With the agricultural sector pledging to improve its sustainability, there is an urgent need to move away from linear food production models which rely on significant raw material inputs and generate large amounts of residual waste.Developing circular agricultural production systems reviews the emergence of circular agriculture as an approach to improving the sustainability of the agricultural sector. The book addresses recent advances in understanding and...

This collection features six peer-reviewed reviews on irrigation management in horticultural production.The first chapter considers recent advances in irrigation techniques used in sustainable vegetable cultivation and reviews the performance and efficiency of these systems.The second chapter details the need to optimise precision in orchard irrigation management, focussing on matching water supply to plant demand as a means of achieving this.The th...

Reviews advantages and disadvantages of different protected cultivation systems, from greenhouses and net houses to aquaponic and vertical farming systems.Detailed assessment of current research on optimising the two main variables in protected cultivation: the aerial environment and root development.Particular focus on systems control to optimise product quality and environmental impact.

Detailed review of advances understanding and optimising the physical, chemical and biological properties of substrates to optimise their useStrong focus on sustainability issues such as alternative, renewable sources for substratesIncludes case studies on practical applications of advances in science and technology for key horticultural crops

This open access book, written by world experts in aquaponics and related technologies, provides the authoritative and comprehensive overview of the key aquaculture and hydroponic and other integrated systems, socio-economic and environmental aspects. Aquaponic systems, which combine aquaculture and vegetable food production offer alternative technology solutions for a world that is increasingly under stress through population growth, urbanisation, water shortages, land and soil degradatio...

The value of the groceries purchases in the USA is over $500 billion annually, most of which is accounted for by packaged foods. Plastic packaging of foods is not only ubiquitous in developed economies, but increasingly commonplace in the developing world, where plastic packaging is instrumental in decreasing the proportion of the food supply lost to spoilage. This new handbook is a combination of new material and updated chapters, chosen by Dr. Sina Ebnesajjad, from recently published boo...

Plant production in hydroponics and soilless culture is rapidly expanding throughout the world, raising a great interest in the scientific community. For the first time in an authoritative reference book, authors cover both theoretical and practical aspects of hydroponics (growing plants without the use of soil). This reference book covers the state-of-the-art in this area, while offering a clear view of supplying plants with nutrients other than soil. Soilless Culture provides the reader ...

This specially curated collection features five reviews of current and key research on vertical farming in horticulture.The first chapter describes and evaluates technologies and methods for growing edible plants indoors and presents a survey of selected commercial vertical farms currently operating that employ them.The second chapter explores the benefits of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs). The chapter assesses resource consumption, costs ...

Recycling and Deinking of Recovered Paper, Second Edition covers recent advances in recycling technologies. This second edition examines this new process, which is more eco-friendly than the virgin-papermaking process, and which uses less energy and natural resources, produces less solid waste and fewer atmospheric emissions, and helps to preserve natural resources and landfill space. In addition, the most recent information about the recycling of fibers into various grades of paper and bo...

Reviews advances in cultivation practice such as seed establishment and more efficient irrigation techniques;Summarises developments in ‘climate smart’ agriculture such as conservation tillage and organic wheat cultivation;Discusses ways of supporting smallholders improve wheat cultivation in North Africa and other regions in the developing world

This book is a review of the recent literature on the key scientific and technical subjects of fertilization management in vegetable crops. In the last decades, research on fertilization management in vegetables was aimed at producing economical yields with reduced fertilizer inputs by the development and implementation of cropping systems, nutrient management approaches and crop varieties. Examples of the interventions in cropping systems included adequate crop rotations, inter-cropping, ...

Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Sustainable agriculture is a discipline that addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control, and biodiversity depletion. Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from scie...