In the later part of the 20th century, the United States experienced a remarkable surge in public interest toward medicinal and aromatic crops and this trend continues. This consumer interest helped create a significant demand for plants with culinary and medicinal applications as the public discovers their benefits for a wide range of applications. Consequently, this consumer call has generated a huge demand on farmers, but has also provided opportunities for new agricultural crops to support both fresh and dry raw material markets. Processing raw materials for end use by consumers introduces even more variables at all levels from harvesting to final desired product. Maintaining quality and authenticity throughout this process has inspired farmers, processing facilities, and regulatory agencies to adopt new practices and new laws to maintain safety and quality. Maintaining this quality and authenticity is often made possible using analytical methods for quality control, which subsequently triggered a demand for both regulatory agencies and scientists throughout the world. For aforementioned reasons, it is imperative that scientists continue to explore related topics from the field to the final consumer product. This book touches on many of the issues currently being addressed by scientists working to produce the desired consumer product while maintaining authenticity and quality and environmental stewardship.

Cereal grains have been the principal component of human diet for thousands of years and have played a major role in shaping human civilization. Around the world, rice, wheat, and maize, and to a lesser extent, sorghum and millets, are important staples critical to daily survival of billions of people. More than 50% of world daily caloric intake is derived directly from cereal grain consumption. Most of the grain used for human food is milled to remove the bran (pericarp) and germ, primarily to meet sensory expectations of consumers. The milling process strips the grains of important nutrients beneficial to health, including dietary fiber, phenolics, vitamins and minerals. Thus, even though ample evidence exists on the health benefits of whole grain consumption, challenges remain to developing food products that contain significant quantities of whole grain components and meet consumer expectations.
This book presents some of the latest research endeavors that aim to improve our understanding of how the chemistry of various grain components can be manipulated to improve contribution of cereals to human health. Most of the topics are based on the Cereal Grains Symposium, at the 2011 American Chemical Society held in Anaheim, CA, March 27-31.

The book will tell the history and story of Down East Maine lobster fishing. Author Christina Lemieux's family has been lobster fishermen for four generations, and the book draws from their personal recollections and documentation. It will then bring to life the experience of Down East Maine lobster fishing and living in a lobster fishing community. The book details how one goes about catching lobster, the seasons of lobster fishing and the perils of such a physically grueling job. It also talks about "lobster culture" some of the unique pastimes of lobster fishermen, such as the sport of Maine lobster boat racing. Finally, the book will give a brief overview of how to properly cook Maine lobster and provide some of the area's favorite lobster recipes.

Though there are more automobiles than harvesters on the roads these days, folks in "Wythe County," Virginia, keep their memories and traditions preserved in these conversations with the local twentieth-century farmers who spent their entire lives working this land. Visit with James Kegley, a fourth-generation farmer discussing his family's cattle and poultry drives to the train in Wytheville, and Agnes Eades as she shares stories about the night before butchering day for the hogs; join Fred Etter as he remembers the first tractor he ever saw and June Huffard as she talks about her dairy farm. Picture the days when starting the plow meant cracking the whip and "Wythe County" was the 'Cabbage Capital of the World.'

'An important and timely book' from the Foreword by Stanley Johnson 'A complete and absorbing history of a decade of intense international politics offers many insights for future negotiators of sustainable solutions' Stephen Bass, International Institute for Environment and Development 'Skillfully navigates the jungle of forest politics, leaving us in no doubt that the verbal commitment to save the world's forests has yet to be translated into action on the ground. The way forward must clearly lie in political commitments and international cooperation if forests are to continue to preserve life on Earth' Francis Sullivan, World Wide Fund for Nature Global deforestation and its attendant processes - including soil degradation, climate change and the loss of biological diversity - emerged as international political issues during the 1980s, prompting politicians to seek consensus on programmes and policies for the conservation and sustainable management of forests. Yet global initiatives have been bedevilled by tensions between the North and South and between governments, industry, local communities and indigenous peoples. Meanwhile, rates of deforestation in the tropics are increasing, and international political efforts are demonstrably failing. Forest Politics carefully traces the evolution of international cooperation on forests, from the inception of the controversial International Tropical Timber Organization and the failed Tropical Forestry Action Programme in the mid-1980s, to the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests in the mid-1990s. The book also provides a detailed analysis of the negotiating stances of the parties involved in the divisive negotiations that rook place prior to the 1992 'Earth Summit' in Rio de Janeiro and the equally factious negotiations for the International Tropical Timber Agreement of 1994. It provides a fascinating insight into the nature of such processes, illustrating the difficulties that arise when concepts such as 'global commons' come into conflict with national sovereignty. Complete with annexes of important political documents, and making extensive use of primary source material and interviews with participants. Forest Politics presents case studies of all the major forest negotiations over the last 13 years. It is an essential reference point for policy makers, environmental campaigners and students, and required reading for all those who care about the future of the world's forests. David Humphreys is Research Fellow in Global Environmental Change at the Open University. Originally published in 1996

The depletion of the tropical rain forests has attracted considerable attention in recent times, and the serious consequences for the global biosphere are widely acknowledged. Yet deforestation continues apace, and in some areas (for example, southeast Asia) the very existence of the forests is seriously threatened. Contrary to popular belief, evidence suggests that local economic and living conditions are more significant in this than timber exploitation for exports to the Northern countries."Tropical Deforestation: A Socio-Economic Approach" offers a new perspective on the economic imperatives which encourage indigenous populations to encroach upon their own forests, and shows how action against deforestation must form part of a wider movement to improve both the living conditions of the local inhabitants and the durability of their national economies.Part One offers an overview of the processes surrounding deforestation, and an assessment of the current situation. Part Two analyses the land-use issues, and explains the socioeconomic imperatives in the affected regions. In an absorbing conclusion. Part Three guides the reader through a series of hypothetical policy scenarios, using a specially adapted economic computer model, to predict which combinations of policies and trade arrangements might bring about a more beneficial state of affairs.

Freedom Mazwi examines patterns of agricultural finance in Zimbabwe since the radical Fast Track Land Resettlement Programme (FTLRP) was implemented in 2000-and, especially, the varying impact that the FTLRP reforms have had not only on land use, but also on the well-being of farmers.Focusing on contract farming in the tobacco and sugarcane sectors, Mazwi offers penetrating insights into social contradictions and power relations in Zimbabwe's rural areas. He also assesses the institutional finance mechanisms that have emerged in response to the radical land reforms and reflects on the related political and economic isolation of the country since 2000. Not least, he suggests how agrarian policy could be restructured to better benefit small-scale farmers.

Farming – whether domestic crops, forestry, fish or livestock – is one of the pillars of human civilization, dating back to the early settlements of Neolithic times. Today, approximately one billion people work the land, providing food and other products for our ever-increasing human population. Arranged geographically, Farming explores the many types of farm and farming that exist today. See how farmers in Malaysia extract milky latex from the bark of rubber trees, used to make everything from protective gloves to vehicle tires; be amazed at the gorgeous stepped rice fields of Bali, where the traditional subak irrigation system is created around ‘water temples’ and managed by Hindu priests; marvel at the vast corn and soya bean fields of Ontario, much of it used for animal feed to support Canada’s beef industry; learn about nomadic pastoralism in low rainfall areas such as Somalia, where herders move camels, cattle, sheep and goats in search of grazing; explore the wineries and vineyards in Bordeaux, where more than 700 million bottles of wine are produced each year by more than 8,500 châteaux; and see how freshwater prawns are harvested for export in the watery deltas of Bangladesh. Presented in a landscape format and with more than 180 outstanding photographs of farming from every part of the planet, Farming offers a pictorial celebration of mankind’s deep connection with the land that sustains us.

This unique book is the product of a south/north, east/west collaboration, involving some 90 contributors from 25 countries. It will be invaluable to all concerned with livestock keeping and poverty alleviation in developing countries, especially lecturers, students and those working with resource-poor livestock keepers. Livestock and Wealth Creation is about the role of livestock in developing countries and portrays how improved husbandry practices can affect the livelihoods of livestock keepers. It emphasises ways of improving small-scale enterprises and subsistence livestock-keeping. The burgeoning 'Livestock Revolution', which is already occurring in some developing countries and foreseen to become a wider phenomenon over the next 20 years, is also considered. A gigantic increase in demand for meat and milk is predicted, with consequent opportunities for resource-poor livestock keepers to contribute and move from subsistence to market-oriented production.

We don't need to poison the earth in order to grow better food, and what is harmful to the environment when improperly disposed of often can be turned back to the soil in a beneficial way through composting - if you know how. Here's how. Malcolm Beck's Garden-Ville is one of the largest commercial composting operations in the country. He shares his insight into the processes of decay that can transform everything from lawn trimmings to sewer sludge into life-giving earth. Coupled with Beck's insight into nature and practical advice are remarks from Charles Walters, author, founder of Acres U.S.A.

Dr. Arden B. Andersen begins his work with the premise that 'energy is everything'. Through this axiomatic lens, Andersen examines agriculture as a practice of balancing energy and harmonising energy frequencies to produce life. By approaching agriculture in this way, farmers can harness 'life-force energy' to produce healthful and plentiful crops in a manner that is sustainable and even beneficial to the natural environment. This manual is a compelling blend of sophisticated science and simple practices for farmers, agronomists, and agriculturalists alike. Andersen offers an insightful appreciation of farming that teaches readers how to transform agriculture into a process that is both robust and ecologically sound. In doing so, he envisions a successful method of farming for the 21st Century.

Revised in 2020 with 218 new terms, this pocket-sized glossary is essential for everyone in the tree care industry as a foundation for using a shared language of defined terms to work with professionals in arboriculture and related fields. The 2020 edition also includes expanded terminology for tree risk assessment and stationary rope climbing systems, hundreds of enhanced, clarified, and updated definitions, and a reference guide for abbreviations and acronyms.

Terwyl die gronddebat woed, stel dié boek ons voor aan die landbouers wat die kos verbou waarvan Suid-Afrika leef. Ivor Price en Kobus Louwrens gee ons 'n intieme blik in die daaglikse plaaslewe en uiteenlopende boere se belewenisse en stories. Of dit nou reuse agribesighede is, of klein maar geliefde plasies wat met passie bewerk word, elke boerdery is uniek en elke boer het 'n storie. 'n Inspirerende ode aan ons landbouers.