This book details recent advances in the applications of nanobiofertilizers as a substitute for synthetic fertilizers in boosting food production. With the steady rise of the world’s population, there is a need to increase the production of safe and nutritious food. The constant loss of arable land, as a result of various anthropogenic activities from human action, has become a threat to global biodiversity and ecosystems. Additionally, the issue of climate change has imposed many obstacles to increasing agricultural productivity, especially from biotic and abiotic stressors and temperature-limited environments, such as in high altitudes or seasonally hot regions. Because of these factors, there is a need to adopt sustainable and modern technologies that can boost and improve the rate of food production. One of the cheapest means of enhancing sustainable food production is to explore natural and unlimited beneficial microorganisms, particularly those that can increase the level of soil fertility, improve crop production and health, improve tolerance to stress, support nutrient uptake and availability, and boost natural biodiversity. The synergetic effect of nanotechnology and beneficial microorganisms for the effective bio-fabrication of nanobiofertilizers, is a sustainable solution for producing pesticide-free food. This book provides a deep insight into microbial diversity, recent techniques used for the isolation, screening, and characterization of beneficial microorganisms with eco-friendly attributes, used for bioengineering of nanobiofertilizers, as well as the application of proteomics, metabolomics, genomics, and bioinformatics. The book also covers commercialization, patents, and the business and socio-economic aspects of nanobiofertilizers, as well as the role of policymakers, stakeholders, and government agencies in the translation of nanobioferilizer research into policy. Audience The book is a useful resource for a diverse audience, including industrialists, food industry professionals, agriculturists, agricultural microbiologists, plant pathologists, botanists, microbiologists, biotechnologists, nanotechnologists, microbial biotechnologists, farmers, policymakers, and extension workers.

Handbook of AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY The book provides a detailed examination of the application of nanobioherbicides that come from plants including information on the different metabolites derived from numerous plants that could become bioherbicides. The book gives attention to weed-plant physiology and chronicles the activities of nanobioherbicides on weeds during preliminary bioassays, pot assays, in-house screenings, and during field trials. Furthermore, deep data is provided on the commercial potential of these nanobioherbicides derived from plants, while toxicity assays are also highlighted. Other topics covered include: documented patents on nanobioherbicides; the process involved in the registration of these novel products as nanobioherbicides for both conventional and organic farming; relevant information on the application of molecular techniques for improvement of nanobioherbicides, such as genomics, proteomics, informatics, bioinformatics, and chemoinformatics; details about the non-target effect of the nanobioherbicides. Highlighted, too, is information on the biochemical, enzymatic, and ultrastructural effects of these nanobioherbicides, as well as detailed information on the nutritional qualities of agricultural crops after nanobioherbicidal application. Audience The book is a useful resource for a diverse audience, including industrialists, food industry professionals, agriculturists, agricultural microbiologists, plant pathologists, botanists, microbiologists, biotechnologists, nanotechnologists, microbial biotechnologists, farmers, policymakers, and extension workers.

Handbook of AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY The book provides detailed information about the application of repellent products that contain plant-based ingredients known as nanobioinsecticides, including the pesticide evaluation scheme guidelines for repellent testing, relevant information about the procedures to evaluate several repellent compounds, the development of new products that offer high repellency, and guidelines for consumer safety. The chapters of volume IV of this set, focus on a wide range of related topics. They chronicle many traditional repellent plants that could be used in ethnobotanical studies and provides valuable insight into the development of new natural products. It outlines the standardization and numerous investigations used to affirm the level of repellent compounds from various plants. Furthermore, it details the safety, efficacy, and facts about plant-based repellent testing, and reviews new developments in the field. The book also explores the sustainable techniques involved in the structural elucidation and characterization of active constituents found in nanobioinsecticides, and gives relevant information on the use of essential oils, derived from plants, in the preparation of nanobioinsecticides. Audience The book is a useful resource for a diverse audience, including industrialists, food industry professionals, agriculturists, agricultural microbiologists, plant pathologists, botanists, microbiologists, biotechnologists, nanotechnologists, microbial biotechnologists, farmers, policymakers, and extension workers.

Handbook of AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY The book provides detailed information on the application of nanopesticides for the management of numerous agricultural pests and pathogens, as well as to foster an innovative pathway toward future sustainable agriculture and food systems. Biopesticides have been identified as a sustainable and permanent replacement to synthetic chemicals. Their application will go a long way toward preventing major challenges that confront sustainable agriculture, the actualization of global food production and food security, helping to feed an ever-increasing population that is predicted to increase to nine billion by 2050. An interdisciplinary collaboration among policymakers, private sector, researchers, civil society, farmers, consumers, and environmentalists will foster an innovative pathway toward future sustainable agriculture and food systems that could ensure resilience, food security, and a healthy environment. The book explains the application of some nanobiopesticides as ovicides that could kill eggs of insects and mites, as well as slimicides that could destroy slime-producing microorganisms, such as algae, bacteria, fungi, and slime molds. Other highlights include: a discussion on the application of nanobiopesticides for the rejuvenation of heavily contaminated environments (as well as their role in the mitigation of several abiotic stress); a demonstration of how nanobiopesticides derived from plants could be applied for effective management of pests and diseases in animal husbandry and fishery; and a collection of relevant information on patents, the commercialization of relevant plant-derived nanobiopesticides, and their social economic and industrial relevance. Audience The book is a useful resource for a diverse audience, including industrialists, food industry professionals, agriculturists, agricultural microbiologists, plant pathologists, botanists, microbiologists, biotechnologists, nanotechnologists, microbial biotechnologists, farmers, policymakers, and extension workers.

Handbook of AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY This book provides state-of-the-art information about recent advancements in the application of nanobiofungicides for effective management of post-harvest diseases and agricultural fungal diseases, including blights, mildews, molds, and rusts. The book details the formulation and standardization of nanobiofungicides, as well as their application in the management of biotic and abiotic stress. It provides relevant information on the isolation, characterization, purification, and structural characterization of active constituents, using spectroscopic techniques and explains the quarantine and regulatory issues that are associated with nanobiofungicides (derived from plants and other biogenic sources), as well as various regulatory bodies that manage the control of pesticides on agricultural products. Readers will learn about the application of nanobiofungicides when applied as a biocontrol agent against soil-borne and root-borne plant pathogens; the management of mycotoxin; the non-target effect of plant-based nanobiofungicides when applied in the greenhouse and field (such as rate of CO2 evolution, organic carbon content, enzymatic activity, acidic and alkaline phosphatase, dehydrogenases, urease, and protease); and the effect on soil microorganisms using different assay techniques. Furthermore, the book provides information on several plant materials that could serve as nanobiofungicdes, and explains the procedure involved in the characterization of plant-based nanobiofungicides (using TEM, SEM, XRD, EDX, UV, zeta potential, dynamic light-scattering). Finally, it offers a specific illustration on the application of microencapsulation and nanoformulation technology in the synthesis of plant-based nanobiofungicides. Audience The book is a useful resource for a diverse audience, including industrialists, food industry professionals, agriculturists, agricultural microbiologists, plant pathologists, botanists, microbiologists, biotechnologists, nanotechnologists, microbial biotechnologists, farmers, policymakers, and extension workers.

This book is a compendium of knowledge, experience and insight on agriculture, biotechnology and development. Beginning with an account of GM crop adoptions and attitudes towards them, the book assesses numerous crucial processes, concluding with detai

Biomass currently accounts for about fifteen per cent of global primary energy consumption and is playing an increasingly important role in the face of climate change, energy and food security concerns. Handbook of Bioenergy Crops is a unique reference and guide, with extensive coverage of more than eighty of the main bioenergy crop species. For each it gives a brief description, outlines the ecological requirements, methods of propagation, crop management, rotation and production, harvesting, handling and storage, processing and utilization, then finishes with selected references. This is accompanied by detailed guides to biomass accumulation, harvesting, transportation and storage, as well as conversion technologies for biofuels and an examination of the environmental impact and economic and social dimensions, including prospects for renewable energy. This is an indispensable resource for all those involved in biomass production, utilization and research.

Advances in food science, technology, and engineering are occurring at such a rapid rate that obtaining current, detailed information is challenging at best. While almost everyone engaged in these disciplines has accumulated a vast variety of data over time, an organized, comprehensive resource containing this data would be invaluable to have. The

This Encyclopedia of Biotechnology is a component of the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Biotechnology draws on the pure biological sciences (genetics, animal cell culture, molecular biology, microbiology, biochemistry, embryology, cell biology) and in many instances is also dependent on knowledge and methods from outside the sphere of biology (chemical engineering, bioprocess engineering, information technology, biorobotics). This 15-volume set contains several chapters, each of size 5000-30000 words, with perspectives, applications and extensive illustrations. It carries state-of-the-art knowledge in the field and is aimed, by virtue of the several applications, at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.