This book brings together information often difficult to find, joining the worlds of aquaculture science and industry production, through the leveraging of their synergies and dependencies. It contains a wealth of scientific knowledge which can only be traced in a fragmented manner in specialised journals. It also includes the description of farming practices and the actual implementation of new technologies, information which is often presented in industry conferences, but rarely reaches publication.

Sepp Holzer farms steep mountainsides in Austria 1,500 meters above sea level. His farm is an intricate network of terraces, raised beds, ponds, waterways and tracks, well covered with productive fruit trees and other vegetation, with the farmhouse neatly nestling amongst them. This is in dramatic contrast to his neighbors' spruce monocultures.In this book, Holzer shares the skill and knowledge acquired over his lifetime. He covers every aspect of his farming methods, not just how to create a holistic system on the farm itself, but how to make a living from it. Holzer writes about everything from the overall concepts, down to the practical details.In Sepp Holzer's Permaculturereaders will learn:

How he sets up a permaculture system

The fruit varieties he has found best for permaculture growing

How to construct terraces, ponds, and waterways

How to build shelters for animals and how to work with them on the land

How to cultivate edible mushrooms in the garden and on the farm

and much more

Holzer offers a wealth of information for the gardener, smallholder or alternative farmer yet the book's greatest value is the attitudes it teaches. He reveals the thinking processes based on principles found in nature that create his productive systems. These can be applied anywhere.

There is considerable global interest in the culture of finfish species both for cold and warm water aquaculture development and growth. Essential information on the biology, domestication and aquacultural characteristics of a wide selection of novel and established species is provided in the form of technical sheets, species descriptions and information on current rearing practices, making this a must-have reference in the field of aquacultural science. The book also offers a basic framework in order to support investment strategies for research and developement efforts aimed at the emergence of a profitable finfish aquaculture industry and presents a rationale for species diversification, different approaches to species selection and basic economical and market considerations governing the launch of strategic development and commercialization efforts.

This book provides important insights into the combustion behavior of novel energy crops and agricultural fuels. It describes a new experimental approach to combustion evaluation, involving fundamental, bench-scale and commercial-scale studies. The studies presented were conducted on two representative biomass energy crops: a woody biomass poplar (Populus sp. or poplar) and an herbaceous biomass brassica (Brassica carinata or brassica). Moreover, agricultural residues of Manihot esculenta or cassava were also analyzed. The main accomplishments of this work are threefold. Firstly, it offers an extensive characterization of the above-mentioned fuels, their ash chemistry and their emissions of both solid particles and gaseous compounds that form at typical grate combustion conditions. Secondly, it presents an in-depth analysis of ash fractionation processes for major ash species. Thirdly, it describes the role of some critical and volatile key elements (K, Cl, S and P) in grate-fired combustion systems and elucidates the main differences in the ash chemistry during combustion of Si-rich and P-rich fuels. All in all, this work provides novel insights on the basic and fundamental mechanisms of biomass grate combustion with a special focus on ash transformation and highlights important issues and recommendations that need to be considered for an appropriate conversion of ash-rich fuels and for the development of future technology in the context of both small- and medium-scale biomass-based heat and power production.

This termite Volume 2 comprises 13 chapters in an attempt to bring all available information on sustainable and eco-friendly termite management. The previous Volume considered the biology, social behaviour and economic importance of these insects. Chapters in this book dealing with damage and specific management of fungus-growing termites provide a review on most recent methodologies used for management. Termite damage crops from sowing till harvest. As it is difficult to detect damages in field, usually it is too late when the symptoms are noticed. A separate chapter on issues related to Indian agriculture and the contemporary practices being followed by majority of the Indian farmers is quite informative. Similarly, a case study for termites infesting Malaysian forests constitutes an important contribution. Various issues related to integrated and eco-friendly termite management in tropical conditions have been addressed comprehensively. Potential role of microbes has also been discussed in detail in other chapters. The information contained under these chapters should help termite management in a way that natural resources can be used and maintained for the generations to come. Similarly, the chapter on physical barriers contributes a wealth of information that can be useful all over the world where termite is a problem. Emphasis has been laid on reviewing contribution of synthetic chemical insecticides in termite management. A separate chapter dealing with standard norms in wood protection constitute a significant step in this direction. A further chapter throws light on the potential of biotechnology as a tool in management..

Louis Bromfield was a World War I ambulance driver, a Paris expat, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist as famous in the 1920s as Hemingway or Fitzgerald. But he cashed in his literary success to finance a wild agrarian dream in his native Ohio. The ideas he planted at his utopian experimental farm, Malabar, would inspire America's first generation of organic farmers and popularize the tenets of environmentalism years before Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. A lanky Midwestern farm boy dressed up like a Left Bank bohemian, Bromfield stood out in literary Paris for his lavish hospitality and his green thumb. He built a magnificent garden outside the city where he entertained aristocrats, movie stars, flower breeders, and writers of all stripes. Gertrude Stein enjoyed his food, Edith Wharton admired his roses, Ernest Hemingway boiled with jealousy over his critical acclaim. Millions savored his novels, which were turned into Broadway plays and Hollywood blockbusters, yet Bromfield's greatest passion was the soil. In 1938, Bromfield returned to Ohio to transform 600 badly eroded acres into a thriving cooperative farm, which became a mecca for agricultural pioneers and a country retreat for celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (who were married there in 1945). This sweeping biography unearths a lost icon of American culture, a fascinating, hilarious and unclassifiable character who-between writing and plowing-also dabbled in global politics and high society. Through it all, he fought for an agriculture that would enrich the soil and protect the planet. While Bromfield's name has faded into obscurity, his mission seems more critical today than ever before.

This book is a compilation of information on insect/mite/vertebrate pests and fungal/bacterial/viral/mycoplasma/nematode diseases of tropical root and tuber crops such as cassava, sweet potato, yams, taro, Amorphophallus, yam bean and tannia. The book highlights the distribution, symptoms and damage, biology, survival and spread of each pest and describes management methods. It also sheds light on different eco-friendly pest management strategies including physical, cultural, chemical, biological, host resistance and integrated methods. The book is written in a lucid style using easy-to-understand language and offers adoptable recommendations involving eco-friendly control measures. It serves as a useful reference source for policy makers, research and extension workers, practicing farmers and students. The material can also be used for teaching post graduate courses in state agricultural universities.

This book provides a novel approach to governance relating to biodiversity and human well-being in complex tropical landscapes, including forests and protected areas. It focuses attention at the interface between communities and the landscape level, building on interdisciplinary research conducted in five countries (Cameroon, Indonesia, Laos, Madagascar and Tanzania). In each country, the research was set within the framework of a major national policy thrust. The book improves our understanding of and ability to manage complex landscapes - mosaics of differing land uses - in a more adaptive and collaborative way that benefits both the environment and local communities. It includes both single country and cross-site analyses, and focuses on themes, such as resettlement, land use planning, non-timber forest product use and management, the disconnect between customary and formal legal systems, and the role of larger scale policies in local level realities. Chapters also analyze experience with monitoring and a local governance assessment tool. The work also provides guidance for those interested in management and governance at lower and intermediate levels (village, district), scales likely to grow in importance in the global effort to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The numbers of the urban poor are on the increase; at the same time their position has been made more vulnerable by the recent food and economic crises. City authorities need to find innovative strategies to eradicate urban hunger and improve the livelihoods of the urban poor.Urban agriculture provides such a strategy by enhancing access to fresh and nutritious food, and contributing to local economic development and social inclusion of the urban poor, especially women. It also has the effect of greening cities, promoting the productive reuse of urban waste, and reducing vulnerability to climate change.To do this urban agriculture must be cross-cutting and multi-functional. So how can policy be developed to include all the relevant sectors and disciplines, including agriculture, urban land use planning, health, waste management, social housing and slum upgrading, and parks and nature management?"Cities, Poverty and Food" presents the experience of RUAF Foundation in multi-stakeholder policy formulation and action planning for urban agriculture. RUAF has carried out programs in over 20 cities in 17 countries, under the Cities Farming for the Future program, implemented between 2005 and 2008 (see also www.ruaf.org).This book provides valuable insights and guidelines which are essential reading for the staff of municipal authorities, producer groups and community-based organizations; for NGO field workers; university researchers; agricultural extension officers and others who seek to enhance participatory governance, urban food security, urban poverty alleviation and improved urban environmental management.

The subject of this book is to reveal the formation process of circulation structure centering on vegetable wholesale market in western cities of China. The data are mainly from the interview and survey on farmers, vegetable wholesalers and retailers and operators of vegetable wholesale markets. The findings of the research show that the large vegetable production bases in eastern economically developed regions place stress on local vegetable circulation through wholesale markets, which results in the change in circulation channel in vegetable wholesale markets in western cities, namely, the circulation channel focusing on local vegetable has been shifted to non-local vegetables. The readers will get inspiration from the book that circulation channels have boasted a significance to the small vegetable bases surrounding the cities.

This book analyzes the sustainability of community seed production under a rice-wheat farming system from microeconomic perspectives, considering how seed producers benefit from community seed production and how those benefits continue into the future. Seed producers' performance in resource management, governance and marketing strategies indicates current benefits, whereas soil conservation and risk-management practices provide the basis for future benefits. Community seed production is a local-level seed management system owned by farmers. This system provides the institutional mechanism to supply diversified seed demands of open-pollinated varieties of food crops in a cost-effective way in rural regions. Being able to address the concerns of food insecurity, poverty, climate stress and biodiversity loss in programs and policies of development agencies, community seed production is gaining popularity among the farmers and the policy makers in developing countries. This book discusses the issues of organizational governance of the community seed producers' groups and links them with household-level benefits to understand the organizational dynamism and the probable development paths of such organizations in the future. It also highlights the necessity to institutionalize lessons learned in community seed production in the stakeholders' programs and policies. These understandings provide a basis for formulating policies for strengthening the system in developing countries. Students, researchers, policy makers and donor agencies working with CSP in the developing world will find this book useful in broadening their understanding of CSP in general and its sustainability in particular.

This text covers the biology, ecology, genetics and aquaculture of the Asian Seabass or barramundi (Lates calcarifer), a commercially and recreationally valuable species. It brings together in the one place reviews written by world experts in Asian seabass taxonomy, genetics, nutrition, ecology, aquaculture, reproductive and developmental biology, climate change impacts, harvest quality and health management.

This book focuses on irrigation sources together with water management for agricultural development in Uttar Pradesh state of India. Being the most populous state of the country, it bears a burden of feeding about 199 million people of which major section relies on agriculture for their subsistence. This study makes comparison in the growth trends in the irrigated area, crop land use patterns and crop productivity at the district level in different periods of time. The book emphasizes on irrigation water management to optimize crop yields in order to increase Water Productivity of crops in low productivity regions of the state applying suitable technology. This book appeals to researchers and students in geography and planning working on the topics of agriculture as well as irrigation and water management aspects.

The second edition of the book begins with the description of the diversity of wine-related microorganisms, followed by an outline of their primary and energy metabolism. Subsequently, important aspects of the secondary metabolism are dealt with, since these activities have an impact on wine quality and off-flavour formation. Then chapters about stimulating and inhibitory growth factors follow. This knowledge is helpful for the growth management of different microbial species. The next chapters focus on the application of the consolidated findings of molecular biology and regulation the functioning of regulatory cellular networks, leading to a better understanding of the phenotypic behaviour of the microbes in general and especially of the starter cultures as well as of stimulatory and inhibitory cell-cell interactions during wine making. In the last part of the book, a compilation of modern methods complete the understanding of microbial processes during the conversion of must to wine.This broad range of topics about the biology of the microbes involved in the vinification process could be provided in one book only because of the input of many experts from different wine-growing countries.

New legislation on animal welfare standards has created the need for welfare programmes to be implemented on farms, during transportation, and in slaughter plants. While there is a wealth of information on animal behaviour, ethics and factors effecting welfare, there is little to guide veterinarians and managers in evaluating animal welfare and improving it. This textbook aims to help those working with animals to apply practical methods for improving welfare, bridging the gap between scientific research and practical application. Drawing on the editor's extensive experience in teaching and auditing, and contributions from international experts, this book provides a guide to practical evaluation and auditing of welfare problems, emphasizing the importance of measuring conditions that compromise welfare. Key Features Written by a leading authority on the subject with contributions from industry experts Provides a strongly practical review of the topic and how to apply research where it makes a difference Ideal guide for veterinarians and veterinary students and welfare auditing and officer training, and students in animal sciences

'I used to be a commercial fisherman, chasing your dinner on the high seas for a living, but now I farm twenty acres of saltwater, growing a mix of sea greens and shellfish.' In Eat Like a Fish Bren Smith - a former commercial fisherman turned restorative ocean farmer - shares a bold new vision for the future of food: seaweed. Part memoir, part manifesto, through tales that span from his childhood in Newfoundland to his years on the high seas aboard commercial fishing trawlers, from pioneering new forms of ocean farming to surfing the frontiers of the food movement, Smith introduces the world of sea-based agriculture and advocates getting ocean vegetables onto our plates. There are thousands of edible varieties in the sea! Here he shows how we can transform our food system while enjoying delicious, nutritious, locally grown produce, and how restorative ocean farming has the potential to create millions of new jobs and protect our planet in the face of climate change, rising populations, and finite food resources. Also included are recipes from acclaimed chefs Brooks Headley and David Santos. Written with the humour and swagger of a fisherman telling a late-night tale, this is a monumental work of deeply personal food policy that will profoundly change the way we think about what we eat.

This proceeding covers all the collected research data and presentations from the 8th International Symposium on the Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf. The book explores themes in molecular breeding of forage and turf, including abiotic and biotic stresses, bioenergy and biorenewables, comparative genomics, emerging tools for forage and turf research, functional genetics and genomics and genetic mapping germplasm, diversity and its impact on breeding, herbage quality, plant-microbe interactions and transgenic and risk assessment. Written by renowned researchers in plant genomics, Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf: The Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on the Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf is a valuable resource for researchers and students in the field of plant genomics.

This important 2-volume reference book is the first comprehensive resource reflecting the current global status and prospects of date palm cultivation by country. This volume covers Africa and the Americas. Countries included are: Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Cameroon, Djibouti, Chad, Mali Somalia, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Senegal, as well as the United States of America and the South American countries Chile and Peru. Topics discussed are: cultivation practices; genetic resources and breeding; conservation and germplasm banks; cultivar classification and identification based on morphological and molecular markers; micropropagation and progress toward scale-up production; and advances in dates processing and marketing. Chapters are supported by tables and color photographs. Appendixes summarize traits and distribution of major cultivars, commercial resources of offshoots and in vitro plants; and institutions and scientific societies concerned with date palm.

The startling message of this book is that the so-called virgin forests of the world owe much to their symbiotic relationship with the indigenous peoples who live in and on the margins of the forests. Human activities have for millenia "managed" (consciously or unconsciously) the world's forests, resulting in a greatly enriched biodiversity.The contributors to the book come from many different scientific disciplines, national and cultural backgrounds. Examples of forests are taken from Asia, Africa and South America, thus reflecting the global nature of the phenomenon. The book's conclusions will have far-reaching implications for all who are concerned with the conservation of forests and their indigenous human population.

The aim of this open access book is to review and analyse the goods and services of bivalve shellfish. How they are defined, what determines the ecological functions that are the basis for the goods and services, what controversies in the use of goods and services exist, and what is needed for sustainable exploitation of bivalves from the perspective of the various stakeholders. The book is focused on the goods and services, and not on impacts of shellfish aquaculture on the benthic environment, or on threats like biotoxins; neither is it a shellfish culture handbook although it can be used in evaluating shellfish culture. The reviews and analysis are based on case studies that exemplify the concept, and show the strengths and weaknesses of the current applications. The multi-authored reviews cover ecological, economic and social aspects of bivalve goods and services. The book provides new insights for scientists, students, shellfish producers, policy advisors, nature conservationists and decision makers. This book is open access under the CC BY license.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. The book examines the methodological challenges in analyzing the effectiveness of development policies. It presents a selection of tools and methodologies that can help tackle the complexities of which policies work best and why, and how they can be implemented effectively given the political and economic framework conditions of a country. The contributions in this book offer a continuation of the ongoing evidence-based debate on the role of agriculture and participatory policy processes in reducing poverty. They develop and apply quantitative political economy approaches by integrating quantitative models of political decision-making into existing economic modeling tools, allowing a more comprehensive growth-poverty analysis. The book addresses not only scholars who use quantitative policy modeling and evaluation techniques in their empirical or theoretical research, but also technical experts, including policy makers and analysts from stakeholder organizations, involved in formulating and implementing policies to reduce poverty and to increase economic and social well-being in African countries.

Under threat from natural and human disturbance, tropical dry forests are the most endangered ecosystem in the tropics, yet they rarely receive the scientific or conservation attention they deserve. In a comprehensive overview, Tropical Dry Forests in the Americas: Ecology, Conservation, and Management examines new approaches for data sampling and analysis using remote sensing technology, discusses new ecological and econometric methods, and critically evaluates the socio-economic pressures that these forest are facing at the continental and national levels. The book includes studies from Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil that provide in-depth knowledge about the function, status, and conservation efforts of these endangered forests. It presents key elements of synthesis from standardized work conducted across all sites. This unique contribution provides new light in terms of these forests compared to each other not only from an ecological perspective but also in terms of the pressures that they are facing, and their respective responses. Written by experts from a diversity of fields, this reference brings together the many facets of function, use, heritage, and future potential of these forests. It presents an important and exciting synthesis of many years of work across countries, disciplines, and cultures. By standardizing approaches for data sampling and analysis, the book gives readers comparison information that cannot be found anywhere else given the high level of disparity that exists in the current literature.

Like its predecessor, this publication is written for students and those professionals who choose to work at the sharp end of the pig industry and are driven by a desire to improve the environment that farmers provide for pigs. The authors describe proven monitoring techniques which can also interpret data and automatically implement adjustments to environment control systems. Readers are led through a series of case studies from commercial pig farms. Explanations of the source of problems within pig buildings are provided and augmented by graphical data which are explained in simple terms. In particular, the book makes much reference to I.T. devices already in use within other industries and speculates how these will be increasingly used to help pig farmers integrate more closely with their food chain partners.