Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops Volume 1: Preharvest Practice

Worldwide climatic changes have been raising concerns about potential changes to crop yields and production systems. Such concerns include the ability to accommodate these uncertain effects in order to ensure an adequate food supply for an ever increasing human population. To increase food security and alleviate poverty there is a need to introduce improved crop-production technologies to farmers or growers and by promoting appropriate policies that help them to adopt new technologies. Responsible agriculture must be viable yet sustainable - economically, environmentally and socially. This book focuses on the preharvest practices on the production and quality of food crops. Nine chapters are included in this book, which are: Effect of Preharvest Factors on the Quality of Vegetables Produced in the Tropics - Vegetables: Growing Environment and the Quality of Produce; Effects of Agronomic Practices and Processing Conditions on Tomato Ingredients; Modelling Fruit Quality: Ecophysiological, Agronomical and Ecological Perspectives; Sprays Technology in Perennial Tree Crops; Chestnut, an Ancient Crop With Future; Improvement of Grain Legume Production in Semi-Arid Kenya Through Biological Nitrogen Fixation: The Experience With Tepary Bean (Phaseolus Acutifolius a Gray var. Latifolius); Impact of Ozone on Crops; Saffron Quality: Effect of Agricultural Practices, Processing and Storage; Fruit and vegetables Harvesting Systems. It will stimulate readers thinking on key constraints in agriculture and horticulture. Readers will get acquainted with a wide range of information, technologies and methodologies. This book will be especially useful to researchers engaged in post harvest research. Also, it will be valuable for graduate and post-graduate students majoring in food sciences and researchers.