Organic Production and Food Quality: A Down to Earth Analysis

Organic Production and Food Quality: A Down to Earth Analysis by Robert Blair 
Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (January 3, 2012) | ISBN: 08138121787 | 538 pages | PDF | 10 MB

The internet is rife with biased and unsubstantiated claims from the organic industry, and the treatment of issues such as food safety and quality by the media ("if it bleeds, it leads") tends to have a negative impact on consumer perceptions about conventional food. Until recently, more and more consumers in many countries were opting to buy organic food over conventional food, resulting in a radical shift in food retailing. This was due to concerns over chemical residues, food poisoning resulting in recalls, food scares such as "mad-cow" disease, issues like gene-modified (GM foods), antibiotics, hormones, cloning and concerns over the way plants and animals are being grown commercially as food sources. As a result there has been an expansion of the organic industry and the supply of organic foods at farmers' markets, supermarkets and specialty stores.Effects of Organic Production on Food Quality is the first comprehensive book on how organic production methods influence the safety and quality of foods, based on an unbiased assessment of the latest scientific findings. The title is a 'must-have' for everyone working within the food industry.Comprehensive explanation of organic production methods and effects on the safety and quality of foodsAuthoritative, unbiased and up-to-date examination of relevant global scientific research Answers the questions of whether organic food is more nutritious and/or more healthy

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A Closer Look at Plant Classifications, Parts, and Uses (Introduction to Biology)

Sherman Hollar, "A Closer Look at Plant Classifications, Parts, and Uses (Introduction to Biology)"
Publisher: Rosen Education Service | ISBN 10: 1615305297 | 2011 | PDF | 88 pages | 18 MB

For many of us, plants herald the change of seasons, represent the promise of nourishment, or serve as stunning visual reminders of Earth's natural beauty. As vital components of nearly every ecosystem on the planet, plants play a fundamental ecological role in the lives of most organisms for their utility in food and clothing production, fuel, shelter, and a host of other activities. Complete with images and diagrams depicting the parts and growth stages of plants, this volume clarifies what defines a plant and introduces readers to the structures of various plants as well as their complex roles within our environment.

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Integrated Pest and Disease Management in Greenhouse Crops

Ramon Albajes, Maria Lodovica Gullino, "Integrated Pest and Disease Management in Greenhouse Crops"
Publisher: Springer | ISBN: 0792356314 | edition 2000 | PDF | 568 pages | 13,1 mb

This book is mainly directed towards postgraduate students and professionals in the field of research and implementation of integrated pest and disease management programmes in greenhouse crops. After presenting the major pests and diseases that affect greenhouse vegetable and ornamental crops, several chapters deal with the tools for designing and implementing IP&DM in protected cultivation with particular emphasis on biological control. Current implementation and the future of IP&DM in the most important protected crops world-wide are presented in the concluding chapters.
Protected cultivation is practised in many hundreds of thousands of hectares throughout the world under quite different social, economic and technical conditions. Contributions to the book reflect such a diversity of situations: from the high-technology glasshouses of northern Europe and America to the simple plastic tunnels of the Mediterranean area and temperate eastern Asia. Furthermore, the editors have entrusted each chapter to authors whose activity and perspectives could be complementary: pathologists and entomologists, from private and public sectors, and from differentiated geographical regions. Probably no book published to date has offered such a diverse yet integrated approach to pest and disease control in greenhouse crops.
The book originated from an international course taught at the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies in Zaragoza, Spain. The authors are specialists from universities, research institutions and companies in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

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Fungi: Biology and Applications

Kevin Kavanagh, "Fungi: Biology and Applications"
Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition | ISBN 10: 111997769X | 2011 | PDF | 376 pages | 14.8 MB

Fungi: Biology and Applications, Second Edition provides a comprehensive treatment of fungi, covering biochemistry, genetics and the medical and economic significance of these organisms at introductory level. With no prior knowledge of the subject assumed, the opening chapters offer a broad overview of the basics of fungal biology, in particular the physiology and genetics of fungi and also a new chapter on the application of genomics to fungi. Later chapters move on to include more detailed coverage of topics such as antibiotic and chemical commodities from fungi, new chapters on biotechnological use of fungal enzymes and fungal proteomics, and fungal diseases of humans, antifungal agents for use in human therapy and fungal pathogens of plants.

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Pesticides in the Modern World - Risks and Benefits

Margarita Stoytcheva, "Pesticides in the Modern World - Risks and Benefits"
Publisher: InTech | ISBN: 9533074580 | 2011 | PDF | 560 pages | 39 MB

This book is a compilation of 29 chapters focused on: pesticides and food production, environmental effects of pesticides, and pesticides mobility, transport and fate. The first book section addresses the benefits of the pest control for crop protection and food supply increasing, and the associated risks of food contamination. The second book section is dedicated to the effects of pesticides on the non-target organisms and the environment such as: effects involving pollinators, effects on nutrient cycling in ecosystems, effects on soil erosion, structure and fertility, effects on water quality, and pesticides resistance development. The third book section furnishes numerous data contributing to the better understanding of the pesticides mobility, transport and fate. The addressed in this book issues should attract the public concern to support rational decisions to pesticides use.

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Pesticides in the Modern World - Pests Control and Pesticides Exposure and Toxicity Assessment

Margarita Stoytcheva, "Pesticides in the Modern World - Pests Control and Pesticides Exposure and Toxicity Assessment"
Publisher: InTech | ISBN: 9533074573 | 2011 | PDF | 614 pages | 39 MB

The present book is a collection of selected original research articles and reviews providing adequate and up-to-date information related to pesticides control, assessment, and toxicity. The first section covers a large spectrum of issues associated with the ecological, molecular, and biotechnological approaches to the understanding of the biological control, the mechanism of the biocontrol agents action, and the related effects. Second section provides recent information on biomarkers currently used to evaluate pesticide exposure, effects, and genetic susceptibility of a number of organisms. Some antioxidant enzymes and vitamins as biochemical markers for pesticide toxicity are examined. The inhibition of the cholinesterases as a specific biomarker for organophosphate and carbamate pesticides is commented, too. The third book section addresses to a variety of pesticides toxic effects and related issues including: the molecular mechanisms involved in pesticides-induced toxicity, fish histopathological, physiological, and DNA changes provoked by pesticides exposure, anticoagulant rodenticides mode of action, the potential of the cholinesterase inhibiting organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides, the effects of pesticides on bumblebee, spiders and scorpions, the metabolic fate of the pesticide-derived aromatic amines, etc.

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The Restless Plant

The Restless Plant
Harvard University Press | January 15, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0674048636 | 224 pages | PDF | 5.09 MB

Plants, so predictable, stay where they are. And yet, like all living things, they also move: they grow, adapt, shed leaves and bark, spread roots and branches, snare pollinators, and reward cultivators. This book, the first to thoroughly explore the subject since Darwin’s 1881 treatise on movements in plants, is a comprehensive, up-to-date account of the mechanisms and the adaptive values that move plants.
Drawing on examples across the spectrum of plant families—including mosses, ferns, conifers, and flowering plants—the author opens a window on how plants move: within cells, as individual cells, and via organs. Opening with an explanation of how cellular motors work and how cells manage to move organs, Dov Koller considers the movement of roots, tubers, rhizomes, and other plant parts underground, as well as the more familiar stems, leaves, and flowers.

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Natural Products in Plant Pest Management

N .K. Dubey, "Natural Products in Plant Pest Management "
Publisher: CABI Publishing | ISBN 10: 184593671X | 2011 | PDF | 400 pages | 3.7 MB

Overzealous and indiscriminate use of many synthetic pesticides during recent decades in the control of plant pests has resulted in a number of environmental and toxicological problems. Reducing the release of synthetic chemicals into the environment requires that alternative sources of chemicals are developed that can be used safely in the management of plant pests. Botanical antimicrobials derived from plants are currently recognised as biodegradable, systemic, eco-friendly and non-toxic to mammals and are thus considered safe. Their modes of action against pests are diverse. Natural compounds are well suited to organic food production in industrialised countries and can play greater roles in the protection of food crops in developing countries. This book is the first to bring together relevant aspects of the basic and applied sciences of natural pesticides and discussed modern trends in the use of natural products in pest management. 

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Aphids as Crop Pests

Aphids as Crop Pests By Helmut M van Emden, Richard Harrington
Publisher: C.A.B.I 2007 | 752 Pages | ISBN: 0851998194 | PDF | 10 MB

Aphids represent one of the world's major insect pests, causing serious economic damage to a range of temperate and tropical crops. These range from grain crops and brassicas to potato, cotton, vegetable and fruit crops.This book provides a definitive reference volume on the biology of aphids, their pest status, and how to control them. It includes approximately 30 specially commissioned chapters from world experts, principally from Europe and North America. Topics covered range from host selection and feeding to movement and dispersal, and from insecticide resistance to chemical, cultural and biological control methods. There are also several case study chapters, on integrated pest management in specific crops. 

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Pesticides in the Modern World - Effects of Pesticides Exposure

Margarita Stoytcheva, "Pesticides in the Modern World - Effects of Pesticides Exposure"
Publisher: InTech | ISBN 10: 9789533074542 | 2011 | PDF | 376 pages | 15.3 MB

The introduction of the synthetic organochlorine, organophosphate, carbamate and pyrethroid pesticides by 1950’s marked the beginning of the modern pesticides era and a new stage in the agriculture development. Evolved from the chemicals designed originally as warfare agents, the synthetic pesticides demonstrated a high effectiveness in preventing, destroying or controlling any pest. Therefore, their application in the agriculture practices made it possible enhancing crops and livestock’s yields and obtaining higher-quality products, to satisfy the food demand of the continuously rising world’s population. Nevertheless, the increase of the pesticide use estimated to 2.5 million tons annually worldwide since 1950., created a number of public and environment concerns. This book, organized in two sections, addresses the various aspects of the pesticides exposure and the related health effects. It offers a large amount of practical information to the professionals interested in pesticides issues.

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