The focus of this chapter is threefold: (i) to describe the conservation agriculture (CA) system used by Total LandCare (TLC) with smallholder farmers in Malawi; (ii) to compare maize and groundnut yields under CA with conventional ridge tillage (CRT) in different parts of Malawi; and (iii) to...

In this chapter methods in feeding and how to evaluate broilers more efficiently with minor references to other poultry are highlighted. Topics discussed include predicting feed intake, nutrient response, feed evaluation, and digestive tract optimization.

This chapter describes some aspects that structure maize diversity in Mexico and an evolutionary breeding interpretation for maize landrace conservation is presented.

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 describes relevant technologies and their development in maize transformation for both random and targeted transgene integration. It focuses on the recombinant DNA techniques and transformation methods used by the commercial maize biotech sector. Although there has been considerable...

This chapter details the significant global adoption of genetically engineered maize and surveys current traits and future trends. The first generation of commercial biotech maize products were single-gene, insect-resistant traits for Lepidopteran pests, primarily European corn borers, Ostrinia...

Fungal diversity plays a vital role in sustaining human life, either benefiting or threatening food security. Benefits that derive from fungi range from food and medicine, to decomposition of organic matter, recycling of nutrients and as plant growth promoters, including biological control of...

In the early 1980s, the ability to transform and regenerate plants opened the way for developing biotechnological strategies to control virus infections. This chapter focuses on how knowledge of RNA silencing has been applied successfully to confer virus resistance in principal crops, i.e....

The results of on-farm trials verified that conservation agriculture production systems (CAPS) could be the suitable technology to cope with the challenges of improving food and nutrition security in the hill region of Nepal. Although CAPS did not increase the yields of individual crops, CAPS with...

This chapter presents the results of field studies conducted to determine the effect of tillage, intercropping and residue cover on crop productivity, profitability and soil fertility under tribal farming situations in Odisha, India. It was shown that intecropping maize and cowpea under minimum...