Biodiversity in Horticultural Crops, Vol. I
Contents: Acknowledgement. Foreword. Introduction. 1. Conservation and use of tropical fruit species diversity in Asia: IPGRI's contributions/Bhag Mal, V. Ramanatha Rao, R.K. Arora and Percy E. Sajise. 2. Temperate fruit crops/A. Sofi, M.K. Verma, R.K. Verma and H. Choudhary. 3. Tropical fruits/G.S. Prakash and M.R. Dinesh. 4. The genus musa (Banana and plantains)/S. Uma and S. Sathiamoorthy. 5. Temperate and sub-tropical vegetables/D. Ram, Mathura Rai and Major Singh. 6. Tropical vegetable crops/K.R.M. Swamy and A.T. Sadashiva. 7. Tropical tuber crops/M.S. Palaniswami and Shirly Raichal Anil. 8. Orchids of Western Ghats, India/C. Sathish Kumar and S. Ganeshan. 9. Conservation of spices genetic resources through in vitro conservation and cryopreservation/K. Nirmal Babu, S.P. Geetha, D. Minoo, G. Yamuna, K. Praveen, P.N. Ravindran and K.V. Peter. 10. Black pepper/V.A. Parthasarathy, K.V. Saji and K. Johnson George. 11. Ginger and Turmeric/B. Sasikumar. 12. Tree spices/B. Krishnamoorthy, J. Rema and P.A. Mathew. 13. Cardamoms/J. Thomas, K.J. Madhusoodanan and V.V. Radhakrishnan. 14. Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.)/M.R. Sudharshan and U. Gupta. 15. Kokum, Malabar Tamarind and Mysore Gamboge/Z. Abraham and R. Senthilkumar. 16. Seed spices/S.K. Malhotra and B.B. Vashishtha. 17. Cashew/M. Gangadhara Nayak and M. Gopalakrishna Bhat. 18. Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis)/Y. Annamma Varghese and Saji T. Abraham.
"Among the natural resources, plant biodiversity is the key to human existence and survival. Horticultural crops contribute to nutritional and livelihood security. Mankind depends on near about 5000 plant species worldwide to meet food and other needs. This number is just a fraction of total world flora of 2.5 lakh species of mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants. More than 50,000 plant species are yet to be documented. Today only about 150 plant species are important in meeting the food (calories) needs of humans world wide. There is still greater dependence on a few plant species; 20 to 30 in global context. Horticultural crops encompass fruit crops, vegetables, ornamentals, plantation crops, spices, aromatic and medicinal plants, tuber crops and mushrooms. Temperate, subtropical and tropical horticultural crops are characterised by their adoption to varying ecology and land use patterns. The present volume 'Biodiversity in Horticultural Crops' has 18 chapters contributed by eminent scientists working in the respective crops. Biodiversity is conceived as gift of nature for sustainability, nutritional security and above all to widen the food basket. Man lives not for food alone, but to enjoy nature's gifts-fruits, vegetables, flowering plants, foliages and so on. Genes for desirable traits are embedded in biodiversity and as such the present the volume throws open horticultural bioresources to human benefit. The present volume emphasises current and widely grown horticultural crops in India in all its biodiversity."
