Legumes

Global climate change has created unprecedented challenges for human civilization due to its widespread adverse consequences, including a reduction in crop yield and threatening food security across the globe. Among the crop plants, legumes have great potential for ameliorating global warming since they can reduce carbon emissions by lowering reliance on the application of chemical fertilizers, by increasing nitrification and carbon sequestration in soil, and by providing protein-rich diets to both humans and livestock. This book identifies the extent of climate-induced stresses on legume plants and focuses on achieving food security through sustainable agricultural practices.

This edited book covers all aspects of grain legumes including negative impact of abiotic and biotic stresses under the changing global climate. It discusses the role of various subject disciplines ranging from plant breeding, genetics, plant physiology, molecular biology, and genomics to high-throughput phenotyping and other emerging technologies for sustaining global grain and fodder legume production to alleviate impending global food crises. The book offers strategies to ensure plant-based dietary protein security across the globe. It covers all major commercial legume crops used as food, feed and fodder. This book is targeted to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, progressive farmers and policymakers to inform them of the importance of cultivating grain and fodder legumes for future global food and nutritional security and for maintaining sustainable ecosystem.

Sustainable management of soils is an important global issue of the 21st century. Feeding roughly 8 billion people with an environmentally sustainable production system is a major challenge, especially considering the fact that 10% of the world’s population at risk of hunger and 25% at risk of malnutrition. Accordingly, the 68th United Nations (UN) general assembly declared 2016 the “International Year of Pulses” to raise awareness and to celebrate the role of pulses in human nutrition and welfare. Likewise, the assembly declared the year 2015 as the “International Year of Soils” to promote awareness of the role of “healthy soils for a healthy life” and the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) has declared 2015-2024 as the International Decade of Soils.

Sustainable management of soils is an important global issue of the 21st century. Feeding roughly 8 billion people with an environmentally sustainable production system is a major challenge, especially considering the fact that 10% of the world’s population at risk of hunger and 25% at risk of malnutrition. Accordingly, the 68th United Nations (UN) general assembly declared 2016 the “International Year of Pulses” to raise awareness and to celebrate the role of pulses in human nutrition and welfare. Likewise, the assembly declared the year 2015 as the “International Year of Soils” to promote awareness of the role of “healthy soils for a healthy life” and the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS) has declared 2015-2024 as the International Decade of Soils.