With eight outstanding reviews on cutting-edge advances in the crop and soil sciences, this volume emphasizes environmental quality and biotechnology. The connections between agricultural practice and environmental impact are addressed in chapters on sewage sludge, dissolved organic matter, and metals and pyrolysis-mass spectrometry of soil organic matter. Also among this collection are reviews on USDA's plant genome project, DNA markers, and peanut genetics and breeding. With this latest volume, Advances in Agronomy continues to be recognized as a prolific and first-rate reference by the scientific community. In 1993 Advances in Agronomy increased its publication frequency to three volumes per year, and will continue this trend as the breadth of agronomic inquiry and knowledge continues to grow.Key Features* Synchrotron X-ray techniques* USDA plant genome program* Pyrolysis-mass spectrometric analysis of soil organic matter* Dissolved organic carbon and metal sorption by soils* DNA markers in plant breeding* Sewage sludge amended agricultural land* Peanut breeding and genetics* GIS in agricultural systems