How to move agriculture forward with lim...( MADISON WI JANUARY 26 2009 -- Across...)

MADISON, WI, JANUARY 26, 2009 -- Across the globe, the demand for water is increasing with the rise in the world's population. Expanding urban areas are requiring more water for drinking, sanitation, and industry which is placing added stress on water supplies. In addition, depleting ground water, longer droughts, and the effects of climate change have led to an increased importance for the agricultural industry to optimize irrigation, prevent water pollution, and efficiently allocate water for crop production.

A new book, "Response of Crops to Limited Water: Understanding and Modeling Water Stress Effects on Plant Growth Processes," hopes to tackle these serious water issues. Published jointly by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, "Response of Crops to Limited Water" is a tool for scientists, researchers, modelers, and students who work in crop production with limited water resources.

Each chapter is peer-reviewed with an emphasis on originality, quality, and a synthesis of knowledge. Some of the book's topics include radiation-use and water-use efficiency for biomass production models, simulating the effects of limited water on photosynthesis and transpiration in field crops, as well as modeling the function of root traits for enhancing water acquisition in crops.

"A thoughtful book, with the indispensable synthesis that is missing from many similar titles," said the three past presidents of ASA-CSSA-SSSA Kenneth J. Moore, William J. Wiebold, and Gary A. Peterson.

The editors of the book are: Laj R. Ahuja and Saseendran S. Anapalli, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins, CO; Vangimalla R. Reddy, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD; and Qiang Yu, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, China.

Response of Crops to Limited Water is the first in a new series of books presen
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