With advances in agro-technology, cucurbits are now being grown throughout the year. However, they are prone to biotic and abiotic stresses resulting in significant yield loss. Sustainable management of such stresses is a complex issue in the intensive cultivation of cucurbits involving high levels of fertilization and irrigation. Further, under the changing climatic conditions, pest scenarios vary constantly, with invasive alien species of pests becoming more common as a result of free trade and frequent international travel. As such, agrochemicals are being used as powerful weapons to combat the increasing number of pests and diseases. Lack of proper crop management technologies, inaccurate diagnosis, and indiscriminate and excessive use of pesticides are major causes of pesticide resistance and resurgence, environmental pollution, and hazards to the non-target biota. This comprehensive book provides essential insights into the management of biotic and abiotic stresses in cucurbit cultivation and re-evaluating the role of agrochemicals, and gathers information on insect pests, mites, nematodes, diseases and weeds, as well as on their sustainable management from scattered sources. Written in language that is easy to understand and including high-quality photographs, it is a valuable resource for students, researchers, plant protection specialists, extension workers, and growers.

Biotic stresses cause yield loss of 31-42% in crops in addition to 6-20% during post-harvest stage. Understanding interaction of crop plants to the biotic stresses caused by insects, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and oomycetes, etc. is important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomics-assisted breeding and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in vegetable crops is imperative for addressing FPNEE (food, health, nutrition. energy and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing have facilitated precise information about the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for 'designing' crop genomes with resistance to biotic stresses. The nine chapters each dedicated to a vegetable crop or crop-group in this volume will deliberate on different types of biotic stress agents and their effects on and interaction with crop plants; will enumerate on the available genetic diversity with regard to biotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; will brief on the classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated counterparts; will enunciate the success stories of genetic engineering for developing biotic stress resistant varieties; will discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying biotic stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; will enunciate on different emerging genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery and gene pyramiding for developing resistant crop varieties with higher quantity and better quality; and will also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for generating disease and insect resistant crops.

Geminivirus: Detection, Diagnosis and Management focuses on the latest techniques for managing diseases caused by these circular, single-stranded (ss) DNA genomes. The most significant impact of plant diseases in host populations is often caused by emerging diseases, whose incidence in a plant host is increasing as a result of long-term changes in their underlying epidemiology. Genetic changes in pathogen and host populations, as well as changes in host ecology and environment, are major factors contributing to disease emergence. Understanding plant virus evolution is crucial for modeling the within-host and between-host dynamics and genetics of virus populations. The book presents a comprehensive review of how these viruses develop, including contributing factors such as population bottlenecks during cell-to-cell movement, systemic colonization, or between-host transmission by different procedures. Presented in five sections—Detection and Diagnosis, Emergence and Diversity, Vector and Transmission, Virus–Host Interaction, and Disease Management, the book includes host range determinant and virulence factors involved in pathogenesis, virus–vector interactions during acquisition, retention, and transmission and evaluating management strategies to control Geminivirus. The book is an essential reference for students and researchers interested in plant virology, particularly begomoviruses, geminiviruses, and vector transmission biology. - Introduces identification and characterization of geminiviruses that infect agricultural crops, their wild relatives, and weed hosts - Discusses recombination and reassortment mechanisms influencing viral genetic diversity, virulence, and vector transmission - Explores the origin, evolution, and bottlenecks of Geminiviruses - Introduces identification and characterization of geminiviruses that infect agricultural crops, their wild relatives, and weed hosts - Discusses recombination and reassortment mechanisms influencing viral genetic diversity, virulence, and vector transmission - Explores the origin, evolution, and bottlenecks of Geminiviruses

Nematode Diseases of Crops and their Sustainable Management focuses on methods to recognize and identify nematode attackers in agriculturally important crops, offering ecologically sustainable and economically viable strategies and measures for the management of nematode infestations and diseases. The book analyzes nematode pests as major constraints in global crop production and explores the limitations of existing nematode management technologies. It offers comprehensive information through individually focused chapters on major nematode problems in internationally important food, fiber and beverage crops as well as in mushrooms, polyhouse agriculture and forest flora with regard to distribution, and much more.In view of the highly damaging nature of the disease complexes and complexity in their management, independent chapters on nematode-fungus and nematode-bacteria disease complexes and their management are also presented. - Presents in-depth information on the synergistic interaction of nematodes with other plant pathogens and the resulting disease complexes - Focuses on sustainable and economically-viable approaches to nematode disease management - Includes coverage of regulatory concerns and challenges

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.

Applied Plant Biotechnology for Improvement of Resistance to Biotic Stress applies biotechnology insights that seek to improve plant genomes, thus helping them achieve higher resistance and optimal hormone signaling to increase crop yield. The book provides an analysis of the current state-of-the-art in plant biotechnology as applied to improving resistance to biotic stress. In recent years, significant progress has been made towards understanding the interplay between plants and their hosts, particularly the role of plant immunity in regulating, attenuating or neutralizing invading pathogens. As a result, there is a great need to integrate these insights with methods from biotechnology. - Applies biotechnology insights towards improving plant genomes, achieving higher resistance and optimizing hormone signaling to increase crop yield - Presents the most modern techniques, investigations, diagnostic tools and assays to monitor and detect contaminating agents in crops, such as grape, tomato, coffee and stone fruit - Provides encyclopedic coverage of genes, proteins, interaction networks and mechanisms by which plants and hosts seek survival - Discusses the methods available to make crops resistant and tolerant to disease without decreased yield or food production - Provides insights for policymakers into the difficulties faced by scientific researchers in the use of biotechnology intervention, transgenes and genetically modified sequences