Meaningful maize

Maize has more uses than any other cereal and is nutritionally superior to most others, except in its protein value which suffers from very low levels of essential amino acids. Besides its obvious uses around the kitchen, maize is also an important raw material for industrial uses, such as starch. Much research work and countless breeding programmes have been dedicated to improving the production, value and performance of maize sometimes very specifically, such as raising the levels of amino acids. Tropical maize improvement and production is a collection of various examples of these quests for improvements. The first chapters describe the origin, morphology, physiology, types and uses of maize. The core chapters are dedicated to breeding techniques: to improve hybrid breeding, to breed special purpose maize or, through breeding to improve the plant s abiotic stresses, to make it resistant to insects, drought or nutrient deficiencies. The concluding chapters describe research experiences at a more managerial level, such as integrated pest management and post harvest management. This is an interesting publication for maize specialists who do not want to re-invent the wheel but seek to build on results achieved by their predecessors. Tropical maize. Improvement and production FAO Plant Production and Protection No 28, 2000. 376 pp. ISBN 9251044570 US$ 30 Euro 33.50 FAO Sales and Marketing Group Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy Fax: +39 06 57 05 33 60 Email: publications-sales@fao.org