Tropical Research & Education Center: Books & E-books

The first of two volumes, this book covers major tropical fruits such as avocado, litchi, mango, papaya and pineapple. Early chapters describe the tropics and its soils and deal with key issues such as tree management and postharvest handling, updated and expanded to include best handling practices and food safety issues and the way to address these issues in marketing. Following these are self-contained chapters on single fruits which provide in-depth studies of botany, areas of origin and distribution, descriptions of ecological requirements and world production and utilization of each fruit. Propagation & cultural practices from ancient to modern are described to show the regional differences that environmental and biological pressures exert on fruit production and fruit quality. "Tropical Fruits" is essential reading for students and teachers of horticulture as well as horticultural industry personnel and policy-makers.

*Comprehensive information on diseases of the most important tropical fruit crops*Chapters are devoted to a single or, in some cases, a related group of host plants*The history, distribution, importance, symptoms, aetiology, epidemiology and management of diseases of each crop are described in detailThis book offers a comprehensive review of diseases of important tropical and some subtropical fruit crops. The history, distribution, importance, etiology, epidemiology and control of diseases of each host crop are covered, along with brief summaries on the taxonomy, origins and characteristics of each host. Additional information is given on the biology and pathology of the causal agents and on new advances that change or otherwise enhance our understanding of the nature and cause of these diseases. Plant pathologists, plantation and nursery managers, lecturers and those who are involved in tropical agriculture and horticulture will find this an essential reference.

Insects and other pests cause major economic damage on fruit crops in the tropics. However, some insects are beneficial and have a role in pollinating flowers, thus enabling fruit set. This book reviews these injurious and beneficial organisms and how they might be controlled to enhance fruit production and quality.

Although avocado has been cultivated and consumed for more than 9000 years near its centre of origin in Latin America, world production and trade has increased dramatically over the past few decades. The avocado is now a widely traded fruit between warmer and colder countries as a result of the global community becoming increasingly aware of the versatility and nutritional value of this crop. For the past decade, the world avocado industry has been going through a period of rapid technological change and innovation. The dietary value of "the most nutritious of all fruit" is also receiving more attention. This fully updated new edition of the successful 2002 book will provide a comprehensive review of avocado production, science and technology.

It is an edited book with chapters written by multi-disciplinary specialists in their specific subject areas. It covers development of IPM components and packaging them for individual vegetable crops specifically targeted to tropical countries. Scientific background for IPM components or tactics will be included. There will be case studies of IPM packages developed and implemented in different countries. The concept of IPM has been in existence for the past six decades; however, a practical holistic program has not been developed and implemented for vegetable crops, in the developing countries.   Currently the IPM adoption rate in the tropics is minimal and there is a need for implementation of IPM technologies that are environmentally safe, economical, and socially acceptable. We believe that adoption and implementation of IPM provided in this book will lead to significant reduction in crop losses and mitigate adverse impacts of pesticide use in the tropics. This book is an outcome 20 years of research, development and implementation of the IPM CRSP, a project supported by USAID and administered by Virginia Tech in several developing countries along the tropical belt in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. ​