The average productivity of most horticultural crops in India is low. There is a wide gap between yields obtained and potential yields with improved varieties and technologies. Programmes, therefore, need to be taken up to reduce the yield gap by improving productivity. The present book deals with productivity enhancing technologies such as use of high yielding varieties/hybrids, high density planting, micro-irrigation, fertigation, protected cultivation, bio-regulators, biotechnological approaches, integrated nutrient, weed, pest, disease and nematode management in general and crop-wise in particular. The book is illustrated with excellent quality photographs enhancing the quality of publication. The book is written in lucid style, easy to understand language along with adoptable recommendations for enhancing the productivity.
This book highlights the underlying principles and outlines some of the key hi-tech practices and technology interventions required to achieve enhanced productivity. It discusses horticulture technology interventions like varietal improvement including genetically modified crops; good agricultural practices like optimum planting density, micro-irrigation, fertigation, integrated nutrient management, plant bioregulators, precision horticulture, protected cultivation, nanotechnology, and integrated farming systems; integrated management of insects, mites, disease pathogens, nematodes, and weeds; and post-harvest management practices like handling, storage and processing to reduce crop losses. The importance of attaining food and nutritional security through hi-tech horticulture and profitable marketing of horticultural produce is also discussed. This book will be of immense value to the scientific community involved in teaching, research and extension activities related to hi-tech horticulture strategies for enhancing productivity in enhancing farmers’ income, food, nutrition and livelihood security. The material can be used for teaching postgraduate courses. The book can also serve as a very useful reference to policymakers and practicing farmers.
Genetic Engineering of Horticultural Crops provides key insights into commercialized crops, their improved productivity, disease and pest resistance, and enhanced nutritional or medicinal benefits. It includes insights into key technologies, such as marker traits identification and genetic traits transfer for increased productivity, examining the latest transgenic advances in a variety of crops and providing foundational information that can be applied to new areas of study. As modern biotechnology has helped to increase crop productivity by introducing novel gene(s) with high quality disease resistance and increased drought tolerance, this is an ideal resource for researchers and industry professionals. - Provides examples of current technologies and methodologies, addressing abiotic and biotic stresses, pest resistance and yield improvement - Presents protocols on plant genetic engineering in a variety of wide-use crops - Includes biosafety rule regulation of genetically modified crops in the USA and third world countries
The ultimate goal of crop production is to provide quality produce to consumers at reasonable rates. Most fresh produce is highly perishable, and postharvest losses are significant under the present methods of management in many countries. However, significant achievements have been made during the last few years to curtail postharvest losses in fr
This book provides an integrated approach to crop growth and development and the technical aspects of greenhouse cultivation and climate management. It combines an analysis of the relationship between crop production and ambient climate with an explanation of the processes that determine the climate in a protected environment. With the ability to modify the environment comes the need for growers to strike a balance between the costs and benefits of technology. This book outlines the methods and gives several examples of how to make 'optimal' choices about technology. Sustainable management of shoot and root environment is discussed, as well as the pros and cons of vertical farming. The processes addressed in this book, like crop growth, energy balance and mass exchange, apply to any kind of greenhouse. Therefore, in spite of the word 'technology', this is not a book about high-tech greenhouses only. 'Greenhouse horticulture' is an easy-to-read textbook for all those interested in protected cultivation, from university students and teachers to professional advisers in the field and managers of horticultural companies.
This book focuses on pests (insect and mite) and diseases (fungal, bacterial, viral and nematode) in protected horticulture (fruits, vegetables and ornamentals) using physical, cultural, chemical, biological, host resistance, and integrated methods. It opens with chapters describing the setting in which integrated pest and disease control operates, i.e., the greenhouse and its environment. Subsequent chapters present the basic strategies and tactics of different control methods including integrated control, with special reference to greenhouse crops. Further chapters include the different facets of biological pest and disease control – its scientific bases, its development in practice, its commercialization and quality control. The concluding chapters of the book highlight the present status of integrated pest and disease control for the most important greenhouse crops (fruits, vegetables and flower crops) worldwide. The book’s final chapter explores future challenges for researchers assigned to identify non-pesticide methods and integrate sustainable pest management technologies that can contribute to increased productivity, such as breeding for durable resistance, biological control and devising integrated methods that will have minimal adverse environmental and social impacts. Among productivity-enhancing technologies, protected cultivation has a tremendous potential to increase the yield of vegetables and flower cro ps by several fold. Pests and diseases are one of the major challenges to protected cultivation. Year-round warm temperatures and relatively high humidity together with abundant food make the protected environment of greenhouses highly attractive to pests and diseases. Nevertheless, very little attention has been paid to the manipulation of greenhouse environments expressly to avoid disease epidemics and insect infestations, which together can easily account for 30% of crop losses. This book will be of immense value to all members of the scientific community involved in teaching, research and extension activities on protected horticulture. It also offers a useful reference guide for policymakers and practicing farmers, and can be used as a textbook for postgraduate courses.
Plant chemical protection uses professional spraying machines to transport chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides to the target sites for pest, disease, and weed control in crop production. Such practices play a vital role in ensuring the supply of food, fruits, and vegetables for human beings. However, traditional plant chemical application methods suffer from excessive pesticide use, low utilization rate, and high labor intensity due to the backwardness of the existing sprayers, the single atomization technology, etc. In order to boost the progress of modern agriculture, plant chemical protection should be oriented toward efficient, accurate, and intelligent application technologies and equipment. Smart chemical application technology and efficient equipment can effectively reduce pesticide usage, mitigate the harm of chemicals to the environment, and lower labor intensity, realizing the sustainable development of disease and pest control of horticultural crops, ensuring food safety, and maintaining crop yield and quality.
Nematodes continue to threaten horticultural crops throughout the world, particularly in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Estimated overall average annual yield loss of the world's major horticultural crops due to damage by plant parasitic nematodes is 13.54%. Monetary losses due to nematodes on 10 horticultural crops, six of which are life sustaining were estimated at US$ 19.37 billion annually based on 1984 production figures and prices. These deleterious effects on plant growth result in reduced yields and poor quality of horticultural crops. Nematode management is therefore, important for high yields and quality that are required by the high cost of modern crop production. The information on nematode diseases and their management, especially crop wise, is very much scattered and there is no book which deals entirely with the above aspects on horticultural crops. This book deals with nematode diseases and their management in horticultural crops such as fruit, vegetable, orname-ntal, medicinal, aromatic, plantation, spice and tuber crops. Each nematode disease is described in adequate detail under the following heads: economic importance, crop losses, distribution, symptoms, hosts range, life cycle, races/ biotypes, host-parasite relationship, histopathology, ecology, spread, survival, interaction with other pathogens and management. The management methods presented includes regulatory, physical cultural, chemical, biological, host resistance and integrated approach. An entire chapter is devoted for sources of availability of critical inputs used for nematode management which would be very useful to the farmers. Very useful information on certain aspects of nematode management is presented in Appendix. The book is adequately illustrated with about 50 figures. This book is a practical guide to practicing farmers of horticultural crops. Further, it is a useful reference to policy makers, research and extension workers and students. The material can also be used for teaching under-graduate and post-graduate courses.
Horticultural crops are important for human nutrition. To guarantee successful cultivation for quality and quantity yield, proper identification of pests and diseases, as well as abiotic factors undermining their production, is essential. This ten-chapter textbook describes fungi, bacteria, insects, and nematodes as important issues in horticulture. It documents their epidemiology and management strategies such as genetics and botanical and biological control used for their management. This comprehensive resource is essential for students and researchers of plant genetics, pathology, entomology, and nematology.
