Aerobiology is study of air-borne microorganisms of their identity, behavior movements and survival. The term aer obiology was coined by American plant pathologist Fred Campell Meier in 1930s to embrace studies of fungal spores, pollen grains and bacteria in the atmosphere. The scope of aerobiology has been widened to include various other biological particulates like plant propagules, protozoan cysts insects, algae, fungi, lichen fragments, bacteria, pollen grains and viruses etc. Jacob (1951) defines aerobiology as the dispersion of insect population, fungal spores, pollens, bacteria, virus moulds and all forms of life both plants and animals which becomes airborne, and get transported in the atmosphere.

Major Fungal Diseases of Rice: Recent Advances provides a comprehensive overview of latest research in rice fungal pathology. There are 25 chapters dealing with the blast, sheath blight, sheath rot, brown spot and scald diseases of rice as well as some broader topics. The book covers recent progress in a number of key fundamental aspects such as pathogenicity, pathogen diversity, molecular characterisation, gene cloning, genetics of host resistance and host-pathogen interactions. It also presents the current status and perspectives in strategic and applied areas such as epidemiology, resistance breeding, biological control, induced resistance, seed-borne diseases and quarantine issues and disease management strategies. This book is essential for rice researchers, pathologists and breeders and will also be suitable for cereal and plant pathologists in general, as there is an extensive coverage of recent research advances in rice blast, a model system in plant pathology.

The book fully conforms to the syllabus of the ICAR Fifth Dean's Committee Report prescribed for the undergraduate degree programme [B.Sc. (Hons) Agriculture]. The book covers symptoms, etiology, disease cycle and epidemiology, and management of major diseases of Field Crops, such as Rice, Maize, Sorghum, Bajra, Groundnut, Soybean, Pigeon pea, Finger millet, Black gram and Green gram, Castor, Tobacco and Horticultural Crops, such as Guava, Banana, Papaya, Pomegranate, Cruciferous vegetables, Brinjal, Tomato, Okra, Beans, Ginger, Colocasia, Coconut, Tea, and Coffee. The list of additional important diseases from the aforementioned crops has been given in the book. Convincing tables and high-quality photographs furnished at appropriate places make concepts easy for students to comprehend. The book also contains objective type questions like Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Match the Following type of questions to enhance the understanding of the subject which will further help students to practice for the ICAR-JRF exam. However, these questions will also be useful for other competitive examinations such as ICAR-SRF, ICAR-NET, IARI, UPSC and Entrance exam for PG course. Besides undergraduate students, this book will also serve as a ready-to-use teaching material for teachers and a basic guide for researchers, plant protection specialists, extension workers and agriculture or horticulture officers, and growers. KEY FEATURES • Thorough coverage as per the syllabus needs • Lucid explanation for easy comprehension • Illustration and photographs for clear understanding • Question bank for practice TARGET AUDIENCE • B.Sc. (Hons) Agricultural Sciences • Competitive exams: ICAR-JRF, ICAR-SRF, ICAR-NET, IARI and so on. • Ready reference for teachers, researchers and plant protection scientists.

Wheat Blast provides systematic and practical information on wheat blast pathology, summarises research progress and discusses future perspectives based on current understanding of the existing issues. The book explores advance technologies that may help in deciding the path for future research and development for better strategies and techniques to manage the wheat blast disease. It equips readers with basic and applied understanding on the identification of disease, its distribution and chances of further spread in new areas, its potential to cause yield losses to wheat, the conditions that favour disease development, disease prediction modelling, resistance breeding methods and management strategies against wheat blast. Features: Provides comprehensive information on wheat blast pathogen and its management under a single umbrella Covers disease identification and diagnostics which will be helpful to check introduction in new areas Discusses methods and protocol to study the different aspects of the disease such as diagnostics, variability, resistance screening, epiphytotic creation etc. Gives deep insight on the past, present and future outlook of wheat blast research progress This book’s chapters are contributed by experts and pioneers in their respective fields and it provides comprehensive insight with updated findings on wheat blast research. It serves as a valuable reference for researchers, policy makers, students, teachers, farmers, seed growers, traders, and other stakeholders dealing with wheat.

Of the global population of more than 7 billion people, some 800 million do not have enough to eat today. By 2050, the population is expected to exceed 9 billion. It has been estimated that some 15% of food production is lost to plant diseases; in developing countries losses may be much higher. Historically, plant diseases have had catastrophic impact on food production. For example: potato blight caused the Irish famine in 1845; brown spot of rice caused the Great Bengal Famine of 1943; southern corn leaf blight caused a devastating epidemic on the US corn crop in 1970. Food security is threatened by an ongoing sequence of plant diseases, some persistent for decades or centuries, others more opportunistic. Wheat blast and banana xanthomonas wilt are two contrasting examples of many that currently threaten food production. Other emerging diseases will follow. The proposed title aims to provide a synthesis of expert knowledge to address this central challenge to food security for the 21st century. Chapters [5] and [11] are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book provides a review of the state-of-the-art of agricultural robotics in different aspects of PA, the goals, and the gaps. The book introduces the area of Agricultural Robotics for Precision Agriculture (PA) specifically the conditions and limitations for implementing robots in this field and presents the concepts, principles, required abilities, components, characteristics and performance measures, conditions, and rules for robots in PA.