Book excerpt: The future of mankind depends on ever-increasing agricultural production to provide food, fibre, fuel and other essential commodities. This can only be achieved through a sound knowledge of the plants which feature prominently in agriculture. This book describes these plants in detail, together with the products which are obtained from them. The opening chapter on world population and food supply is followed by a general introduction to plant structure. The major part of the book then considers economically important field crops and pasture plants of temperate and subtropical regions on a family-by-family basis. Fruit crops, flowers and trees are not considered. The book concludes with a discussion of physiological principles of crop growth and yield. This is an introductory text, suitable for the teaching of agricultural botany to undergraduate students, and is intended to bridge the gap between classical botany and agronomy.