Avocado, The: Botany, Production and Uses

by Bruce Schaffer (Editor), Victor Albert (Contribution by), B Nigel Wolstenholme (Editor), Martín Aluja (Contribution by), Anthony W Whiley (Editor)

Overview

Although the avocado has been cultivated and consumed for more than 9000 years in its native Latin America, world production and trade have only developed over the past few decades, and now exceed 3.5 million tonnes. The avocado is now widely traded between warmer and colder countries as a result of the global community becoming increasingly aware of its versatility and nutritional value. For the past decade, the global 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789243727
Publisher:	CAB International North America
Publication date:	01/29/2013
Series:	Botany, Production and Uses
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Bruce Schaffer is a Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Florida, Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, Florida, USA. He is internationally recognized for his research on ecophysiology of subtropical and tropical horticultural crops, particularly fruit crops, including avocado. In addition to the seven books and proceedings he has edited, he is author or co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in over 40 different journals plus more than 160 other publications including book chapters, technical reports, proceedings papers, and abstracts
Nigel Wolstenholme (B.Sc. Agric. cum laude, Horticultural Science, 1960, Ph.D 1967) studied and lectured (1960 - 1998) at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, retiring in 1999. He became Head of the Department of Horticultural Science in 1988. Four year-long sabbaticals, two at Texas A&M University (pecan nut research), and two with co-editor Tony Whiley at Maroochy Horticultural Research Station, Queensland, Australia (avocado research), broadened his horizons. Since the mid - 1970's, research emphasized was the ecology, ecophysiology and horticultural manipulation of subtropical fruit crops for optimization of yield and fruit quality. He supervised or co-supervised 22 completed M.Sc. Agric. and 10 Ph.D candidates. Peer-reviewed scientific papers numbered ca. 60, plus 8 book chapters and 2 book co-editorships, and ca 190 industry-oriented scientific articles of various types. Amongst his prestigeous awards were the Golden Avocado Award (South African Avocado Growers' Association 1998), and Fellow of the University of Natal (1999).
Entomology, pest management
Anthony W Wiley is an Independent Consultant with Sunshine Horticultural Services Pty Ltd in Australia.
Richard Litz is a professor emeritus in the Department of Horticultural Sciences of the University of Florida. From 1976 until his retirement in 2011, he was at the Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, where he developed and led a research programme that focused on biotechnology of tropical fruit crops, e.g., avocado, carambola, litchi, longan, mango and papaya. His laboratory hosted postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists from 16 countries in the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Africa and Asia. He has edited seven books about biotechnology of fruit crops and also about mango and has authored more than 150 refereed publications and book chapters. In retirement, Richard lives in a village on the coast of Maine.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. History, Distribution and Uses
3. Taxonomy and Botany
4. Genetics and Breeding
5. Ecology: Climate and Soils
6. Reproductive Biology
7. Ecophysiology
8. Cultivars and Rootstocks
9. Propagation
10. Biotechnology
11. Irrigation and Mineral Nutrition
12. Crop Management
13. Foliar, Fruit and Soilborne Diseases
14. Insect and Mite Pests
15. Harvesting, Packing, Postharvest Technology, Transport and Processing