Bananas are a staple food for over 500 million people and are also an important cash crop. Fusarium wilt, caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense, is one of the most destructive diseases of banana globally. Since the 1990s, an aggressive variant of this fungus, called Tropical Race 4 (TR4), severely affected banana plantations in Southeast Asia from where it spread to other continents, including Latin America, where the global banana export market is primari...

This open access book presents simple, robust pre-field screening protocols that allow plant breeders to screen for enhanced tolerance to heat stress in rice. Two critical heat-sensitive stages in the lifecycle of the rice crop are targeted – the seedling and flowering stages – with screening based on simple phenotypic responses. The protocols are based on the use of a hydroponics system and/or pot experiments in a glasshouse in combination with a controlled growth chamber where the heat s...

This open-access book provides a comprehensive overview of current methodologies for improving resistance to leaf rust in coffee, one of the world's most important cash crops and beverages. Coffea arabica L. (Arabica) accounts for about 60% of the world's coffee production. Coffee leaf rust (CLR), caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix is the major disease affecting Arabica coffee resulting in losses of over $1 billion annually. The geographical distribution of CLR is ex...