Crop Evolution, Adaptation and Yield [Hardcover]

A major 1993 review of the domestication, adaptation and improvement of crop plants.Bringing together genetic diversity, plant breeding, physiology and aspects of agronomy, this major work provides an integrated view of the domestication, adaptation, and improvement of crop plants. Considerations of yield and maximum yield provide continuity throughout.Bringing together genetic diversity, plant breeding, physiology and aspects of agronomy, this major work provides an integrated view of the domestication, adaptation, and improvement of crop plants. Considerations of yield and maximum yield provide continuity throughout.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.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. ...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 agriclƒ7