Until recently, breeding efforts in mass produced food crops centered on high yield production, yet sacrificed flavor, taste, and other qualities. Now, more emphasis is being placed on the enhancement of nutritional and medicinal properties as well as from an environmental impact and sustainability standpoint. This volume looks at the use of crops

The improvement of crop species has been a basic pursuit since cultivation began thousands of years ago. To feed an ever increasing world population will require a great increase in food production. Wheat, corn, rice, potato and few others are expected to lead as the most important crops in the world. Enormous efforts are made all over the world to document as well as use these resources. Everybody knows that the introgression of genes in wheat provided the foundation for the “Green Revolution”. Later also demonstrated the great impact that genetic resources have on production. Several factors are contributing to high plant performance under different environmental conditions, therefore an effective and complementary use of all available technological tools and resources is needed to meet the challenge.

Put Theory into Practice Scarcity of natural resources, higher costs, higher demand, and concerns about environmental pollution- under these circumstances, improving food supply worldwide with adequate quantity and quality is fundamental. Based on the author's more than forty years of experience, The Use of Nutrients in Crop Plants

"The book...is, in fact, a short text on the many practical problems...associated with translating the explosion in basic biotechnological research into the next Green Revolution," explains Economic Botany. The book is "a concise and accurate narrative, that also manages to be interesting and personal...a splendid little book." Biotechnology states, "Because of the clarity with which it is written, this thin volume makes a major contribution to improving public understanding of genetic engineering's potential for enlarging the world's food supply...and can be profitably read by practically anyone interested in application of molecular biology to improvement of productivity in agriculture."

Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. You¿ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments for years, since their benefits accumulate over the long term. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. from the 2nd ed., added new results and updated farmer profiles and research data, and added 2 chap. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. about aspects of cover cropping.

Genetically engineered (GE) crops were first introduced commercially in the 1990s. After two decades of production, some groups and individuals remain critical of the technology based on their concerns about possible adverse effects on human health, the environment, and ethical considerations. At the same time, others are concerned that the technology is not reaching its potential to improve human health and the environment because of stringent regulations and reduced public funding to develop products offering more benefits to society. While the debate about these and other questions related to the genetic engineering techniques of the first 20 years goes on, emerging genetic-engineering technologies are adding new complexities to the conversation. Genetically Engineered Crops builds on previous related Academies reports published between 1987 and 2010 by undertaking a retrospective examination of the purported positive and adverse effects of GE crops and to anticipate what emerging genetic-engineering technologies hold for the future. This report indicates where there are uncertainties about the economic, agronomic, health, safety, or other impacts of GE crops and food, and makes recommendations to fill gaps in safety assessments, increase regulatory clarity, and improve innovations in and access to GE technology.

The second edition of this classic volume provides comprehensive coverage of over one hundred of the world’s major economically significant crop plants and their wild ancestors. The crops featured range from cereals to tropical staples, beans and pulses, vegetables, fruits, cash crops, oil crops and spices. Information on crop evolution is vital in the current effort to understand and conserve biodiversity, and provides a basis for the improvement of plant species. For each crop, the book includes a detailed examination of: cytotaxonomic background early history — evolution and domestication recent history — modern cultivars future prospects — for markets, production systems and crop improvement This new edition takes into account the rapid advances made in this field with the advent of new molecular techniques and our ever growing understanding of genetics. Evolution of Crop Plants is an excellent resource for plant breeders and biotechnologists, seed producers, plant pathologists and researchers in agriculture, crop evolution and conservation.