SEARCH RESULTS - CHAPTERS

Page 1, Results: 2163,

Advances in development of potato varieties resistant to abiotic stress

Ankush Prashar, Filipe de Jesus Colwell, Csaba Hornyik, Glenn J. Bryan

Abiotic stresses namely drought, salinity, high or low temperature, submergence, nutrient deficiency and so forth have an impact on potato yields. These suboptimal conditions restrict potato plant performance so that the plants do not reach their full genetic potential. This chapter examines different abiotic stress improvement targets in the potato as well as the variety of tools and techniques being developed and used for crop improvement for abiotic stresses. The chapter reviews technological advances to develop abiotic stress resistance in potatoes and tolerant varieties, especially through genetic engineering, and looks ahead to future trends in this area.
Publication date: 08 August 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Modelling potato growth

Ilkka Leinonen, Hongyan Chen, James A. Taylor

The development of mechanistic models for predicting growth of various crops (including potatoes) has continued for several decades, and new applications of such models are increasingly becoming available. Despite the benefits of this development, it may be difficult for the user to choose particular models suitable for a specific purpose (such as decision making in potato farming). In this chapter, we try to provide insights that would help the potential user to better understand the benefits and limitations of various types of models. First, we present some ideas on the general principles of mechanistic modelling and potential applications of crop models. Then, we briefly describe the main physiological processes of potato growth and how they have been handled in mechanistic models. Finally, we provide examples of the recent applications of potato models and discuss the future use of the models for new applications, mainly in precision farming.
Publication date: 07 September 2018

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£25.00

Advances in irrigation management and technology in potato cultivation: experiences from a humid climate

Jerry Knox, Tim Hess

For many farmers, irrigation is an essential component of potato production, serving to maximise yields and meet quality assurance targets for retailers and consumers. In recent years, rising costs for labour and energy (pumping) have led to considerable attention being given to improving on-farm irrigation efficiency and water productivity, or ‘more crop per drop’. This chapter focuses on recent advances in both in-field water management (notably irrigation scheduling) and application equipment, including the challenges in implementing precision irrigation technologies to improve productivity and reduce water demands. The chapter reports evidence relating to research and practitioner experiences from the United Kingdom, which has a humid climate and where irrigation is supplemental to rainfall, but the issues raised and measures proposed are equally applicable to other environments where water resources for agriculture are under scrutiny and potatoes are an important commodity crop.
Publication date: 07 September 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Post-harvest storage of potatoes

Adrian Briddon, Adrian Cunnington, Glyn Harper

Storage is one component of the field to fork cycle and good storage can maintain the quality of the input tubers with positive benefits for the rest of the supply chain. This chapter reviews the mechanisms underlying potato spoilage and discusses key techniques for storing potatoes to maintain quality and shelf life, with where possible and as little reliance on agrochemical usage as possible, to conform to current and forthcoming legislation. This is crucial to maximise the profit of potato production to enable progressive and sustainable agriculture. The principal tool available to the store manager is the control of air, as the means by which temperature and humidity are controlled, chemical treatments are delivered, oxygen is maintained and carbon dioxide removed. Pathological and physiological factors both impact on quality and these are discussed in relation to available current practical, effective, storage control methods.
Publication date: 07 September 2018

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£25.00

Fungal diseases affecting potato storage

A. Lees

Fungal and oomycete pathogens responsible for causing potato storage diseases are both numerous and ubiquitous wherever potatoes are grown. These diseases can result in losses of 5–10% during storage, with additional losses caused in the field in subsequent growing seasons for affected seed crops. Previous research has tended to focus on individual diseases and their management, but there is a growing need to understand the bigger picture. This chapter considers the issue in three stages: identifying the causal pathogens, understanding the epidemiology of the diseases and managing disease in the field and during storage. A detailed case study of Fusarium dry rot is presented to illustrate how improved understanding of diseases can be used to ensure more effective management.
Publication date: 07 September 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Soil and soil health: an overview

Mark G. Kibblewhite

Soil health is an urgent concern because of the need to manage soil resources better to meet food and other security imperatives. The different meanings of soil ‘quality’ and ‘health’ are explained. Soil health is defined as an integrative property of the biotic and abiotic components of the soil system that describes its performance relative to its inherent potential. Options for assessing soil health are reviewed and a commentary provided on which of these may be most useful in practical agriculture. The importance of good governance of soil health is emphasised and some insights are presented about its management.
Publication date: 06 August 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Soil health and climate change: a critical nexus

Promil Mehra, Bhupinder Pal Singh, Anitha Kunhikrishnan, Annette L. Cowie, Nanthi Bolan

A healthy soil has the capacity to sustain biological activity, maintain environmental quality and promote plant and animal health. This chapter reviews the impact of climate change on the key components of soil health, including soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Holistically, under the nexus of climate change and farming systems, this chapter also reviews some of the key management practices that have been demonstrated to improve soil health and deliver climate benefits. To address the conundrum of building soil health under a changing climate, this chapter proposes a framework for wider implementation of sustainable management approaches for improving soil health globally. The chapter looks ahead to future research trends in this area, including multidisciplinary collaboration and communications, and provides guidance on further reading on the subject.
Publication date: 06 August 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

The role of soil fauna in soil health and delivery of ecosystem services

George G. Brown, Elodie da Silva, Marcílio J. Thomazini, Cíntia C. Niva, Thibaud Decaëns

Soil fauna includes microscopic organisms such as nematodes (microfauna), mites and springtails (mesofauna), up to larger invertebrates such as worms, spiders, ants, termites and beetles (macrofauna) and vertebrates (megafauna) such as amphibians, reptiles and mammals. This chapter explains how their activity is important for soil health and can result in various ecosystem services, including provision of food and primary production, nutrient cycling and organic matter dynamics, water availability in soil, gas exchanges, soil formation, pollination and seed dispersal. The chapter classifies soil fauna and reviews currently available information on soil fauna biodiversity and functional roles worldwide, their role in soil health and the importance of management in determining soil fauna communities.
Publication date: 06 August 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Soil health assessment and inventory: indices and databases

Brian K. Slater

It is increasingly appreciated that the soil resource embodies significant natural capital supporting valuable ecosystem services, yet soil natural capital and ecosystem services are threatened by land degradation at the same time as they become more central to efforts to expand food production to feed a growing population. This chapter explores the challenges for comprehensive soil health assessment, giving an account of soil health assessment frameworks and indices and indexing systems in active use. The chapter looks at practical on-farm assessment of soil health, including the use of soil health cards, crowdsourcing and citizen science. It also describes methods of mapping soil health and the use of soil property databases, concluding with a proposal for a multi-scale soil database framework. Finally, the chapter looks ahead to future research trends and provides detailed guidance on further reading in this area.
Publication date: 06 August 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Managing irrigation for soil health in arid and semi-arid regions

Jeffrey Peter Mitchell, Howard Ferris, Anil Shrestha, Francis J. Larney, Garrison Sposito

Irrigated arid and semi-arid regions of the world account for more than 40% of the global crop production. Managing soil health while simultaneously increasing water use efficiency in these areas is challenging, but critical to future global food security. This chapter describes production practices such as no-tillage and surface residue preservation that maximize both water infiltration into soil and soil water retention, reduce runoff and evaporation and thereby increase the productive flow of water via transpiration. The chapter summarizes recent information on the application of soil health management principles in irrigated and dry land arid and semi-arid environments, including examples of cost–benefit trade-offs associated with reduced-disturbance no-tillage systems and the use of cover crops. The chapter looks ahead to future trends in this area and suggests further reading for those interested in researching further.
Publication date: 06 August 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Conservation grass hedges and soil health parameters

Humburto Blanco-Canqui

<p>Grass hedges, narrow (<2 m) strips of tall and stiff-stemmed perennial grass planted within croplands, are an innovative conservation practice to improve the health of the soils. Integrating grass hedges with food crops is a potential strategy to reduce erosion, improve soil health and wildlife habitat, and improve overall soil productivity. This chapter aims to synthesize and review the published information on grass hedges and their soil benefits, to better understand the potential of grass hedges for managing water erosion as well as improving soil health in agricultural lands.</p>
Publication date: 06 August 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Organic amendments to improve soil health and crop productivity: a case study in China

Minggang Xu, Wenju Zhang, Zejiang Cai, Shaoming Huang, Ping Zhu

This chapter focuses on three long-term fertilization experiments with a temperature and precipitation gradient from China, which aim to improve soil fertility, maintain soil health and increase crop productivity. After outlining the approaches adopted in long-term experiments in fertilization management, the chapter examines the impact of different fertilization techniques on soil health. The chapter then addresses the impact of different fertilization techniques on crop yield, and finally looks ahead to future research trends in this area.
Publication date: 06 August 2018

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Targeting smallholder farmers to adopt improved cassava technologies: challenges and opportunities

Kolawole Adebayo

This chapter examines the challenges and opportunities for targeting smallholder farmers to adopt improved cassava technologies for yield and profitability. Smallholder farmers are not a homogenous group and, therefore, a static technology promotion system cannot address the needs of a dynamic client group. Using evidence from existing research, the chapter explores how key issues are being addressed. It reviews three case studies, including the Fufu Project and C:AVA, which show research being used in practice to improve cassava productivity among smallholders. Finally, it provides an insight into future trends in research on targeting smallholder farmers to adopt improved cassava technologies.
Publication date: 12 July 2017

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Integrated crop management for cassava cultivation in Asia

Tin Maung Aye, Reinhardt Howeler

The demand for cassava in Asia is expected to grow in the years to come, largely because of an increasing demand for animal feed, biofuels and multiple uses of starch. Increasing the quantity and quality of cassava products in response to growing demand requires careful and sustainable increases in cassava production. This chapter describes good agricultural practices (GAP) in cassava cultivation, focusing on pre- and post-harvesting practices and measures to manage crop health, including ensuring soil fertility and weed, disease and pest control. The chapter addresses the challenge of encouraging farmers to adopt GAP and reviews likely future trends in this area.
Publication date: 19 July 2017

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Seed systems management in cassava cultivation

James George, Sarojini Amma Sunitha

A sustainable cassava seed system will ensure that high-quality seeds of farmer-demanded varieties and crops are produced and fully available on time and affordable to farmers and other stakeholders. This chapter describes the production and management of high-quality cassava seed under both informal and formal seed systems, and under both traditional and different types of rapid propagation methods. The chapter includes a detailed case study on mini-stake-based rapid multiplication in India and looks ahead to future developments in this area of research.
Publication date: 19 July 2017

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Integrated management of arthropod pests of cassava: the case of Southeast Asia

Ignazio Graziosi, Kris A. G. Wyckhuys

High-yielding varieties and improved agronomy have led to substantial increases in cassava crop productivity throughout Southeast Asia; however, in recent years, those advances are being jeopardized by recurrent outbreaks of several non-native arthropod pests and (insect-vectored) pathogens. In this chapter, we provide an up-to-date account of recently-arrived invasive pests that are impacting Asia’s cassava crops and are having substantial repercussion for cassava crop production in multiple Asian countries. We indicate how both invasive insects, secondary pest outbreaks and insect-vectored diseases are becoming of increasing importance in several of Asia’s prime cassava-growing areas. We describe country-specific and regional mitigation programs and responses of local farmers to escalating pest outbreaks, listing both curative and preventative management tactics. We outline future opportunities for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and arthropod biological control, and lay the basis for multi-disciplinary efforts to safeguard the long-term productivity, sustainability and agro-ecosystem health of one of Asia’s primary agricultural commodities.
Publication date: 31 August 2017

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Advances in cold-tolerant maize varieties

Csaba L. Marton, Zsuzsanna Tóthné Zsubori

Maize, a thermophilic plant species, originates from subtropical highlands. Maize cultivation, however, has spread to temperate regions of the world that experience low temperatures during the early development of the plants. Maize genotypes that are cultivated in cooler climates need to have a short vegetation period and the ability to adapt to low temperatures. By growing cold-tolerant hybrids it is possible to achieve improvements in stand uniformity, the rate of plant development and the yield. In addition, cold-tolerant hybrids can be sown earlier, making it possible to grow hybrids with longer vegetation periods and greater yield potential. This chapter will discuss the physiological and genetic background of cold tolerance, the methodology required for its analysis, ways of improving cold tolerance by breeding, and the seed production aspects of this trait.
Publication date: 08 June 2017

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Analysing maize grain quality

Glen P. Fox, Tim J. O'Hare

Advances in the technologies and methods for analysing the quality characteristics of maize grains can help us determine the contribution of maize products to human health, as well as help in the development of maize cultivars with improved characteristics. This chapter reviews a range of methods for determining important characteristics of maize grains, with sections covering starch content, protein content, phenolic compounds (in particular, flavonoids such as carotenoids), kernel hardness/texture and levels of myotoxins.
Publication date: 09 June 2017

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£25.00

Assessing and improving the nutritional quality of maize

Elena Lima-Cabello, Paula Robles Bolivar, Jose C. Jimenez-Lopez

Conventional marker-assisted and GM breeding contribute to the production of new maize varieties to compete in the complex global agricultural marketplace. Breeders aim to improve quality and yield, create varieties that are suited to particular agricultural practices and raise the nutritional value of maize without compromising high safety standards. This chapter focuses on the diverse methods available for affecting the development and chemical composition of maize kernels, so as to improve their protein and starch content. We summarize the current state of knowledge and technology in this area, with a focus on protein storage, varieties of starch and how to enhance the quality-related traits of maize kernels. We also consider potential future developments in the field and the application of breeding strategies to develop new maize products with higher nutraceutical value and lower levels of anti-nutritional factors such as allergens.
Publication date: 09 June 2017

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£25.00

Supporting small holders in maize cultivation: using an agricultural innovation systems approach

Mariana Wongtschowski, Remco Mur, Carolina Camacho

An innovation system can be defined as a network of organizations, enterprises and individuals focused on bringing new products, new processes and new forms of organization into use, together with the institutions and policies that affect their behaviour and performance. In this chapter, we present an agricultural innovation systems (AIS) approach to understanding the role of research in agricultural innovation, with a focus on the case of research into sustainable maize intensification. We consider three important stages of an innovation process: the identification of problems and targeting of interventions, local experimentation and bringing new ideas into routine use. We discuss the role of research at each stage, and then argue that an AIS approach mandates increased focus on the personal, organizational and institutional capacities of researchers and research bodies.
Publication date: 30 September 2016

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Crop rotation: a sustainable system for maize production

Bao-Luo Ma, Zhigang Wang

Modern agriculture has led to a simplification of maize-based cropping systems and the extensive practice of monoculture maize (MM). This has led to problems such as yield reduction and soil quality degradation. Meanwhile, the overuse of inorganic fertilizer to increase yields comes with a high environmental cost. Maize grown in rotation with grain or forage legume crops often yields more and requires less application of synthetic chemicals (e.g. fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides) than continuous MM. Thus, maize–legume rotations in tandem with the application of farmyard or dairy manure or other organic wastes is deemed an environmental-friendly strategy for sustainable agriculture development, and can help the agri-food production sector to produce affordable and healthy foods for consumers, reduce air and water pollution and build-up healthy soil for the farmers of tomorrow. This chapter summarizes the recent literature on the agronomic, economic, ecological and environmental assessments of maize–legume crop rotation systems.
Publication date: 31 March 2017

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£25.00

Intercropping in sustainable maize cultivation

Abeya Temesgen, Shu Fakai, Daniel Rodriguez

As the level of productivity in sub-Saharan cropping increases, driven by technology adoption, the question whether intercropping should still be promoted over sole cropping is not clear. In this chapter, we review the existing evidence on systems productivity, resource capture and use efficiency, between intercrops and sole crops for maize–legume-dominated cropping systems. Findings indicate that system productivity in intercropping systems is more resource-use efficient and productive particularly in low-yielding environments and production systems, that is, under dryer and inadequate crop nutrition. As the level of resource availability increases, the differences between intercropping and sole cropping are reduced, though still intercropping presents advantages over sole cropping in some of the analysed cases.
Publication date: 31 August 2016

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Advances in wheat breeding techniques

Alison R. Bentley, Ian Mackay

Wheat production must be increased to meet growing demand, making it critical to increase the rate of genetic gain in wheat breeding. This chapter reviews the suit of core breeding methodologies currently applied, including methods proposed and employed for their advancement. It also discusses technologies, including genomic selection, F1 hybrids, genetic engineering, gene editing and mutation breeding, which, although not all new, offer exciting opportunities to advance wheat breeding.
Publication date: 31 July 2016

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Improving the uptake and assimilation of nitrogen in wheat plants

Jacques Le Gouis, Malcolm J. Hawkesford

Nitrogen is a critical macronutrient with a major influence on wheat grain yield and end-use quality. The key challenges are to detect and use genetic variability to breed for more efficient wheat varieties. For this, traits related to nitrogen capture by the root system, then nitrogen assimilation and finally nitrogen remobilization from source organs to the grain are to be considered. The possibility of using these traits will depend on the available genetic variability and the identification of molecular markers associated with relevant chromosomal regions. Future major research trends include the developments in high-throughput phenotyping and characterization of the response to combinations of environmental factors.
Publication date: 30 September 2016

E-Chapter format

£25.00

Wheat pests: introduction, rodents and nematodes

Marion O. Harris, J. Jacob, P. R. Brown, Guiping Yan

Three major groups of organisms cause biotic stress in wheat: pests, diseases and weeds. This chapter and the chapter that follows are about wheat pests. Three major pest taxa affect wheat: rodents, nematodes and arthropods. Rodents and nematodes are introduced in this first chapter, along with unique features of pests and wheat pest management. Insect and mite arthropod pests are introduced in the second chapter.
Publication date: 27 June 2017

E-Chapter format

£25.00