Sustainable Crop Protection Under Protected Cultivation

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.

This new volume looks at the evolution and challenges of sustainable agriculture, a field that is growing in use and popularity, discussing some of the important ideas, practices, and policies that are essential to an effective sustainable agriculture strategy. The book features 25 chapters written by experts in crop improvement, natural resource management, crop protection, social sciences, and product development. The volume provides a good understanding of the use of sustainable agriculture and the sustainable management of agri-horticultural crops, focusing on eco-friendly approaches, such as the utilization of waste materials. Topics include ecofriendly plant protection measures, climate change and natural resource management, tools to mitigate the effect of extreme weather events, agrochemical research and regulation, soil carbon sequestration, water and nutrient management in agricultural systems, and more. Key features: Discusses sustainable agriculture within the framework of recent challenges in agriculture Looks at the development and diversification of crops and cultural practices to enhance biological and economic stability Discusses innovative nanotechnologies in research and production technologies Highlights the development of new varieties in agri-horticultural crops Discusses use of recent technologies for soil–plant–microbe–environment interactions.

Biostimulants stimulate natural processes in crops to enhance nutrient uptake, nutrient use efficiency (NUE), resistance to abiotic stress and quality traits. This collection reviews key advances in understanding and using biostimulants.

This publication capitalizes on the experience of scientists from the North Africa and Near East countries, in collaboration with experts from around the world, specialized in the different aspects of greenhouse crop production. It provides a comprehensive description and assessment of the greenhouse production practices in use in Mediterranean climate areas that have helped diversify vegetable production and increase productivity. The publication is also meant to be used as a reference and tool for trainers and growers as well as other actors in the greenhouse vegetables value chain in this region.

Sustainability involves meeting current needs without compromising the ability to meet future requirements. Like other crops, vegetable cultivation faces a number of challenges in ensuring sustainable production. These challenges include the need to improve yields and quality to meet rising demand and higher consumer expectations, the need to reduce the ongoing threats from pathogens and pests Focussing on temperate cultivation, Achieving sustainable cultivation of vegetables summarises the wealth of research addressing these challenges, from breeding improved varieties to better techniques for cultivation and crop protection. Part 1 reviews advances in physiology and breeding. Parts 2-3 summarise advances in cultivation and pest management. The final part includes case studies on the breeding and cultivation of key vegetables such as carrot, lettuce and cabbage. With its distinguished editor and range of expert authors, this will be a standard reference for horticultural scientists in universities, government and other research centres involved in supporting vegetable cultivation, as well as companies supporting the vegetable sector.

Nematode Diseases of Crops and their Sustainable Management focuses on methods to recognize and identify nematode attackers in agriculturally important crops, offering ecologically sustainable and economically viable strategies and measures for the management of nematode infestations and diseases. The book analyzes nematode pests as major constraints in global crop production and explores the limitations of existing nematode management technologies. It offers comprehensive information through individually focused chapters on major nematode problems in internationally important food, fiber and beverage crops as well as in mushrooms, polyhouse agriculture and forest flora with regard to distribution, and much more.In view of the highly damaging nature of the disease complexes and complexity in their management, independent chapters on nematode-fungus and nematode-bacteria disease complexes and their management are also presented. Presents in-depth information on the synergistic interaction of nematodes with other plant pathogens and the resulting disease complexes Focuses on sustainable and economically-viable approaches to nematode disease management Includes coverage of regulatory concerns and challenges

Sustainability is defined as the use of natural resources without risking their exploitation by future generations. Agriculture can only be considered as sustainable if it includes a suitable system of plant genetic resources conservation. In this book, the modern concepts of agricultural sustainability and the economics of agricultural sustainability are discussed. A new framework for analysis and improvement of the governance of agrarian sustainability is presented. In addition, specific modes for environmental governance in Bulgarian agriculture are identified and the efficiency of market, private and public modes are assessed. Furthermore, the regulation measures through nutrient solution regulation and environmental control on nitrate accumulation in vegetables are summarised, highlighting the control strategy. Arguments for and against government strategies to promote large-scale agricultural units in emerging economies are also analysed and an economic theory that models agricultural supply in emerging economies is presented. Other chapters in this book describe the role of fluorescent pseudomonads in soil fertility, biodegradation of agricultural pollutants, plant growth-promotion, biocontrol of weeds, phytopathogens and nematodes. Information about the global relevance of China's and Australia's cotton industries are also given, and the structure and other significant features of their cotton industries are compared. The main characteristics and importance of plant growth-promoting bacteria in sustainable agriculture in tropical agriculture are looked at as well. Developing alternative ways to control plant disease, with good agronomic and horticultural practices is becoming the focus of many researchers. This book also includes information on ways to control plant diseases in order to maintain the quality and abundance of food produced by growers around the world.

"This book, Crop Sustainability and Intellectual Property Rights, merges the concepts of traditional agriculture, crop sustainability, and intellectual property rights associated with plant protection and agricultural products. This volume provides a comprehensive account of the perspectives of traditional agriculture, crop sustainability, and various strategies associated with crop tolerance to adverse environmental conditions. It also highlights the role of agricultural intellectual property rights, along with the implications for plant patents, protection of farmers' rights, and geographical indication in plant products to provide a broader outlook toward strategies for sustainable agriculture and global food security associated with IPR. The chapters provide an overview of sustainable crop cultivation in a variety of ways, with both traditional agriculture as well as with new biotechnological approaches. The volume explores several stress resilience strategies and issues for crops, considering how to mitigate the effect of increased carbon dioxide concentration, heavy metal pollution, over-salinized soils, and cold spells. It also discusses how to make desert farming more efficient; how to increase abiotic stress tolerance of crops with grafting, seed soaking/priming, soil amendment, and foliar applications; and more. The chapters on agricultural intellectual property rights address IPR in conjunction with food security, the rights of farmers, legal applications and protection of plant patents, protection of traditional knowledge, international legal issues, and plant variety protection rights in agriculture and more. The book will be valuable for academicians and researchers at universities and research institutes working on stress physiology, genomics, proteomics, genetic engineering, breeding, and sustainable agriculture. Furthermore, lawyers, policymakers, and legal executives associated with agriculture and plant science will find useful information as well."--