Linking Research to Crop Production

Linking Basic Research to Crop Improvement Programs in Developing Countries.- Agricultural Research in Developing Countries.- Application of Basic Research in Crop Improvement.- Areas of Greater Value to Developing Countries.- The Evaluation and Removal of Constraints to Crop Production.- Unique Significance of Asia and of Rice.- Rice as the Food Staple of the Poor.- Three Sources of More Food.- The Potential Performing Gap.- Constraints on Rice Yields in the Tropics.- Research to Remove Constraints.- Research to Permit Tolerance of the Stresses.- Research to Support the "Factory".- Symbiotic Alliances.- Crop Improvement.- The Need for Improved Technology.- Technology Development.- Conservation and Utilization of Genetic Resources.- Crop Improvement.- Objectives in Crop Improvement at the Centers.- Pest Resistance.- Breeding for Adverse Environments.- Plant Quarantine.- Basic Research.- Conclusions.- The Role of Physiology in Crop Improvement.- Limitations on the Contributions of Plant Physiology.- Photosynthesis and Yield.- Yield Usually is Limited by Environmental Factors.- How to Increase the Contributions of Plant Physiology.- General Discussion.- Summary.- Blue Roses and Black Tulips: Is the New Plant Genetics Only Ornamental?.- Some of the Components of the New Genetics.- Completely Defined Cellular Systems are Not Required for Use in Crop Improvement.- What Kind of Genetic Variability is Agronomically Desirable?.- Envoi.- Biomass Production and Utilization.- Nature of Linkage and Consequences.- Funding Allocation for Agricultural R and D.- Biomass Conversion.- Arid Land Plants.- Basic Research in Biomass Production: Scientific Opportunities and Organizational Challenges.- Basic Research Needs.- Relation of Net Photosynthesis and Photorespiration to Crop Yield.- The Glycolate Pathway of Photorespiration and its Regulation.- Producing Mutants of Higher Plants by Selections on Plant Cells.- Economic Benefits of Agricultural Research.- The Organization of Science for Maximum Effectiveness.- Biological Nitrogen Fixation: A Fertilizer Strategy Potentially Beneficial for the Poor in Developing Countries.- Nitrogen Fixation by Pure Cultures of Rhizobium.- Glutamine Synthetase in Rhizobium.- Experimentally-Induced Bacteroids?.- Organic Nitrogenous Compounds Synthesized for Transport and Assimilation.- The Recognition/Infection Process in Legumes.- Relationship Between Photosynthesis and Nitrogen Fixation.- Efficiency of Nitrogen Fixation in Legumes.- Characteristics of the Molybedenum Iron Cofactor of Nitrogenase.- Non-legume, Symbiotic Nitrogen-fixing Systems: Alnus.- Non-legume, Symbiotic Nitrogen-fixing Systems: Azolla.- Concluding Remarks.- Translating Basic Research on Biological Nitrogen Fixation to Improved Crop Production in Less-Developed Countries - A User's View.- General Approaches to Meeting Nitrogen Needs.- Advances and Impacts of Nitrogen Input Research.- The What's Wrong With and Opportunities for Improvement of Biological N2 Fixation.- Steps in Legume N2 Fixation.- Possible Future Technologies.- Concluding Thoughts.- Linking Basic Research to Crop Improvement Programs for the Less-Developed Countries: Biological Control of Insects.- The Scale of the Rural Problem.- Mixed Cropping Entomology.- Conventional Attitude to Crop Resistance.- Insects as Chemists.- The Future of Crop Protection in the Developing Countries.- Use of Predators and Parasitoids in Biological Control.- The Empirical Basis of Biological Control.- The Theoretical Basis of Biological Control.- Some Classical Examples Illustrating Ecological Principles.- Manipulations to Conserve and Augment Resident Natural Enemies.- Programs Integrating Chemical and Biological Control.- Toward More Rational Policy.- Technical Constraints to Increased Resource Productivity.- The Role of Research.- The Dilemma.- Why the Dilemma?.- The Bottom Line.- The Role of Scientific Research in Rural Development.- Contributors.- Author Index.