This second volume on the topic will be extremely useful for the researchers and postgraduate students working on vegetable crops with a special focus on climate change. Today, the entire world is suffering from global warming and its consequent, climate change. This has emerged as the most prominent global environmental issue and there is an urgent need to mitigate its impact on agriculture. Over the past 20 years South Asia has had a robust economic growth, yet it is home to more than one fourth of the world’s hunger and 40% of the world’s malnourished children and women. Persistent climatic variability, which results in frequent drought and flood, is among the major reasons for this phenomenon. Vegetables are in general more succulent (have 90% water) and more sensitive to climatic vagaries and sudden changes in temperature, as well as irregular precipitation at any phase of crop growing, can affect the normal growth, flowering, pollination, fruit setting, fruit development and fruit ripening which eventually decreases the yield. The irregular precipitation also causes the soil salinity and is a major challenge in many vegetable growing areas. To mitigate the harmful impact of climatic change there is an urgent need to develop adequate adaptation strategies for adverse effect of climate change and preference should be given to the development of heat, cold, drought, flood and salinity stress tolerant genotypes along with climate proofing through conventional and non-conventional breeding techniques, as well as exploiting the beneficial effects of CO2 enhancement on crop growth and yield. Available evidence shows that there is high probability of increase in the frequency and intensity of climate related natural hazards due to climate change and hence increase the potential threat due to climate change related natural disasters in the world. At present protected cultivation and grafted seedlings are also popularizing among vegetable growers because of the huge scope as well as, molecular breeding, emerging insect-pests & diseases and postharvest quality of vegetables under this climate change scenario. Moreover, underexploited vegetables, perennial vegetable and tuber crops have a more tolerant ability to climate vagaries compare to major vegetables which are also discussed in this book.

A considerable change in climate at a global level will impact the vegetable cultivation and agriculture as a whole; subsequently affecting the world's food supply. Climate change per se is not necessarily harmful; the problems arise from extreme events that are difficult to predict (erratic rainfall patterns and unpredictable high and low temperatures), and consequently reduce crop productivity. Vegetables are in general more succulent (have 90% water) and are more sensitive to climatic vagaries. Sudden changes in temperature coupled with irregular precipitation at any phase of crop growth can affect the normal growth, flowering, pollination, fruit setting, fruit development and fruit ripening can decrease the yield. The irregular precipitation can also affect the soil salinity and is a major challenge in many vegetable growing areas. To mitigate the harmful impact of climatic change there is a urgent need to develop adequate adaptation strategies for adverse effect of climate change and the preference should be given on development of heat, cold, drought, flood and salinity stress tolerant genotypes along with climate proofing through conventional and non-conventional breeding techniques. Available evidence shows that there is a high probability of increase in the frequency and intensity of climate related natural hazards due to climate change and hence increases the potential threat due to climate change related natural disasters in the world. This book (Volume- I) will be basically useful for the researchers and postgraduate students with current challenges and mitigation strategies for increasing vegetable production under a changing climate.

This edited volume provides a comprehensive view of the recent developments on Bacillus and their application in agriculture and allied sectors in a global scenario. Research articles sharing a consolidated state-of-the-art development in this area are solicited for this book. This book is a complete package covering all spheres of diversity and taxonomy, nutrient supplementation, biotic and abiotic stress management, biofilm and endophytic colonization, commercialization and regulatory mechanisms, etc. Descriptions of cutting-edge techniques and novel approaches on Bacillus research is also covered. A part of the book concentrates on the biotic and abiotic stress management in several important crops. It contains 11 contributory chapters from eminent experts in the field of life sciences specially microbiology, plant pathology and biotechnology working on different aspects of Bacilli and their application in agriculture and allied sectors. This book is useful for Graduate, Post-graduate students, research scholars, and post doctorate scholars of plant science, plant microbiology, soil microbiology and plant pathology discipline researchers, academicians, industrialists, policy makers.

As per the reports of FAO, the human population will rise to 9 billion by the end of 2050 and 70% of more food must be produced over the next three decades to feed the additional population. The breeding approaches for crop improvement programs are dependent on the availability and accessibility of genetic variation, either spontaneous or induced by the mutagens. Plant breeders, agronomists, and geneticists are under constant pressure to expand food production by employing innovative breeding strategies to enhance yield, adaptability, nutrition, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. In conventional breeding approaches, introgression of genes in crop varieties is laborious and time-consuming. Nowadays, new innovative plant breeding techniques such as molecular breeding and plant biotechnology, supplement the traditional breeding approaches to achieve the desired goals of enhanced food production. With the advent of recent molecular tools like genomics, transgenics, molecular marker-assisted back-crossing, TILLING, Eco-TILLING, gene editing, CRISPR CAS, non-targeted protein abundant comparative proteomics, genome wide association studies have made possible mapping of important QTLs, insertion of transgenes, reduction of linkage drags, and manipulation of genome. In general, conventional and modern plant breeding approaches would be strategically ideal for developing new elite crop varieties to meet the feeding requirement of the increasing world population. This book highlights the latest progress in the field of plant breeding, and their applicability in crop improvement. The basic concept of this 2-volume work is to assess the use of modern breeding strategies in supplementing the conventional breeding toward the development of elite crop varieties, for obtaining desired goals of food production.

Global food security is increasingly challenging in light of population increase, the impact of climate change on crop production, and limited land available for agricultural expansion. Plant breeding and other agricultural technologies have contributed considerably for food and nutritional security over the last few decades. Genetic engineering approaches are powerful tools that we have at our disposal to overcome substantial obstacles in the way of efficiency and productivity of current agricultural practices. Genome engineering via CRISPR/Cas9, Cpf1, base editing and prime editing, and OMICs through genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, phenomics, an metabolomics have helped to discover underlying mechanisms controlling traits of economic importance. Principle and Practices of OMICs and Genome Editing for Crop Improvement provides recent research from eminent scholars from around the world, from various geographical regions, with established expertise on genome editing and OMICs technologies. This book offers a wide range of information on OMICs techniques and their applications to develop biotic, abiotic and climate resilient crops, metabolomics and next generation sequencing for sustainable crop production, integration bioinformatics, and multi-omics for precision plant breeding. Other topics include application of genome editing technologies for food and nutritional security, speed breeding, hybrid seed production, resource use efficiency, epigenetic modifications, transgene free breeding, database and bioinformatics for genome editing, and regulations adopted by various countries around globe for genome edited crops. Both OMICs and genome editing are vigorously utilized by researchers for crop improvement programs; however, there is limited literature available in a single source. This book provides a valuable resource not only for students at undergraduate and postgraduate level but also for researchers, stakeholders, policy makers, and practitioners interested in the potential of genome editing and OMICs for crop improvement programs.

Under ongoing climate change, natural and cultivated habitats of major food crops are being continuously disturbed. Such condition accelerates to impose stress effects like abiotic and biotic stressors. Drought, salinity, flood, cold, heat, heavy metals, metalloids, oxidants, irradiation etc. are important abiotic stresses; and diseases and infections caused by plant pathogens viz. fungal agents, bacteria and viruses are major biotic stresses. As a result, these harsh environments affect crop productivity and its biology in multiple complex paradigms. As stresses become the limiting factors for agricultural productivity and exert detrimental role on growth and yield of the crops, scientists and researchers are challenged to maintain global food security for a rising world population. This two-volume work highlights the fast-moving agricultural research on crop improvement through the stress mitigation strategies, with specific focuses on crop biology and their response to climatic instabilities. Together with "Climate Resilient Agriculture, Vol 1: Crop Responses and Agroecological Perspectives", it covers a wide range of topics under environmental challenges, agronomy and agriculture processes, and biotechnological approaches, uniquely suitable for scientists, researchers and students working in the fields of agriculture, plant science, environmental biology and biotechnology.

Conservation agriculture is a sustainable production model that not only optimizes crop yields, but also reaps economic and environmental benefits as well. The adoption of successful conservation agriculture methods has resulted in energy savings, higher organic matter content and biotic activity in soil, increased crop-water availability and thus resilience to drought, improved recharge of aquifers, less erosion, and reduced impacts from the weather associated with climate change in general. Agricultural Impacts of Climate Change examines several important aspects of crop production, such as climate change, soil management, farm machinery, and different methods for sustainable conservation agriculture. It presents spatial distribution of a daily, monthly and annual precipitation concentration indices, Diffuse Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for analyzing the organic matter in soil, and adaptation strategies for climate-related plant disease scenarios. It also discusses solar energy-based greenhouse modeling, precision farming using remote sensing and GIS, and various types of machinery used for conservation agriculture. Features: Examines the effects of climate change on agriculture and the related strategies for mitigation through practical, real-world examples Explores innovative on-farm technology options to increase system efficiency resulting in improved water usage Presents examples of precision farming using climate-resilient technologies