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 takes a macro perspective of the state of the use of crop wild relatives (CWR) in crop improvement programmes under the auspices of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, with some supplementary perspectives from outside of the CG family where required. It asks, ...

This chapter focuses on the improved cultivar generation of various crops (maize, cassava, rice, bean, potato, cowpea, wheat, soyabean, sweet potato, yam, sorghum, groundnut, banana, chickpea, pigeon pea, barley, pearl millet, faba bean, lentil and pea) in Africa South of the Sahara. Information of ...

This chapter focuses on the adoption and turnover of cultivars of crops, such as soyabean, maize, pigeon pea, wheat, cassava, rice, potato, barley, yam, groundnut, bean, sorghum, cowpea, pearl millet, chickpea, faba bean, lentil, sweet potato, banana and pea, in Africa South of Sahara. The changes...

This chapter describes the origin, utilization, morphology (vegetative characters and flowers) and anatomy (root, stem, leaf, fruit and seed) of rice, maize, wheat, sorghum and pearl millet, and discusses the significance of the variations in anatomical characters among cultivars. Organ development ...

This book presents guidelines on the identification of macronutrient and micronutrient deficiency symptoms in cereal crops (maize, rice, sorghum, pearl millet, wheat and barley), pulse crops (pigeon pea, green gram, black gram, cowpea, cluster bean, chickpea, Phaseolus vulgaris, lentil and pea),...

There are literally hundreds of thousands of plant species in the wild that are potential food sources for humans. However, plant species ultimately selected as the basis for agricultural societies both in antiquity and modern times became limited to only a very few. This chapter explores the...

Growing crops in the field, harvesting and threshing the grain, and preparing the grain for consumption all require large amounts of energy, nearly all of which was obtained by the consumption of these same grains. Mature grass seeds, however, are physically hard and unprocessed grains are not well ...

This chapter provides a nutrient profile and feeding value of a complete range of feeds for cattle feeding, including forage plants, silages, grains, protein and micronutrient supplements. Moreover, it discusses the effects of feedstuffs on milk and beef production, quality and safety.

Mycotoxins, natural toxic metabolites of fungi produced under favorable conditions on a wide range of foods and feeds are a world-wide problem. The five most important groups of mycotoxins are aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxin A, zearalenone and deoxynivalenol. The weather conditions in most West...