-
Optimizing pest management in fruit cultivation
Tree fruit growers in temperate regions have faced challenges in managing the complex of arthropod pests present in these systems because of increasing pesticide regulatory restrictions, public concerns about food safety and environmental quality, and resistance to older pesticides by key pests. ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in understanding fruit tree growth
Owing to the importance of photosynthesis to the efficient functioning of plants as solar energy collectors, scientists have been intensively studying the process of photosynthesis for more than 100 years, with the hope of increasing its efficiency. There is substantial evidence that fruit trees ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Bioactive/nutraceutical compounds in fruit that optimize human health benefits
In the past decade, numerous reports demonstrate that high consumption of fruits and vegetables is beneficial for health, being associated with a reduced risk of degenerative diseases. This chapter provides a brief description of the chemistry of bioactive compounds (BCs) and their presence in te...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances and challenges in sustainable peach production
By adopting precise management techniques, growers can reduce the environmental impact of fruit growing, without sacrificing quality and yields, while maintaining income. This chapter discusses how improvements in sustainable peach production can be achieved by an interaction among quite varied d...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Sustainable plum and apricot cultivation
Sustainable fruit cultivation may depend on the combination of a number of factors; these include optimal growing conditions, correct selection of cultivars and rootstocks, and application of modern crop-cultivation techniques. Sustainability also implies promotion of biodiversity, improvement of...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in the development and utilization of fruit tree rootstocks: a case study for apple
In the previous century, apple rootstocks were chosen on the basis of suitability for climate, required degree of vigor, and plant availability. Thus, the rootstock decision in the past was usually quite simple, with only one or two choices available to growers. However, with the proliferation of...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Challenges and opportunities in pear breeding
Although pear (Pyrus spp.) is an economically important fruit worldwide, pear cultivars and production practices have been among the slowest of the temperate fruits to change to meet modern consumer demands and labor-efficient orchard realities. In the United States, the majority of the pear orch...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Pre- and post-harvest strategies to optimize fruit quality and shelf life
Ensuring a sustainable tree fruit industry with regard to post-harvest quality management involves engaging approaches and technologies that encompass both pre- and post-harvest issues. The adoption of new, non-destructive technologies is important for quantifying and evaluating the challenge of ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in understanding apple tree growth: the manipulation of tree growth and development
Recent research and development has investigated the factors influencing apple tree growth, with the ultimate aim of helping apple growers provide the market with fruit which is consistent in quality and which exhibits the features that consumers value, such as firmness, juiciness, colour and app...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Challenges and opportunities in pear cultivation
Excessive vigor of European pear varieties and a dearth of dwarfing rootstocks create significant challenges to the establishment and management of modern high-density orchards. The pronounced negative relationship between pear tree vigor and precocity requires considerable intensive horticultura...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Achieving sustainable cultivation of apples
This book reviews our understanding of tree and fruit physiology and how it can be used in breeding better varieties. It also discusses pests and diseases and ways they can be prevented or controlled to make cultivation more productive.
Regular price £190.00Sale price £190.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Advances in understanding flowering and pollination in apple trees
Fruit production of apples is a two-year process, beginning with the transition of a bud from vegetative to a floral state during the summer. The bud differentiates, overwinters and emerges as a flower the following spring. Flowers are then pollinated, fertilized and the fruit grows first by cell...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Towards improving the salt tolerance of soybean
The growth and production of soybean, an important cash crop, are severely restricted by salt stress. Salt-tolerant soybean varieties can contribute to sustainable soybean production. This chapter describes different approaches to developing salt tolerance in soybean, including a study of germpla...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Maintaining and utilizing the genetic diversity of soybeans
The aim of plant breeding is to create genetically diverse gene pools and then devise strategies to consolidate the favourable alleles and eliminate those that are adverse to the grower’s objectives. Genetic diversity is the fuel that powers plant breeding but it is also the largest impediment to...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in flood-tolerant varieties of soybean
Flooding is a serious abiotic stress that drastically causes soybean yield loss around the world. As a result, a large number of studies have been conducted to understand soybean responses to flooding on agronomic, morphological, physiological and molecular levels. This chapter summarizes current...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Mapping the soybean genome
The soybean is one of the most important grain legumes, but genetic mapping had been less advanced than in other crops, which limited modern soybean molecular breeding. This chapter discusses the significant progress in mapping the soybean genome that has now been made. Also highlighted are the u...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in conventional soybean breeding techniques
Soybean cultivar selection techniques and advances in variety development continue to evolve. The planning that goes into selecting superior soybean varieties is currently complicated by changing environments, a growing global population and decreasing productive farmland. In this chapter, the mo...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Advances in marker-assisted breeding of soybeans
This chapter reviews key developments in marker-assisted breeding of soybean. It begins by discussing types of molecular markers such as simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs). It then discusses marker assays and genotyping platforms for marker-assisted selection...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Advances in the drought and heat resistance of soybean
Drought combined with heat is the major abiotic stress that threatens crop production. Climate changes are anticipated to intensify the occurrence of irregular precipitation patterns worldwide, which will further negatively affect crop production and food security. The success of soybean improvem...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Taxonomy and classification of cacao
Theobroma cacao is one of the most important cash crops in the world and is native to the tropical, humid forests of South America. This chapter discusses its origin and the taxonomy and classification of the varieties of Theobroma. It then reviews the characteristics of the three general groups ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
The role of gene banks in preserving the genetic diversity of cacao
Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is an important tree crop for millions of farmers and for the multi-billion dollar chocolate industry but is derived from a limited genetic diversity. The centre of diversity of cacao is being deforested, thereby increasing genetic erosion, but fortunately a wealth of g...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Developments in cacao breeding programmes in africa and the americas
This chapter explores the main developments in cacao breeding programmes in Trinidad, Brazil, Ecuador and Costa Rica in the Americas; and Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Cameroon in Africa. The different types of commercial cacao cultivars and breeding programme objectives are described. Heterosi...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Conserving and exploiting cocoa genetic resources: the key challenges
The future of the world cocoa economy depends on the availability of genetic diversity and the sustainable use of this broad genetic base to breed improved varieties. Decreasing cacao genetic diversity (in situ, on-farm and conserved in collections) is a serious problem, and all its many causes n...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Safe handling and movement of cocoa germplasm for breeding
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) originated in South America, but is now cultivated in various parts of the tropics. Movement of cocoa germplasm is often required in breeding programmes to increase the genetic diversity pool or to test clones/progeny in the field. However, such movement brings with it ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
The potential of somatic embryogenesis for commercial-scale propagation of elite cacao varieties
Plant tissue culture can be used to speed up the development and deployment of genetically improved genotypes. Research conducted by multiple groups for over 25 years has led to the development of protocols for efficient somatic embryogenesis (SE) of cacao. This chapter provides a synthesis of pu...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Management of viruses and virus-like agents affecting apple production
Viruses and virus-like agents have recurring impact on quality fruit production throughout the life of an orchard. They are graft-transmissible and are readily disseminated through the use of infected budwood. Since many of these agents do not have arthropod or nematode vectors, the most effectiv...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Sorghum breeding for biotic stress tolerance
Sorghum breeding is poised to take advantage of remarkable advances in genomics and molecular technologies. Thus, while classical breeding methods have been successful in identifying and incorporating resistance to biotic stresses, this chapter will feature the use of the new tools and technologi...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Understanding ageing processes in seed potatoes
The physiological quality of seed tubers is very important for the performance of the crop grown from them, and interacts strongly with seed tuber size. Physiological quality consists of two components: dormancy and physiological age. This chapter reviews the conditions which influence both dorma...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Developing early-maturing and stress-resistant potato varieties
Asian countries with a cereal-based cropping system face a tremendous food security challenge to feed their 4.3 billion people. Potato, being a complete food, can be a valid alternative. This chapter describes the selection of germplasm and traits for breeding early-maturing varieties of potato, ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in understanding potato plant physiology and growth
Potato physiology determines how genetically-encoded developmental attributes interact with local environmental conditions, as modified through agricultural practice, to produce the final crop. This chapter highlights how physiological responses of potato to management choices made by growers and...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in conventional potato-breeding techniques
Potato is highly heterozygous. In order to maintain productivity, improved potato varieties are therefore developed by inter-mating desired parental lines and selecting superior clones from the progeny. Since potato is vegetatively propagated, any selected genotype can be fixed with all its intra...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Developing new sweet potato varieties with improved performance
Novel sweet potato varieties with improved traits are needed, especially for marginal lands and disease-prone regions. However, the high degree of heterozygosity, high levels of male sterility, and self- and interspecific incompatibility of the sweet potato plant results in strong segregation of ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in development of potato varieties resistant to abiotic stress
Abiotic stresses namely drought, salinity, high or low temperature, submergence, nutrient deficiency and so forth have an impact on potato yields. These suboptimal conditions restrict potato plant performance so that the plants do not reach their full genetic potential. This chapter examines diff...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Banana plant propagation methods
The ease of banana propagation by taking a sucker and simply planting it has allowed farmers to multiply their banana selections and share them. The banana sucker is a resilient form of planting material as the growing point is protected within the sucker, which contains a corm with a starchy sto...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
The origin, domestication and dispersal of bananas
The search for the origins of the edible bananas probably started soon after European explorers brought home stories about the wonderful fruit they had come across in Africa. Currently about 40 seeded species in the genus Musa have been recognised. This chapter describes the morphological and mol...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Achieving sustainable production of pig meat volume 1
Pig meat is the most widely-consumed meat in the world. This volume addresses some of the key challenges facing pig farming such as the continuing threat from zoonoses, ways of maintaining and improving meat quality as well as making pig production more sustainable.
Regular price £130.00Sale price £130.00 Regular price £130.00Unit price per -
Integrated crop-livestock systems with agroforestry to improve organic animal farming
The International Federation of Organic Movements (IFOAM) has established four fundamental principles which underpin organic farming. One way of achieving these principles is the use of integrated crop-livestock systems, which is very common for well-balanced organic systems with animals. This ch...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Genetic factors affecting feed efficiency, feeding behavior and related traits in pigs
Feed resource efficiency contributes to sustainable production of pig meat, both economically and environmentally. This chapter describes different measures of feed efficiency and the underlying genetics of feeding in pigs, drawing on studies of genetic correlations of residual feed intake (RFI) ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances and constraints in conventional breeding of pigs
Traditional methods of genetic improvement, both through selection programmes and proper use of breed differences and heterosis, have been effective in improving production efficiency. This improvement has been realized primarily in reproductive performance, growth rate and carcass composition. T...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
The use of growth promoters in pig nutrition
This chapter will describe the use of growth promoters in pigs, specifically growth hormone (GH) and beta-adrenergic agonist (BA), with the latter focussing on ractopamine. After introducing each growth promoter, their individual effects on growth and feed efficiency will be described, followed b...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in sheep breeding
This chapter summarises early developments in sheep breeding programmes, with the main emphasis on the Australian industry. It will examine common current breeding practices such as objective trait measurement, flock genetic evaluation and the development of breeding objectives based on rational ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Recent advances in understanding the role of vitamins in pig nutrition
Requirements for vitamins in modern intensive swine production are still based on genetically outdated lines of pigs and production conditions which have changed dramatically during the last 30 years. This chapter describes recent advances related to the role of vitamins and their importance for ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Producing quality milk from sheep
This chapter describes the sheep dairy industry and begins by analysing the advantages and disadvantages of different sheep breeds for production of high-quality sheep milk. The chapter addresses in detail various issues arising from the dairy farming of sheep, including frequency of milking, the...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Nutritional strategies to minimize emissions from sheep
Agricultural production accounts for 10–12% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, with livestock production (including sheep) being the most important contributing factor within this sector. The largest single contributor to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions is methane produced during en...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
The use of exogenous enzymes to improve feed efficiency in pigs
Exogenous feed enzymes have been in commercial use in swine diets for almost 30 years. This chapter focuses on the use of three classes of enzymes: NSP’ases, phytases and proteases. We review the evidence that their use is beneficial, and suggest likely mechanisms of action based on the evidence ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Sustainable control of gastrointestinal nematode parasites affecting sheep
The threat of anthelmintic resistance has loomed over recommendations to control gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in sheep for several decades, and in some regions GIN is threatening the sustainability of sheep farming. This chapter describes the current state of options to achieve sustainable c...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Measuring and assessing beef quality and sensory traits for retailers and consumers
Verifying qualities that contribute to a pleasurable eating experience prior to consumption is an obstacle for the beef industry. There are many ways to assess eating quality, such as sensory evaluation, shear force measurement and relying on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) quality gradin...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Humane transport, lairage and slaughter of sheep
Contemporary public concerns about and policy debates on animal production focus on conditions that guarantee food security, public health, environmental quality and animal welfare. This chapter reviews the main welfare issues associated with management of sheep post-farm gate, including transpor...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Muscle fibre types and beef quality
The quality of bovine meat is related to the composition of the source muscles. Bovine skeletal muscle is mainly composed of three types of muscle fibres that are found in varying proportions in different muscles. The proportion of these different fibre types varies with biological and environmen...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Meeting energy requirements in pig nutrition
The level of energy in a pig’s diet influences the rate and efficiency of gain, the quality of the resulting carcass and even the quality of the pork produced from the carcass. However, energy requirements and energy use in pigs are not well understood, due to the complexity of the topic. Unlike ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Advances in understanding pig nutritional requirements
Linking advances in our understanding to sustainable production of pig meat requires a more lateral perspective centred on the primary drivers of sustainability. This chapter considers advances in nutritional requirements and metabolism and how these contribute to sustainable production of pig me...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Improving sheep wool quality
Wool is a natural fibre produced by nearly 500 different sheep breeds. Mean fibre diameter is the most important wool quality parameter and has the largest influence on the value of wool. Wool fibre competes with synthetic, cellulosic and cotton fibre consumption, and currently makes up 1.2% of w...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Mapping the sheep genome
The exploration of genomic variation is central to advances in animal genetic studies. Furthermore, the ability to access and analyse differences among animal genomes is an essential prerequisite to understanding the manifestation of disease, variation in production traits, demographic history an...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Beef carcass inspection systems
This chapter provides an overview of the purposes and importance of meat inspection programmes in addressing hazards to both human and animal health. Subsequent sections cover the design, implementation and results of ante- and post-mortem inspection, and provide a review of some important proced...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Use of probiotics and prebiotics in pig nutrition in the post-weaning period
Prebiotics and probiotics have attracted considerable interest as alternatives or replacements for growth-promoting antibiotics and/or some heavy metals in diets for pigs, particularly in the post-weaning period where the newly weaned pig is subject to considerable challenges in its new environme...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Bacterial and viral diseases affecting sheep
Numerous infectious diseases are known to affect sheep. Some of these, known as zoonosis, are transmissible to humans, while some must be reported to government agencies in order to allow monitoring of potential outbreaks and ensure that appropriate action is taken to limit losses. This chapter a...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Maintaining the safety and quality of beef carcass meat
Contamination of animal carcasses during slaughtering procedures is undesirable, but unavoidable in the conversion of live animals to meat for consumption. Internal muscle tissues are essentially sterile, and most initial contamination of red meat carcasses is contributed by the hide during remov...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Meeting amino acid requirements in pig nutrition
Protein is one of the major components of the pig’s body, and dietary protein is the sole source of essential amino acids required for the protein synthesis for body maintenance, growth and reproduction. The protein synthesis is limited when there is a deficiency of any amino acid, and it is ther...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Packaging systems for beef retailers and their effects on visual quality and palatability
Packaging is one of the most vital processes in beef production, but is often overlooked by beef researchers. In addition to protecting the product, packaging is largely responsible for maintaining myoglobin in the bright red, oxygenated state in the retail case as expected by American consumers....
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Meeting individual nutrient requirements to improve nutrient efficiency and the sustainability of growing pig production systems
Precision feeding involves the use of feeding techniques that provide individual animals with diets tailored daily to production objectives (e.g. maximum growth). A method of estimating energy and nutrient requirements by integrating current relevant knowledge on pig metabolism has been developed...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Ensuring beef safety through consumer education
For food safety in the US beef industry, 1993 was a watershed year because of the large outbreak of food-borne illnesses that were linked to ground beef. More than two decades later, microbial issues persist as areas of concern. While the industry has made great strides in reducing bacteria on ra...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Traceability in the beef supply chain
Traceability, or rapid access to knowledge of the history, treatment and location of cattle and beef products through supply chains, is of paramount importance to food safety investigations, corrective actions and product recalls. This chapter defines traceability as applied to beef before descri...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Improving the welfare of ewes
Ewes are often grazed in large flocks in extensive pastoral production systems, and it is relatively uncommon for ewes to be individually identified or tallied. Given the relatively low economic value of adult ewes, health or production problems may go unnoticed for some time. Health problems aff...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Detecting antibiotic residues in animal feed: the case of distiller’s grains
The purpose of this chapter is to review the methods for detection of antibiotic residues in animal feed, using the example of distillers’ grains. There is a growing concern about the use of antibiotics in the process of which distillers’ grains are a co-product. Antibiotic residues in distillers...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Understanding and improving immune function in sheep
The prevention and control of infectious diseases of sheep can be achieved in a number of ways, including disease screening programmes, implementation of biosecurity measures, chemotherapeutics and vaccination. This chapter describes common diseases of sheep and some commonly used vaccines, and e...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Improving the environmental performance of pig and poultry production
Currently, pork and chicken account for nearly three-fourths of global meat consumption. With increasing concern for the environmental impacts associated with human activity, and due to the magnitude of the pork and poultry sectors, there is mounting pressure to meet the growing demand for these ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Achieving sustainable production of pig meat volume 3
Maintaining animal health and high standards of animal welfare are seen as key to sustainable livestock production. This volume reviews the effective management of diseases affecting pigs as well as ways of defining and promoting animal welfare in pig production.
Regular price £140.00Sale price £140.00 Regular price £140.00Unit price per -
Ensuring safety and quality in the production of beef volume 2
Volume 2 reviews developments related to quality, starting with the way breeding and growth affect meat quality. The book then discusses cattle nutrition and management before concluding with an assessment of factors determining individual quality traits such as colour and flavour.
Regular price £170.00Sale price £170.00 Regular price £170.00Unit price per -
Ensuring safety and quality in the production of beef volume 1
Volume 1 looks at key research trends in ensuring safe beef production, both on the farm and during slaughter. These include current research on pathogens in beef, risk assessment and detection as well as food safety management.
Regular price £130.00Sale price £130.00 Regular price £130.00Unit price per -
Beef colour development and variation
Meat colour is a very important visual sensory attribute that influences purchasing decisions. Post-mortem muscle is biochemically active and any deviation from the ultimate post-mortem muscle pH can influence meat colour. More specifically, changes in pH can affect the key determinants of meat c...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
The use of molecular genetic information in genetic improvement programmes for pigs
Genetic improvement of pigs has been achieved by selection of individuals for breeding based on estimated breeding values (EBV), derived using phenotypes for important traits. Ideally, phenotypes on the individual itself and its relatives are utilized in order to obtain the most accurate estimate...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Achieving sustainable production of pig meat volume 2
Pig production faces many hurdles in meeting increasing global demand sustainably. This volume discusses advances in breeding to improve both productivity and quality. It also reviews key developments in improving animal nutrition.
Regular price £160.00Sale price £160.00 Regular price £160.00Unit price per -
Achieving sustainable production of sheep
Sheep have long been a feature of farming. This collection reviews the latest research on issues such as meat quality, genetics and breeding. It also discusses animal nutrition, health and welfare as well as ways of improving the sustainability of sheep production.
Regular price £180.00Sale price £180.00 Regular price £180.00Unit price per -
Branded beef programmes
The emergence of branded beef programmes has had tremendous impact on the beef industry worldwide. As a means to ensure consumer satisfaction and as a tool for differentiation, branding strategies have changed over the years, yet the basic principles of a successful beef brand have not. This chap...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Factors affecting flavour development in beef
Many attributes of the eating quality, especially tenderness, of beef have received much attention in research over the years. However, it has been widely accepted that one of the major attributes that make beef unique is its flavour; in fact, recent research has shown that it is flavour that is ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Improving the reproductive efficiency of sheep
Sheep, in the form of mutton and lamb, fulfils, in large part, the world’s ever-increasing demand for animal protein. Large areas of the world are arid and semi-arid and are thus suitable for sheep farming, but there is only limited availability of pasture area. Therefore, sheep production must b...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Sheep nutrition: formulated diets
The primary feeds for sheep are renewable and contain high concentrations of components that are not suitable for human consumption, making sheep farming sustainable. In some economies, maize, barley, sorghum, wheat, soya beans, rapeseed and their by-products are inexpensive enough to be fed stra...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Controversies surrounding the impact of the fat content of beef on human health
Whether ‘red’ or ‘processed meat’ intake is related to adverse health outcomes in the US population and other developed countries is an often-debated concept. Beef frequently is a focus of such discussions because of its contribution to saturated fat in the diet. This chapter examines the evide...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Maintaining sheep flock health: an overview
Improving the efficiency of livestock production is a fundamental challenge facing humanity, and maintaining the health of livestock is key to ensuring this. Systems for farming small ruminants such as sheep must meet the global need for food security while being economically, environmentally and...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Factors affecting sheep carcass characteristics
This chapter describes the characteristics of a sheep’s carcass and explains the principles of carcass composition (the weight or proportion of muscle, fat and bone in the carcass). Understanding carcass characteristics and finding techniques for altering the characteristics are important for max...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Traditional animal breeding of cattle to improve carcass composition and meat quality
Genetic selection for carcass attributes such as marbling and tenderness is relatively new compared to selection for growth traits. Estimated breeding values (EBVs) allow for the comparison of animals for their genetic potential as parents for a given trait. This chapter reviews the role of EBVs,...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Ensuring the safety of feed for beef cattle
The unique ruminant digestive system of beef cattle enables them to eat and digest a wide range of feed products, including by-product or alternative feeds not utilized in other livestock production systems. It is important to ensure that the various feed products provided to cattle will not pose...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Effects of metabolic modifiers on beef carcass composition and meat quality
Metabolic modifiers are compounds that are either fed to animals or implanted to improve rate of gain, feed efficiency, dressing percent, carcass meat yield, visual meat quality, shelf life or meat palatability. This chapter presents a general review of the effects of metabolic modifiers on carca...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Beef cattle nutrition and its effects on beef quality
Previous dogmas suggested that body composition and subsequent carcass characteristics of beef cattle are primarily tied to mature body weight and fat thickness. Subsequent research suggests that marbling can occur at different stages of growth when sufficient nutrition is provided and that the r...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Methods for detecting pathogens in the beef food chain: an overview
The main food-borne pathogens of concern in the beef chain are Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Salmonella; other pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter spp. may also be present. Furthermore, the occurrence and development of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) p...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Animal and on-farm factors affecting sheep and lamb meat quality
Ensuring meat quality is key returning value from sheep production around the world. Meat quality attributes inform customers’ purchasing decisions and define the eating experience of the consumer. Meat quality incorporates appearance traits such as the meat or fat colour and palatability charact...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Beef carcass grading and classification
This chapter reviews the three main beef carcass grading or classification systems used across three continents. These are used for a large proportion of beef production and processing in the world. One is the ‘EUROP’ system for EU countries, another is the USDA Beef Carcass Grading system in the...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Methods for detecting pathogens in the beef food chain: detecting particular pathogens
The main food-borne pathogens of concern in the beef food chain are Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Salmonella; other pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter spp. may also be present. These pathogens pose contamination concerns in both the cattle productio...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Understanding the effects of handling, transportation, lairage and slaughter on cattle welfare and beef quality
Handling, transport, lairage and slaughter are stressful for cattle, and can affect the quality of the beef produced. This chapter considers the complexity of each stage of pre-slaughter management arising from the interactions between different types of cattle, different physical environments, t...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
The role of beef in human nutrition and health
Beef is an important source of both macronutrients and micronutrients. Nevertheless, concerns have been raised regarding the effects of eating red and processed meat on human health. In this chapter, we review the nutrients available in beef and then assess the concerns raised about the health im...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
The future of dna technologies for improving beef quality: marbling, fatty acid composition and tenderness
DNA genotyping with high-density panels and genome sequencing provide new opportunities for genetic improvement of beef quality traits by genomic selection (GS). Adoption of GS in the beef industry is lower than that in the dairy industry. Lower accuracy of genomic predictions is one of the reaso...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per -
Assessing the environmental impact of sheep production
Sheep production may impact locally on water, air and soil quality, as well as globally, for example contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Sheep production can also impact biodiversity, human health via various pollutants, and community and cultural well-being. This chapter examines how life ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Factors affecting fat content and distribution of fat in cattle and carcasses
Beef cattle are highly efficient at depositing fat, and they deposit fats in a specific order: first abdominal, then seam (intermuscular), then subcutaneous and finally marbling (intramuscular, interfascicular) fat. The development and composition of these fat deposits are influenced by the diet ...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
The sustainability and ‘carbon footprints’ of conventional and alternative beef production systems
The beef industry faces a significant challenge in producing sufficient food to supply the requirements of the growing population, while maintaining a culture of continuous improvement and reducing environmental impacts per unit of beef produced. Since the late 1970’s, the US beef industry made s...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £0.00Unit price per -
Validating indicators of sheep welfare
Until recently, assessment of sheep welfare has received little attention, perhaps because sheep have traditionally been managed extensively and their relative behavioural freedom has led to perceptions of fewer or lower risks to their welfare. However, extensively managed sheep are still vulnera...
Read MoreRegular price £25.00Sale price £25.00 Regular price £25.00Unit price per
We're sorry. An error has occurred
Please cancel or retry.
