This chapter focuses on the main green manure and cover crop legumes such as Canavalia, Crotalaria and Mucuna species. The ability of these legumes to fix N₂ in abundance is also discussed. The accumulation of N and N₂-fixation in legume green manures in rice systems and the release of N and...

The second edition of this book, first published in 1991 and intended for students and researchers, contains revised and updated material on the theory and practice of nitrogen fixation in tropical cropping systems. There are 15 chapters in 3 parts. Part I, Introduction, contains 5 chapters on...

Some of the farm-level factors that are crucial for intensified food crop production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is discussed. The current trends and indicators of intensification, including yield, total production per farm and consumption unit and sale of crops are also discussed, based on the...

This book contains 22 chapters, 2 appendices (of the nematicides and species mentioned throughout the book) and 24 colour plates covering all aspects of practical plant nematology in subtropical and tropical agriculture, including rice, cereals, sweet potatoes, root and tuber crops, food legumes,...

There are literally hundreds of thousands of plant species in the wild that are potential food sources for humans. However, plant species ultimately selected as the basis for agricultural societies both in antiquity and modern times became limited to only a very few. This chapter explores the...

This chapter briefly looks at the origin, generation and utility of crop diversity. It then considers why farmers need crop diversity and how they cultivate it in farming systems. Many examples of the positive impacts on food security from science-based utilization of crop diversity by farmers,...

The second in a three-part series on climatic change, this book addresses the challenges of the foreseen climate change for agriculture from a multidisciplinary point of view. The initial chapter discusses the global changes that gave rise to the beginning of agriculture. The rest of the book is...

In this chapter, household production and consumption data are combined with national price data to simulate the welfare effects of increases in staple prices. The focus is on the rural sectors of nine developing countries and on six types of staple crops. The results show that since most rural...

Soil acidity limits agricultural production globally. Acid soils pose many stresses to plants but the major factor affecting plant growth is soluble aluminium with Al³⁺ being the most toxic form. Al³⁺ damages root cells at sites in the apoplast and in the cytosol and these rapidly inhibit root...

This book presents guidelines on the identification of macronutrient and micronutrient deficiency symptoms in cereal crops (maize, rice, sorghum, pearl millet, wheat and barley), pulse crops (pigeon pea, green gram, black gram, cowpea, cluster bean, chickpea, Phaseolus vulgaris, lentil and pea),...