The majority of terrestrial plants live in association with symbiotic fungi that facilitate mineral nutrient uptake. The oldest and most prevalent of these associations are the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses that first evolved approximately 400 million years ago, coinciding with the appearance of the first land plants. Crop domestication, in comparison, is a relatively recent event, begi...

Plants and herbivores have co-evolved in their natural habitats for about 350 million years, but since the domestication of crops, plant resistance against insects has taken a different turn. With the onset of monoculture-driven modern agriculture, selective pressure on insects to overcome resistances has dramatically increased. Therefore plant breeders have resorted to high-tech tools to conti...

I ntercropping—growing two or more crops at the same time on a single field—is an ancient practice still used in much of the developing world. For example, in Africa, corn (Zea mays L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), or millet (Panicum and Pennisetum spp.) are grown with pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp), pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.), or beans (...

organic agriculture, sometimes called biological or ecological agriculture, combines traditional conservation-minded farming methods with modern farming technologies .the purpose of this research was to identify management skills in development of organic agriculture in west azerbaijan province (iran) farms. the target population of this research included all agricultural experts who work in we...