Preface

When the first volume of Advances in Legume Research was published in 2020 it was not anticipated that this next volume would soon begin, with so much interest of our authors sparked by the previous one. As the previous volume reported a vast amount of advanced information regarding both biotic and abiotic stress-induced reductions in the growth and yield of legumes, particularly, cowpea, mung bean and soybean. Presently, we focussed the current volume on pertinent literature and specific new developments that belong to the topic, as chosen for this book. As earlier envisioned, this book is intended to share new developments pertaining to the ways in which biotic stress factors continue to inflict harm on leguminous crops, as they are among the most vulnerable and highly sensitive groups of oilseed crops worldwide. Although it is aimed at both experienced and newcomer researchers/ students, this book offers new insights for individuals looking for new perspectives in the current knowledge of diseases and pests, associated with legumes, as well as the mechanisms in which these crops may or may not resist these attacks. Mostly, the book focuses on the influences of bacteria, fungi, viruses, arthropodous spiders and invertebrate organisms, as well as how climate change drives the population diversity and distribution of these microbial pests in order to limit plant growth and productivity in leguminous crops.

Such a book is highly required, especially to grow our knowledge and understanding of how the genetic diversity of crop plants can be protected, improved and sustained to benefit the current and future generations. This endeavour can be beefed up by establishing efficiently analysed genomics and proteomics data that provide concrete insights underlining molecular mechanisms that play a critical role in enabling crops to effectively adapt and respond to biotic stress, as highlighted in the introductory chapter of this book. As we look ahead to the possible preparation of the next volume, we hope that readers of this and previous volumes will find time and space to provide us with critical comments, suggestions or errors, if any. Finally, we are very indebted to Dr. Mabila and Ms. Noko Monene (Department of Research Administration and Development, University of Limpopo, South Africa) for their continued financial support, Prof. Luis Mur for providing his expertise outlook and reasons why readers must read this book. Also, many thanks are due to our publisher for all the help we received and for patiently waiting for documents. We are especially grateful to the authors and everyone who assisted over the period of preparing this volume.