Agronomi og planteproduktion

Microbial Biostimulants for Plant Growth and Abiotic Stress Amelioration, the latest release in the Biostimulants and Protective Biochemical Agents series, provides readers with insights into the major role of biostimulants in plant growth and development while under abiotic stress. The term biostimulants is broadly used to reference a group of diverse substances and microorganisms that stimulate life or that promote favorable plant responses. They stimulate natural processes to enhance/benefit nutrient uptake, nutrient efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, and crop quality. Many biostimulants improve nutrition and they do so regardless of their own nutrient contents. Further, recently microbe-based biostimulants have emerged as important plant protectors under a range of adverse conditions.

This book explores recent advances in the microbial production of xylitol and its applications in food and medical sector. Xylitol is an important biomolecule from lignocellulose biorefinery which is produced from the xylose by chemical reactions or microbial fermentation methods. Currently, the demand of xylitol at commercial scale is being met through chemical methods. However, recent breakthroughs made in plant cell wall destruction, genetic engineering to develop the designer microorganisms, fermentation methods and media formulations and downstream processing have led the ways for sustainable production of xylitol at commercial scale in lignocellulose biorefineries. Microbial production of xylitol is preferred over the chemical processes as it is environmentally friendly, higher process efficiency with the desired product yield, and product recovery with minimum impurities. This book is a unique compilation of 11 book chapters written by experts in their respective fields. These chapters present critical insights and discuss the current progress and future progress in this area into fermentative xylitol production.Chapter 9 is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For further details see license information in the chapter.

Microbiome-Assisted Bioremediation: Rehabilitating Agricultural Soils provides a complete reference on the opportunities, technologies, and challenges of remediating contaminated soils through use of microbial means. Environmental pollution and human exposure associated with heavy metals are attributed to anthropogenic activities such as mining, industrial wastes, and metal containing compounds in domestic and agricultural systems. Addressing the foundational aspects of microbe-based approaches, this book provides a valuable gateway resource for those entering the field, as well as providing in-depth insights into the various tools and techniques for real-world application. Microbial remediation has appeared as a promising approach to lessen the heavy metal concentration in the environment due to their sequestration and transforming ability of xenobiotic compounds. Microbial bioremediation is an efficient, economical, and environmentally-friendly procedure that reduces the cost of the cleanup process associated with heavy and toxic metal contamination.

This contributed volume aims at bringing together all the genetic engineering tools for managing various types of crop pests. The main focus of this book is to explore the application of these tools in pest management. Major pest groups covered in this book are insects, mites and nematodes.The first section covers all major genetic tools and molecular approaches. The second section deals with genetic tools for of beneficial containing three chapters involving honey bees, silkworms and natural enemies. Next section deals with genetic interactions against pests in diverse geographical regions with special focus on Africa, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. Sections four and five addresses diverse aspects as management of pests, genetic behavior, gene expression, plasticity, pathways and interactions and options for mitigation of pests.It serves as a useful resource for professionals in the fields of entomology, agronomy, horticulture, ecology, and environmental sciences, as well as to agricultural producers and plant biotechnologists. 

"Components of environmental systems are intrinsically linked through microbiomes that connect water, soils, plants and animals. Interconnectivity mediated by microorganisms is central to an emerging concept of 'a one systems health', where all components of a system interactively depend on each other, with implication and relevance to all aspects of human health. This volume, edited by Professor Kari Dunfield - a renowned soil biologist - brings together a series of quality reviews that explore the structural and functional relevance of microbiomes across agricultural systems and their associated contribution to ecosystem services. Indeed this is both a timely and relevant 'must read' publication from experts in the field to inform and educate scientists, students, policymakers and the wider interested community alike." (Dr Alan Richardson, CSIRO Agriculture & Food, Microbiomes for One Systems Health - Future Science Platform, Australia) Microbiomes are communities of microorganisms living in soil and other habitats. In recent years, a new wave of research into understanding soil microbiomes has emerged, with stakeholders across the supply chain recognising the fundamental importance of these communities in optimising both crop and soil health. Despite these advancements, many soil microorganisms and their ecological functions remain only partially understood.Understanding and utilising soil microbiomes for a more sustainable agriculture summarises the wealth of recent research in this important area. It reviews advances in techniques for analysing soil microorganisms, the composition and dynamics of soil microbial communities, the ecosystem services they support and how they can be enhanced.In its comprehensive exploration of this exciting subject area, the book highlights the role of soil microbiomes in delivering key ecosystem services and how supporting these wonderful communities can achieve a more sustainable and regenerative agriculture.Edited by a leading expert in the field, Understanding and utilising soil microbiomes for a more sustainable agriculture will be a standard reference for researchers in soil and crop science, governments and other agencies supporting the transition to a more sustainable agriculture, as well as agricultural ecologists and agronomists wishing to further their knowledge on the latest developments in understanding soil microbiomes.Dr Kari E. Dunfield is a Professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology of Agro-ecosystems in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph, Canada. Working at the intersection of microbiology, ecology, and soil science, her work investigates the microbial communities and microbial processes driving the global processes that help support life on Earth. She is the North American Representative for the UN-FAO Global Soil Partnership (Pillar 1). Dr Dunfield is currently the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Microbiology.

Beneficial Microbes for Sustainable Agriculture under Abiotic Stress: Functional Traits and Regulation highlights the potential for microbe-mediated stress phytotolerance to be improved by presenting multiple scenarios of application and results. In most research and studies, abiotic stress is applied singularly to specific plants inoculated with a bioinoculum or a microbial consortium to isolate specific plant-microbe responses. However, in reality, plants are continually exposed to a multitude of different stresses simultaneously occurring. This book presents microbial functional traits and microbe-mediated plant responses under both specific or combined stress conditions. Collectively, it provides insights into microbial functional traits and microbe-mediated plant responses in a wide range of conditions, providing foundational understanding of their potential benefits, and inspiring further research. The book also centers on specific microbial strains and groups which have been shown to effectively promote stress tolerance, and which could be utilized to boost agricultural production under stress conditions. Their potential utilization in stress affected lands not just improves crop production but could also be in line with sustainable agriculture. With the advancement of tools such as omics related technologies, emerging information on microbial functional traits and regulations on microbe-mediated phytotolerance will also allow us to develop relevant biotechnologies harnessing potentials of plant-microbe interactions under stress conditions. The information in this volume will be of interest to those working toward these next steps.

"ABC of Vegetable Gardening" by Eben Eugene Rexford is a comprehensive guide to growing vegetables, suitable for both beginners and experienced gardeners. The book covers everything from selecting the right site, preparing the soil, planting, and caring for a variety of vegetables, to harvesting and preserving your produce. The book is divided into two parts: the first part covers the basics of vegetable gardening, including soil preparation, composting, planting techniques, and pest control. The second part is a detailed guide to growing specific vegetables, with information on each plant's requirements, care, and harvesting. The book is written in a clear and concise style, with helpful illustrations and photographs to guide readers through each step of the gardening process. Whether you're starting your first vegetable garden or looking to expand your knowledge, "ABC of Vegetable Gardening" is a valuable resource for anyone interested in growing their own food.

This textbook explores aspects of biology and ecophysiology of weeds, weed competition and interference in crops, phytosociological survey, methods of control and weed integrated management. Herbicides are of great importance in weed management and are one of the most widely used pesticide groups for weed control across the globe. Offering a new direction for research that focuses on herbicide behavior in plants, hormesis, evolution of weed resistance to herbicides, and genetically modified crops resistant to herbicides, this book covers the recent research in applied weed and herbicide science.This book provides essential and updated information on various subjects regarding the advances in herbicide science; and it is intended for professors, undergraduate, and graduate students, rural producers and other professionals involved in the area of applied weed and herbicide science. Agriculturists, analytical chemists, and toxicologists will find this book rewarding.

This book is the 8th volume of the popular series 'Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World'. Like the previous volumes, this volume is being introduced in a monographic format containing an extremely rich and diverse medicinal flora of India. Both well-known and somewhat still ignored species have been described in view of their traditional, present day and prospective uses. The scientific and technological achievements are also included aptly in this volume, together with a careful and critical consideration to our contemporary knowledge of this vast interdisciplinary domain with an Indian focus. In the era of global climate change and pandemics, building on the huge Indian traditions, this volume will make an important contribution to the better knowledge and understanding of MAPs. The Indian flora has always been recognized for its medicinal and aromatic plant values and this volume is explicitly focusing in that direction. With the rapidly expanding scope of natural nutraceuticals and herbal formulations, this book will be a fruitful acquisition for the interested readers globally.

Nanotechnology for Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Management in Crop Plants reviews the most recent literature on the role of nanomaterials in achieving sustainability in crop production in stressful environments. The book explores the adverse conditions caused by abiotic stress to crop plants and the methods by which these conditions can be potentially overcome through developments in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, temperature stress, excessive water, heavy metal stress, and UV stress are major factors which may adversely affect the growth, development, and yield of crops. While recent research for ways of overcoming the physiological and biochemical changes brought on by these stresses has focused on genetic engineering of plants, additional research continues into alternative strategies to develop stress tolerant crops, including the use of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Nanofertilizer Delivery, Effects and Application Methods explores the science of nutrient nanoformulation, a potential tool toward sustainable and climate-sensitive crops. The book discusses the potential agricultural benefits of nanofertilizers, from coverage of their formulation and delivery, to application, plant uptake, translocation, and destiny, and their overall effect on plant physiology and metabolism. As the widespread use of chemical fertilizers has been shown to causes significant damage to soil structure, mineral cycles, soil microbial flora, plants, and create human health risk, both immediately and for future generations, this book elucidates on the latest findings. According to recent studies, through environmental cues and biological demands, nano-fertilizers can respond to specifical challenges and boost agricultural yield by increasing the rate of seed germination, seedling growth, photosynthetic activity, nitrogen metabolism, and carbohydrate and protein synthesis. This book is ideal for researchers in industry and academia.

Organic Agriculture and Biodiversity in China provides a comprehensive introduction to the development of organic agriculture in China, covering its origins, government policies, management and institutional systems, and socio-economic benefits. It also provides insights into China's policies on biodiversity conservation and the implementation of biodiversity conventions. Through the use of case studies, the book showcases the role and effectiveness of organic agriculture in conserving biodiversity. Additionally, it presents an outlook on the future development of organic agriculture and biodiversity conservation in China. Written by experts from the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), Jiangsu Vocational College of Agriculture and Forestry, Hebei University of Engineering, and other esteemed institutions, this book explores the role that organic agriculture plays in protecting biodiversity and how the government can support or hinder organic agriculture. Through the utilization of in-depth interviews with farmers and government agencies, field surveying, and literature review, the book critically reviews novel research to provide a systematic comparison of biodiversity between organic and conventional agriculture. Organic Agriculture and Biodiversity in China is an important resource for researchers, students, policymakers, and the general public seeking to understand the environmental impact of organic agriculture.

Advances in Trichoderma Biology for Agricultural Applications covers the beneficial properties of Trichoderma in enhancing global agricultural productivity. Trichoderma are biotechnologically significant fungi, being widely used both agriculturally and industrially. In many cases Trichoderma are also a potential drug source of clinical importance. In recent years, driven by advances in genetics and genomics, research on these fungi has opened new avenues for its various applications. This book covers i) Current state of Trichoderma taxonomy, and species identification, ii) Trichoderma and plant-pathogenic fungi interactions, iii) Trichoderma interactions with plants, including rhizosphere competence of Trichoderma, antagonistic potentials, plant growth promotion, and management of various abiotic stresses in plants, iv) Practical aspects of Trichoderma commercialization in agriculture, v) Biosynthesis of metal-based nanoparticles and its application, and vi) Negative impact of Trichoderma strains in the environments.Reading this book should kindle further discussions among researchers working in fungal biotechnology, microbiology, agriculture, environmental science, forestry, and other allied subjects and thus lead to a broader scope of Trichoderma-based products and technologies. The knowledge shared in this book should also provide a warning on the potential risks associated with Trichoderma.

This edited book is a compilation of tangible research findings and actual experiences on various salt tolerant rice breeding programmes, that have been successfully practiced and continuing to do so by research centres in South East Asia, with major emphasis in India, Bangladesh and Philippines. Rice being one of the most important staple crops of the world, its production and productivity have to be kept on increasing so as to feed the burgeoning population. This is a very challenging task in the midst of shrinking resource base and arable lands in the face of climate change. Salt stress is the second major abiotic stress, next only to drought, which greatly affects rice production. To overcome this problem, development of improved salt tolerant rice cultivars coupled with appropriate package of practices, an ecologically sound and socially acceptable strategy should be developed which is well within the reach of marginal farmers. With rapid advances in molecular biology, mechanisms underlying the complexity of the trait are better understood now than before. Selection of appropriate parents, desired mapping populations, precise phenotyping are the key components to underpin the mapping and utilization of reliable QTLs. Understanding genetics of salt tolerance, identifying the robust molecular markers and targeted utilization of available molecular markers form the sound basis to develop the commercial products with more precision and speed. This book covers entire range of topics: starting from biophysical characterization of salt stressed areas in different rice ecologies, conventional and molecular breeding approaches for mapping salt tolerance and subsequent development of improved rice varieties for commercial cultivation and their societal impacts. This book is of interest to scientists, faculty, policy makers and administrators. It also serves as a resource guide to graduate students of agriculture particularly plant breeding, plant physiology, molecularbiology and soil science.

Improving Stress Resilience in Plants: Physiological and Biochemical Basis and Utilization in Breeding addresses the urgent need for improved understanding of major plant stress tolerance mechanisms, the identification of the genes, and gene products that are key to improving those mechanisms and means of optimizing those genes through molecular approaches. With a focus on plant physiological and biochemical attributes at both cellular and whole plant levels, this book includes the latest information on crosstalk between the various signaling molecules and quantitative trait locus (QTL). Further, it explores the extension of these mechanisms to breeding approaches, confirming overall understanding and inspiring further research. Written by a team of global experts, and presented in three thematic sections, the book provides insights into physical adaptations, metabolism and pathways, and breeding techniques including CRISPR and conventional approaches to reduce the negative effects of stresses and improve crop yield even under stress conditions. It is an ideal resource for researchers, academics and advanced students seeking to improve stress tolerance among crop plants and developing key future strategies for sustainable food production.

Biostimulants in Plant Protection and Performance provides the latest research on biostimulants, a diverse class of compounds that includes substances or microorganisms that are helpful in sustainable plant growth and development. These substances accelerate plant growth, yield, and chemical composition even under unfavorable conditions, and include nitrogen-containing compounds, humic materials, some specific compounds released by microbes, plants, and animals, various seaweed extracts, bio-based nanomaterials, phosphite, silicon, and more. Additionally, the book discusses new generation products and bioproducts that are being developed for sustainable plant growth and protection, including research updates in biotechnology, nanobiotechnology, and the protective role of biostimulants. As the use of new generation biostimulants can enhance plant production systems through a significant reduction of synthetic chemicals, such as pesticides and fertilizers, and even elicit plant tolerance to various climate change-related stresses, this book is a welcomed edition to many fields of study.

This book collates the basic and advanced concepts of plant biotechnology and genomics along with the future trends. It discusses the combination of conventional breeding techniques with genomic tools and approaches leading to a new genomics-based plant breeding technology supporting crop plants that respond better to biotic and abiotic stress, and pathogen attacks. Plant genomics play an important role in developing more efficient plant cultivars which are essential for the neo green revolution needed to feed the world's rapidly growing population. Plant genomic data is being utilized in genetic engineering to ensure that better and resilient varieties of crops are available ensuring food security. This book is of immense interest to teachers, researchers, crop scientists, capacity builders, and policy makers. Also, the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture, biotechnology, genomics, soil science, and environmental sciences. National and International agricultural scientists and policy makers will also find this to be a useful read.