Faheem Shehzad Baloch – författare

Nanomaterials for Enhanced Plant-Based Food Production a new release in the Nanomaterial-Plant Interactions series, presents up-to-date insights on the use of nano-enabled agricultural tools from nanofertilizers to nanosensors, including how to balance safety and environmental impact concerns to ensure optimal utilization. The book provides a range of solution options and guides the reader in identifying the most appropriate choice. With state-of-the-art, broad coverage of recent and potential applications, this book covers the most recent advances in the application of nanotechnology toward fulfilling the world's food demands for present and future generations.

Wheat (Triticum L.), an annual herbaceous plant in Poacae (Gramineae) family, settles in the Triticeae (Hordeae) subfamily. The grasses (Poaceae Barnhart) are the fifth largest (monocotyledonous flowering) plant family and of great importance for human civilization and life. Cereal crops such as maize, wheat, rice, barley, and millet are the domesticated ones in the family. It is still the most vital economical plant family in modern times, providing food, forage, building materials (bamboo, thatch), and fuel (ethanol).

Wheat has many accessions in national and international gene banks. The estimated number of wheats by FAO in 2010 is 856,000, and, followed by rice (774,000), and barley (467,000). However, the recent consumer''s (misdirected) focus on gluten content and nutritional value urges scientists to reexamine their knowledge about wheat (i.e., origin, evolution, and general and special quality characteristics), as well as their wild relatives and landraces for newer possible genetic resources. Cultured or non-cultured ancestral wheats: einkorn, emmer, wild emmer, spelt, macha, and vavilovii are still limitedly grown on the higher areas in Turkey, Italy, Germany, Morocco, Israel, and Balkan countries. They are exploited mostly for their desired agronomic, and specific quality. In some cultures, wheat species are believed to be therapeutic, with bioactive compounds that reduce and inhibit stubborn illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer, and cardiovascular diseases. In this book, we summarize the importance of ancestral wheat species, and provide a prospect for their future with special considerations in terms of species conservation and improvement. 

Access to food with enough calories and nutrients is a fundamental right of every human. The global population has exceeded 7.8 billion and is expected to pass 10 billion by 2055. Such rapid population increase presents a great challenge for food supply. More grain production is needed to provide basic calories for humans. Thus, it is crucial to produce 60-110% more food to fill the gap between food production and the demand of future generations.

Meanwhile food nutritional values are of increasing interest to accommodate industrialized modern lives. The instability of food production caused by global climate change presents another great challenge. The global warming rate has become more rapid in recent decades, with more frequent extreme climate change including higher temperatures, drought, and floods. Our world faces various unprecedented scenarios such as rising temperatures, which causes melting glaciers and the resulting various biotic and abiotic stresses, ultimately leading to food scarcity. In these circumstances it is of utmost importance to examine the genetic basis and extensive utilization of germplasm to develop “climate resilient cultivars” through the application of plant breeding and biotechnological tools. Future crops must adapt to these new and unpredictable environments. Crop varieties resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses are also needed as plant disease, insects, drought, high- and low-temperature stresses are expected to be impacted by climate change. Thus, we need a food production system that can simultaneously satisfy societal demands and long-term development.

Since the Green Revolution in the 1960s, farming has been heavily dependent on high input of nitrogen and pesticides. This leads to environmental pollution which is not sustainable in the long run. Therefore, a new breeding scheme is urgently needed to enable sustainable agriculture; including new strategies to develop varieties and crops that have high yield potential, high yield stability, and superior grain quality and nutrition while also using less consumption of water, fertilizer, and chemicals in light of environmental protection.

While we face these challenges, we also have great opportunities, especially with flourishing developments in omics technologies. High-quality reference genomes are becoming available for a larger number of species, with some species having more than one reference genome. The genome-wide re-sequencing of diverse varieties enables the identification of core- and pan-genomes. An integration of omics data will enable a rapid and high-throughput identification of many genes simultaneously for a relevant trait. This will change our current research paradigm fundamentally from single gene analysis to pathway or network analysis. This will also expand our understanding of crop domestication and improvement. In addition, with the knowledge gained from omics data, in combination with new technologies liketargeted gene editing, we can breed new varieties and crops for sustainable agriculture.

This contributed volume highlights cutting-edge breeding techniques in legumes, specifically targeting drought tolerance. It examines the challenges faced and explores future perspectives for achieving sustainable legume production.

The dual challenges of a rapidly growing global population and climate change impose immense pressure on agricultural systems to meet current and future food demands. Climate change significantly threatens agriculture, causing substantial yield losses due to biotic and abiotic stresses, with drought being one of the most severe environmental factors impacting plant productivity. Water, which constitutes approximately 80-95% of the fresh biomass of plants, is vital for various physiological processes, including plant growth, development, and metabolism.

Legumes, second only to cereals in global food production, account for 27% of world primary crop production and fulfill 33% of protein requirements. Cultivated across diverse climates and soil types, legumes contribute to over 35% of global vegetable oil production. However, drought remains a major yield-limiting factor in grain legumes, a challenge expected to intensify in the future. Drought adversely affects legumes at all growth stages, disrupting germination (through malfunctioning enzymes like proteases and amylases), nutrient uptake (due to reduced water use efficiency), growth (by inhibiting cell division and leaf expansion), and yield formation (by restricting photosynthesis).

Given these challenges, the scientific community is focusing on developing drought-resistant legume cultivars to ensure future food security. This volume consolidates research efforts on advancing drought-tolerant legumes using marker-assisted breeding techniques.

This book will serve as a valuable resource for students, researchers, and breeding professionals engaged in legume breeding for drought tolerance. By fostering advancements in sustainable agriculture, this volume aims to contribute to global food security and empower stakeholders in addressing climate change-induced agricultural challenges.

This edited book is focused on Sustainable Development Goal 2, which aims to achieve ''Zero Hunger.'' It provides deep insights into the global sorghum status, limitations to its production, advancements in agronomic practices, and the application of high-throughput phenotyping technologies.

Sorghum plays a vital role in global food security, agricultural sustainability, and rural livelihoods, making it an important crop for both developing and developed countries. It is a staple food for millions of people around the world, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where other crops may struggle to grow. Sorghum exhibits significant genetic diversity, providing a rich resource for breeding programs aimed at developing improved varieties with traits such as higher yield, disease resistance, and nutritional quality. The book enhances readers'' understanding of classical breeding methods and their role in sorghum improvement. It also focuses on the contribution of OMICs and biotechnological approaches to sorghum improvement. Detailed information about the genetic and genomic resources of sorghum provided is helpful for the scientific community to utilize in sorghum breeding. Chapters highlight sorghum genome sequencing, transgenic and hybrid sorghum, and the application of genome editing.

This book is useful to the breeding community, serving as a resource for interdisciplinary research groups such as geneticists, breeders, biotechnologists, bioinformaticians, and students, supporting them in accelerating their activities related to sorghum breeding.

This edited book summarizes the efforts made to develop sustainable bioenergy production through different generations. The topics included in the book cover information about different bioenergy crops, their classification and use as biofuel, agronomic practices to improve biomass yield, classic breeding techniques, genetic diversity, current status and future perspective of bioenergy crops in the omics era. It also discusses application of modern biotechnological and molecular biotechnological techniques for the improvement of bioenergy crops this having enhanced biomass and plant based products.  The book explores growing biofuel crops and their impact on environment, bioethics and biosafety issues related to the modern approaches. Another important aspect is the incorporation of nanotechnology for bioenergy crops and biofuel production. All book chapters are contributed renowned researchers in their respective field. This is a unique book covering the bioeneragy crops in the modern omics era. The book is useful for the researchers and post-graduate students to guide them in the field of bioenergy crops.