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Sustainable livelihood security of resource poor farmers is the top priority for the nation today. However, there is wide gap in productivity of various horticultural commodities among different eco-regions, where horticulture can play significant role particularly in arid and semi arid regions, it is far below than the potential productivity. Hence, sustained and steady growth in rural income is critical for positive impact on living standard of various stakeholders. Therefore, an appropriate strategy needs to be devised for such climatically vulnerable regions. The net income of farmers can surely be increased by efficient management of nutrient, water and agri-input, integrated horticulture based farming system, better market price realization, post harvest management and value addition, integration of secondary enterprises and thereby improving productivity of arid and semi-arid horticultural crops. In this book, several such interventions are given in the form of various chapters which will be of immense use improving the productivity and profitability of horticultural commodities.Note: T&F does not sell or distribute the hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. This title is co-published with NIPA.

Sustainable livelihood security of resource poor farmers is the top priority for the nation today. However, there is wide gap in productivity of various horticultural commodities among different eco-regions, where horticulture can play significant role particularly in arid and semi arid regions, it is far below than the potential productivity. Hence, sustained and steady growth in rural income is critical for positive impact on living standard of various stakeholders. Therefore, an appropriate strategy needs to be devised for such climatically vulnerable regions. The net income of farmers can surely be increased by efficient management of nutrient, water and agri-input, integrated horticulture based farming system, better market price realization, post harvest management and value addition, integration of secondary enterprizes and thereby improving productivity of arid and semi-arid horticultural crops. In this book, several such interventions are given inform of various chapters which will be of immense use improving the productivity and profitability of horticultural commodities.

The present book opens its contents with the introductory ideas about the earth's crust, rocks, minerals and soils, along with the weathering sequence and stability of the silicate minerals; soil colloids, covering the structural aspects and properties; ion-exchange processes in soil, including the theories — both thermodynamic and kinetic as well as others — and practices, and also the implications of such processes in soil; chemistry of soil acidity and salt-affected soils and their amelioration; soil organic matter, including its chemistry, influence on soil properties, metal-humic interactions and clay-humus complex; chemistry of phosphorus, including the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects as well as its availability in soil as plant nutrient; chemistry of micronutrients in soil; chemistry of waterlogged soils; transport processes in soil, covering self- and tracer-diffusion of nutrients in soil, isothermal and thermal diffusion of water and solutes in soil, and also the isothermal coupled transport of aqueous solutes in soils and clays; and finally the issues relating to environmental soil chemistry, their impact and appropriate remediation measures. The emphasis throughout the book has been to relate the underlying soil processes to the concepts in basic sciences. Indeed, keeping in view the requirement of the beginners as well as the advanced students, there appears to be a genuine need of a textbook on the subject of Soil Chemistry which, while starting from the basic principles, would go to more intricate treatments to facilitate the understanding of the nature of the chemistry of a multi-phase and complex natural resource, namely soil. The author has made an attempt to bridge this gap. The book is written to address the requirement of the course curricula in soil chemistry for the post-graduate and Ph.D. students, notwithstanding the fact that it also caters the need of the undergraduate students, studying soil science as a part of their undergraduate course curricula.

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is a precious gift of nature to mankind and grown extensively in tropical climate for its delicious kernel. Though, India is the first country to exploit cashew processing and export but compared to other horticultural crops, cashew research and development was less emphasized. Also, there is no comprehensive document available in India about cashew research and development. Therefore, the present book has been compiled by including all efforts made in the field of crop improvement, crop production, plant health management, post harvest management, economics and trade etc. which will serve as bench mark for the future research and development in the country. The critical gaps identified in different areas have been also mentioned as future line of works. We hope that the present book will be useful for the wide range of readers who are engaged in cashew research, development, cultivation, processing and export.