This book focuses on developing an integrated holistic approach for harnessing the potential of rain-fed agriculture. In this approach, rainwater management through harvesting and recharging the groundwater is used as an entry point activity for increasing the productivity for farmers through enhanced water use efficiency. To provide the holistic and integrated solutions, the approach of consortium through building partnerships with different stakeholders, eg. different research institutions (State, National and International), development departments, eg. Department of Agriculture, Department of Animal Husbandry etc., Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Farmers Organizations Community-based Organizations (CBOs) along with market linkages through private companies.

Laboratory data are critical to the understanding of the properties and genesis of a single pedon, as well as to the understanding of fundamental soil relationships based on many observations of a large number of soils. Development of both an analytical database and the soil relationships based on those data are the cumulative effort of generations of soil scientists at the Soil Survey Laboratory (SSL). The purpose of the Soil Survey Investigations Report (SSIR) No. 42, Soil Survey Laboratory Methods Manual is to document methodology and to serve as a reference for the laboratory analyst. It is expected that this document will continue to evolve and change over time as new methods are developed and old methods are modified or retired based on new knowledge or technologies. This manual is an historical document in that it describes both current and obsolete methods at the SSL. This manual also provides historical perspective, documenting the contributions of many soil scientists who have gone before us. Many of these scientists are noted in the section on contributors. Illustration are in full color and black and white.

Science Communication in a Crisis: An Insider's Guide identifies the principal challenges that scientists face when communicating with different stakeholder groups and offers advice on how to navigate the maze of competing interests and deliver actionable science when the clock is ticking. If a scientist's goal is to deliver content and expertise to the people who need it, then other stakeholder groups-the media, the government, industry-need to be considered as partners to collaborate with in order to solve problems. Written by established scientist Christopher M. Reddy, who has been on the front lines of several environmental crisis events, the book highlights ten specific challenges and reflects on mistakes made and lessons learned. Reddy's aim is not to teach scientists how to ace an interview or craft a sound bite. Rather, through exploring several high-profile case studies, including the North Cape oil spill, Deepwater Horizon, and the 2021 Sri Lanka shipping disaster, he presents a clear pathway to effective and collaborative communication. This book will be a great resource for junior and established scientists who want to make an impact, as well as students in courses such as environmental and science communication.

This book focuses on the use of farm level, micro- and macro-data of cooperative systems and networks in developing new robust, reliable and coherent modeling tools for agricultural and environmental policy analysis. The efficacy of public intervention on agriculture is largely determined by the existence of reliable information on the effects of policy options and market developments on farmers' production decisions and in particular, on key issues such as levels of agricultural and non-agricultural output, land use and incomes, use of natural resources, sustainable-centric management, structural change and the viability of family farms. Over the last years, several methods and analytical tools have been developed for policy analysis using various sets of data. Such methods have been based on integrated approaches in an effort to investigate the above key issues and have thus attempted to offer a powerful environment for decision making, particularly in an era of radical change for both agriculture and the wider economy.

The book explores how unused and under-used urban spaces - from grass verges, roundabouts, green spaces - have been made more visually interesting and more productive, by informal (and usually illegal) groups known as "guerrilla gardeners". The book focuses on groups in the English Midlands but the work is set in a broad international context and reveals how and why they undertake this illegal activity. Guerrilla gardening is usually viewed uncritically and promoted as a worthwhile activity: this study provides a more balanced evaluation and focuses on its contribution in terms of local food production.

The first accessible text on the topic of animals as environmental predictors, bringing together the literature from as far back as 18th century through to the present day. - Covers wider terrain than other titles in a relatively unexplored subject area. The text discusses climate change (highly topical) and how animals may be able to be used to predict future weather and climatic events. There is international potential as the climate challenge is global, and the examples span worldwide case studies. The sources used include myths, anecdotes, news articles and stories backed up by relevant scientific literature in international peer-reviewed journals. Each chapter starts with a short fictitious story to set the scene and anecdotes from indigenous cultures are especially interesting. The author draws on his vast expertise in biochemistry and cell biology. The science does not impede the less technical reader, due to the engaging mix of stories, anecdotes, personal observations and scientific underpinnings.

Advanced materials and nanotechnology is a promising, emerging field involving the use of nanoparticles to facilitate the detection of various physical and chemical parameters, including temperature, humidity, pH, metal ion, anion, small organic or inorganic molecules, gases, and biomolecules responsible for environmental issues that can lead to diseases like cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis, bacterial infections, and brain, retinal, and cardiovascular diseases. By monitoring environmental samples and detecting these environmental issues, advanced nanotechnology in this type of sensory technology is able to improve daily quality of life. Although these sensors are commercially available for the detection of monovalent cations, anions, gases, volatile organic molecules, heavy metal ions, and toxic metal ions, many existing models require significant power and lack advanced technology for more quality selectivity and sensitivity. There is room in these sensors to optimize their selectivity, reversibility, on/off ratio, response time, and their environmental stability in real-world operating conditions. This book explores the methods for the development and design of environmentally-friendly, simple, reliable, and cost effective electrochemical nanosensors using powerful nanostructured materials. More specifically, it highlights the use of various electrochemical-based biosensor sensors involved in the detection of monovalent cations, anions, gases, volatile organic molecules, heavy metal ions, and toxic metal ions, with the ultimate goal of seeing these technologies reach market.

This two-volume work is a testament to the increasing interest in the role of microbes in sustainable agriculture and food security. Advances in microbial technologies are explored in chapters dealing with topics such as plant-microbe interactions, rhizoremediation and cyanoremediation, and bio-immobilization. Volume II is a collection of research findings that invites readers to examine the application of microbes in pollution reduction, decontamination of agro- and aquatic ecosystems, and remediation of various toxic compounds. Highly readable entries attempt to close the knowledge gap between soil microbial associations and sustainable agriculture. Traditional agricultural management techniques have relied heavily on application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; and recent land use change practices have led to over exploitation of natural resources. Strategies outlined here simplify a complicated picture of the way microbial communities can improve the quality of environment and eliminate food scarcity in the coming generations. This work is a significant contribution to research in this increasingly important discipline of soil sciences, and will appeal to researchers in microbiology, agriculture, environmental sciences, and soil and crop sciences.

During the last few years, many journal articles have shown the usefulness of the Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) model for analyzing regional yield trials. AMMI helps agronomists and breeders in several ways: to understand or model complex data sets, especially the interactions; to estimate yields more accurately, even with less data; to make better selections; and to design more efficient yield-trial experiments.

This book is the first systematic treatment of these topics, collecting concepts from the scattered literature and also presenting many new results. Although agricultural applications are emphasized here, AMMI is applicable to two-way data tables containing one kind of data, either replicated or not, so AMMI appears in many areas of science and technology.

The volume's first seven chapters review the agricultural and statistical principles and the final chapter indicates the difference that AMMI can make for agricultural research and world food supplies. This book will be of great value to agricultural scientists throughout the world, enabling them to learn more from their data and thereby make greater progress.

The European economy is still in recession, even though there are some weak indications of stabilization. This book examines important aspects of the crisis in selected countries of Southern Europe, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. The intensity of the crisis and its economic and social repercussions have varied from country to country, generally impacting the core countries less than those on the periphery. The countries in the latter group currently face significant structural challenges with regard to improving productivity and competitiveness, including the areas of investment, climate, the labour market, and the public sector. The book not only illustrates the scope of the problem, but also informs readers on the policies implemented to address it, and discusses the progress some of the economies have already made. Special topics include the convergence hypothesis, agriculture and growth, Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructure (PPPI), and the labour market.

This book is an analysis of energy and food subsidies in the MENA region between 2010 and 2014. Using the World Bank's proprietary SUBSIM model, the book studies the distribution of subsidies and the simulation of subsidy reforms across eight countries within in a partial equilibrium framework. The distributional analysis of subsidies provides information on who benefits from existing subsidies, while the simulations of subsidy reforms provide information on the outcomes of the reforms in terms of government budget, household welfare, poverty, inequality, and the trade-offs between these outcomes. This focus provides governments with the essential information they need to make decisions on subsidy reforms and consumers with a clear sense of which programs and reforms are successful. The book highlights the historical roots of subsidies, the real trigger of subsidy reforms, and the complexity of subsidy reforms. It discusses the pros and cons of radical and gradualist approaches to reforms, the use of compensation mechanisms and their implications, the advantages and disadvantages of public information campaigns, the political economy of targeting different economic populations, the political timing of reforms, and whether, overall, the reforms observed in the MENA region have been successful. The first book on subsidies in the MENA region that is based on primary micro data, this book is useful for researchers and graduate students studying political economy and working with microsimulation modelling instruments as well as government officials engaged in subsidies reforms, research institutes and private consulting groups advising governments on subsidy reforms.

Jointly published with INRA, Paris.Pesticide resistance is becoming more frequent and widespread with more than 500 insect species known to have become resistant to synthetic insecticides. On the other hand, consumers increasingly demand agricultural products without any pesticide residues. This book, for the first time, shows the alternative: solely physical methods for plant protection by means of thermal, electromagnetic, mechanical and vacuum processes. A glossary rounds up this extremely valuable book.

Fungal nanotechnology has great prospects for developing new products with industrial, agricultural, medicinal, and consumer applications in a wide range of sectors. The fields of chemical engineering, agri-food, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and medical device development all employ fungal products, with fungal nanomaterials currently used in applications ranging from drug development to the food industry and agricultural biotechnology. Fungal agents are an environmentally friendly, clean, non-toxic agent for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles and employ both intracellular and extracellular methods. The simplicity of scaling up and downstream processing and the presence of fungal mycelia which afford an increased surface area provide key advantages. In addition, the large spectrum of synthesized nanoparticle morphologies and the substantially faster biosynthesis rate in cell-free filtrate (due to the higher amount of proteins secreted in fungi) make this a particularly enticing route. Understanding the diversity of fungi in assorted ecosystems, as well as their interactions with other microorganisms, animals, and plants, underpins real and innovative technological developments and the applications of metal nanoparticles in many disciplines including agriculture, catalysis, and biomedical biosensors. Importantly, biogenic fungal nanoparticles show significant synergistic characteristics when combined with antibiotics and fungicides to offer substantially greater resistance to microbial growth and applications in nanomedicine ranging from topical ointments and bandages for wound healing to coated stents.

One of the major challenges facing humankind is to provide an equitable standard of living for this and future generations: adequate food, water and energy, safe shelter and a healthy environment. Human-induced climate change, and increasing climate variability, as well as other global environmental issues such as land degradation and loss of biological diversity, threaten our ability to meet these basic human needs. It is undisputed that the last two decades have been the warmest this century, and likely to be the warmest for the last 1000 years, sea level is rising, rain and snowfall patterns are changing. Arctic sea ice is thinning and the frequency and intensity of El-NiAo events appear to be increasing. In addition, the frequency of extreme events is rising and many parts of the world have recently suffered major heat-waves, floods and droughts leading to significant loss of life and economic costs. This requires the global community to give urgent attention to addressing key issues. The range of adaptation options for agriculture and forestry is generally increasing because of technological advances, thus reducing the vulnerability of these systems to climate change. However, some regions of the world, particularly developing countries, have limited access to these technologies. Agriculture and forestry are currently not optimally managed with respect to todaya (TM)s natural climate variability. Decreasing the vulnerability of agriculture and forestry to increasing climatic variability will go a long way towards reducing the long-term vulnerability to climate change. This book represents a major step in assessing the science of climate variability and change, and their likelyimpacts on agriculture and forestry, with clear adaptation strategies required to reduce their vulnerability.

This book reflects the current state of discussion about agricultural and rural finance in developing and transition countries. It provides insight into specific themes, such as commodity value chains, farm banking and risk management in agricultural banking, structured finance, crop insurance, mobile banking and how to increase effectiveness in rural finance. Case studies illustrate various aspects of agricultural and rural finance in developing economies. The book is based on one of the yearly financial Sector Development Symposia held by the KfW Development Bank.

In the recent past, threats from climate change and unforeseeable environmental extremes to plant growth and productivity have consistently increased. The climate change-driven effects, especially from unpredictable environmental fluctuations, can result in an increased prevalence of abiotic and biotic stresses in plants. These stresses have slowed down the global yields of crop plants. On the other hand, food security for the rapidly growing human population in a sustainable ecosystem is a major concern of the present-day world. Thus, understanding the core developmental, physiological and molecular aspects that regulate plant growth and productivity in a challenging environment is a pivotal issue to be tackled by the scientific community dealing with sustainable agricultural and horticultural practices. Plants are influenced by the adverse environmental conditions at various levels, their different and diverse responses play a significant role in determining their growth, production and the overall geographical distribution. The chapters in this book focus on the biological mechanisms and fundamental principles that determine how different plant species grow, perform and interact with a challenging environment. This book covers a broad range of topics in plant science, including gene function, molecules, physiology, cell biology and plant ecology, to understand the functioning of plants under harsh environmental conditions. The book elucidates the physiological and molecular mechanisms in different plant species, ecophysiological interactions of plants, interplay between plant roots, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, biosensors for monitoring stress, production of secondary metabolites, stress alleviation processes, and more.

Increasing population and industrialization are the key pollutant contributors in water bodies. The wastes generated by industries are highly hazardous for humans and the ecosystem and require a comprehensive and effective treatment before being discharged into water bodies. Over the years, many up gradations have been introduced in traditional water treatment methods which were expensive and ineffective especially for removal of toxic pollutants. Phycoremediation has been gaining attention due to its mutual benefit in wastewater treatment and for valuable algae biomass production. Wastewater, especially sewage and industrial effluents, is rich in pathogenic organisms, organic and inorganic compounds and heavy metals that adversely affect human and aquatic life. Microalgae use these inorganic compounds and heavy metals for their growth. In addition, they also reduce pathogenic organisms and release oxygen to be used by bacteria for decomposition of organic compounds in a secondary treatment. In this book, the potential of microalgae in wastewater treatment, their benefits, strategies, and challenges are discussed. The increasing need of finding innovative, low-cost, low-energy, sustainable and eco-friendly solutions for wastewater treatment makes the publication of a book on phycoremediation timely and appropriate. Features: (1) Deals with the most emerging aspects of algal research with special reference to phycoremediation. (2) Studies in depth diversity, mutations, genomics and metagenomics study (3) An eco-physiology, culturing, microalgae for food and feed, biofuel production, harvesting of microalgae, separation and purification of biochemicals.

- spans the last fifty years of fisheries policy in Europe - the parting contribution and career spanning reflection from one of Europe’s most renowned social scientists working in this field - explains why the bold but deeply flawed Common Fisheries Policy persistently failed to deliver its basic goal of sustainable fisheries - a final section on Brexit focuses on the implications for the fisheries sector and the fateful final negotiations with the EU over the fisheries question - essential reading for students, scholars, professionals and policymakers working on fisheries, marine governance, natural resource management, environmental policy and the European Project

This book elucidates the importance of long-term experiments in revealing evidence of soil fertility decline in Africa. An evaluation of experiences from on-going long-term experiments is given in broad detail. The first chapter explains the paradigm shift in soil fertility management then provides justification for long-term experiments before illuminating experiences from long-term experiments in East, West and Southern Africa. The second, sixth, eighth and ninth chapters give an in-depth account of crop management practices and soil fertility interventions in long-term trials within specific agro-ecological zones in West Africa. The rest of the chapters (chapter three, four, five and seven) address crop management, tillage practices and, organic and inorganic fertilizer applications in the context of long-term experiments in specific agro-ecological zones in East Africa.

Use of Microbes for the Alleviation of Soil Stresses, Volume 2: Alleviation of Soil Stress by PGPR and Mycorrhizal Fungi describes the most important details and advances related to the alleviation of soil stresses by PGPR and mycorrhizal fungi. Comprised of eleven chapters, the book reviews the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in alleviation of salt stress, the role of AM fungi in alleviating drought stress in plants, the impact of biotic and abiotic stressors and the use of mycorrhizal fungi to alleviate compaction stress on plant growth. Written by experts in their respective fields, Use of Microbes for the Alleviation of Soil Stresses, Volume 2: Alleviation of Soil Stress by PGPR and Mycorrhizal Fungi is a comprehensive and valuable resource for researchers and students interested in the field of microbiology and soil stresses.

Plants have to manage a series of environmental stresses throughout their entire lifespan. Among these, abiotic stress is the most detrimental; one that is responsible for nearly 50% of crop yield reduction and appears to be a potential threat to global food security in coming decades. Plant growth and development reduces drastically due to adverse effects of abiotic stresses. It has been estimated that crop can exhibit only 30% of their genetic potentiality under abiotic stress condition. So, this is a fundamental need to understand the stress responses to facilitate breeders to develop stress resistant and stress tolerant cultivars along with good management practices to withstand abiotic stresses. Also, a holistic approach to understanding the molecular and biochemical interactions of plants is important to implement the knowledge of resistance mechanisms under abiotic stresses. Agronomic practices like selecting cultivars that is tolerant to wide range of climatic condition, planting date, irrigation scheduling, fertilizer management could be some of the effective short-term adaptive tools to fight against abiotic stresses. In addition, "system biology" and "omics approaches" in recent studies offer a long-term opportunity at the molecular level in dealing with abiotic stresses. The genetic approach, for example, selection and identification of major conditioning genes by linkage mapping and quantitative trait loci (QTL), production of mutant genes and transgenic introduction of novel genes, has imparted some tolerant characteristics in crop varieties from their wild ancestors. Recently research has revealed the interactions between micro-RNAs (miRNAs) and plant stress responses exposed to salinity, freezing stress and dehydration. Accordingly transgenic approaches to generate stress-tolerant plant are one of the most interesting researches to date. This book presents the recent development of agronomic and molecular approaches in conferring plant abiotic stress tolerance in an organized way. The present volume will be of great interest among research students and teaching community, and can also be used as reference material by professional researchers.

1.1 General Framework In most arid and semi-arid countries, water resource management is an issue that is both important and controversial. Most water resources experts now acknowledge that water conflicts are not caused by physical scarcity but are mainly due to poor water management (Rosegrant et al. 2002; Benoit and Comeau 2005; Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture 2007; Garrido and Dinar 2010, among others). The scientific and technological advances of the past 50 years have led to new ways to solve many water-related conflicts, often with tools that seemed unthinkable a few decades ago (Llamas 2005; Lopez-Gunn and Llamas 2008). This study deals with the estimation and analysis of Spain's water footprint, both from a hydrological and economic perspective. Its ultimate objective is to report on the allocative efficiency of water and economic resources. This analysis can provide a transparent and multidisciplinary framework for informing and optimising water policy decisions, contributing at the same time to the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC). It also responds to the current mandate of the Spanish Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, which recently issued instructions for drafting river basin management plans in compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive, with a deadline of end of year 2009 and then every 6 years (BOE 2008).

This book is a collection of chapters concerning the use of biomass for the sustainable production of energy and chemicals-an important goal that will help decrease the production of greenhouse gases to help mitigate global warming, provide energy security in the face of dwindling petroleum reserves, improve balance of payment problems and spur local economic development. Clearly there are ways to save energy that need to be encouraged more. These include more use of energy sources such as, among others, manure in anaerobic digesters, waste wood in forests as fuel or feedstock for cellulosic ethanol, and conservation reserve program (CRP) land crops that are presently unused in the US. The use of biofuels is not new; Rudolf Diesel used peanut oil as fuel in the ?rst engines he developed (Chap. 8), and ethanol was used in the early 1900s in the US as automobile fuel [Songstad et al. (2009) Historical perspective of biofuels: learning from the past to rediscover the future. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Plant 45:189-192). Brazil now produces enough sugar cane ethanol to make up about 50% of its transportation fuel needs (Chap. 4). The next big thing will be cellulosic ethanol. At present, there is also the use of Miscanthus x giganteous as fuel for power plants in the UK (Chap. 2), bagasse (sugar cane waste) to power sugar cane mills (Chap. 4), and waste wood and sawdust to power sawmills (Chap. 7).