Download or read book Maize and Grace written by James C. McCann and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2007-09-15 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sometime around 1500 AD, an African farmer planted a maize seed imported from the New World. That act set in motion the remarkable saga of one of the world’s most influential crops—one that would transform the future of Africa and of the Atlantic world. Africa’s experience with maize is distinctive but also instructive from a global perspective: experts predict that by 2020 maize will become the world’s most cultivated crop. James C. McCann moves easily from the village level to the continental scale, from the medieval to the modern, as he explains the science of maize production and explores how the crop has imprinted itself on Africa’s agrarian and urban landscapes. Today, maize accounts for more than half the calories people consume in many African countries. During the twentieth century, a tidal wave of maize engulfed the continent, and supplanted Africa’s own historical grain crops—sorghum, millet, and rice. In the metamorphosis of maize from an exotic visitor into a quintessentially African crop, in its transformation from vegetable to grain, and from curiosity to staple, lies a revealing story of cultural adaptation. As it unfolds, we see how this sixteenth-century stranger has become indispensable to Africa’s fields, storehouses, and diets, and has embedded itself in Africa’s political, economic, and social relations. The recent spread of maize has been alarmingly fast, with implications largely overlooked by the media and policymakers. McCann’s compelling history offers insight into the profound influence of a single crop on African culture, health, technological innovation, and the future of the world’s food supply.

Download or read book Maize Nutrition Dynamics and Novel Uses written by Dharam Paul Chaudhary and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-12-03 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is a globally important crop mainly utilized as feed, food and raw material for diverse industrial applications. Among cereals, it occupies third place after rice and wheat and is a staple food for a large segment of population worldwide particularly in the Asian as well as African countries. This monogram discusses various aspects of nutritional quality of maize such as quality protein maize which has been considered as most significant discovery in enhancing nutritional quality of cereals in terms of increasing the concentration of essential amino acids. The biochemistry of starch which is an important industrial product of maize has been discussed in detail. Further, the role of maize oil which is highly regarded for human consumption as it reduces the blood cholesterol concentration has also been elaborated. Naturally, maize is a rich source of carotenoids such as beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, lutein, cryptoxanthin which have highly diverse health benefits ranging from maintaining normal vision to lowering of oxidative stress. The need for biofortification of maize for provitamin A carotenoids and their role in alleviating vision impairments have also been discussed. The effect of various biotic and abiotic stresses particularly carbon dioxide and temperature on quality has been discussed thoroughly. Many value-added products as well as fermented foods that have been produced from maize which is consumed in different forms worldwide are also discussed. The aspects related to the maize application as fodder and as a source of malting have also been covered concisely. Overall, the book provides complete information about various quality aspects of maize. The various stakeholders such as maize researchers, extension specialists, students, teachers as well as farmers will be immensely benefitted from this monogram.

Download or read book The Struggle for Maize written by Elizabeth Fitting and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2010-12-31 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that maize biodiversity in central and southern Mexico is threatened as much by rural out-migration as by the flow of genes from genetically modified to local corn varieties.

Download or read book Maize Research written by Jiban Shrestha and published by Nipa. This book was released on 2023-07-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book uates its readers about the methods and management of livestock during disasters. The book has covered all mad made and natural disasters and their effect on livestock and how they can be managed better for longer survival and help to the humans. Topics on how animals can sense a disaster in advance and what are the common indications given by them and how humans can benefit from it. Book elucidates the management of feeding, feed resources, production and health so as to make the livestock production economical. It is hoped that the compilation will prove useful for the researchers, planners and policy makers to understand the causes for the loss of productivity and health of livestock in drier regions and help in devising management plans towards sustenance and improvement of production.

Download or read book Maize Cobs and Cultures History of Zea mays L written by John Staller and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-12-02 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our perceptions and conceptions regarding the roles and importance of maize to ancient economies is largely a product of scientific research on the plant itself, developed for the most part out of botanical research, and its recent role as one of the most important economic staples in the world. Anthropological research in the early part of the last century based largely upon the historical particularistic approach of the Boasian tradition provided the first evidence that challenged the assumptions about the economic importance of maize to sociocultural developments for scholars of prehistory. Subsequent ethnobotanic and archaeological studies showed that the role of maize among Native American cultures was much more complex than just as a food staple. In Maize Cobs and Cultures, John Staller provides a survey of the ethnohistory and the scientific, botanical and biological research of maize, complemented by reviews on the ethnobotanic, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary methodologies.

Download or read book Handbook of Maize written by Jeff L. Bennetzen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-01-16 with total page 785 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is one of the world’s highest value crops, with a multibillion dollar annual contribution to agriculture. The great adaptability and high yields available for maize as a food, feed and forage crop have led to its current production on over 140 million hectares worldwide, with acreage continuing to grow at the expense of other crops. In terms of tons of cereal grain produced worldwide, maize has been number one for many years. Moreover, maize is expanding its contribution to non-food uses, including as a major source of ethanol as a fuel additive or fuel alternative in the US. In addition, maize has been at the center of the transgenic plant controversy, serving as the first food crop with released transgenic varieties. By 2008, maize will have its genome sequence released, providing the sequence of the first average-size plant genome (the four plant genomes that are now sequenced come from unusually tiny genomes) and of the most complex genome sequenced from any organism. Among plant science researchers, maize has the second largest and most productive research community, trailing only the Arabidopsis community in scale and significance. At the applied research and commercial improvement levels, maize has no peers in agriculture, and consists of thousands of contributors worthwhile. A comprehensive book on the biology of maize has not been published. The "Handbook of Maize: the Genetics and Genomics" center on the past, present and future of maize as a model for plant science research and crop improvement. The books include brief, focused chapters from the foremost maize experts and feature a succinct collection of informative images representing the maize germplasm collection.

Download or read book Handbook of Maize Its Biology written by Jeff L. Bennetzen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-12-25 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Handbook of Maize: Its Biology centers on the past, present and future of maize as a model for plant science research and crop improvement. The book includes brief, focused chapters from the foremost maize experts and features a succinct collection of informative images representing the maize germplasm collection.

Download or read book Endangered Maize written by Helen Anne Curry and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charting the political, social, and environmental history of efforts to conserve crop diversity. Many people worry that we're losing genetic diversity in the foods we eat. Over the past century, crop varieties standardized for industrial agriculture have increasingly dominated farm fields. Concerned about what this transition means for the future of food, scientists, farmers, and eaters have sought to protect fruits, grains, and vegetables they consider endangered. They have organized high-tech genebanks and heritage seed swaps. They have combed fields for ancient landraces and sought farmers growing Indigenous varieties. Behind this widespread concern for the loss of plant diversity lies another extinction narrative that concerns the survival of farmers themselves, a story that is often obscured by urgent calls to collect and preserve. Endangered Maize draws on the rich history of corn in Mexico and the United States to uncover this hidden narrative and show how it shaped the conservation strategies adopted by scientists, states, and citizens. In Endangered Maize, historian Helen Anne Curry investigates more than a hundred years of agriculture and conservation practices to understand the tasks that farmers and researchers have considered essential to maintaining crop diversity. Through the contours of efforts to preserve diversity in one of the world's most important crops, Curry reveals how those who sought to protect native, traditional, and heritage crops forged their methods around the expectation that social, political, and economic transformations would eliminate diverse communities and cultures. In this fascinating study of how cultural narratives shape science, Curry argues for new understandings of endangerment and alternative strategies to protect and preserve crop diversity.

Download or read book Maize research for stress environments written by and published by CIMMYT. This book was released on 1995 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Maize Kernel Development written by Brian A Larkins and published by CABI. This book was released on 2017-11-21 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an authoritative book that acts as a guide to understanding maize kernel development. Written by a team of experts, it covers topics spanning pre- and post-fertilization events, embryo and endosperm development, grain filling and maturation, and factors influencing crop yield. It explores the significance of maize and other cereal grains, existing hypotheses and research, and important gaps in our knowledge and how we might fill them. This is a valuable resource for researchers of maize and other cereals, and anyone working on basic or applied science in the fields of seed development, plant genetics, and crop physiology.

Download or read book The Maize Genome written by Jeffrey Bennetzen and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-11-24 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses advances in our understanding of the structure and function of the maize genome since publication of the original B73 reference genome in 2009, and the progress in translating this knowledge into basic biology and trait improvement. Maize is an extremely important crop, providing a large proportion of the world’s human caloric intake and animal feed, and serving as a model species for basic and applied research. The exceptionally high level of genetic diversity within maize presents opportunities and challenges in all aspects of maize genetics, from sequencing and genotyping to linking genotypes to phenotypes. Topics covered in this timely book range from (i) genome sequencing and genotyping techniques, (ii) genome features such as centromeres and epigenetic regulation, (iii) tools and resources available for trait genomics, to (iv) applications of allele mining and genomics-assisted breeding. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and students interested in maize genetics and genomics.

Download or read book The Maize Handbook written by Michael Freeling and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 776 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Maize Handbook represents the collective efforts of the maize research community to enumerate the key steps of standard procedures and to disseminate these protocols for the common good. Although the material in this volume is drawn from experience with maize, many of the procedures, protocols, and descriptions are applicable to other higher plants, particularly to other grasses. The power and resolution of experiments with maize depend on the wide range of specialized genetic techniques and marked stocks; these materials are available today as the culmination of nearly 100 years of genetic research. A major goal of this volume is to introduce this genetical legacy and to highlight current stock construction programs that will soon benefit our work, e. g. high-density RFLP maps, deletion stocks, etc. Both stock construction and maintenance are relatively straightforward in maize as a result of the ease of crossing and the longevity of stored seeds. Crossing is facilitated by the separate staminate (tassel) and pistillate (ear) flowers, a feature almost unique to maize. On the other hand, many of the genetic methodologies utilized with maize, including the precision of record keeping, can be adapted to other plants. Facile communication and a spirit of co-operation have characterized the maize genetics community since its earliest days. Starting in the 1930s, institutions such as annual Maize Genetics Cooperation Newsletter, the Maize Genetics Stock Center, and the annual maize genetics meeting provide continuity to the field.

Download or read book Drought Stress in Maize Zea mays L written by Muhammad Aslam and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-11-20 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on early germination, one of maize germplasm most important strategies for adapting to drought-induced stress. Some genotypes have the ability to adapt by either reducing water losses or by increasing water uptake. Drought tolerance is also an adaptive strategy that enables crop plants to maintain their normal physiological processes and deliver higher economical yield despite drought stress. Several processes are involved in conferring drought tolerance in maize: the accumulation of osmolytes or antioxidants, plant growth regulators, stress proteins and water channel proteins, transcription factors and signal transduction pathways. Drought is one of the most detrimental forms of abiotic stress around the world and seriously limits the productivity of agricultural crops. Maize, one of the leading cereal crops in the world, is sensitive to drought stress. Maize harvests are affected by drought stress at different growth stages in different regions. Numerous events in the life of maize crops can be affected by drought stress: germination potential, seedling growth, seedling stand establishment, overall growth and development, pollen and silk development, anthesis silking interval, pollination, and embryo, endosperm and kernel development. Though every maize genotype has the ability to avoid or withstand drought stress, there is a concrete need to improve the level of adaptability to drought stress to address the global issue of food security. The most common biological strategies for improving drought stress resistance include screening available maize germplasm for drought tolerance, conventional breeding strategies, and marker-assisted and genomic-assisted breeding and development of transgenic maize. As a comprehensive understanding of the effects of drought stress, adaptive strategies and potential breeding tools is the prerequisite for any sound breeding plan, this brief addresses these aspects.

Download or read book Maize written by Duccio Bonavia and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 605 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines one of the thorniest problems of ancient American archaeology: the origins and domestication of maize. Using a variety of scientific techniques, Duccio Bonavia explores the development of maize, its adaptation to varying climates and its fundamental role in ancient American cultures. An appendix (by Alexander Grobman) provides the first-ever comprehensive compilation of maize genetic data, correlating this data with the archaeological evidence presented throughout the book. This book provides a unique interpretation of questions of dating and evolution, supported by extensive data, following the spread of maize from South to North America and eventually to Europe and beyond.

Download or read book Quantitative Genetics in Maize Breeding written by Arnel R. Hallauer and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-09-28 with total page 669 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is used in an endless list of products that are directly or indirectly related to human nutrition and food security. Maize is grown in producer farms, farmers depend on genetically improved cultivars, and maize breeders develop improved maize cultivars for farmers. Nikolai I. Vavilov defined plant breeding as plant evolution directed by man. Among crops, maize is one of the most successful examples for breeder-directed evolution. Maize is a cross-pollinated species with unique and separate male and female organs allowing techniques from both self and cross-pollinated crops to be utilized. As a consequence, a diverse set of breeding methods can be utilized for the development of various maize cultivar types for all economic conditions (e.g., improved populations, inbred lines, and their hybrids for different types of markets). Maize breeding is the science of maize cultivar development. Public investment in maize breeding from 1865 to 1996 was $3 billion (Crosbie et al., 2004) and the return on investment was $260 billion as a consequence of applied maize breeding, even without full understanding of the genetic basis of heterosis. The principles of quantitative genetics have been successfully applied by maize breeders worldwide to adapt and improve germplasm sources of cultivars for very simple traits (e.g. maize flowering) and very complex ones (e.g., grain yield). For instance, genomic efforts have isolated early-maturing genes and QTL for potential MAS but very simple and low cost phenotypic efforts have caused significant and fast genetic progress across genotypes moving elite tropical and late temperate maize northward with minimal investment. Quantitative genetics has allowed the integration of pre-breeding with cultivar development by characterizing populations genetically, adapting them to places never thought of (e.g., tropical to short-seasons), improving them by all sorts of intra- and inter-population recurrent selection methods, extracting lines with more probability of success, and exploiting inbreeding and heterosis. Quantitative genetics in maize breeding has improved the odds of developing outstanding maize cultivars from genetically broad based improved populations such as B73. The inbred-hybrid concept in maize was a public sector invention 100 years ago and it is still considered one of the greatest achievements in plant breeding. Maize hybrids grown by farmers today are still produced following this methodology and there is still no limit to genetic improvement when most genes are targeted in the breeding process. Heterotic effects are unique for each hybrid and exotic genetic materials (e.g., tropical, early maturing) carry useful alleles for complex traits not present in the B73 genome just sequenced while increasing the genetic diversity of U.S. hybrids. Breeding programs based on classical quantitative genetics and selection methods will be the basis for proving theoretical approaches on breeding plans based on molecular markers. Mating designs still offer large sample sizes when compared to QTL approaches and there is still a need to successful integration of these methods. There is a need to increase the genetic diversity of maize hybrids available in the market (e.g., there is a need to increase the number of early maturing testers in the northern U.S.). Public programs can still develop new and genetically diverse products not available in industry. However, public U.S. maize breeding programs have either been discontinued or are eroding because of decreasing state and federal funding toward basic science. Future significant genetic gains in maize are dependent on the incorporation of useful and unique genetic diversity not available in industry (e.g., NDSU EarlyGEM lines). The integration of pre-breeding methods with cultivar development should enhance future breeding efforts to maintain active public breeding programs not only adapting and improving genetically broad-based germplasm but also developing unique products and training the next generation of maize breeders producing research dissertations directly linked to breeding programs. This is especially important in areas where commercial hybrids are not locally bred. More than ever public and private institutions are encouraged to cooperate in order to share breeding rights, research goals, winter nurseries, managed stress environments, and latest technology for the benefit of producing the best possible hybrids for farmers with the least cost. We have the opportunity to link both classical and modern technology for the benefit of breeding in close cooperation with industry without the need for investing in academic labs and time (e.g., industry labs take a week vs months/years in academic labs for the same work). This volume, as part of the Handbook of Plant Breeding series, aims to increase awareness of the relative value and impact of maize breeding for food, feed, and fuel security. Without breeding programs continuously developing improved germplasm, no technology can develop improved cultivars. Quantitative Genetics in Maize Breeding presents principles and data that can be applied to maximize genetic improvement of germplasm and develop superior genotypes in different crops. The topics included should be of interest of graduate students and breeders conducting research not only on breeding and selection methods but also developing pure lines and hybrid cultivars in crop species. This volume is a unique and permanent contribution to breeders, geneticists, students, policy makers, and land-grant institutions still promoting quality research in applied plant breeding as opposed to promoting grant monies and indirect costs at any short-term cost. The book is dedicated to those who envision the development of the next generation of cultivars with less need of water and inputs, with better nutrition; and with higher percentages of exotic germplasm as well as those that pursue independent research goals before searching for funding. Scientists are encouraged to use all possible breeding methodologies available (e.g., transgenics, classical breeding, MAS, and all possible combinations could be used with specific sound long and short-term goals on mind) once germplasm is chosen making wise decisions with proven and scientifically sound technologies for assisting current breeding efforts depending on the particular trait under selection. Arnel R. Hallauer is C. F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture (Emeritus) at Iowa State University (ISU). Dr. Hallauer has led maize-breeding research for mid-season maturity at ISU since 1958. His work has had a worldwide impact on plant-breeding programs, industry, and students and was named a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Hallauer is a native of Kansas, USA. José B. Miranda Filho is full-professor in the Department of Genetics, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz - University of São Paulo located at Piracicaba, Brazil. His research interests have emphasized development of quantitative genetic theory and its application to maize breeding. Miranda Filho is native of Pirassununga, São Paulo, Brazil. M.J. Carena is professor of plant sciences at North Dakota State University (NDSU). Dr. Carena has led maize-breeding research for short-season maturity at NDSU since 1999. This program is currently one the of the few public U.S. programs left integrating pre-breeding with cultivar development and training in applied maize breeding. He teaches Quantitative Genetics and Crop Breeding Techniques at NDSU. Carena is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina. http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/plantsci/faculty/Carena.htm

Download or read book Maize Research In India written by S.L. Jat and published by New India Publishing Agency. This book was released on 2021-06-22 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book "Maize Research in India: Retrospect & Prospect" focuses on 60 years of maize research in India's through first All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) of the country. The book chapters compiled from different part of the country having contemporary and historical importance of maize research for development in the country. Theses state-wise chapters offering a comprehensive overview and provides a detailed information about trend of the major growing areas, maize based industries, cropping systems, agricultural practices, AICRP achievements, constraints in maize production, package of practices, yield gaps, climatic patterns and key R4D challenges and their probable solutions. Overall, it demonstrates the options for future progress and thrust of maize with special reference to nutritional and industrial quality improvement, hybrid seed production, cultivation of specialty corn, value addition, biotic and abiotic stress management, etc. The book also has a chapter on the recent worldwide R4D in maize molecular breeding and frontier technologies in maize improvement like genomic selection, transgenic, phonemics, doubled haploid (DH) technology etc for making plausible future strategy of maize R4D

Download or read book Maize for the Gods written by Michael Blake and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2015-08-28 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is the worldÕs most productive food and industrial crop, grown in more than 160 countries and on every continent except Antarctica. If by some catastrophe maize were to disappear from our food supply chain, vast numbers of people would starve and global economies would rapidly collapse. How did we come to be so dependent on this one plant? Maize for the Gods brings together new research by archaeologists, archaeobotanists, plant geneticists, and a host of other specialists to explore the complex ways that this single plant and the peoples who domesticated it came to be inextricably entangled with one another over the past nine millennia. Tracing maize from its first appearance and domestication in ancient campsites and settlements in Mexico to its intercontinental journey through most of North and South America, this history also tells the story of the artistic creativity, technological prowess, and social, political, and economic resilience of AmericaÕs first peoples.