Crop Nutrition : Principles and Practices

Contents: 1. Biofortified crops for improved human nutrition: a challenge. 2. Zinc adds micro power to crop nutrition. 3. Guide to efficient plant nutrition management. 4. BIOCHAR its role in crop nutrition. 5. Silicon nutrition and crop production. 6. Balanced crop nutrition: fertilizing for crop and food quality. 7. Increasing crop production: biological processes. 8. The role of micronutrients in crop production and human health. 9. Pesticides: a contribution to agriculture and nutrition. 10. Chemical and crop nutrient interactions. 11. Earthworms vermicompost: a powerful crop nutrient. 12. Integrated nutrient management for sustainable crop production. 13. Risk management challenges in a changing crop nutrients industry. 14. Genetic transformation of crop plants: risks and opportunities for the rural poor. 15. Mineral nutrition of fruit crops. 16. Nutrient resources for crop production in the tropics. 17. Big farms small farms : strategies in sustainable agriculture. Bibliography. Index.

The goal of the proposed program is to improve the health of poor people by breeding staple food crops that are rich in micronutrients, a process referred to here as biofortification. The Biofortification Challenge Program seeks to bring the full potential of agricultural and nutrition science to bear on the persistent problem of micronutrients malnutrition. Micronutrient malnutrition, primarily the result of diets poor in bioavailable vitamins and minerals, affects more than half of the worlds population especially women and preschool children. The costs of these deficiencies in terms of live lost forgone economic growth and poor quality of life are staggering. (jacket)