Plants, biotechnology and agriculture /

• Main Author: Murphy, Denis J., (Author)
• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK : CABI, 2011.
• Series: Modular texts.
• Subjects: Plants, Cultivated.; Agriculture.; Botany, Economic.; Plant biotechnology.; Plant Breeding and Genetics.; Plant Physiology and Biochemistry.; Plant Production.; Viral, Bacterial and Fungal Diseases of Plants, (New March 2000); Plant Pests, (New March 2000); Meteorology and Climate.; Demography.; Social Psychology and Social Anthropology, (New March 2000); Genetic Engineering, Gene Transfer and Transgenics, (New June 2002); Molecular Biology and Molecular Genetics, (Discontinued March 2000, Reinstated and Revised June 2002); Biotechnology.; Climate change.; Crop yield.; Depletion.; Evolution.; Genetic engineering.; Genetic transformation.; Genetically engineered organisms.; Genomics.; Growth.; Metabolism.; Plant development.; Plant diseases.; Plant pests.; Rain.; Recombinant DNA.; Sociology.; Stress.; Stress response.; Temperature.; Transgenic plants.
• Online Access: View fulltext via EzAccess

 This book aims to provide readers with a modern perspective on plants both as biological organisms and useful resources for people to exploit. The early chapters cover plant evolution, genomics, metabolism, organization, development and responses to the environment. In each case, there is an emphasis on how biotechnology can be used to manipulate such processes for the benefit of humanity. The scope of the book ranges from the earliest evidence of pre-agricultural plant manipulation over 30,000 years ago to the latest recombinant DNA methods used in 21st-century agricultural systems. Unlike most textbooks where there is a focus on the technical aspects of genetic engineering, this book will take a wider view of what constitutes modern plant biotechnology. In addition, the broader social, economic, commercial, legal and ethical contexts of all forms of crop-related technology will also be examined. These include an analysis of the immense contributions of chemical and mechanical technologies. The role of plant biotechnology is considered in tackling enormous challenges to the welfare of human populations around the world. Such challenges include the predicted massive population increases over the next few decades, irreversible depletion of non-renewable resources of all types, and the spectre of climate change that might have unpredictable effects on crop growth, e.g. by reducing rainfall, altering temperatures, or leading to the emergence of new pests and diseases. These developments have the potential to seriously affect crop productivity in some of the most densely populated and vulnerable regions of the world.