A Textbook of Agronomy

The challenges before the Agricultural Scientists of our country today are much more complex than even before. The first issue and the cause of some major problems in the future - the depletion of the ozone layer, threatens the inhabitants of Earth due to the advent of harmful ultraviolet radiation. The second issue - global warming and the plight of Antarctica, involves the melting of polar ice caps threatening our coastal regions in the future. Forecast of increase in average temperatures, higher sea levels and changes in rainfall patterns will all have a negative impact on crop production, especially in the tropics. Food production has to be increased to 240 m.t. within the next five years. To achieve the massive target, very little scope and possibility exist in respect of horizontal expansion. Crop production and production technologies are of almost important for successful and economic cultivation of field crops. Under these circumstances, important and relevant informations are collected and compiled in a book form titled ``A Textbook of Agronomy``. The book is mainly intended for the agronomy courses of graduate students in the field of Agriculture, Horticulture, Home Science, Forestry and Agricultural Engineering. It is clear that young students are suffering from cultural shocks to shift from their environment. Semester system of education of B.Sc.(Ag.), B.Sc. (Horti.), B.Sc. (Home Science), B.Sc. (Forestry) and B.Tech. (Ag. Engg.), students are quite dynamic for which the students are to be helped for changeover. Though a large amount of information has been generated on various aspects of agronomy, they are scattered in literature. A compilation of the available information is the felt need of students, teachers and researchers in agronomy. This book makes an attempt to present the available information on various aspects of agronomy in a cogent and easily understandable manner. This book has been prepared with a specific purpose of imparting complete comprehensive information about agronomy and it is hoped that the book will serve as a good text-cum reference source for those interested in agronomy.