Publications
Now showing items 1-57 of 57
Understanding plant-pathogen interactions in Septoria tritici blotch infection of cereals
(2021)
Zymoseptoria is a major fungal pathogen of wheat, responsible for the Septoria Tritici Blotch (STB) disease. Recently, STB has been the subject of intensive molecular studies. Notably, massive transcriptomic analyses have ...
Biocontrol via mycoviruses: a neglected option for bioprotection?
(2021)
Virocontrol involves biocontrol of pathogens via hypovirulence-causing mycoviruses. This chapter discusses the characteristics of mycoviruses and the conditions that need to be met to make a successful virocontrol agent. ...
Achievements in breeding cereals with durable disease resistance in Northwest Europe
(2021)
Breeding cereals in Northwest Europe for durable resistance has made an important contribution to control of almost all economically significant diseases and pests of wheat, barley and oats. Durable resistance to fungal ...
Digital phenotyping and genotype-to-phenotype (G2P) models to predict complex traits in cereal crops
(2022)
The revolution in digital phenotyping combined with the new layers of omics and envirotyping tools offers great promise to improve selection and accelerate genetic gains for crop improvement. This chapter examines the ...
Development and scale-up of bioprotectants to keep staple foods safe from aflatoxin contamination in Africa
(2022)
Aflatoxins pose a significant public health risk, decrease productivity and profitability and hamper trade. To minimize aflatoxin contamination a biocontrol technology based on atoxigenic strains of Aspergillus flavus that ...
Modifying mesophyll conductance to optimise photosynthesis in crops
(2023)
Mesophyll conductance (gm), the ease with which carbon dioxide can diffuse into and through plant cells, is a promising target for improving photosynthetic rates in plants. Barriers including cell walls, membranes, liquid ...
Integrated weed management in grasslands
(2022)
This chapter describes the current status of IWM for grasslands. Its focus is on management practices available to influence transitions in a weed’s life cycle: from the soil seed bank to seedling establishment, from the ...
Advances in managing organic matter in turfgrass ecosystems
(2023)
Organic matter (OM) management is a critical component in sustainable turfgrass management. Organic matter improves the soils’ ability to hold nutrients and water. However, when OM accumulation is excessive, several ...
Management of organic soils to reduce soil organic carbon losses
(2023)
Organic soils of intact peatlands store 1/4 of the global soil organic carbon (SOC). Despite being an important source of methane (CH4), they are climate coolers because they continuously accumulate new organic carbon. ...
Creating frameworks to foster soil carbon sequestration
(2023)
Restorative land management has potential to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide and store carbon in stable forms in soils contributing to climate change mitigation, healthier soils and food security supporting Paris Agreement ...
Mechanisms of soil organic carbon sequestration and implications for management
(2023)
Organic carbon sequestration is delineated from the different mechanisms underlying the storage of organic matter in mineral soils. The scene is set with definitions of the major terms within the complex of organic matter ...
Agriculture practices to improve soil carbon storage in upland soil
(2023)
Increasing carbon storage in soils is one way of mitigating climate change. Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils through improved management is particularly interesting, because of low costs and technical readiness. ...
Advances in measuring soil organic carbon stocks and dynamics at the profile scale
(2023)
Accurate estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and dynamics along the soil profile is challenging due to the immense diversity and complexity of soils leading to the spatio-temporal variability of the parameters ...
Understanding the value of and reasoning behind farmer adoption of carbon centric practices
(2023)
Understanding how to promote farmers’ use of carbon (C) centric practices known to increase soil C sequestration is needed to design information systems and orient policy, investment and environmental markets. Farmers ...
Considerations with water for turfgrass in arid environments
(2023)
Golf course managers in arid environments must manage every drop of water like it is their last. Water restrictions continue to tighten and water costs are increasing exponentially in many areas. While superintendents in ...
Considerations with soil testing in turfgrass
(2023)
Soil testing can be a valuable method to help turfgrass managers make fertilizer decisions and choosing the most appropriate soil test extractant is key. This depends on soil properties and the availability of correlation ...
Clonostachys rosea to control plant diseases
(2022)
The fungus Clonostachys rosea was recognized as an aggressive parasite on other fungi already in the late 1950s. Research into its potential use in biological control of plant diseases soon followed. Today, there are several ...
Advances in understanding allelopathic interactions between weeds and crops
(2022)
This chapter focuses on advances in understanding allelopathic interactions between weeds and crops. In the first part, we discuss allelopathy in crop-weed interactions while the second part focuses on practical aspects ...
Advances in biostimulants as an integrated pest management tool in horticulture
(2021)
This chapter covers the definition of biostimulants, brief summary of various categories, and how they are used for promoting plant growth, building soil structure, imparting stress tolerance, and contribute to pest and ...
Genetic factors affecting the composition and quality of cow’s milk
(2021)
This chapter reviews the genetic factors affecting the composition and quality of cow's milk. It starts by discussing how different breeds of cattle can affect the composition of milk. The chapter then goes on to examine ...
The role of bioprotectants for disease control in integrated crop protection approaches
(2022)
Bioprotectants have the potential to replace chemical pesticides in agricultural cropping systems and crop protection approaches. Development of new bioprotectants in combination with more restricted use of chemical crop ...
Sampling and statistics in assessment of fresh produce
(2022)
New measurement technologies are facilitating new approaches to the improvement of safety and quality in agri-food supply chains. However, measurement uncertainty and choice of sampling strategy can influence the outcomes ...
Origins and drivers of crop phenotyping
(2022)
Plant phenotyping has seen rapid recent development in methods and technologies. This chapter outlines how plant phenotyping has developed over recent decades, driven by factors such as advances in optical sensors, image ...
Relaxing non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) to improve photosynthesis in crops
(2023)
Sunlight intercepted by crop plants drives photosynthesis and growth. However, the light-harvesting antenna complexes that capture light energy for photosynthesis can also absorb too much light, which enhances the formation ...
The use of Bacillus spp. as bacterial biocontrol agents to control plant diseases
(2021)
Biocontrol agents (BCAs) based on plant growth promoting rhizobacteria have recently been developed as alternatives to chemical pesticides. Among those beneficial bacteria, Bacillus spp. are one of the most promising BCAs. ...
Advances in identifying GM plants: current frame of the detection of transgenic GMOs
(2021)
Transgenic GMOs were welcomed in the 1990s due to the difficulties distinguishing genetic and epigenetic modifications from random mutagenesis and their ability to insert new nucleic sequences more rapidly but still randomly. ...
Surveillance on swine farms using antemortem specimens
(2023)
In the recent past, disease control on swine farms was based on vaccination or intentional exposure to pathogens to stimulate immunity and protect against clinical disease. This one-dimensional strategy became increasingly ...
Managing housing and stocking density to optimize health, welfare and production in pig herds
(2023)
This chapter describes major husbandry- and management-related factors affecting health, welfare and production efficiency in different swine husbandry systems. Given the current transformation in pig production, there are ...
Agricultural practices to improve soil carbon sequestration in rice paddy soils
(2023)
Paddy rice systems are characterized by waterlogged conditions with high potential for CH4 emissions and soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the net global warming potential (GWP) ...
Managing grasslands to optimize soil carbon sequestration
(2023)
In this chapter, we will discuss the effect of different grassland management practices on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. This includes comparison of grasslands with arable ...
Soil health: definitions, history, key concepts and hurdles
(2023)
This chapter reviews the history and trajectory of soil quality and soil health as global scientific objectives. Sections review definitions and drivers, key concepts, and hurdles that change this field of effort before ...
Benefits and trade-offs of soil organic carbon sequestration
(2023)
Soil organic carbon sequestration has received increasing attention due to the important benefits it can have for ecosystem services and in particular food production, climate change mitigation and adaptation. Indeed, soils ...
Advances in insect pest and disease monitoring and forecasting in horticulture
(2022)
Pest monitoring in horticulture is developing technologically to reduce time and labor needed for sampling and to produce more accurate pest predictions. New ways of detecting pests based on selective e-traps, e-noses, ...
Environmental impacts of seaweed cultivation: kelp farming and preservation
(2021)
This chapter provides an overview of the environmental impacts of the supply chain for preserved seaweed. The supply chain includes the hatchery, marine infrastructure, deployment of juveniles and monitoring during cultivation ...
Advances in mechanical weed control technologies
(2021)
Mechanical weed control can be grouped into three categories: full-width cultivators, inter-row cultivators and intra-row cultivators. This chapter will highlight the most recent and relevant advances within each category. ...
Towards an early warning system for wheat blast: epidemiological basis and model development
(2021)
Wheat blast is caused by the fungus Pyricularia oryzae Triticum pathotype (PoT). Significantly damaging wheat blast epidemics are sporadic and limited to tropical wheat growing areas in South America. Unexpectedly, wheat ...
Advances in turfgrass weed management
(2023)
Weeds are a major pest that reduce aesthetics and functionality of turfgrass systems. Knowledge required for effective weed management has evolved in recent years as weeds develop resistance to herbicides, government ...
Assessing the impact of pesticides on pollinators
(2023)
This chapter provides an overview of the history of pollination biology, it begins by discussing the basics of pollination and goes on to discuss pollinators and their diversity. Sections also cover the ecology and evolution ...
Altering crop management practices to promote pollinators
(2023)
Agricultural intensification, or the increase in crop production per unit of input or land area to meet the needs of a growing population, has resulted in a landscape dominated by large scale monoculture cropping. Pollinators, ...
Social and ethical considerations for agricultural robotics
(2023)
The scaling of agricultural robotics could help us to achieve sustainable agricultural transitions around the world, solving production, environmental, and socio-political challenges. Yet, for all the promises, there are ...
Life cycle assessment of indoor vertical farms
(2023)
Indoor vertical farms (IVF) have expanded rapidly in recent years as an approach to secure resilient food provisioning in urban areas. Sustainability is often promoted by IVFs, focusing primarily on farm-level metrics and ...
Advances in identifying GM plants: toward the routine detection of 'hidden' and 'new' GMOs
(2021)
In 2018 the Court of Justice of the European Union recalled that organisms with genomes modified by artifactual techniques should be considered GMOs under European regulations. GMOs derived from cultures of cells isolated ...
The use of Pseudomonas spp. as bacterial biocontrol agents to control plant diseases
(2021)
Most Pseudomonas biocontrol strains are associated with the rhizosphere of plants, where they control soil pathogens by antibiosis or competition, and leaf pathogens via induced systemic resistance. Genome mining and the ...
Applying population-based threshold models to quantify and improve seed quality attributes
(2022)
Achieving rapid and uniform stand establishment in crops requires a combination of high-quality seeds and appropriate environmental conditions. In particular, temperature and soil moisture (or water potential) are the major ...
Developments in the use of hermetic bags for grain storage
(2020)
Smallholder farmers’ interest in hermetic bags has been driven by the need to reduce grain storage losses due to insect pests and challenges (inefficacy) of current storage methods. Hermetic bags commercially available for ...
Assessing the environmental impact of ruminant production systems
(2019)
One of the most common methods to evaluate environmental footprints of farming systems is life cycle assessment (LCA). Although LCA itself is suitable for and adopted by a wide range of industries far beyond agriculture, ...
Strategies for CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing: from delivery to production of modified plants
(2021)
Despite the conspicuous and rapid development of genome editing tools, implementing this technology in plants often remains constrained by our inability to regenerate fertile genome-modified plants. Finding a viable ...
New technologies to improve the ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources
(2021)
Access to plant genetic resources is fundamental to the development of more resilient and nutritious crops. The efficient and effective conservation of plant genetic resources is therefore key to ensuring global food ...
Nutritional and anti-methanogenic potentials of macroalgae for ruminants
(2021)
The livestock production sector is facing challenges to find alternative feed resources and nutritional strategies to mitigate enteric methane (CH4) emissions from ruminants. Recently, marine macroalgae have emerged as ...
Viruses as vectors for the delivery of gene-editing reagents
(2021)
A significant challenge for plant gene editing is the delivery of editing reagents to germline or regenerable cells to recover heritable genetic modifications. Reagent delivery using biolistics or Agrobacterium is only ...
Advances in understanding the genetics of pig behaviour
(2021)
Breeding for behavioural traits may improve pig welfare and breeding for high production may decrease pig welfare. Maternal behaviours important for piglet production includes savaging, crushing and nursing. Behaviours of ...
Tools for pest and disease management by stakeholders: a case study on Plantwise
(2021)
This chapter presents Plantwise as an innovative process for pest management in small holder crop production systems. The tools and applications developed under Plantwise constitute innovations that have potential to ...
Wheat flour fortification and human health
(2021)
Using varied study designs (none of which can confirm causality), investigators assessed the health impact of wheat flour fortification after it was implemented at large scale in countries. Folic acid was the most studied ...
Advances in genetic mapping of Septoria nodorum blotch resistance in wheat and applications in resistance breeding
(2021)
Septoria nodorum blotch (SNB) caused by the necrotrophic fungus Parastagonospora nodorum is an important wheat disease in many high rainfall areas across the world. It reduces both yield and grain quality by causing symptoms ...
Coffee wilt disease
(2021)
In the early 20th century, coffee wilt disease (CWD) caused by the vascular wilt pathogen, Fusarium xylarioides, spread across Africa destroying coffee trees, reducing yields and significantly impacting producer livelihoods. ...
The contribution of animal breeding to reducing the environmental impact of livestock production
(2021)
Animal production is responsible for 14.5% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Approximately half of these emissions originate directly from animal production, whereas the other half comes from feed ...
Improving the global exchange of germplasm for crop breeding
(2021)
Different norms, rules and practices organize the exchange of germplasm to address broader global challenges such as advancement of science and innovation, food security, sustainable agriculture or global equity. Some of ...