We all are indebted to nature for providing us food and its resources for our subsistence and survival. In the food domain, cereal and legume grains occupy the front line, whereas, horticultural crops have occupied the second line of defense. For healthy diet cereals and legumes provide us with carbohydrates and protein, whereas, fruits and vegetables provide us minerals and vitamins. Both macro- and micro- nutrients are essential for human growth and development. The fruits and vegetables are the major source of micro-nutrients. It is estimated that up to 2.7 million lives could potentially be saved each year if fruit and vegetable production was sufficiently increased. Both at national and international levels, food and agriculture/horticulture development plans and estimates are basically developed, framed and implemented, and narrowed down to cereal production. In the present context of attaining nutrition security, this mode of thinking on ‘food’ needs to be changed to ‘nutrients’, which will include necessarily all those crops including fruit and vegetables which provide all macro- and micro-nutrients to ensure balanced nutrition needed for good human health. The present publication has attempted to reflect and discuss the above views and ideas on the subject of sustainable horticulture development and nutrition security in nine chapters with 32 articles by 32 authors.

This invaluable book furnishes exhaustive, single coverage of more than 3900 multiple choice questions with answer on Food Process Technology, Food Engineering, Food Chemistry and Nutrition, Food Microbiology and safety, Food Business Management and Overall Food Technology and much more. Written by experts related resource person, the MCQ in Food Technology is an indispensable resource for agricultural, food scientists and technologists, post harvest technologists, and upper level undergraduate and graduate students in these disciplines.

This Trilogy explains “What is Horticulture?”. Volume three of Horticulture: Plants for People and Places presents readers with detailed accounts of the scientific and scholastic concepts which interact with the arts and humanities and which now underpins the rapidly evolving subject of Social Horticulture. This discipline transcends the barriers between science, medicine and the arts. This volume covers:- Horticulture and Society, Diet and Health, Psychological Health, Wildlife, Horticulture and Public Welfare, Education, Extension, Economics, Exports and Biosecurity, Scholarship and Art, Scholarship and Literature, Scholarship and History and the relationship between Horticulture and Gardening. This volume brings the evolution of the Discipline and Vocation of Horticulture firmly into the 21st Century. It covers new ground by providing a detailed analysis of the value of Horticulture as a force for enhancing society in the forms of social welfare, health and well-being, how knowledge is transferred within and between generations, and the place of Horticulture in the Arts and Humanities. Substantial emphasis is given to the relationships between health, well-being and plants by the internationally acclaimed authors who have contributed accounts of their work in this book.

This second volume on the topic will be extremely useful for the researchers and postgraduate students working on vegetable crops with a special focus on climate change. Today, the entire world is suffering from global warming and its consequent, climate change. This has emerged as the most prominent global environmental issue and there is an urgent need to mitigate its impact on agriculture. Over the past 20 years South Asia has had a robust economic growth, yet it is home to more than one fourth of the world’s hunger and 40% of the world’s malnourished children and women. Persistent climatic variability, which results in frequent drought and flood, is among the major reasons for this phenomenon. Vegetables are in general more succulent (have 90% water) and more sensitive to climatic vagaries and sudden changes in temperature, as well as irregular precipitation at any phase of crop growing, can affect the normal growth, flowering, pollination, fruit setting, fruit development and fruit ripening which eventually decreases the yield. The irregular precipitation also causes the soil salinity and is a major challenge in many vegetable growing areas. To mitigate the harmful impact of climatic change there is an urgent need to develop adequate adaptation strategies for adverse effect of climate change and preference should be given to the development of heat, cold, drought, flood and salinity stress tolerant genotypes along with climate proofing through conventional and non-conventional breeding techniques, as well as exploiting the beneficial effects of CO2 enhancement on crop growth and yield. Available evidence shows that there is high probability of increase in the frequency and intensity of climate related natural hazards due to climate change and hence increase the potential threat due to climate change related natural disasters in the world. At present protected cultivation and grafted seedlings are also popularizing among vegetable growers because of the huge scope as well as, molecular breeding, emerging insect-pests & diseases and postharvest quality of vegetables under this climate change scenario. Moreover, underexploited vegetables, perennial vegetable and tuber crops have a more tolerant ability to climate vagaries compare to major vegetables which are also discussed in this book.

Quinoa has gained recognition world over as one of the most Functional foods for healthy human life. It provides most of the essential nutrients, gluten free protein, vitamins & minerals and considered as an excellent alternative food crop for India. It is an extra-ordinarily adaptable crop to different agro-ecological zones, highly suited to climate change, harsh environment and limited availability of resources. Currently, quinoa is in a process of expansion in non-domesticated countries and its cultivation is spreading rapidly due to its very high demand throughout the world. The subject matter is presented in this book in a comprehensive & lucid style and intended to provide scientific, authentic and very useful information on various aspects of quinoa development in India and abroad. Moreover, comparative nutritive values, role of vitamins, minerals & fatty acids in human body, manufacturers & suppliers of value-added products, role of different agencies in quinoa development in India and model project reports appended add the value. Thus, this book has enormous scope and opportunities to boost quinoa production, address food & health security problems, uplift Farm-output, promote food industries and generate employment and intended to assist Agri-business Planners, policy makers, Researchers, industrialists, teachers, students & farmers world over who are interested in quinoa-based enterprises for their livelihood.

Currently 868 million people are undernourished and 195 million children under five years of age are stunted. At the same time, over 1 billion people are overweight and obese in both the developed and developing world. Diseases previously associated with affluence, such as cancer, diabetes and cardio-vascular disease, are on the rise. Food system-based approaches to addressing these problems that could enhance food availability and diet quality through local production and agricultural biodiversity often fall outside the traditional scope of nutrition, and have been under-researched. As a consequence, there remains insufficient evidence to support well-defined, scalable agricultural biodiversity interventions that can be linked to improvements in nutrition outcomes. Agricultural biodiversity is important for food and nutritional security, as a safeguard against hunger, a source of nutrients for improved dietary diversity and quality, and strengthening local food systems and environmental sustainability. This book explores the current state of knowledge on the role of agricultural biodiversity in improving diets, nutrition and food security. Using examples and case studies from around the globe, the book explores current strategies for improving nutrition and diets and identifies key research and implementation gaps that need to be addressed to successfully promote the better use of agricultural biodiversity for rural and urban populations and societies in transition.