Emerging Plant Growth Regulators in Agriculture: Roles in Stress Tolerance presents current PGR discoveries and advances for agricultural applications, providing a comprehensive reference for those seeking to apply these tools for improved plant health and crop yield. As demand for agricultural crops and improved nutritional requirement continue to escalate in response to increasing population, plant researchers have focused on identifying scientific approaches to minimize the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture crops. Among the various applied approaches, the application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) have gained significant attention for their ability to enhance stress tolerance mechanisms. This book was developed to provide foundational and emerging information to advance the discovery of novel, cost-competitive, specific and effective PGRs for applications in agriculture. - Highlights the latest developments in stress signaling, cross-talk and PGR mechanisms as applied to agriculture and agronomy - Includes case studies and examples to provide real-world insights - Presents resources for future research and field application

In a convenient, single-source reference, this book examines plant growth substances and their relationship to a wide range of physiological processes, ranging from seed germination through the death of the plant. If offers a clear illustration of the pragmatic uses of plant substances in agriculture and demonstrates how basic laboratory research has translated into increased production and profit for the grower. This work begins by building a solid foundation in the subject, which contains historical aspects and fundamental concepts, and provides a methodology for extraction, purification, and quantification of plant growth substances. This forms the basis for understanding the ensuing chapters that explore the many processes involving plant growth substances, including: * seed germination * seedling growth * rooting * dormancy * juvenility * maturity * senescence * flowering * abscission * fruit set * fruit growth * fruit development * premature drop * ripening * promotion of fruit drop * tuberization * photsynthesis * weed control. Providing a detailed examination of plant growth substances and their relationships to specific physiological plant processes, Plant Growth Substances gives students, researchers, and professionals a much needed reference.

"Plant growth regulators consist of organic molecules produced synthetically and used to modulate plant growth. There are several classes of plant growth regulators, including auxin, gibberellin, abscisic acid, cytokinins, salicylic, jasmonic acid and ethylene, as well as more recently investigated brassinosteroids, strigolactones, polyamine, etc. These plant growth regulators have either promoting or inhibitory effects on plant growth and development by means of modification in plant secondary metabolism and gene regulation. Some of plant growth regulators may have safe issues in fields. More attention should be paid in the application of plant growth regulators. Researchers also try to find other regulators to do more field experiments, in order to reduce the amount of organic chemicals (e.g., traditional plant growth regulators) used. This book discusses the function, types, uses and safety of plant growth regulators. The effects of plant growth regulators on horticultural plants are specially introduced in this book. Fly ash and soil mycorrhizal fungi-released glomalin also get a lot of attention in this book"--

The cultivation of rice in Japan has suffered from damage caused by baka nae disease, in which rice seedlings show abnormal growth (elongation) as the result of infection by a plant pathogen. Investigation of the taxonomy of this pathogen led to the commencement of gibberellin (GA) research among Japanese plant pathologists, who later identified it as Gibberella jujikuroi, its other name being Fusarium moniliforme. In 1926, Kurosawa demon strated the occurrence of an active principle in the culture media of fungus that showed the same symptoms as those of the rice disease. In 1938, this finding was followed by the successful isolation of the active principles as crystals from the culture filtrate. This was achieved by the Japanese agri cultural chemists Yabuta and Sumiki, of The University of Tokyo, who named these active principles gibberellins A and B. Following World War II, this discovery attracted the interest of scientists around the world, and research on GA was pursued on a worldwide scale. One of the most outstanding discoveries in GA research after the isolation of GA as the metabolite of the plant pathogen must be the isolation and characterization of GAs from tissues of higher plants by the MacMillan group, West and Phinney, and the Tokyo University group in 1958 and 1959. Thus, GAs have been recognized as one of the most important classes of plant hormones.

Introduction: the state of rice in post-green-revolution Asia; Rice productivity growth: the case against complacency; Sustaining farm profits through technical change; Intensification-induced degradation of the paddy resource base; Erosion, pollution and poison: externalities and rice; Asian rice market: demand and supply prospects; GATT and rice: impact on the rice market and implications for research priorities; Agricultural commercialization and farmer product choices: the case of diversification out of rice; Strategic look at factor markets and the organization of agricultural production beyond 2025; Post-green-revolution seed technology for intensive rice systems; Fertilizers and pesticides: higher levels versus improved efficiencies; Dealing with labor scarcity: mechanical technologies.

The current growing interest of molecular biologists in plant hormone research is undoubtedly the most promising development of recent times. Many papers were presented during the 14th International Conference on Plant Growth Substances illustrating the impact of this new approach on our understanding of hormone-controlled processes. The specific character is the integrated study of plant growth regulation at all levels ranging from single molecules to the entire plant and its functioning in the environment. Hormones play an essential role in the regulation, but not an exclusive one. Other compounds and factors, such as Ca2+, for instance are often of equal relevance, because they may take part in the signal transduction pathway. Moreover, regulation of the regulator by non-hormonal factors is an essential part of any control mechanism. The present volume reflects the change in interest from plant growth substances to plant growth regulation.