About Book

Crop science is an integral part of agricultural practice and it studies the fundamental practices of agriculture such as agronomy, crop production, soil, and pest management. It focuses on local and global condition related to climate, soil and the specificity of crops. By use, crops fall into six categories: food crops, for human consumption; feed crops, for livestock consumption; fibre crops, for cordage and textiles; oil crops, for consumption or industrial uses; ornamental crops, for landscape gardening; and industrial and secondary crops, for various personal and industrial uses. Crop models enable to promptly speculate on the long-term consequences of changes in agricultural practices. In addition, cropping systems, under different conditions, are making it possible to identify the adaptations required to respond to changes. The book is a valuable compilation of topics, ranging from the basic to the most complex advancements in the field of agriculture. The field is multidisciplinary in its approach. It focuses on crop production, crop evapotranspiration, crop models, water use, cropping systems, irrigation scheduling and global warming. The various studies that are constantly contributing towards advancing technologies and evolution of these fields are examined in detail. This book is compiled in such a manner, that it will provide in-depth knowledge about the theory and practice of crop science. Most of the topics introduced in this book cover new techniques and applications of this field. Coherent flow of topics, student-friendly language and extensive use of example make this book and invaluable source of knowledge.

Preface............................................................................................................ v

Chapter 1 Crop Evapotranspiration and Water Use Efficiency...........................1

1. Introduction............................................................................................1

2. Crop evapotranspiration – Concepts ...............................................3

3. Water use efficiency ..........................................................................10

4. Conclusions .........................................................................................18

Chapter 2 Analysis of Nutritional Interactions in Cropping Systems...........27

1. Introduction .......................................................................................27

2. Background .........................................................................................29

3. Theoretical foundations ....................................................................34

4. Vector analysis of plant nutritional responseS..............................38

5. Practical applications: characterization of soil fertility targets..49

6. Conclusions..........................................................................................50

7. Acknowledgments .............................................................................51

Chapter 3 Crop Models as Decision Support Systems in Crop Production...................................................................................................57

1. Introduction..........................................................................................57

2. Decisions and uncertainty.................................................................58

3. Crop models .......................................................................................59

4. Conclusion ...........................................................................................83

5. Acknowledgement .............................................................................84

Chapter 4 Modelling Evapotranspiration of Container Crops for Irrigation

Scheduling .................................................................................................92

1. Introduction..........................................................................................92

2. Modelling crop evapotranspiration in outdoor

container-grown nursery stock.........................................................94

3. Modelling evapotranspiration in greenhouse crops ...................96

4. Modelling evapotranspiration by integrating measurements of

substrate water status and climatic parameters..........................105

5. Conclusions........................................................................................112

6. Acknowledgment .............................................................................113

Chapter 5 Saving Water in Arid and Semi-Arid Countries as a Result of

Optimising Crop Evapotranspiration ...............................................120

1. Introduction ......................................................................................120

2. Method ...............................................................................................124

3. Results and discussion ..................................................................128

4. Conclusion..........................................................................................141

Chapter 6 Crop Evapotranspiration and Irrigation Scheduling in

Blueberry .................................................................................................145

1. Introduction........................................................................................145

2. Growth and development of blueberry in relation to

irrigation ............................................................................................146

3. Plant water relations and response of blueberry to drought...149

4. Estimating evapotranspiration for irrigation scheduling in

blueberry.............................................................................................155

5. Irrigation systems and considerations for water application...163

6. Conclusions and future research needs........................................165

Chapter 7 Crop Production and Global Warming.............................................171

1. Introduction........................................................................................171

2. Effects of global warming on plant growth ...............................172

3. Water shortages, desertification, and tropical cyclones.............179

4. Counter measures.............................................................................180

5. Conclusion .........................................................................................184

Citation......................................................................................................189

Index...........................................................................................................191

About Author

Mulmudi Graves pursued Ph.D. in Sustainable Crop Production from Public Research University, Warwick. He is actively engaged in the researches focused on plant physiology, plant genetics and crop rotation. He also serves on the editorial board of two renowned international journals in the field of agronomy along with serving as a guest lecturer for several prestigious universities across Europe. Graves consistently shares his knowledge with the student fraternity by organizing lectures and conferences around the globe.