Preface

Chapter 8 **Involvement of Lignin-Modifying Enzymes in the Degradation**

Chapter 9 **Herbicides as Potential Chemotherapeutic Agents Against**

Chapter 10 **Immunosensors: Concepts and Structures for Fast and**

**Sulfonylurea-Herbicide-Resistant Weeds 219**

Chapter 12 **Risk Assessment of Herbicide Resistant Crops with Special Reference to Pollen Mediated Gene Flow 237**

Chapter 13 **Recent Advances in the Extraction of Triazines from**

Chapter 14 **Floral Biology and Africanized Honeybee Behaviour in**

Hideki Nukui, Hidehiro Inagaki, Hiroyuki Iyozumi and Kimihiko Kato

José A. Rodríguez, Karina Aguilar-Arteaga, Cristina Díez and

**Transgenic (Roundup ReadyTM var. BR-245 RR) and Conventional (var. BRS-133) Soybean (Glycine max L.**

Takasusuki and Vagner de Alencar Arnaut de Toledo

Tran Dang Xuan, Shinkichi Tawata and Tran Dang Khanh

Chapter 15 **Herbicidal Activity of Mimosine and Its Derivatives 299**

Wainer César Chiari, Clara Beatriz Hoffmann-Campo, Carlos Arrabal Arias, Tais da Silva Lopes, Tiago Cleiton Simões de Oliveira Arnaut De Toledo, Emerson Dechechi Chambó, Maria Claudia Ruvolo-

Jaqueline da Silva Coelho-Moreira, Giselle Maria Maciel, Rafael Castoldi, Simone da Silva Mariano, Fabíola Dorneles Inácio, Adelar

**of Herbicides 165**

**VI** Contents

**Parasitic Protozoa 189** Wanderley de Souza

**Accurate Sensing 197** A. Rodríguez and E. Valera

Amit J. Jhala and Linda M. Hall

**Water Samples 255**

**Merrill) Flowers 277**

Enrique Barrado

Chapter 11 **Biophoton Emissions in**

Bracht and Rosane Marina Peralta

Since the commercial production of herbicides began, herbicides have become an integral part of agriculture. Increased herbicide use has contributed to increased food and feed production, re‐ duced farm labor requirements, improved control of invasive weed species, and a number of other positive benefits for the world's population. As herbicide use continues, research is required to improve upon existing herbicide formulations and application methods, to develop additional uses of herbicide compounds, and to further understand the mechanisms by which herbicides function in order to ensure the future benefits of herbicides.

However, with this increase in chemical inputs into production systems, many concerns have been raised in regards to the detrimental impact of these products to non-target species, includ‐ ing humans, and to the environment. In this respect, research has been necessary to reduce en‐ vironmental degradation, identify potential contamination risks from herbicide use, and to ensure the protection of human health and wellbeing.

Needless to say, herbicide research is a critical component of both agricultural and environ‐ mental science. With continued research efforts in both fields, effective herbicides with reduced impact, rapid contamination detection methods, and unique applications of herbicidal com‐ pounds will, undoubtedly, continue to be developed.

In this book, contributing authors have provided a broad scope of topics related to recent herbi‐ cide research. Research detailed in these chapters is particularly focused on herbicides in agri‐ cultural settings or their impact on the surrounding environment. Topics range from herbicide mode of action investigation, herbicide degradation research, and bio-herbicide development to novel concepts for herbicide contamination detection and even the potential for application of herbicide compounds in the medical field.

The information provided in this book serves as a valuable tool for describing many areas of current herbicide research affecting both agricultural use and environmental impact. **Herbi‐ cides - Advances in Research** should be particularly useful to beginning and established scien‐ tists with interests in continuing to develop research projects focused on understanding herbicide functions, environmental behavior, and new applications of herbicidal compounds. It is hoped that this book will serve the scientific community as a source of current, vital research information to help shape future research and understanding of herbicides.

> **Andrew J. Price** United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, YYYYY National Soil Dynamics Laboratory, Auburn, Alabama, USA

> > **Jessica A. Kelton** Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA

**Chapter 1**

**Agrochemicals and Bacterial Diversity in**

Agrochemicals provide yield protection, prevent and cure crop disease, provide insulation to reduce energy use and provide countless other benefits that increase the standard of living for civilization as a whole. While the chemicals industry has made good progress reducing its overall environmental footprint, chemicals can also create a negative impact on human health and the environment when their production and use are not managed responsibly (Edwards,

Urban food needs is increasing in developing countries, including Ghana (Figure 1), with growing populations. Increasingly vegetables are grown in urban and peri-urban areas to meet this demand. Agriculture has been Ghana's most important economic sector over the years, employing more than 60% of the national work force, mainly in the small landholders on formal and informal basis (Gerken *et al*, 2001) and accounting for about 40% of the total GDP and export earnings. Ghana has climatic zones that range from dry savanna to wet forest and

Agriculture crops including yams, grains, cocoa, oil palms, kola nuts and timber, form the base of Ghana's economy. Compared to this, the contribution of the more traditional vegeta‐ bles such as okra, pepper, tomato, onion and egg plants to the agricultural GDP is low. However, considering their contribution to agricultural GDP and the land area devoted to the cultivation of all crops, the traditional vegetables produce more value per area. For ex‐ ample, the share in total area cultivated and value for vegetables (tomato, okra, pepper and

> © 2013 Ampofo; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

© 2013 Ampofo; licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**Cultivated Tropical Soils**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Joseph Addo Ampofo

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/54963

1975; Tu, 1990; Zulalian, 1990).

run in east-west bands across the country.

**1.2. Agriculture in Ghana**

**1. Introduction**

**1.1. General**
