Environment and Crop Production

There is an urgent need for new approaches or management systems that are multi-objective and integrate "new" objectives such as quality of produce and cultivation, growing or production methods, quality of the abiotic environment, landscape and nature values into the old objectives. For example, growth of the world fertilizer industry has increasingly been affected by grave concerns, such as environmental pollution and increment in energy consumption, which in many cases have a negative impact on food products and consumer health. In fact, water stress during intensive growth of crops causes inhibition of physiological processes, such as nutrient transport, and hence decreases yield and affects quality performance. For example, limited resources of water in some regions has forced us to seek other sources, such as saline water, for irrigation of crops. Additional benefits of the application of correct fertilizer doses include improved soil protection and environment protection in general and prevention of contamination of soil and groundwater with nitrites. The book is a compilation of articles on various issues, presented at the workshop on the Influence of Environment on Growth, Production, Physiology and Disease of Crops was held at the University of Helsinki, Finland, December 2000. The main focus of the book is a review of the environmental factors influencing the growth, development and production of food crops grown under various conditions. New information on these issues is still relatively scarce. The book should be useful to scientists, researchers, students or experts dealing with agronomy, plant physiology, plant nutrition, plant pathology and crop cultivation.

Table of Contents:
Influence of orchard management on growth and production of fruits; Abscisic acid content of grape during storage; Influence of environmental conditions at sowing on quality of broad-bean seeds production; Influence of calcium and glycinebetaine on yield and storage of pome fruit; Viscosity behaviour of some enzymatically extracted tropical fruit juices; Sustainable production and plant growth: Interaction between crop yield and quality of winter wheat; Apple flower and fruit thinning; Effects of chemical thinners on apple; Evaluation of flowering crab-apples as pollinizers of commercial apple cultivars; Responses of crop plants to low, non-freezing temperatures; Pollination-Food crop and bees; Effect of manure doses and growth media on productivity and mineral composition of rocket leaves (Eruca sativa); Influence of a biofungicide, Trichodermin-BL, on growth and development of plants; Effect of sowing scheme and seed rate on yield and quality of onion sets; Phytophagous mites and their natural enemies in strawberry plantings in Latvia; 'Fitorodents RF'-a new environment-friendly repellent of animals in gardens and agrobiocenoses; Diaporthe/ Phomopsis helianthi, the sunflower pathogen: Twenty years of research; Advanced technology for fixation and cultivation of sandy soils and other unproductive lands; Analysis of devices for planting seedlings; New transplanting machines for seedlings grown in nutritive plant-pots; Theoretical considerations and some experimental results concerning improvements in seedling transplanting machines; Fruit production quality in Latvia; Review and prospects of vegetable production in Shanghai; Cabbage diseases during storage: Fiodor Popov o Field diseases of cucumber and tomato fruit; The Varroa mite and crop quality; Appropriate hydroponic systems for growing tropical leafy vegetables in greenhouses; Current situation of greenhouse engineering in Shanghai; Recuperation of 'BioCO2' to increase greenhouse production; Mechanistic modelling predictions of sugar-cane yields in several Latin American countries; Resource use efficiency of Cochorus, Celosia and Amaranthus among farmers in Oyo state, Nigeria; Socio-economic survey of urban fringe vegetable farmers in Eti-Osa and Suru-lere local government areas of Lagos State, Nigeria; Cost and return of production ('UGU' of Telfairia occidentalis) in Lagos state, Nigeria; Information sources utilized by farmers for vegetable production in south-western Nigeria; Spatial distribution of on-farm adaptive technologies for vegetable production in Nigeria; Socio-economic factors affecting locust bean marketing in Oyo state, Nigeria; Economics of production of Cochorus, Celosia and Amaranthus in Oyo state, Nigeria; Improving thinning strategy for sustainable apple production and quality; Determination of saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils of the Kubani floodplains in Zaria, Nigeria, using shallow-well pump-out tests; Effects of pesticide treatments on yield, quality and quantity of winter wheat varieties and tracing residues of their active agents; Influence of varying light intensities on nodulation of soybean (Glycine Max (L.) Merrill; Relationship between water-soluble and total calcium content and bitter-pit occurrence in 'Idared' apple fruit; Preliminary results of florovit and prinivit application for controlling fruit set; Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) cut flowers-past and future in horticulture; Vegetable consumption and dietary lifestyle; Influence of epigeal earthworms on quality of composts and their effect on crop yields, soil fertility and biological activities; Interaction between crop yield and quality of winter wheat; Application of original analogues of phytohormones for increasing productivity of hilled cultures (potatoes, sugar-beet); Red leaves can increase productivity of horticultural plants; Influence of organic substrata composition on development of tomato rootage;