The key to sustaining the soil resource base is to maintain, or enhance, soil quality. Soil quality cannot be seen or measured directly from the soil alone but is inferred from soil characteristics and soil behavior under defined conditions. In essence, the quality of soils is analogous to the health of humans, and just as there is no single characteristic that can be measured to quantify a person's health, there is no single measurement that can quantify soil quality. However, there are certain characteristics, particularly when considered together, that are good indicators. Soil quality, just as human health, can be maintained or enhanced by good management practices; and seriously degraded-sometimes irrevers ibly-with poor practices. Soil quality is also important because it has direct and indirect effects on air quality and water quality. While the enhancement of soil quality does not always assure parallel improvements in the quality of air and, particularly, water resources, this is often the case. However, soil deg radation is invariably accompanied by degraded qualities of both air and water resources. The consensus among many scientists is that the greatest challenge is not increasing production, but preventing serious deterioration of the soil and water resource base so that the production level can be sustained."

The Indian Nitrogen Assessment: Sources of Reactive Nitrogen, Environmental and Climate Effects, and Management Options and Policies provides a reference for anyone interested in Reactive N, from researchers and students, to environmental managers. Although the main processes that affect the N cycle are well known, this book is focused on the causes and effects of disruption in the N cycle, specifically in India. The book helps readers gain a precise understanding of the scale of nitrogen use, misuse, and release through various agricultural, industrial, vehicular, and other activities, also including discussions on its contribution to the pollution of water and air. Drawing upon the collective work of the Indian Nitrogen Group, this reference book helps solve the challenges associated with providing reliable estimates of nitrogen transfers within different ecosystems, also presenting the next steps that should be taken in the development of balanced, cost-effective, and feasible strategies to reduce the amount of reactive nitrogen.

Treatment of maxillofacial patients has always be a challenge to the prosthodontists all over the world because of the multifactorial nature of the problems. There has been much debate among the professionals about the techniques to be followed in the rehabilitation. This book is an insight into the various techniques used in the fabrication of the eye prosthesis, with special emphesis on modified external tray technique. This technique is explained in detail in this book with the aim to help the academicians as well as the practitioners. The book discuses the technique in detail with illustrations.Case reports of 3 patients who are sucessfully rehabilitated using modified external tray technique is demonstrated with pictures of each step. various materials, implants used in eye prosthesis and future trends are also covered in brief. The technique described in this book is very cost effective, easy to practice and ensures predictable excellant esthetic results.The material used in this technique is easy to use, adjust and biocompitable with the tissues.

In the last 60 years fertiliser use in agriculture has increased by 900%. However, it’s been reported that up to 80% of these fertilisers are not utilised by crops but are lost to the environment as nitrous oxide, ammonia and nitrate. Improving nitrogen use efficiency is recognised as one possible solution to reducing the sector’s environmental impact and optimising its productivity and sustainability in the face of increasing pressure to feed a growing population. Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop production reviews recent advances in understanding nitrogen cycling in soil and best practices to assess crop nitrogen status, such as the use of proximal sensors and remote sensing techniques. The book considers developments in the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilisers and their effectiveness in optimising nitrogen use efficiency, as well as how more organic sources of nitrogen, such as livestock manure, can be optimised to achieve the same goal.

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on fertiliser use in agriculture. The first chapter examines the role of biofertilizers and consortia of microorganisms to improve the effectiveness of organic fertilization, before moving on to consider the use of animal excrement, including manures, slurry and guano. The second chapter assesses the management of mineral fertilisers and organic manures in relation to its effects on soil health in terms of soil organic carbon and nitrogen, soil acidification and soil microbiology. The third chapter discusses the history, current status, and future needs of fertilizer developments in light of the goal of achieving global sustainability. It reviews developments in using efficient fertilizer sources to meet the needs of advancing yields of modern crop cultivars/hybrids. The fourth chapter reviews some of the approaches used by decision support systems to determine fertiliser application decisions. The chapter highlights direct methods and indirect techniques: simulation models, yield forecasts using data-driven approaches and yield forecasts based on water supply. The final chapter explores the implementation of foliar fertilizer sprays in agriculture for improving crop yield and quality, as well as improving plant performance under abiotic and/or biotic stress threats.

Rice is one of the most important foods in the world. As the demand for rice continues to increase, there is an urgent need to increase yields in the face of such challenges as climate change, threats from pests and diseases and the need to make cultivation more resource-efficient and sustainable. Drawing on an international range of expertise, this collection focuses on ways of improving the cultivation of rice at each step in the value chain, from breeding to post-harvest storage. Volume 2 reviews research in improving cultivation in such areas as irrigation and nutrition as well as developments in disease and pest management. Achieving sustainable cultivation of rice Volume 2: Cultivation, pest and disease management will be a standard reference for rice scientists in universities, government and other research centres and companies involved in rice cultivation. It is accompanied by Volume 1 which reviews research in breeding, nutritional and other aspects of rice quality.