationships with their symbiotic rhizobia.