Achieving sustainable cultivation of vegetables

Part 1 Physiology and breeding
1.Advances in understanding vegetable physiology: root systems as the next frontier in improving sustainable vegetable production: Felipe H. Barrios-Masias, University of Nevada, USA; Cristina Lazcano, University of California–Davis, USA; and Leonardo H. Hernandez-Espinoza, University of Nevada, USA;
2.Advances in understanding and mitigating vegetable responses to abiotic stress: Frederik Börnke, Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ) and University of Potsdam, Germany; and Dietmar Schwarz, Liebniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), Germany;
3.Developments in breeding vegetables: Laura A. Chatham and John A. Juvik, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, USA;

Part 2 Cultivation
4.Advances in irrigation techniques in vegetable cultivation: Andre da Silva and Tim Coolong, University of Georgia, USA;
5.Advances in understanding soil health for vegetable cultivation: Ajay Nair, Iowa State University, USA;
6.Advances in greenhouses and other protected structures used for cultivation of vegetables: Martine Dorais, Centre de recherche en innovation sur les végétaux, Université Laval, Canada;
7.Developments in soilless/hydroponic cultivation of vegetables: Dimitrios Savvas, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece; and Damianos Neocleous, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Cyprus;
8.Advances in organic cultivation of vegetables: Xin Zhao, University of Florida, USA; Francesco Di Gioia, Pennsylvania State University, USA; Kathleen Delate, Iowa State University, USA; Erin Rosskopf, USDA-ARS, USA; and Wenjing Guan, Purdue University, USA;

Part 3 Pests and pathogens
9.Understanding and monitoring diseases of vegetables: Mohammad Babadoost, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, USA;
10.Advances in understanding insect pests of vegetables: a case study of sweetpotato weevil: Ken Sorensen, North Carolina State University, USA;
11.Integrated pest management (IPM) of vegetables: examples of successful deployment: Joshua Freeman, University of Florida, USA;
12.Microbiological safety of vegetable produce: the impact of pre- and post-harvest practices: Max Teplitski, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USA;

Part 4 Case studies
13.Advances in carrot breeding: Emmanuel Geoffriau, Agrocampus Ouest, IRHS, France;
14.Sustainable carrot product: Mary Ruth McDonald and Zachariah Telfer, University of Guelph, Canada;
15.Advances in lettuce breeding: Germán Sandoya, University of Florida, USA;
16.Advances in lettuce cultivation: Rosemary Collier, University of Warwick, UK;
17.Advances in breeding of cucumbers and watermelon: Todd Wehner, North Carolina State University, USA; and Rachel Naegele, USDA-ARS, USA;
18.Alternative tillage production systems for cucurbit vegetables: Alan Walters, Southern Illinois University, USA;
19.Sustainable production of cabbage on plasticulture: Charles E. Barrett, Lucas G. Paranhos, Kati W. Migliaccio, Gary K. England and Lincoln Zotarelli, University of Florida, USA;
20.Advances in pea breeding: Diego Rubiales and María J. González-Bernal, Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Spain; Tom Warkentin and Rosalind Bueckert, University of Saskatchewan, Canada; Maria C. Vaz Patto, ITQB NOVA-Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal; Kevin McPhee, Montana State University, USA; Rebecca McGee, USDA-ARS, USA; and Petr Smýkal, Palacký University, Czech Republic;

Dr George Hochmuth is Emeritus Professor of Soil and Water Sciences at the University of Florida, USA. Professor Hochmuth is a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science and has published widely on nutrition management and other aspects of fruit and vegetable cultivation. He is co-author of Knott’s Handbook for Vegetable Growers. He is former Director of the North Florida Research and Education Center (NFREC) at the University of Florida.