J. Smartt - Böcker

This book should be of interest to agricultural scientists, plant scientists, food and feed scientists and technologists.

This volume provides a wide-ranging survey of all the major grain legumes from the standpoint of both their evolution and their potential for further development and improvement as economically important food crops. The legumes have a vital role to play in both the developed and developing worlds by providing an alternative nitrogen source to the artificial fertilizers, which, although boosting cereal yields, often have had adverse environmental effects. The grain legumes are a valuable crop possessing the ability to fix nitrogen by Rhizobium biosynthesis and thus contribute to the natural nitrogen cycle. The book surveys the changes which have occurred in the course of domestication of the plants which have evolved into our pulse crops and oilseed legume crops. The author then discusses the benefits to be gained from evaluation and improvement of grain legume genetic resources. It is through this comparative approach that the overall potential of these crops is highlighted.

This volume provides a wide-ranging survey of all the major grain legumes from the standpoint of both their evolution and their potential for further development and improvement as economically important food crops. The legumes have a vital role to play in both the developed and developing worlds by providing an alternative nitrogen source to the artificial fertilizers, which, although boosting cereal yields, often have had adverse environmental effects. The grain legumes are a valuable crop possessing the ability to fix nitrogen by Rhizobium biosynthesis and thus contribute to the natural nitrogen cycle. The book surveys the changes which have occurred in the course of domestication of the plants which have evolved into our pulse crops and oilseed legume crops. The author then discusses the benefits to be gained from evaluation and improvement of grain legume genetic resources. It is through this comparative approach that the overall potential of these crops is highlighted.

The second edition of this classic volume provides comprehensive coverage of over one hundred of the world's major economically significant crop plants and their wild ancestors. The crops featured range from cereals to tropical staples, beans and pulses, vegetables, fruits, cash crops, oil crops and spices. Information on crop evolution is vital in the current effort to understand and conserve biodiversity, and provide a basis for the improvement of plant species. The second edition takes into account the rapid advances made in this field with the advent of new molecular techniques and our ever growing understanding of genetics. Evolution of Crop Plants is an excellent resource for plant breeders and biotechnologists, seed producers, plant pathologists and researchers in agriculture, crop evolution and conservation. For each crop, the book includes a detailed examination of:

The first edition of this higly regarded text was published in 1979 to provide a general introduction to the principles of plant breeding. It has been out of print since late 1993 and a new edition is long overdue as there are no up to date and comprehensive single volumes on the subject in print. The original text has been amended and enhanced where there have been advances in plant breeding to provide coverage of recent developments relevant to crop improvement which as intellectual property rights, biotechnology and the use and conservation of genetic resources. The emphasis of the text will be, as it was for the first edition, on the principles of plant breeding and the expanded range of techniques now available for effective crop improvement.

Oilseeds and legumes provide a significant proportion of the protein and energy requirements of the world population. This important new book provides comprehensive details of the main oil seed and legume crops focusing particularly on the nutritional aspects of these crops which are, or have the potential to be, more widely exploited in developing countries where are or have the potential to be, more widely exploited in developing countries where protein and energy malnutrition continue to escalate. The predicted rapid rise of populations in many world regions which are increasingly vulnerable to food shortages means that a full knowledge of the nutritional significance of available crops is vital in helping to prevent potential calamities. Food and Feed from Legumes and Oil Seeds has been written by a team of international contributors, each with direct experience of these important crops and their nutritional merits, and the editors are both internationalexperts in the crops covered. This book will become of great value to nutritionists, food and feed scientists and technologists, agricultural scientists and all those involved with overseas developments and food aid organizations.