Introduction

With the advancement of science and technology agricultural sector also adopted improved technology and chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides. To feed the rapidly growing population, agriculture sector applied heavy quantity of chemicals—which, no doubt, resulted in record yield. But simultaneously grew the problem of food hazards, poisoning, air pollution, soil pollution etc. This encyclopaedia compiles highly useful and scientific information on all aspects of environmental agricultural pollution.

Major Themes Discussed

The major themes discussed are: Concepts in Agriculture; Agricultural Pollution; Adverse Effects of Pesticides; Environmental Study of Pesticides, Polychlorinated Biphenyls and other Chloro-organic Compounds Used in Agriculture; Lithosphere and Soil; Soil Salinity; Soil Physics; Soil Physical Condition and Plant Growth; Soil Kinetics; Soil Biochemistry; SO₂ Effects on Plant Community Structure; Modeling Effects of SO₂ on the Productivity and Growth of Plants; Genetic Variability in Growth Responses to SO₂, Plant Response to SO₂ and CO₂; Nitrogen Oxides: Products of Combustion Processes that Constitute a Serious Hazard to Crops; Toward a Mechanistic Understanding of Plant Responses to SO₂; Evaluation of the Impact of Inorganic Soil Pollutants on Consumers; The Influence of Dietary Composition on the Toxicity of Cadmium, Copper, Zinc and Lead to Animals; The Effect of Low Concentrations of Ambient Pollutants on the Growth and Yield of Crops; Heavy Metal Pollution of Farms Near Industrial Complexes; SO₂ Effects on the Growth of Native Plants; SO₂ Effects on Tree Growth; SO₂ Effects on the Productivity of Grass Species; SO₂ Effects on Dicot Crops: Some Issues, Mechanisms, and Indicators; Irrigation and the Energy Economics of Water Management for Hydrologic Basins; A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Biogas Production in Rural India: Alternative to Energy Intensive Fertilizers; Prospects for Increasing Food Production in Less Developed Countries through Energy Utilization; Energy Reduction through Improved Irrigation Practices; Economic and Environmental Impacts of the Energy Crisis on Agricultural Production; Political Economy of Energy and Agriculture in the Third World, etc.