This chapter describes the latest genome-editing techniques, including (i) engineered homing endonucleases/meganucleases; (ii) zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs); (iii) transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs); and (iv) clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats...

This chapter provides an insight into the economically important nematode pests of cereal grains other than rice, such as maize, wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, oat and rye. It details the distribution, biology and life cycle, damage potential and economic importance of major nematode pests. Viable ...

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 chapter presents various case studies focusing on the management of Schizaphis graminum (green bug), Rhopalosiphum maidis (maize leaf aphid), Melanaphis sacchari (sugarcane aphid) and Sipha flava (yellow sugarcane aphid) using various control methods and their combinations (IPM). The efficacy...

This chapter focuses on the physiological reactions and assimilate partitioning in crops and their effects on the economic yield. The effects of water shortage at different phenological stages and the relation between water use and economic yield in principal crops, such as sorghum, maize, wheat...

Ranked on the basis of harvested mass, the top five cereals in the world are maize (corn), rice, wheat, barley and sorghum. However, the commercial application of biotechnology over these five species is heavily skewed. Only in maize are there genetically engineered varieties currently marketed to...

This chapter reviews briefly the current status of regeneration and transformation of sorghum () focusing on somatic embryogenesis and on biolistic and Agrobacterium-mediated delivery systems. Future target traits will be critically reviewed because of the likelihood of producing new genetic lines...

An understanding of the performance of sorghum, pearl millet, and groundnut programmes from the perspectives of scientific capacity, output of released varieties and the level of adoption of these improved varieties is not as comprehensive as in other staple food crops such as maize. This chapter...

This chapter focuses on the assessment of the effectiveness of the crop improvement of sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeon pea and groundnut in India from the perspectives of inputs (scientific capacity of national programmes), outputs (released cultivars and hybrids) and outcomes (aggregate...

This chapter takes a macro perspective of the state of the use of crop wild relatives (CWR) in crop improvement programmes under the auspices of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, with some supplementary perspectives from outside of the CG family where required. It asks, ...