586 Pages 181 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    By the year 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach nine billion. To feed and sustain this projected population, world food production must increase by at least 50 percent on much of the same land that we farm today. To meet this staggering challenge, scientists must develop the technology required to achieve an "evergreen" revolution—one that increases crop productivity without degrading natural resources.

    With 30 percent new material, the updated and revised third edition of Growth and Mineral Nutrition of Field Crops covers all aspects of crop growth and mineral nutrition that contribute to sustainable, high-yield agriculture. Bringing together international scientific knowledge of crop production and the impacts of agriculture on the environment, this book:

    • Includes two new chapters on remediation of heavy-metal contaminated soils and cover crops
    • Covers theoretical and practical aspects of mineral nutrition of field crops
    • Provides recommendations for judicious use of fertilizers, which will reduce cost of crop production and enhance high crop yields without risking environmental pollution
    • Provides growth patterns for annual crops and forages
    • Includes a handful of color pictures of nutrient deficiencies for easy diagnostic purposes

    To make the book as practical as possible, each chapter is supported by experimental results and extensive references. A large number of figures and tables are also included to save readers time when researching. The overall emphasis of this reference is on the soil’s ability to sustain high crop yields and a healthy human population.

    Chapter 1 Field Crops and Mineral Nutrition

    1.1 Introduction

    1.2 Field Crops

    1.3 Mineral Nutrition

    1.4 Summary

    Chapter 2 Factors Affecting Production of Field Crops

    2.1 Introduction

    2.2 Environmental Factors

    2.3 Summary

    Chapter 3 Nutrient Flux in Soil–Plant System

    3.1 Introduction

    3.2 Nutrient Supply to Plant Roots

    3.3 Ion Absorption by Plants

    3.4 Summary

    Appendix 3.A

    3.A.1 Preparation of FeEDDHA Solution

    3.A.2 Preparation of FeHEDTA Solution

    3.A.3 Preparation of FeEDTA Solution

    Chapter 4 Diagnostic Techniques for Nutritional Disorders

    4.1 Introduction

    4.2 Soil Testing

    4.3 Plant Analysis

    4.4 Visual Symptoms

    4.5 Crop Growth Response

    4.6 Correction of Nutrient Disorder

    4.7 Summary

    Chapter 5 Nutrient Management of Degraded Soils

    5.1 Introduction

    5.2 Definitions of Soil Degradation and Sustainable Soil Management

    5.3 Processes and/or Factors of Soil Degradation

    5.4 Summary

    Chapter 6 Remediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils

    6.1 Introduction

    6.2 Adequate and Toxic Levels of Essential and Nonessential Heavy Metals in Soil and Plant Tissues of Principal Food Crops

    6.3 Tolerable Levels of Heavy Metals in Soil, Water, and Food Crops

    for Human and Animal Consumption

    6.4 Heavy Metals Remediation Techniques

    6.5 Summary

    Chapter 7 The Effects of Essential Nutrients on Plant Diseases

    7.1 Introduction

    7.2 Nitrogen

    7.3 Phosphorus

    7.4 Potassium

    7.5 Calcium, Magnesium, and Sulfur

    7.6 Micronutrients

    7.7 Summary

    Chapter 8 Wheat and Barley

    8.1 Introduction

    8.2 Climate and Soil Requirements

    8.3 Growth and Development

    8.4 Nutrient Requirements

    8.5 Summary

    Chapter 9 Rice

    9.1 Introduction

    9.2 Climate and Soil Requirements

    9.3 Growth and Development

    9.4 Yield and Potential Yield

    9.5 Yield Component Analysis

    9.6 Grain Harvest Index

    9.7 Nutrient Requirements

    9.8 Lowland Rice

    9.9 Management of Phosphorus in Lowland Rice

    9.10 Management of Potassium in Lowland Rice

    9.11 Calcium, Magnesium, and Sulfur

    9.12 Management of Micronutrients in Lowland Rice

    9.13 Nutrient Concentration and Uptake

    9.14 Iron Deficiency and Toxicity in Lowland Rice

    9.15 Salinity

    9.16 Summary

    Chapter 10 Corn

    10.1 Introduction

    10.2 Climate and Soil Requirements

    10.3 Growth and Development

    10.4 Yield and Yield Components

    10.5 Nutrient Requirements

    10.6 Summary

    Chapter 11 Sorghum

    11.1 Introduction

    11.2 Climate and Soil Requirements

    11.3 Growth and Development

    11.4 Yield and Yield Components

    11.5 Nutrient Requirements

    11.6 Summary

    Chapter 12 Soybean

    12.1 Introduction

    12.2 Climate and Soil Requirements

    12.3 Growth and Development

    12.4 Yield Components

    12.5 Major Yield-Determining Physiological Parameters

    12.6 Nutrient Requirements

    12.7 Summary

    Chapter 13 Common Bean and Cowpea

    13.1 Introduction

    13.2 Common Bean

    13.3 Cowpea

    13.4 Summary

    Chapter 14 Peanut

    14.1 Introduction

    14.2 Climate and Soil Requirements

    14.3 Growth and Development

    14.4 Yield Components

    14.5 Nutrient Requirements

    14.6 Summary

    Chapter 15 Sugarcane

    15.1 Introduction

    15.2 Climate and Soil Requirements

    15.3 Growth and Development

    15.4 Crop Culture

    15.5 Summary

    Chapter 16 Cassava and Potato

    16.1 Introduction

    16.2 Cassava

    16.3 Potato

    16.4 Summary

    Chapter 17 Cotton

    17.1 Introduction

    17.2 Climate and Soil Requirements

    17.3 Growth and Development

    17.4 Yield and Yield Components

    17.5 Nutrient Requirements

    17.6 Summary

    Chapter 18 Forage

    18.1 Introduction

    18.2 Growth and Development

    18.3 Grass–Legume Mixtures

    18.4 Nutritive Value

    18.5 Nitrogen Fixation

    18.6 Nutrient Requirements

    18.7 Summary

    Chapter 19 Cover Crops

    19.1 Introduction

    19.2 Climate and Soil Requirements

    19.3 Response to Abiotic and Biotic Factors

    19.4 Beneficial Effects of Cover Crops

    19.5 Strengths and Limitations

    19.6 Management and Fertilizer Requirements

    19.7 Strategies for Success in Cover Crop Establishment

    Biography

    Nand Kumar Fageria, Virupax C. Baligar, Charles Allan Jones

    ... well written and illustrated with excellent figures ... includes a lot of important data ...[and] clear and concise definitions. ... recommended as a first reference. ... would also be an excellent textbook.
    Journal of Plant Physiology

    The success of the ‘Green Revolution’ has enabled agriculture to keep pace with the relentless growth of human populations through the development of semi-dwarf crops resistant to pests and pathogens, whose yield is maintained through the applications of agrochemicals, mineral fertilizers and irrigation. ... The 19 chapters of this excellent book cover many of the aspects of the growth and mineral nutrition of field crops that will be required to achieve sustainable, high-yield agriculture. It provides a general introduction to the mineral nutrition of field crops, environmental factors affecting crop production and the management of soils for sustainable crop production. Individual chapters describe in detail the growth and development, nutritional requirements and management options for the production of wheat and barley, rice, maize, sorghum, soyabean, common bean and cowpea, peanut, sugarcane, cassava and potato, cotton, forage and cover crops. The book will inform the next generation of academics, students, research scientists and extension workers on whose efforts the next ‘Evergreen Revolution’ will depend. I recommend that they not only read it carefully, but also swiftly put its messages into practice.
    —Philip J. White, in Experimental Agriculture, 2011, Vol. 47, Issue 3