Advances in Crop Environment Interaction

Agriculture is currently facing multi-faceted threats in the form of unpredictable weather variability, frequent droughts and scarcity of irrigation water, together with the degradation of soil resources and declining environmental health. These stresses result in the modification of plant physiology to impart greater resilience to changing abiotic and biotic environments, but only at the cost of declining plant productivity. In light of these facts, assessing the status of natural resource bases, and understanding the mechanisms of soil-plant-environment interactions so as to devise adaptation and mitigation approaches, represent great and imminent challenges for all of us. In this context, it is essential to understand the potential applications of modern tools, existing coping mechanisms and their integration, as this will allow us to develop suitable advanced mitigation strategies. 

From a broader perspective, the book deals with crop-environment interaction in the context of changing climatic conditions. To do so, it addresses four major aspects: 

Understanding the mechanism of carbon dynamics in the soil-plant-environment continuum; greenhouse gas fluxes in agricultural systems; and soil properties influenced by climate change and carbon sequestration processes.

Mitigation and management of the photo-thermal environment to improve crop productivity; soil health under variable climate; reducing agro-ecosystem evapotranspiration losses through biophysical controls; and heat stress in field crops and its management.

Studying the impact of climate change on biotic environments; insect-pest interactions; manifestations of disease; and adaptation strategies for island agro-ecosystems.

Innovative approaches to assess stress impacts in crops, such as crop modeling, remote sensing, spectral stress indices etc. 

The book presents a collection of contributions from authoritative experts in their respective fields. Offering young researchers new perspectives and future research directions, it represents a valuable guide for graduate students and academics alike.

Dr. Santanu Kumar Bal is a Principal Scientist at the ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad. He obtained his M.Sc. & Ph.D. degrees in Agrometeorology from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. He has published 55 research articles, 110 other publications and received advanced training on database management in meteorology and hydrology in Israel. His current research interests include development of dynamic crop weather calendars & improvement in prediction of crop phenology.

Dr. Joydeep Mukherjee is a Principal Scientist at the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He obtained his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Agricultural Physics from ICAR-IARI. He has published 73 research articles, 32 other publications and received advanced training on the application of GIS in agriculture at OSU, USA. His current research interests include micrometeorology using Las and eddy covariance tower and soil moisture estimation using microwave remote sensing.

Dr. Burhan Uddin Choudhury is a Principal Scientist at the ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Meghalaya. He obtained his M.Sc. from PAU & Ph.D. in Agricultural Physics from ICAR-IARI. He has published 62 research articles, 55 other publications and he received the Rothamsted International Fellow 2016, prestigious IARI merit model and ICAR-biennial Team Research Award. His current research interests are NRM using hyperspectral remote sensing (RS), UAV and multispectral RS, crop & soil erosion studies in the fragile hilly ecosystems of NE India.

Dr. Ashok Kumar Dhawan is former Additional Director & Head of the Department of Entomology, PAU Ludhiana.  He is the President of the Indian Ecological Society and the Society for Sustainable Cotton Production. He has 71 recommendations, 16 books and 430 research articles to his credit. He is fellow of 7 professional societies and at present is involved in organizing conferences to develop awareness among policy planner and public/private sectors on issues related to ecology & environment by organizing conferences.