(Study Material) Botany Study Material For AIPMT and State PMT Examination (Major Areas of Research in Botany)
Study Material : Botany Study Material For AIPMT and State PMT Examination (Major Areas of Research in Botany)
Biotechnology
Agronomists use biotechnology to extend and expedite the development of desired
characteristics listed in the Plant Breeding section. Biotechnology is is often
a lab activity requiring field testing of the new crop varieties that are
developed.
In addition to increasing crop yields, reducing crop vulnerability to
environmental stresses, improving health and taste of foods, and reducing the
need for field applied chemicals, agronomic biotechnology is increasingly being
applied for novel uses other than food. For example, oilseed is at present used
mainly for margarine and other food oils, but it can be modified to produce
fatty acids for detergents, substitute fuels and petrochemicals.
Soil Science
Agronomists study sustainable ways to make soils more productive. They classify
soils and reproduce them to determine whether they contain substances vital to
plant growth. Such nutritional substances include compounds of nitrogen,
phosphorus, and potassium. If a certain soil is deficient in these substances,
fertilizers may provide them. Agronomists investigate the movement of nutrients
through the soil, and the amount of nutrients absorbed by a plant's roots.
Agronomists also examine the development of the roots and their relation to the
soil.
Soil Conservation
In addition, agronomists develop methods to preserve the soil and to decrease
the effects of erosion by wind and water. For example, a technique called
contour plowing may be used to prevent soil erosion and conserve rainfall.
Researchers in agronomy also seek ways to use the soil more effectively in
solving other problems. Such problems include the disposal of human and animal
wastes; water pollution; and the build-up in the soil of chemicals called
pesticides, which are used to kill insects and other pests. No-tilling crops is
a technique now used to help prevent erosion. planting of soil binding grasses
along contours can be tried in steep slopes. For better effect, contour drains
of depths up to 1 metre may help retain the soil and prevent permanent wash off.
Agroecology
Agroecology is the management of agricultural systems with a strong emphasis on
ecological and environmental perspectives.[5] This area is closely associated
with work in the areas of Sustainable Agriculture, Organic Agriculture, and the
development of alternative cropping systems.
Bryology
Bryology is the branch of botany concerned with the scientific study of
bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts).
Bryophytes were first studied in detail in the 18th century. The German botanist
Johann Jacob Dillenius (1687-1747) was a professor at Oxford and in 1717
produced the work "Reproduction of the ferns and mosses." The
beginning of bryology really belongs to the work of Johannes Hedwig, who
clarified the reproductive system of mosses (1792, Fundamentum historiae
naturalist muscorum) and arranged a taxonomy.
Areas of research include bryophyte taxonomy, bryophytes as bioindicators, DNA
sequencing, and the interdependency of bryophytes and other plant and animal
species. Among other things, scientists have learned that certain species of
mosses are carnivorous.
Ethnobotany
Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between plants and people:
From"ethno" - study of people and "botany" - study of
plants. Ethnobotany is considered a branch of ethnobiology. Ethnobotany studies
the complex relationships between (uses of) plants and cultures. The focus of
ethnobotany is on how plants have been or are used, managed and perceived in
human societies and includes plants used in food, medicine, divination,
cosmetics, dyeing, textiles, constuction, tools, currency, clothing, literature,
rituals, and social life.
Beginning in the 20th century, the field of ethnobotany experienced a shift from
the raw compilation of data to a greater methodological and conceptual
reorientation. This is also the beginning of academic ethnobotany. The founding
father of this discpline is Richard Evans Schultes.
Today the field of ethnobotany requires a variety of skills: botanical training
for the identification and preservation of plant specimens; anthropological
training to understand the cultural concepts around the perception of plants;
linguistic training, at least enough to transcribe local terms and understand
native morphology, syntax, and semantics.
Native healers are often reluctant to accurately share their knowledge to
outsiders. Schultes actually apprenticed himself to an Amazonian shaman, which
involves a long term commitment and genuine relationship. In Wind in the Blood:
Mayan Healing & Chinese Medicine by Garcia et. al. the visiting
acupuncturists were able to access levels of Mayan medicine that anthropologists
could not because they had something to share in exchange. Cherokee medicine
priest David Winston describes how his uncle would invent nonsense to satisfy
visiting anthropologists.
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