Global Perspectives on Underutilized Crops

Dr. Münir Öztürk (PhD) has served at the Ege University Izmir, Turkey for 50 years in various capacities. He has been elected as the “Vice President of the Islamic World Academy of Sciences”; has received the fellowships from Alexander von Humboldt, Japanese Society for Promotion of Science and National Science Foundation, USA. Dr. Ozturk has served as Chairman of Botany Department and Founding Director for the Centre for Environmental Studies, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, as Consultant Fellow, Faculty of Forestry,Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia and as Distinguished Visiting Scientist, ICCBS, Karachi University, Pakistan. His fields of scientific interest are plant eco-physiology; conservation of plant diversity; biosaline agriculture and crops; pollution, biomonitoring, medicinal and aromatic plants. He has published 40 books, 50 book chapters,and 175 papers in journals with impact factor.  Dr. Khalid Rehman Hakeem (PhD) is an AssociateProfessor at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He completed his Ph.D. (Botany) from Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India, in 2011. Dr. Hakeem worked as a Post Doctorate Fellow in 2012 and Fellow Researcher (Associate Prof.) from 2013-2016 at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. His speciality is plant eco-physiology, biotechnology & molecular biology, plant-microbe-soil interactions and environmental sciences and so far has edited and authored more than sixteen books with Springer International, Academic Press (Elsevier), etc. He has also to his credit more than 110 research publications in peer reviewed international journals, including 40 book chapters in edited volumes with international publishers. Dr. Muhammad Ashraf (DSc; Fellow TWAS; Fellow PAS) is a PhD from the University of Liverpool, UK. He did his Post-Doc as a Fulbright scholar from the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. In 2011, he was awarded a DSc degree (a substantive degree) by the University of Liverpool, UK. He is currently working as Chairman, Pakistan Science Foundation, Islamabad. In the past, he served as the Vice Chancellor of Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan. He is a Visiting Professor at a number of International Universities of USA, UK, China, Korea, Egypt, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia. His area of research is plant stress physiology. His ISI citation index is now over 14,500 and google citations are over 30,000. He has more than 500 ISI rated publications to his credit. He has also authored a number of books published by different international well reputed publishers including Springer.  Dr. Muhammad SajidAqeel Ahmad (PhD) obtained his degree in Botany in 2011. Currently, he is working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. His research areas include environmental biology and plant ecology. While working with many regional natural and artificial plant communities particularly those located in the Cholistan Desert and Potohar Plateau, he has highlighted significant spatial and temporal variations occurring in these communities along the environmental gradients. Additionally, he also determined the efficiency of various in-situ conservation practices such as fencing on preserving the natural flora of the Natural Reserves of Pakistan. These findings have provided efficient measures to support the endangered flora of the region. Out of his research work he has published 59 papers in ISI-rated journals with h-index of 15. He has published 4 books with Springer and edited two issues of Pakistan Journal of Botany (as a Guest Editor). He is also an author of 4 book chapters published by Springer.

• Fagopyrum species- A bioresource for food and medicine, crop improvement.- Chicory: Important Bioresource for food and medicine, Biotechnological Applications.- Sugar Beet- Effect of Composed Agricultural Waste on Yield and Polar Value Rate.- Sorghum, Origin, production techniques and economy.- Millet: Origin, production and ecology.- Lentils: Distribution, production and economy.- Moongbean: Drought, Growth, Photosynthetic and Role of potassium/sulfur nutrition.- Okra genotypes in three ecological zones of Nigeria-Stability Assessment.- Saffron: Origin, producton and propogation.- Mulberry (Morus): History, Silk and Fruit Production Technology.- Bamboo: Ecology, production and uses.- Cylindrocarpon heteronemum: Effect of Argon-laser radiation.- Suaeda aegyptiaca extracts & Microorganisms.- Diversity of fungal pathogens infecting Hordeum L. in Macedonia.- Organic Agriculture and underutilized crops:  Biofertilizers and Wood Ash.- Orchard Management in Fruit Crops.- Agri-Environmental Indicators of Macedonia- Analysis and Evaluation.