With growing concerns surrounding the impact of climate change on both native and invasive pest invasions, coupled with the rising threat of global food insecurity, more research is required to understand the major insect pests of cereals, including how best to control and monitor them.Advances in understanding insect pests affecting wheat and other cereals provides a comprehensive review of the wealth of research that addresses this challenge. This collec...

This open-access textbook provides a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for students and practitioners wishing to access in a single volume the key disciplines and principles of wheat breeding. Wheat is a cornerstone of food security: it is the most widely grown of any crop and provides 20% of all human calories and protein. The authorship of this book includes world class researchers and breeders whose expertise spans cutting-edge academic science all the way to impacts in farmers’ fields. T...

Integrated Pest Management: Current Concepts and Ecological Perspective presents an overview of alternative measures to traditional pest management practices using biological control and biotechnology. The removal of some highly effective broad-spectrum chemicals, caused by concerns over environmental health and public safety, has resulted in the development of alternative, reduced risk crop protection products. These products, less toxic to the environment and easily integrated into biolo...

Insects have evolved very unique and interesting tactics using chemical signals to survive. Chemical ecology illustrates the working of the biological network by means of chemical analyses. Recent advances in analytical technology have opened the way to a better understanding of the more complicated and abyssal interactions of insects with other organisms including plants and microbes. This book covers recent research on insects and chemical communications and presents the current status a...

Biodiversity of Fungi is essential for anyone collecting and/or monitoring any fungi. Fascinating and beautiful, fungi are vital components of nearly all ecosystems and impact human health and our economy in a myriad of ways. Standardized methods for documenting diversity and distribution have been lacking. A wealth of information, especially regrading sampling protocols, compiled by an international team of fungal biologists, make Biodiversity of Fungi an incredible and fundamental resour...

Discusses ways of ensuring genetic diversity, advances in wheat breeding and their use to improve properties such as drought resistance and cold tolerance;Summarises research on factors affecting nutritional and other aspects of wheat quality;Reviews advances in understanding wheat pests and diseases together with ways of controlling them such as disease-resistant varieties, integrated pest and weed management

This open access book will provide an introduction to forest entomology, the principles and techniques of forest insect pest management, the different forest insect guilds/feeding groups, and relevant forest insect pest management case studies. In addition to covering 30% of the earth, forest ecosystems provide numerous timber and non-timber products that affect our daily lives and recreational opportunities, habitat for diverse animal communities, watershed protection, play critical roles...

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

The roots of most plants are colonized by symbiotic fungi to form mycorrhiza, which play a critical role in the capture of nutrients from the soil and therefore in plant nutrition. Mycorrhizal Symbiosis is recognized as the definitive work in this area. Since the last edition was published there have been major advances in the field, particularly in the area of molecular biology, and the new edition has been fully revised and updated to incorporate these exciting new developments. - Over 5...

Comprehensive coverage of the latest research on the genetic diversity of sorghumReviews key developments in breeding, from conventional to marker-assisted techniques, as well their application in developing higher-yielding, more stress-resistant varietiesDiscusses key elements in integrated crop, pest and weed management

Bioenergy and biofuels are generated from a wide variety of feedstock. Fuels have been converted from a wide range of sources from vegetable oils to grains and sugarcane. Second generation biofuels are being developed around dedicated, non-food energy crops, such as switchgrass and Miscanthus, with an eye toward bioenergy sustainability. Bioenergy Feedstocks: Breeding and Genetics looks at advances in our understanding of the genetics and breeding practices across this diverse ran...

Detailed coverage of the latest research on plant physiology, including flowering and pollination in trees, apple fruit development and ripening;Reviews current best practice in tree training, pruning and thinning operations, including the use of growth regulators and new areas such as mechanisation and automation;Discusses the range of fungal and viral diseases affecting apples