Handbook of Seed Science and Technology. Amarjit S. Basra. 2006. Food Products Press (An imprint of the Haworth Press, Inc.), 10 Alice Street, Binghampton, N.Y. 796 p. including index, illustrated with photographs. $124.95, hardcover. ISBN - 13: 978-1-56022-314-6/ISBN-10: 1-56022-314-6, and, $94.95, softcover. ISBN - 13: 978-1-56022-315-3/ISBN-10: 1-56022-315-4.
Several excellent reference books have come out in recent years related to seed science. Dr. Basra's new book Handbook of Seed Science and Technology is one that gives a good overview of the whole area of seed development, dormancy and germination, including hormonal regulation of seed germination as well as seed quality aspects such as testing, seed vigor, seed-borne pathogens, and seed quality. This book goes one step further, as it has information related to seed predation and natural defense mechanisms of seeds, information on the eco-physiological basis of weed seed longevity in soil, seeds and soil seed banks, as well as hybrid seed production and plant germplasm conservation. The reader has an opportunity to get information, packed into 796 pages, in almost any area related to seeds.
The contributing authors to Dr. Basra's book are excellent and well known for their work in the area of seeds. Each chapter appears to be complete with regard to the subject matter. More importantly, the authors give a long list of references at the end of each chapter for additional reading and for information that is more detailed. Some of the chapters have good illustrations, and information and data related to specific areas of subject matter. This type of information is extremely important for someone who may want to adopt this book for a course on seeds.
In order to bring subject matter together, Dr. Basra has broken the book up into four sections. Section 1 is on seed development, cell biology and biotechnology, and it gives good information on certain crops related to carbon petitioning, grain number determination in grain crops, metabolic engineering of carbohydrate supply, and enhancing nutritional value of seeds. There is a division at the end on synthetic seed technology. Section 2 covers seed dormancy and germination with the various aspects affecting seed dormancy and germination. These very important areas of seed science are somewhat brief, covering fewer than 90 pages in three chapters. Section 3 covers seed ecology where there is good background information on various areas of subject matter. Finally, Section 4 covers seed technology that covers quality testing, seed vigor, seed-borne pathogens, seed quality, and seed production.
As I teach a course in Seed Physiology to graduate students, I continually look for good background information to be presented in class. Dr. Basra's book, Handbook of Seed Science and Technology, is a good supportive text for the course. However, I cannot use it as an assigned text because it lacks depth in various areas that we need to cover in class in detail, including seed germination and dormancy factors. The cost of this book is also somewhat prohibitive for students in that the soft-cover printing is about $95, which is a bit too high for today's graduate students. The text is outstanding for someone who wants a good background related to all areas of seed science in general and for such I recommend it highly.
