Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants: Volume 1

Collaboratively written by top international experts and established scientists in various fields of agricultural research, this book focuses on the state of food production and sustainability; the problems with degradation of valuable sources of land, water, and air and their effects on food crops; the increasing demand of food resources; and the challenges of food security worldwide. The book provides cutting edge scientific tools and methods of research as well as solid background information that is accessible for those who have a strong interest in agricultural research and development and want to learn more on the challenges facing the global agricultural production systems.

"Insect Pests of Potato: Biology and Management provides a comprehensive source of up-to-date scientific information on the biology and management of insects attacking potato crops, with an international and expert cast of contributors providing its contents. This book presents a complete review of the scientific literature from the considerable research effort over the last 15 years, providing the necessary background information to the subject of studying the biology management of insect pests of potatoes, assessment of recent scientific advances, and a list of further readings. This comprehensive review will be of great benefit to a variety of scientists involved in potato research and production, as well as to those facing similar issues in other crop systems. Key Features. Written by top experts in the field, this is the only publication covering the biology, ecology and management of all major potato pests. Emphasizes ecological and evolutionary approaches to pest management. Summarizes information from hard-to-get publications in China, India, and Russia"

"Neither pest management nor resistance management can occur with only an understanding of pest biology. For years, entomologists have understood, with their use of economic thresholds, that at least a minimal use of economics was necessary for proper integrated pest management. IRM is even more complicated and dependent on understanding and using socioeconomic factors. The new edition of Insect Resistance Management addresses these issues and much more. Many new ideas, facts and case studies have been developed since the previous edition of Insect Resistance Management published. With a new chapter focusing on Resistance Mechanisms Related to Plant-incorporated Toxins and heavily expanded revisions of several existing chapters, this new volume will be an invaluable resource for IRM researchers, practitioners, professors and advanced students. Authors in this edition include professors at major universities, leaders in the chemical and seed industry, evolutionary biologists and active IRM practitioners. This revision also contains more information about IRM outside North America, and a modeling chapter contains a large new section on uncertainty analysis, a subject recently emphasized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The final chapter contains a section on insecticidal seed treatments. No other book has the breadth of coverage of Insect Resistance Management, 2e. It not only covers molecular to economic issues, but also transgenic crops, seed treatments and other pest management tactics such as crop rotation. Major themes continuing from the first edition include the importance of using IRM in the integrated pest management paradigm, the need to study and account for pest behavior, and the influence of human behavior and decision making in IRM. Key Features. Provides insights from the history of insect resistance management (IRM) to the latest science. Includes contributions from experts on ecological aspects of IRM, molecular and population genetics, economics, and IRM social issues. Offers biochemistry and molecular genetics of insecticides presented with an emphasis on recent research. Encourages scientists and stakeholders to implement and coordinate strategies based on local social conditions"

Soil Organic Matter: Its Nature, Its Role in Soil Formation and in Soil Fertility focuses on the contributions of soil organic matter in soil formation and fertility, including weathering, decomposition, and synthesis of humus substances. The publication first elaborates on the main stages in the history of soil humus study and ideas on the composition of soil organic matter and nature of humus substances. Discussions focus on organic substances of individual nature, strictly humus substances in soil organic matter, and humus substances as a complex of high molecular- weight compounds. The text then examines the biochemistry of humus formation, including the role of physical, chemical, and biological factors, origin of humus substances, possible participation of lignin in the formation of humus substances, and the role of oxidizing enzymes in the synthesis of humus substances. The manuscript takes a look at the importance of organic matter in soil formation and soil fertility and the natural factors of humus formation. Topics include the role of organic matter in the weathering and decomposition of soil minerals; role of organic matter in the formation of soil structure; effect of organic matter on the growth and development of plants; and influence of chemical and physicochemical soil properties on humus formation. The publication is a dependable source material for readers interested in the influence of soil organic matter in soil formation and fertility.

Understanding the causes and contributing factors leading to outbreaks of food-borne illness associated with contamination of fresh produce continues to be a worldwide challenge for everyone from the growers of fresh-cut produce through the entire production and delivery process. Additionally researchers both at universities and in government agencies are facing an increased challenge to develop means of preventing these foodborne illness occurrences. The premise of this book is that when human pathogen contamination of fresh produce occurs, it is extremely difficult to reduce pathogen levels sufficiently to assure microbiological safety with the currently available technologies. A wiser strategy would be to avoid crop production conditions that result in microbial contamination to start. These critical, problem-oriented chapters have been written by researchers active in the areas of food safety and microbial contamination during production, harvesting, packing and fresh-cut processing of horticultural crops, and were designed to provide methods of contamination avoidance. Coverage includes policy and practices in the US, Mexico and Central America, Europe, and Japan.