Insect pests remain one of the main constraints to food and fiber production worldwide despite farmers deploying a range of techniques to protect their crops. Modern pest control is guided by the principles of integrated pest management (IPM) with pest resistant germplasm being an important part of the foundation. Since 1996, when the first genetically modified (GM) insect-resistant maize variety was commercialized in the USA, the area planted to insect-resistant GM varieties has grown dramatically, representing the fastest adoption rate of any agricultural technology in human history. The goal of our book is to provide an overview on the role insect-resistant GM plants play in different crop systems worldwide. We hope that the book will contribute to a more rational debate about the role GM crops can play in IPM for food and fiber production.

Cotton Breeding and Biotechnology presents information on one of the most economically important crops of the world, cotton. This book contains chapters on the history of cotton; breeding approaches; technologies for increasing germination, crop growth and yield; and fiber quality issues. It emphasizes sustainable development in the cotton industry analysing the progress of breeding technologies under environmental adversity. The book explores the national and global status of cotton crop, including cotton production, possible impacts of climate change, and the vulnerability of cotton to pest infestations and disease attacks. Features Focuses on cotton breeding and biotechnology Proposes ideas, data, and strategies to mount breeding programs for enhancing cotton production Details strategies for cotton quality improvement against abiotic and biotic stresses Emphasizes the revival of cotton in Pakistan and South Asian region This book is useful to researchers, cotton breeders and growers, farmers, and the agriculture industry.

Widely known as the ‘tree of life’, coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) provides a bountiful source for making a wide variety of healthy foods and industrial items. Its cultivation, however, has been encountering seriously destructive issues including lethal diseases and natural adversities which are currently distressing livelihoods of millions of small-holder farmers around the world. There is an urgent mandate to resolve these issues by meeting sustainable seedling production, facilitating genetic conservation, as well as developing disease identification and modern breeding. This book introduces improvements in coconut biotechnology by covering the advances in micropropagation, germplasm conservation, and molecular pathogenic diagnosis. This comprehensive volume will be a useful source of information and references to researchers, graduate students, agricultural developers, and scholars in the plant sciences. In order to benefit general readers, the book also covers fundamental aspects of biology, diversity, and evolution of this marvelous palm species.

Today, in the arena of food, the primary goals of food biotechnology are to provide a more abundant, less expensive, and a more nutritious food supply in order to address the needs of our growing global population. Today, food biotechnology utilizes the knowledge of plant science and genetics to further this tradition. Through the use of modern biotechnology, scientists can move genes for valuable traits from one plant to another. This process results in tangible environmental and economic benefits that are passed on to the farmer and the consumer. This book on Food Biotechnology is divided into seven sections and contains 24 chapters and a case study. The book caters to the requirement of the syllabus prescribed by various Indian universities for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in engineering. It has been prepared with meticulous care, aiming at making the book error-free. Constructive suggestions are always welcome from users of this book.

Their natural enemies largely determine the population size and dynamic behavior of many plant-eating insects. Any reduction in enemy number can result in an insect outbreak. Applied biological control is thus one strategy for restoring functional biodiversity in many agroecosystems. Predators and Parasitoids addresses the role of natural enemies i

In the recent years, the looming food scarcity problem has highlighted plant sciences as an emerging discipline committed to devise new strategies for enhanced crop productivity. The major factors causing food scarcity are biotic and abiotic stresses such as plant pathogens, salinity, drought, flooding, nutrient deficiency or toxicity which substantially limit crop productivity world-wide. In this scenario, strategies should be adopted to achieve maximum productivity and economic crop returns. In this book we have mainly focused on physiological, biochemical, molecular and genetic bases of crop development and related approaches that can be used for crop improvement under environmental adversaries. In addition, the adverse effects of different biotic (diseases, pathogens etc.) and abiotic (salinity, drought, high temperatures, metals etc) stresses on crop development and the potential strategies to enhance crop productivity under stressful environments are also discussed.

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 biological control systems, target specific life stages or pest species. Predation — recognized as a suitable, long-term strategy — effectively suppresses pests in biotechnological control systems. Integrated Pest Management covers these topics and more. It explores the current ecological approaches in alternative solutions, such as biological control agents, parasites and predators, pathogenic microorganisms, pheromones and natural products as well as ecological approaches for managing invasive pests, rats, suppression of weeds, safety of pollinators, role of taxonomy and remote sensing in IPM and future projections of IPM. This book is a useful resource to entomologists, agronomists, horticulturists, and environmental scientists. - Fills a gap in the literature by providing critical analysis of different management strategies that have a bearing on agriculture, sustainability and environmental protection - Synthesizes research and practice on integrated pest management - Emphasizes an overview of management strategies, with critical evaluation of each in the larger context of ecologically based pest management

Widespread use of broad-spectrum chemical pesticides has revolutionized pest management. But there is growing concern about environmental contamination and human health risksâ€"and continuing frustration over the ability of pests to develop resistance to pesticides. In Ecologically Based Pest Management, an expert committee advocates the sweeping adoption of ecologically based pest management (EBPM) that promotes both agricultural productivity and a balanced ecosystem. This volume offers a vision and strategies for creating a solid, comprehensive knowledge base to support a pest management system that incorporates ecosystem processes supplemented by a continuum of inputsâ€"biological organisms, products, cultivars, and cultural controls. The result will be safe, profitable, and durable pest management strategies. The book evaluates the feasibility of EBPM and examines how best to move beyond optimal examples into the mainstream of agriculture. The committee stresses the need for information, identifies research priorities in the biological as well as socioeconomic realm, and suggests institutional structures for a multidisciplinary research effort. Ecologically Based Pest Management addresses risk assessment, risk management, and public oversight of EBPM. The volume also overviews the history of pest managementâ€"from the use of sulfur compounds in 1000 B.C. to the emergence of transgenic technology. Ecologically Based Pest Management will be vitally important to the agrichemical industry; policymakers, regulators, and scientists in agriculture and forestry; biologists, researchers, and environmental advocates; and interested growers.

Over the past ten years an increasing number of field entomologists and farmers have recognized that conservation of natural enemies is important to effective biological control in many agricultural systems. This collection addresses an important gap in the biological control literature by providing the first comprehensive summary of recent findings on habitat manipulation to control pests. Enhancing Biological Control includes contributions from experts around the world: the United States, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, People's Republic of China, and Switzerland. Chapters cover habitat modification in such areas as fields, orchards, or vineyards, and along or near the perimeters of fields, including hedges or other uncultivated areas. Generalist and specialist natural enemies are described in full, as are theoretical and practical issues. Experimental designs for studying enhancement come into play, and the editors include a modeling study that explores how the dispersal of natural enemies interacts with the positioning of refuges. This volume is an invaluable source of information to researchers, progressive farmers, and agricultural consultants.