Crop Evolution, Adaptation and Yield

by Lloyd T. Evans

Overview

In this major work Lloyd Evans provides an integrated view of the domestication, adaptation, and improvement of crop plants, bringing together genetic diversity, plant breeding, physiology, and aspects of agronomy. Considerations of yield and maximum yield provide continuity throughout the book. Evans discusses food, feed, fiber, fuel, and pharmaceutical crops as well as using as examples cereals, grain, legumes, and root crops, both temperate and tropical. He also considers pasture plants, oilseeds, leafy crops, fruit trees, and others. The crucial roles of input innovation and synergism are illustrated along with examples of how diminishing returns to input energy are avoided. The final chapter hazards some guesses about the way in which agriculture may be transformed over the next fifty years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521225717
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/18/1993
Pages:	514
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.30(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Crop yields and world food supply; 3. The domestication of crop plants; 4. Adaptation and the ecology of yield; 5. Physiological aspects of crop improvement; 6. Increases in yield: trends and limits; 7. Inputs and the efficient use of resources; 8. The future of yield.

Editorial Reviews

"...the strength of this work is that it takes an integrated approach. The concept of yield is tied to domestication, adaptation, and improvement. Elements of genetic diversity, plant breeding, physiology, and agronomy help to expand the material....Highly recommended for agricultural collections." R.P. Poincelot, Choice

"...an amazing book....The author truly breaks new ground and has created a whole new way to look at crop plant evolution and improvement....both the Cambridge University Press and the author should be congratulated for a brave step forward and beyond the maddening crowd's ‘same and safe' writing." Garrison Wilkes, Plant Science Bulletin

From the Publisher