Advances in agronomy. V.102 /

Front Cover 1
Advances in Agronomy 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 7
Contributors 11
Preface 15
Chapter 1: Chapter One Biomedical Agriculture: A Systematic Approach to Food Crop Improvement for Chronic Disease Prevention 16
1. Biomedical Agriculture: A Twenty-First-Century Response to an Emerging Global Problem 17
2. The Biomedical Landscape 23
3. Agricultural Landscape 33
4. Evaluating Crops 39
5. Biomedical Agriculture in Practice: A Developing Program in Crop Improvement 45
6. Building the Infrastructure to Sustain the Effort 52
7. Summary and Future Prospects 56
Acknowledgments 59
References 59
Chapter 2: Soil Sulfur Cycling in Temperate Agricultural Systems 70
1. Introduction: The Role of Sulfur in Agroecosystems 71
2. Soil Sulfur Pools 74
3. Sulfur Amendments to Soil 83
4. Soil Sulfur Accumulation and Losses in Farming Systems 90
5. Perspectives for Sulfur Use Efficiency in Agriculture 94
6. Conclusions 96
Acknowledgments 97
References 98
Chapter 3: Regional Vulnerability of Climate Change Impacts on Asian Rice Production and Scope for Adaptation 106
1. Introduction 107
2. Overview of Climate Change Impacts on Rice Plants 108
3. Adaptation in Vulnerable Rice-Growing Environments 110
4. A Regional Case Study with High Vulnerability: The Rice-Wheat System in the Indo-Gangetic Plains 125
5. Outlook: Current Advances and Future Prospects 141
References 142
Chapter 4: Informatics in Agricultural Research for Development 150
1. Introduction 151
2. The Information Landscape 152
3. Enabling Technology 154
4. Scientific Information 156
5. From Research to Knowledge at the Farmers' Doorsteps 163
6. Conclusions 169
References 170
Chapter 5: Impact of Pesticides on Soil Microbial Diversity, Enzymes, and Biochemical Reactions 174
1. Introduction 175
2. Effect of Pesticides on Soil Microbial Diversity 176
3. Effect of Pesticides on Biochemical Reactions in Soil 185
4. Effect of Pesticides on Soil Enzymes 191
5. Impact of Biopesticides on Microbial Diversity and Enzymes 203
6. Conclusions 204
References 205
Chapter 6: Radiation Hybrid Mapping in Crop Plants 216
1. Introduction and Overview 217
2. Physical Mapping 218
3. Radiation Hybrid Mapping in Nonplant Species 222
4. Radiation Hybrid Mapping in Crop Plants 224
5. Prospects of Mapping Genes and Genomes Using RH Mapping 230
References 232
Chapter 7: Nutrient and Water Management Effects on Crop Production, and Nutrient and Water Use Efficiency in Dryland Areas of China 238
1. Introduction 242
2. Effects of Nutrient Input on Root Growth, Plant Physiology, Soil Water Storage, Water Use Efficiency, and Crop Yield 244
3. Effects of Soil Water Supply on Nutrient Utilization 255
4. Effect of Water and Nutrients Interaction on Crop Yield 267
5. Research Accomplishments, Gaps, and Future Needs 269
6. Summary and Conclusions 271
Acknowledgments 272
References 272
Chapter 8: Recent Developments of Fertilizer Production and Use to Improve Nutrient Efficiency and Minimize Environmental Impacts 282
1. Introduction 283
2. Improving the Efficiency of Nitrogen Fertilizers 284
3. Improving the Efficiency of Conventional Phosphorus Fertilizers 303
4. Use of Nonconventional Phosphorus Fertilizers 308
5. New Granular Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilizers Containing Sulfur Nutrient 321
6. Cadmium Uptake by Crops from Phosphorus Fertilizers 324
7. General Conclusions 327
References 328
Index 338
Color Plates 344