In the history of the International Plant Nutrition Colloquium from its first meeting in 1954, this meeting, the 13th Colloquium, is the first to be held in Asia and will be the last in the 20th century. The 20th century has seen huge changes in the number and activities of mankind. Our population has increased from around 1. 7 billion to more than 5. 8 billion and technological innovations have completely altered our way of living. As a consequence of such rapid change, we are facing many problems including changes in our environment of a global scale. But, while food shortage has been a...

Diazotrophic bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen to plant-useable form and this input of nitrogen through biological fixation is of great agronomic importance. The contributions presented in this volume relate to free-living nitrogen fixers and the diazotrophs associated with plants. Symbiotic association of Frankia with non-legumes and cyanobacterial associations are also discussed. Research topics covered in this volume include the biochemistry and genetics of diazotrophs, recent developments in improvement of plant-microbe interactions and their molecular basis, the use of molecular...

Global optimization is one of the fastest developing fields in mathematical optimization. In fact, an increasing number of remarkably efficient deterministic algorithms have been proposed in the last ten years for solving several classes of large scale specially structured problems encountered in such areas as chemical engineering, financial engineering, location and network optimization, production and inventory control, engineering design, computational geometry, and multi-objective and multi-level optimization.
These new developments motivated the authors to write a new book devoted...

Actin is an extremely abundant protein that comprises a dynamic polymeric network present in all eukaryotic cells, known as the actin cytoskeleton. The structure and function of the actin cytoskeleton, which is modulated by a plethora of actin-binding proteins, performs a diverse range of cellular roles. Well-documented functions for actin include: providing the molecular tracks for cytoplasmic streaming and organelle movements; formation of tethers that guide the cell plate to the division site during cytokinesis; creation of honeycomb-like arrays that enmesh and immobilize plastids in...

This Fertilizer Manual was prepared by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) as a joint project with the United Nations Industrial Development Organi zation (UNIDO). It is designed to replace the UN Fertilizer Manual published in 1967 and intended to be a reference source on fertilizer production technology and economics and fertilizer industry planning for developing countries. The aim of the new manual is to describe in clear, simple language all major fertilizer processes, their requirements, advan tages and disadvantages and to show illustrative examples of economic...

Proceedings of a workshop held at the Institute for Soil Fertility Research, Haren, the Netherlands, June 1990, the purpose of which was to compare various simulation models of nitrogen turnover in the soil-crop system. The participants were requested to run their model with data provided by the Ins

In an era where climate change, natural catastrophes and land degradation are major issues, the conservation of soil and vegetation in mountainous or sloping regions has become an international priority. How to avoid substrate mass movementthroughlandslidesanderosionusingsustainableandecologicallysoundtechniquesisrapidlybecominga scienti?c domain where knowledge from many different ?elds is required. These proceedings bring together papers from geotechnical and civil engineers, biologists, ecologists and foresters, who discuss current problems in slope stabilityresearch,...

Chemical fertilizers have had a significant impact on food production in the recent past, and are today an indispensable part of modern agriculture. On the other hand, the oil crisis of the 1970s and the current Middle East problems are constant reminders of the vulnerability of our fossil fuel dependent agriculture. There are vast areas of the developing world where N fertilizers are neither available nor affordable and, in most of these countries, balance of payment problems have resulted in the removal of N fertilizer subsidies. The external costs of environmental degradation and human...

The Eighth International Colloquium for the Optimization of Plant Nutrition was held in Lisbon, Portugal, 1992, and was attended by 280 scientists from 34 countries. The meeting was of high scientific standard; the programme allowed the participants ample opportunity for discussions, and exchange of results and ideas. The present volume includes 103 refereed contributions that clearly reflect the main themes of the Colloquium. The published papers are related to the following problem areas: plant analytical procedures and associated concepts; diagnosis of nutrient status of plants in relation...

This book is the most up-to-date and comprehensive review of our knowledge of the management of mycorrhizas in agriculture, horticulture and forestry. It contains twenty-four reviews written by leading international scientists from eight countries. The reviews consider the ecology, biology and taxonomy of arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal fungi, the information and functioning of mycorrhizas and opportunities for managing these symbioses. The book will be essential reading for scientists and advisors responsible for ensuring that the maximum benefit is obtained from mycorrhizal symbioses in...