Rice and rice breeding; Development of high-yielding rice varieties; Rice varieties and area; Summary of area estimates.

Genetically engineered (GE) crops were first introduced commercially in the 1990s. After two decades of production, some groups and individuals remain critical of the technology based on their concerns about possible adverse effects on human health, the environment, and ethical considerations. At the same time, others are concerned that the technology is not reaching its potential to improve human health and the environment because of stringent regulations and reduced public funding to develop products offering more benefits to society. While the debate about these and other questions related to the genetic engineering techniques of the first 20 years goes on, emerging genetic-engineering technologies are adding new complexities to the conversation. Genetically Engineered Crops builds on previous related Academies reports published between 1987 and 2010 by undertaking a retrospective examination of the purported positive and adverse effects of GE crops and to anticipate what emerging genetic-engineering technologies hold for the future. This report indicates where there are uncertainties about the economic, agronomic, health, safety, or other impacts of GE crops and food, and makes recommendations to fill gaps in safety assessments, increase regulatory clarity, and improve innovations in and access to GE technology.

Growth and development of the rice plant. Climatic environments and its influence. Mineral nutrition of rice. Nutritional disorders. Photosynthesis and respiration. Rice plant characters in relation to yielding ability. Physiological analysis of rice yield.

Introduction; Materials and methods; Results and discussion; Asia; North, Central, and South America; South America; Europe; Africa; Oryza glaberrima and other wild rices; General disucssion and conclusions; Institutions and organizations supplying rice samples; Sources of 1990 grain quality information in national programs; Cross reference index of variety names; Acronyms of rice varieties/lines.

Rapid, inexpensive, and easy-to-deploy, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy can be used to analyze samples of virtually any composition, origin, and condition. The Handbook of Near Infrared Analysis, Fourth Edition, explores the factors necessary to perform accurate and time- and cost-effective analyses across a growing spectrum of disciplines. This updated and expanded edition incorporates the latest advances in instrumentation, computerization, chemometrics applied to NIR spectroscopy, and method development in NIR spectroscopy, and underscores current trends in sample preparation, calibration transfer, process control, data analysis, instrument performance testing, and commercial NIR instrumentation. This work offers readers an unparalleled combination of theoretical foundations, cutting-edge applications, and practical experience. Additional features include the following: Explains how to perform accurate as well as time- and cost-effective analyses. Reviews software-enabled chemometric methods and other trends in data analysis. Highlights novel applications in pharmaceuticals, polymers, plastics, petrochemicals, textiles, foods and beverages, baked products, agricultural products, biomedicine, nutraceuticals, and counterfeit detection. Underscores current trends in sample preparation, calibration transfer, process control, data analysis, and multiple aspects of commercial NIR instrumentation. Offering the most complete single-source guide of its kind, the Handbook of Near Infrared Analysis, Fourth Edition, continues to offer practicing chemists and spectroscopists an unparalleled combination of theoretical foundations, cutting-edge applications, and detailed practical experience provided firsthand by more than 50 experts in the field.

Food systems involve a range of activities concerning food production, processing, distribution, marketing and trade, preparation, consumption and disposal. They encompass the path of food from the farm to the dinner table, meeting the food and nutritional needs of a nation. When such systems do so without sacrificing the needs of future generations, they are referred to as “Sustainable Food Systems.” The natural and physical environment, infrastructure, institutions, society and culture, and policies and regulations within which they operate, as well as the technologies they adopt, shape these systems’ outcomes. Making food systems more sustainable is a key priority for all nations, and Sri Lanka is no exception. Food systems deliver optimal performance when the policy and regulatory environment is conducive, institutions are supportive, and a combination of agricultural research investments and an efficient extension system generates the technologies and scientific evidence required for sound policymaking and agenda setting. Further, agricultural research can generate essential findings, technologies and policies for sustainable agricultural development – across disciplines, sectors and stakeholder groups. This book shares valuable insights into research conducted in the broad food and agriculture sectors in Sri Lanka. It also discusses the status quo in related disciplines, and outlines future research directions. Accordingly, it offers a valuable source of reference material for researchers, students, and stakeholders in the food and agriculture sectors, while also highlighting the types of support that policymakers and other decision-makers can provide.

This volume brings together fresh insights from top agricultural economists in the areas of consumer attitudes, environmental impacts, policy and regulation, trade, investment, food security, and development, in an attempt to provide a new perspective on the most pressing policy questions facing GM technology.

Following on from the CGIAR study by Evenson and Gollin (published by CABI in 2003), this volume provides up-to-date estimates of adoption outcomes and productivity impacts of crop variety improvement research in sub-Saharan Africa. The book reports on the results of the DIIVA Project that focussed on the varietal generation, adoption and impact for 20 food crops in 30 countries. It also compares adoption outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa to those in South Asia, and guides future efforts for global agricultural research