Book Description

• rice
• tropical maize
• sorghum
• common bean
• sugar beet
• bananas and plantain
• cotton
  
  Crop Improvement offers both practical information and up-to-date research. It also suggests a vision of new directions and partnerships that are expected to evolve in this century. This book is an essential resource for practicing plant breeders and geneticists at universities, government agencies, and industry. It should also be of use to teachers and students engaged in crop breeding.
  
  To view an excerpt online, find the book in our QuickSearch catalog at www.HaworthPress.com.

• About the Editor
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Part I: Introduction--Vision
• Chapter 1. Crop Breeding in the Twenty-First Century
• Introduction
• Present Status
• Summary and Predictions
• Part II: Crop Improvement
• Chapter 2. Rice Improvement: Past, Present, and Future
• Introduction
• Post¨CGreen Revolution Varieties
• Impact of Modern Varieties
• Future Challenges
• Conclusions
• Chapter 3. Tropical Maize: Innovative Approaches for Sustainable Productivity and Production Increases
• Introduction
• Tropical Maize-Growing Environments
• Challenges of Maize Improvement for the Tropics
• New Approaches and Research That Combine Conventional Breeding and Molecular and Biotechnological Tools
• Moving the Benefits of Maize Genetic Improvement to Farmers
• Conclusions: Tropical Maize Improvement Needs
• Chapter 4. Maize Improvement for Resistance to Aflatoxins: Progress and Challenges
• Introduction
• Contamination Process
• Reducing Aflatoxin Contamination in Maize
• Interrupting/Reducing Toxin Production Ability of the Fungus
• Concluding Remarks
• Chapter 5. Sorghum Improvement: Past Achievements and Future Prospects
• Introduction
• Sorghum Production, Production Areas, and Importance in the Global Food Systems
• Evolutionary Genetics and Germplasm Diversity in Sorghum
• History of Sorghum Improvement
• Breeding Tools
• Breeding Objectives and Achievements
• Current Progress in Biotechnology for Sorghum Improvement
• Challenges and Future Prospects
• Chapter 6. The Common Bean and Its Genetic Improvement
• Origin, Domestication, and Diversity
• Growth Habits
• Usage
• Dry Bean Production
• Production Problems
• Traits Deficient in Common Bean
• History of Improvement
• Selection Methods
• Genetic Progress Achieved
• Difficulties and Challenges
• Integrated Genetic Improvement
• Conclusions and Prospects
• Chapter 7. Sugar Beet Breeding and Improvement
• Introduction
• Plant Characteristics and Inheritance
• Hybrid Production
• Selection Techniques
• Agronomic Traits
• Germplasm Resources
• Chapter 8. Bananas and Plantains: Future Challenges in Musa Breeding
• Introduction
• Overcoming Infertility Barriers
• New Methods for Manipulating a Multiploidy Crop
• New Breeding Approaches
• Summary and Conclusions
• Chapter 9. Molecular Markers, Genomics, and Cotton Improvement
• Introduction
• Use of Molecular Markers in Gossypium
• Linkage Maps and Their Applications
• QTLs and Functional Genomics
• Future Prospects
• Part III: Crop Issues
• Chapter 10. Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Plants to Drought and Heat Stress
• Introduction
• Water Relations
• Carbohydrate Metabolism
• Lipid Peroxidation
• Protein Synthesis
• Regulation of Drought and Heat Tolerance
• Evaluation of Drought and Heat Tolerance
• Summary
• Chapter 11. Stability Analysis in Crop Performance Evaluation
• Introduction
• The Data
• Model Selection
• Two-Way Analysis
• Three-Way Analysis
• Discussion
• Chapter 12. Best Linear Unbiased Prediction: A Mixed-Model Approach in Multienvironment Trials
• Introduction
• Mixed Models for Multienvironment Trials
• Predictive Accuracy of BLUPs
• Index
• Reference Notes Included