It is important to include Tuber and Root Crops in the Handbook of Plant Breeding. They include starchy staple crops that are of increasing importance for global food security and relief of poverty, important millennium goals for the United Nations. Indeed, 2008 was the UN International Year of the Potato in recognition of this role of the potato as the world’s third most important food crop …
Achieving rapid and uniform stand establishment in crops requires a combination of high-quality seeds and appropriate environmental conditions. In particular, temperature and soil moisture (or water potential) are the major factors influencing germination in the field. In this chapter, we focus on the application of population-based threshold (PBT) models to characterize seed germination time c…
Agriculture requires technical solutions for increasing production while lessening environmental impact by reducing the application of agro-chemicals and increasing the use of environmentally friendly management practices. A benefit of this is the reduction of production costs. Sensor technologies produce tools to achieve the abovementioned goals. The explosive technological advances and develo…
Agriculture requires technical solutions for increasing production while lessening environmental impact by reducing the application of agro-chemicals and increasing the use of environmentally friendly management practices. A benefit of this is the reduction of production costs. Sensor technologies produce tools to achieve the abovementioned goals. The explosive technological advances and develo…
Microorganisms are a good indicator of soil health. Plant growth-promoting microorganisms protect plants from the stresses of water, salt, metal, biotic, and so on, and are well known for strategically modulating the plant mechanisms to defend and mitigate environmental stresses. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this volume explores the role of plant microorganisms in ecological and agricul…
This book covers the main effects of agriculture practices on soil degradation in several countries from Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania, and it elucidates the impact of chemical agents on soil quality, namely, the use of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, soil acidification and microplastics pollution. In these continents, a large number of the population depend on agriculture, which sets…
The 4th edition of Building Soils for Better Crops is a one-of-a-kind, practical guide to ecological soil management. It provides step-by-step information on soil-improving practices as well as in-depth background―from what soil is to the importance of organic matter. It will show you how different physical, chemical and biological factors of the soil interconnect, and how management practice…
This collection of papers offers technical analyses, policy recommendations and an overview of success stories to date. Each carefully selected paper provides valuable insights for improved policy making and defines relevant strategic priorities on Africa’s sustainable transformation process, which is in line with the international development agenda. Although agriculture remains the main sou…
This book contains research and review works focused on agricultural engineering technologies and applications. In this regard, including agricultural storage, quality evaluation of fruits, evaporative cooling and desiccant systems, solar coffee roasting, solar yogurt processing, greenhouse environment, greenhouse ventilation, greenhouse thermal requirements, aquaculture production system, bior…
The Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (EWIC) is an interdisciplinary, transhistorical, and global project. It brings together upwards of 1,000 scholars to write critical essays on women, Muslim and non-Muslim, and Islamic cultures in every region where there have been significant Muslim populations. It aims to cover every topic for which there is significant research, examining these r…