Plant-based edible oils rank second only to carbohydrates as an important source of calories in the human diet and are primarily derived from edible oilseeds. These oilseeds are rich in essential fatty acids, high-quality protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. They also contain important phytochemicals including sterols, polyphenols, tocopherols, and carotenoids, making the oils they produce critical for metabolic functions, human health benefits, and addressing malnutrition and undernutrition. The global cultivation of edible oilseed crops has seen a significant rise. However, various biotic and abiotic stresses, poor agronomic practices, and extreme climate conditions, either in isolation or combination, negatively affect plant health, thus limiting both the quantity and quality of oilseed productivity. Edible Oilseeds Research - Updates and Prospects provides a comprehensive exploration of the origins, botanical characteristics, challenges, and recent advancements associated with major herbaceous edible oilseed-bearing plants. It offers historical insights into edible oilseeds, highlights recent advancements and future directions, and provides an overview of the important bioactive dietary compounds (including tocopherols and tocotrienols) present in common oilseeds. This volume also discusses key approaches to improving the health and productivity of oil palm and presents critical insights into the applications and achievements of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in oilseed research. This book serves as a valuable resource for plant biologists engaged in teaching and research, offering detailed knowledge on various aspects of important edible oilseeds.

Diseases of Edible Oilseed Crops presents an unprecedentedly thorough collection of information on the diseases of cultivated annual oilseed crops, including peanut, rapeseed-mustard, sesame, soybean, sunflower, and safflower. Written by internationally recognized researchers, this book covers and integrates worldwide literature in the field up to 2014, setting it apart from other books that are only of regional importance. The book focuses on major diseases of economic importance to each crop. Each chapter is devoted to a type of crop and a profile of affecting diseases according to geographical occurrence, epidemiology, symptoms, causal pathogens, host-pathogen interactions, biotechnological aspects, and the latest approaches to understanding host-pathogen interactions. It also includes discussions on developments on controversial subjects in research in order to stimulate thinking and further conversation with an eye toward improvements and resolutions. Research on oilseed crop diseases has expanded tremendously in the past 30 years, primarily as an effort to reduce losses to various stresses, including crop diseases. In the war against hunger and malnutrition, it is necessary to enhance and update knowledge about crop diseases and managing them. By compiling decades of information from previously scattered research into a single globally minded volume, Diseases of Edible Oilseed Crops provides these much-needed updates and enhancements.

This book analyses the performance and potential of India’s oilseed sector, identifies the major constraints facing the industry and suggests options for increasing the country’s oilseed production and productivity, taking into account the changing policy environment, increasing demand, slow growth in domestic production and rising imports. India as the world’s largest producer of oilseeds, accounts for about 7-8 per cent of global vegetable oil production. However, the growth in domestic production has not kept pace with the growth in demand. Low yields and high production and market risks due to lack of irrigation facilities and effective risk management have been responsible for widening the demand-supply gap over the years, and the country now imports more than half of its oilseed for domestic consumption. The Technology Mission on Oilseeds (TMO), launched in the mid-1980s, helped achieve self-sufficiency in edible oil production through the spread of technology and the provision of market support. However, increasing demand for edible oils necessitated imports in large quantities, leading to a substantial drain on foreign exchange. Given the competing demands on agricultural land from various crops and enterprises, the production of oilseeds can be increased only if productivity is improved significantly and farmers receive remunerative prices and have assured market access. However, farmers face various constraints in oilseed production; several biotic, abiotic, technological, institutional and socio-economic constraints inhibit exploitation of the full yield potential of crops, which need to be addressed. The book explores these issues using data collected from about 2,000 oilseed growers: 490 soybean farmers, 316 rapeseed-mustard growers, 470 groundnut farmers, 250 sesamum farmers and 470 sunflower growers from selected Indian states. It would be of immense use for scholars and policy makers alike who are working in this field.

These three volumes deal with the diseases of primarily cultivated annual edible oilseeds, i.e., peanut (groundnut), rapeseed-mustard, sesame, sunflower, safflower, and nigerseed. It is reliably believed that this book will be of great help not only to students, reseachers, and teachers but also to agricultural extension workers, field workers, seed growers, and seed crop inspectors, and subsequently to the farmers, to achieve the over-all objective of increase in oilseed crop yields throughout the world.

The concept of Rainbow Revolution is an integrated development of crop cultivation, horticulture, forestry, fishery, poultry, animal husbandry, and food processing industry. The concept of Smart Farming Technologies in agriculture is a step towards sustainability. India has already achieved resilience in agriculture, including the horticultural sector, through effective agricultural technology generation and is now on the threshold of a “rainbow revolution” that will ensure both household nutrition security and prosperity for its people. This book will be of immense value to the scientific community involved in teaching, research and extension activities related to strategies for achieving Rainbow Revolution for enhancing farmers’ income, food, and nutrition security. The book can also serve as a very useful reference for policymakers and practicing farmers.