Biological Nitrogen Fixation: Towards Poverty Alleviation through Sustainable Agriculture

Poverty is a severe problem in Africa, Asia, South America and even in pockets of the developed world. Addressing poverty alleviation via the expanded use of biological nitrogen fixation in agriculture was the theme of the 15th International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation. Because nitrogen-fixation research is multidisciplinary, exploiting its benefits for agriculture and environmental protection has continued to attract research by diverse groups of scientists, including chemists, biochemists, plant physiologists, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, agricultural scientists, extension agents, and inoculant producers. The 15th International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation was held jointly with the 12th International Conference of the African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation. This joint Congress was hosted in South Africa at the Cape Town International Conv- tion Centre, 21-26 January 2007, and was attended by about 200 registered participants from 41 countries world-wide. During the Congress, some 100 oral and approximately 80 poster papers were presented. The wide range of topics covered and the theme of the Congress justifies this book's title, Nitrogen Fixation: Applications to Poverty Alleviation.

Covers a multidisciplinary field

From the contents Preface. Dedication. Keynote Lecture.- Section 1. Towards Sustainable Agriculture. A. Crop Improvement and Sustainable Agriculture for Poverty Alleviation. B. Use of Inoculants. C. Tree Legumes and Forestry. E. Summary Presentations.- Section 2. Nodule Organogenesis and Plant Genomics. A. Host Response to Invasion. B. Nodule Physiology and Genetics. C. Plant Genomics and Transcriptomics. D. Bacterial Partner. E. Summary Presentations.- Section 3. Microbiology of Nitrogen Fixation. A. Genomics, Phylogeny, and Evolution. B. Rhizospere Associations. C. Enzymology and Genetics. D. Photosynthetic Nitrogen Fixers. E. Summary Presentations.- Author Index