Crop Production, Diversity and Improvement

A crop is a plant or animal product which is harvested for profit. It is usually expanded to include alga or macroscopic fungus. Crop may refer either to the harvested parts or to the harvest in a more refined state. Most of them are harvested as fodder for livestock or food for humans. Industrial crops, horticulture and floriculture are the important non-food crops. Industrial crops include the crops produced for biofuels, clothing or medicine. Horticulture refers to the production of the plants used for other crops such as fruit trees. Floriculture is associated with the production of houseplants, cut flowers and cultivated greens, flowering garden and pot plants, and bedding plants. Potato, wheat, maize, sugarcane and rice are the important food crops in terms of produced weight. This book strives to provide a fair idea about crop production and to help develop a better understanding of the latest advances within this field. It will also provide interesting topics for research, which interested readers can take up. Scientists and students actively engaged in this area of study will find this book full of crucial and unexplored concepts.