The Encyclopedia of Soil Science provides a comprehensive, alphabetical treatment of basic soil science in a single volume. It constitutes a wide ranging and authorative collection of some 160 academic articles covering the salient aspects of soil physics, chemistry, biology, fertility, technology, genesis, morphology, classification and geomorphology. With increased usage of soil for world food production, building materials, and waste repositories, demand has grown for a better global understanding of soil and its processes. longer articles by leading authorities from around the world are supplemented by some 430 definitions of common terms in soil sciences.

Gain a better understanding of the genetic and physiological bases of stress response and stress tolerance as part of crop improvement programs Abiotic Stresses: Plant Resistance Through Breeding and Molecular Approaches explores innovative methods for breeding new varieties of major crops with resistance to environmental stresses that l

This book contains four chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction to moths. It describes their history, differences with butterflies and skippers, classification, camouflage, navigation, attraction to light, and migration. Moths are useful as bio-indicators, pollinators, dispersal of seeds and producers of useful products (silk). They are harmful as agricultural and stored-grain pests, but can be controlled biologically and with pesticides. Chapter 2 reports that among moth pests the potato tuber moth, Phthorimaea operculella Zeller, is considered one of the most important potato pests worldwide. In Chapter 3, the pathogenicity of three native isolates of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana were studied in different concentrations of P. operculella eggs. The most pathogenic isolate was determined on eggs in vitro. Chapter 4 highlights several case studies representing long-term field research results of moth pests in maize, Zea mays L., and sugar-beet, Beta vulgaris L.

Allelopathy offers great potential: (a) to increase agriculture production (food grains, vegetables, fruits, forestry), (b) to decrease harmful effects of modern agricultural practices (multiple cropping, leaching losses from N – fertilizers, indiscriminate use of pesticides viz. weedicides, fungicides, insecticides and nematicides and development of pesticides tolerant /resistant biotypes in pests) on soil health/productivity and on environment and (c) to maintain soil productivity and pollution free environment for our future generations. It is hoped that in the near future the allelopathy may be used in crop production, crop protection, agroforestry and agro-horticultural systems of developed countries. Therefore, it may be one of the strategies to increase agricultural production in Sustainable Agriculture of 21st century. This book is based on the research findings and addresses to various intricate problems of crop production, to which there was no definite answer in the past but now have been attributed to allelopathy.

Written by leading experts in the field, Cyanobacteria: An Economic Perspective is a comprehensive edited volume covering all areas of an important field and its application to energy, medicine and agriculture. Issues related to environment, food and energy have presented serious challenge to the stability of nation-states. Increasing global population, dwindling agriculture and industrial production, and inequitable distribution of resources and technologies have further aggravated the problem. The burden placed by increasing population on environment and especially on agricultural productivity is phenomenal. To provide food and fuel to such a massive population, it becomes imperative to find new ways and means to increase the production giving due consideration to biosphere’s ability to regenerate resources and provide ecological services. Cyanobacteria are environment friendly resource for commercial production of active biochemicals, drugs and future energy (biodiesel, bioethanol and hydrogen). Topics on isolation, identification and classification of cyanobacteria are discussed, as well as further sections on: summarizing a range of useful products synthesized by cyanobacteria, ecological services provided by cyanobacteria including their harmful effect in water bodies and associated flora and fauna. Chapter on tools, techniques, and patents also focus on the economic importance of the group. This book also provides an insight for future perspectives in each particular field and an extensive bibliography. This book will be a highly useful resource for students, researchers and professionals in academics in the life sciences including microbiology and biotechnology.

This new edition of a successful, practical book provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of all aspects of the production of the tomato crop, within the context of the global tomato industry. Tomatoes are one of the most important horticultural crops in both temperate and tropical regions and this book explores our current knowledge of the scientific principles underlying their biology and production. Tomatoes 2nd Edition covers genetics and breeding, developmental processes, crop growth and yield, fruit ripening and quality, irrigation and fertilisation, crop protection, production in the open field, greenhouse production, and postharvest biology and handling. It has been updated to reflect advances in the field, such as developments in molecular plant breeding, crop and product physiology, and production systems. It includes a new chapter on organic tomato production and presents photos in full colour throughout. Authored by an international team of experts, this book is essential for growers, extension workers, industry personnel, and horticulture students and lecturers.

Completely revised, updated and enlarged, now encompassing two volumes, this third edition of Fruit and Vegetables reviews and evaluates, in comprehensive detail, postharvest aspects of a very wide international range of fresh fruit and vegetables as it applies to their physiology, quality, technology, harvest maturity determination, harvesting methods, packaging, postharvest treatments, controlled atmosphere storage, ripening and transportation. The new edition of this definitive work, which contains many full colour photographs, and details of species not covered in the previous editions, provides key practical and commercially-oriented information of great use in helping to ensure that fresh fruit and vegetables reach the retailer in optimum condition, with the minimum of deterioration and spoilage. With the constantly increasing experimental work throughout the world the book incorporates salient advances in the context of current work, as well as that dating back over a century, to give options to the reader to choose what is most relevant to their situation and needs. This is important because recommendations in the literature are often conflicting; part of the evaluation of the published results and reviews is to guide the reader to make suitable choices through discussion of the reasons for diverse recommendations. Also included is much more on the nutritional values of fruit and vegetables, and how these may vary and change postharvest. There is also additional information on the origin, domestication and taxonomy of fruit and vegetables, putting recommendations in context. Fruits and Vegetables 3e is essential reading for fruit and vegetable technologists, food scientists and food technologists, agricultural scientists, commercial growers, shippers, packhouse operatives and personnel within packaging companies. Researchers and upper level students in food science, food technology, plant and agricultural sciences will find a great deal of use within this popular book. All libraries in research establishments and universities where these subjects are studied and taught should have copies readily available for users.

Burgeoning world population, decreased water supply and land resources, coupled with climate change, result in severe stress conditions and a great threat to the global food supply. To meet these challenges, exploring Omics Technologies could lead to improved yields of cereals, tubers and grasses that may ensure food security. Improvement of yields through crop improvement and biotechnological means are the need-of-the-hour, and the current book “OMICS-Based Approaches in Plant Biotechnology”, reviews the advanced concepts on breeding strategies, OMICS technologies (genomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics) and bioinformatics that help to glean the potential candidate genes/molecules to address unsolved problems related to plant and agricultural crops. The first six chapters of the book are focused on genomics and cover sequencing, functional genomics with examples on insecticide resistant genes, mutation breeding and miRNA technologies. Recent advances in metabolomics studies are elucidated in the next 3 chapters followed by 5 chapters on bioinformatics and advanced techniques in plant biotechnology and crop breeding. The information contained in the volume will help plant breeders, plant biotechnologists, plant biochemists, agriculture scientists and researchers in using this applied research to focus on better crop breeding and stress adaptation strategies.