Sustainable Solutions for Elemental Deficiency and Excess in Crop Plants

Dr. Kumkum Mishra, Ex. Professor and Assistant Coordinator M.Sc. Environmental Science, University of Lucknow, U.P. (India) has more than 30 years of research and teaching experience in the field of mutagenesis and genotoxic evaluation of environmental pollutants by plant bio assays. She has handled UGC and DST major projects as Principal Investigator. She has also supervised 14 Doctoral, 3 Post-Doctoral and 2 M.Phil. candidates. She has published 46 research papers, 2 books and 4 book chapters.

Dr. Pramod Kumar Tandon, Ex. Professor of Botany and Course Coordinator, M.Sc. Environment Science programme at the University of Lucknow (India). He has more than 40 years of teaching and research experience in the field of Botany/Environment Science. He has guided 04 Post Doctoral Scientists, 32 Ph.D. and 09 M.Phil. students. In 2003, he visited Brisbane, Australia for academic purpose. He has published more than hundred research papers, one book and three book chapters. He was awarded a distinguished UGC-BSR Faculty Fellowship in 2011 for his outstanding research in the field of Metal toxicity and some other important aspects in plants.

Dr. Sudhakar Srivastava is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development (IESD), Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He obtained M Ph.D. in Botany from CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI) and University of Lucknow in 2008. He served as Scientific Officer in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai from 2009 to 2014 before joining BHU. He has more than seventeen years of research experience in the field of plant-metal interactions. He has published more than 100 research and review articles in high impact International and National journals. He has also published 25 book chapters in the books of International repute. He has supervised 02 Ph.D. and 03 M.Phil. students. Dr. Srivastava is NAAS Associate of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He has received Young Scientist Award of National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), Allahabad in 2011 and Young Scientist Award from Uttar Pradesh Council of Science & Technology (UPCST) in 2013-2014.

This book covers all aspects of deficiency of essential elements and excess of toxic ones in crop plants. The metal deficiency and toxicity are the two sides of same problem that are threatening to sustainable agricultural growth. The book presents prospective strategies for the management of elemental nutrition of crop plants. Chapters are arranged in a manner so as to develop a lucid picture of the topic beginning from basics to advanced research. The content is supplemented with flow charts and figures to make it convenient for readers to holistically grasp the concepts. It will be a value addition for students, research scholars and professionals in understanding the basics as well latest developments in the area of metal deficiency and excess in crop plants.

All-inclusive coverage of metal deficiency and excess in crop plants

Part 1 - General aspects.- Chapter 1 - Elemental concentrations in soil, water and air.- Chapter 2 - Deficiency of essential elements in crop plants.- Chapter 3 - The toxicity and accumulation of metals in crop plants.- Chapter 4 - Effect of deficiency of essential elements and toxicity of metals on human health.- Chapter 5 - An overview of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium: Key players of nutrition process in plants.- Chapter 6 - The mechanisms of trace element uptake and transport up to grains of crop plants.- Chapter 7 - Biofortification of crop plants: A practical solution to tackle elemental deficiency.- Chapter 8 - An overview on management of micronutrients deficiency in plants through bio-fortification: a solution of hidden hunger.- Chapter 9 - Biological interventions towards management of essential elements in crop plants.- Chapter 10- Biotechnological approaches to enhance crop quality for iron and zinc nutrition.- Chapter 11- Toxic metals in crops: A burgeoning problem.- Chapter 12 - Heavy metal contamination of environment and crop plants.- Chapter 13 - Mechanism of Toxic Metal Uptake and Transport in Plants.- Chapter 14 - Cadmium: Bioavailability in Soils and Phytotoxicity.- Chapter 15 - Cadmium: Uptake in plants and its alleviation via crosstalk between phytohormones and sulfur.- Chapter 16- Agronomic management practices to tackle toxic metal entry into crop plants.- Chapter 17- Microbial inoculation to alleviate the metal toxicity in crop plants and subsequent growth promotion.- Chapter 18 - Genetic engineering to reduce toxicity and increase accumulation of toxic metals in plants.