Book Description
Traditionally, bedding plants are those plants used to provide color in summer garden beds. Although some writers include any herbaceous plant started under controlled environmental conditions and sold for outdoor use, embracing a number of fruit and vegetable crops, in this book ornamental bedding plants include tender herbaceous ornamental annuals and biennials only.As with other titles in this series, the aim of this book is to present scientific principles that underlie production practices. The author discusses traditional and plug methods of production, the latter having revolutionized mass-market production during the last decade. The principles of propagation and growing on, including the role of nutrition and media, temperature, light, supplemental carbon dioxide and growth regulators, are described. Aspects of postproduction, diseases and pests, and mechanization, are also considered. There is also an appendix providing production guidelines for 15 major bedding plant species, including begonia, impatiens, petunia, marigolds and pansies. Written by one of America's foremost horticultural scientists and writers, the book is invaluable for plant producers or growers, as well as for students of ornamental or amenity horticulture. ... Read more

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Word count: 572. ... Read more

Book Description

Functional-structural plant models (FSPMs) describe in quantitative terms the development over time of the three-dimensional (3D) structure of plants as governed by physiological processes and affected by environmental factors. FSPMs are particularly suited to analyse problems in which the spatial structure of the plant or its canopy is an essential factor to explain, e.g., plant competition (intra-plant, inter-plant, inter-species) and the effects of plant configuration and plant manipulation (e.g., pruning and harvesting) on yield and produce quality.

Book Description
Volatile (essential) oil crops yield a wide range of products - fresh and dried herbs, oils and oil components and various oleoresins. Changing lifestyles in developed countries have led to dramatic increases in demand for these products, particularly over the last decade. More varied use has been made of oils and herbs in cooking, and oil components are now being regarded as safe alternatives to synthetic food additives and crop protection substances. The surge in demand for these produces has encouraged a number of temperate and mediterranean countries to evaluate a range of volatile oil-bearing species as alternative crops. This has resulted in a rapid expansion in the scientific and technical literature on culinary and medicinal herbs. Volatile Oil Crops draws much of this literature together for the first time. It reviews the basic botany, physiology and biochemistry of the major species and then analyses the genetics of oil composition. The effects of oils on a wide range of organisms are discussed and the book surveys the biotechnological methods which can be employed in the laboratory production of oils. It concludes with a full analysis of the world trade in the products of volatile oils. ... Read more

Book Description
The newest addition to the Wiley Series in Crop Science, this book is an all-in-one guide to sorghum, one of the eight major grain crops grown worldwide. While presenting information in adequate detail for scientists, it is also an invaluable reference for growers, processors, and grain merchants.Download Description
The newest addition to the Wiley Series in Crop Science, this book is an all-in-one guide to sorghum, one of the eight major grain crops grown worldwide. While presenting information in adequate detail for scientists, it is also an invaluable reference for growers, processors, and grain merchants. ... Read more

Book Description
The edible alliums are some of the most ancient cultivated crops and include onions, leeks, shallots garlic and chives. They are grown in most regions of the world, from the subarctic to the humid tropics, although bulb onions are best adapted to production in subtropical and temperate areas.This book introduces the scientific principles that underlie production practices. It begins by discussing the classification, origins, distribution and economic importance of the major food alliums, before considering their structure, genetics and breeding. Chapters then follow on the physiology of crop growth, development and yield, on crop production and on flowering and shoots, and a chapter is devoted to the storage and dormancy of both types. Pests, diseases and weeds are then discussed, before a final chapter on the biochemistry and food science of alliums. The book is written at a level suitable for students of horticulture, crop science and food science, as well as for growers and crop consultants interested in the scientific principles that form the basis of their practice. It also provides a valuable example of how the different disciplines within plant sciences interrelate when applied to particular crops. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

One of the three books on Alliums you must have.
This is one of the best general references regarding onions and other alliums. It should be on your bookshelf right between the Compendium of Onion and Garlic Diseases by Schwartz and Mohan and Allium Crop Science: Recent Advances by Rabinowitch and Currah. ... Read more

Book Description
The basics through practical application—all in one book!

Potatoes are a crucial food crop around the world, grown in nearly 150 countries. The Handbook of Potato Production, Improvement, and Postharvest Management compiles everything you need to know about potato crop production in one well-organized reference. Leading international authorities clearly discuss the biology, genetics, breeding, diseases, and effective approaches for improvement of crop and handling after harvest. This one-of-a-kind text explores, from interdisciplinary perspectives, every aspect of potato crop management from seed germination to end use while presenting the most current research available.

The Handbook of Potato Production, Improvement, and Postharvest Management reviews both wild and cultivated potatoes, examining the crop's origins, history, and habitat. Cultivation techniques are discussed in detail, with emphasis on breeding, biotechnological, and agronomic methods that can improve yield and help ensure the health of the vegetable. Qualitative and quantitative genetic traits are comprehensively explained, and integrated management of pests, diseases, weed, and water are extensively considered. Various abiotic stresses are examined, including heat, drought, salinity, frost, and others. Potato crop's most devastating disease, late blight, is explored in detail. Different types of after-harvest storage are analyzed with an eye toward maintaining optimum freshness year-round, and a useful description of biochemical changes effected during storage is included. Processing and detailed information on food value are also reviewed. In addition, a final chapter explores true potato seed (TPS) options. The book includes detailed references and helpful tables, graphs, and figures to enhance understanding of material.

Topics in the Handbook of Potato Production, Improvement, and Postharvest Management include:

history

structure

biosystematics

genetics

breeding

biotechnology for improvement

approaches to improve quality

ecophysiology and agronomic management

comprehensive information on diseases and viruses

insects

abiotic stresses and their management

storage issues

processing

and much more!

The Handbook of Potato Production, Improvement, and Postharvest Management makes an invaluable desktop reference for educators, postgraduate students, researchers, and any potato industry professional. The text is also perfect for university reference libraries. ... Read more

Book Description
This book covers oats in depth, including coverage of thecrop's history, botany, breeding, processing and food uses. The editorhasdrawn together an impressive list of international contributors,providing a book which is the definitive work on the subject, ofinterest to all those involved with the crop. ... Read more

Book Description
Pesticide Interactions in Crop Production: Beneficial and Deleterious Effects evaluates the effects of pesticides on plants by exploring the physical, chemical, biological, and ecological interactions of pesticides that influence a crop. The effects of pesticides on the environment and on the crop pests themselves are considered as well. Specific topics addressed include iatrogenic responses, the fate of pesticides applied to cereals under field conditions, the persistance of pesticides on target crops, the effect of pesticides on soil symbionts, and the role of ecological agriculture on conventional and organic cropping systems.Pesticide Interactions in Crop Production: Beneficial and Deleterious Effects will be an important volume for agriculturalists, phytologists, mycologists, soil biologists, plant pathologists, tropical ecologists, arboriculturalists, and other researchers interested in the effects of pesticides on crops and soil. ... Read more

Book Description
Make the best use of available water for your crops!

Water Use in Crop Production explores innovative methods that determine how much water certain crops need, in certain climates, in order to ensure adequate plant growth and help eliminate water waste. Through this informative book, agronomists, growers, researchers, and graduate students will find methods and techniques for effective water management that will save money and conserve water. Water Use in Crop Production will enable you enhance crop quality and quantity and save one of the earth's most important resource.

Comprehensive and thorough, this essential book combines two vital needs, food and water, and examines what must be done in order to keep up with the ever-growing human population. Explaining conservation techniques used in Argentina, Australia, Israel, Morocco, New Zealand, the Philippines, Spain, and the United States, Water Use in Crop Production will help you achieve this goal as it discusses water management measures including:

• avoiding excessive deep percolation
• reducing runoff
• lessening water evaporation through methods such as reducing the capillary water flow to the surface of the soil
• determining the rates at which water is demanded and can be supplied in a specific area to create a plan for limiting water loss
• studying the root structure of plants to calculate how much water they need
• using deficit irrigation to help plants save water for future use
• evaluating citrus water use through the Penman-Monteith model

Book Description
Spanning a wide variety of climatic conditions and soil types, tropical fruit include species which have long been important exports and some which, until recently, were grown and consumed only locally. However, improvements in transportation and handling are making many tropical fruits increasingly important as large-scale crops and exports. This volume presents a broad survey of tropical fruit production and usage. It begins with an outline of tropical climates, tropical soils, and general principles of cultivation and postharvest handling. It then devotes separate chapters to each of the important fruits, which include annonas, avocado, bananas, litchi, mango, papaya, and pineapple; each chapter covers botany, origin and distribution, ecology, genetics and cultivar development, culturing practices, pests and diseases, harvest and postharvest handling, and utilization of the fruit. ... Read more