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Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > Primary industries > Agriculture & related industries
This book examines the implications of the net zero transition for food and farming in the UK and how these can be managed to avoid catastrophic climate change in the crucial decades ahead. For the UK to meet its international obligations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, nothing short of a revolution is required in our use of land, our farming practices and our diet. Taking a historical approach, the book examines the evolution of agriculture and the food system in the UK over the last century and discusses the implications of tackling climate change for food, farming and land use, setting the UK situation in an international context. The chapters analyse the key challenges for this transition, including dietary change and food waste, afforestation and energy crops, and low-emission farming practices. This historical perspective helps develop an understanding of how our food, farming and land use system has evolved to be the way that it is, and draws lessons for how the agri-food system could evolve further to support the transition to net zero and avoid catastrophic climate change. Written in a clear and accessible style, this book will be essential reading to students and scholars of food, agriculture and the environment, as well as policymakers and professionals involved climate change policy and the agriculture and food industry.
The presence of concentrations of organic substances and cations in sea water is a matter of increasing concern to the water industry, environmentalists and the general public alike. There is a threat of possible health hazards to both human, fish and crustacea. Occurrence, Toxicity and Analysis of Marine Biota discusses bioaccumulation in biota as well as occurrence and analysis of toxicants in biota. The main thrust of this book will be a review of the levels of toxicants found in the tissues of fish and invertebrates at various sites throughout the world. In addition, results will be reported on the levels of toxicants found in marine biota enabling ill health or death to occur. This will involve a discussion of toxicity index LC50 and percentile S95 concentration of toxicants and their implications on animal health and mortality, also that of humans who eat these sea creatures. The book will be a complete logical survey of this topic.
Covers computational approaches as applied to problems in the air and water pollution domain Delivers generic methods of modeling with spatio-temporal analyses using soft computation and programming paradigms Includes theoretical aspects of environmental processes with their complexity and programmable mathematical approaches Adopts a realistic approach involving formulas, algorithms and techniques to establish mathematical models/computations Provides a pathway for real-time implementation of complex modeling problems formulations including case studies
provides a new analysis of population and agricultural growth. argues that we can't make sense of population and food production without recognizing the drivers of three fundamentally different types of agriculture: Malthusian (expansion), industrialization (external-input-dependent) and intensification (labour-based). upends entrenched misconceptions such as that we are running out of land for food production and that our only hope is development of new agricultural technologies written in an engaging style, containing vignettes, short histories and global case studies will not only be of interest to students and scholars of agriculture, land management and development, but also those more widely interested in learning about agri-food systems and the challenges of feeding a growing population.
This volume discusses the aspects of a phylogenetic analysis that go beyond basic calculation of most parsimonious trees. Practical application of all principles discussed is illustrated by reference to TNT, a freely available software package that can perform all the steps needed in a phylogenetic analysis. The first problem considered is how to summarize and compare multiple trees (including identification and handling wildcard taxa). Evaluation of the strength of support for groups, another critical component of any phylogenetic analysis, is given careful consideration. The different interpretations of measures of support are discussed and connected with alternative implementations. The book reviews rationales for estimating character reliability on the basis of homoplasy, with particular attention to morphological characters. The main methods for character weighting and their practical implementation, several of them unique to TNT, are discussed ad libitum. Also unique to TNT is the ability to directly analyze morphometric data (including landmarks), on the same footing as discrete characters. Finally, the scripting language of TNT is introduced. With scripting, it is possible to "program" TNT to create personalized routines and automate complex calculations, taking analyses to the next level and allowing exploration of new methods and ideas. Key Features Discusses the treatment of ambiguity in phylogenetic analyses in depth, for summarizing results or comparing trees Reviews literature on arguments and methods for weighting morphological characters and their practical application Describes theory and application of methods for evaluating strength of group support, based on either resampling or comparisons with suboptimal trees Discusses the use of morphometric characters in phylogenetic analysis Presents extensive information on commands and options of the TNT computer program, including the use and creation of scripts
Biocontrol Systems and Plant Physiology in Modern Agriculture: Processes, Strategies, Innovations focuses on new production alternatives that do not include pesticides, herbicides, and chemicals for primary food production and instead rely on biologically controlled systems of production. The book also relates a number of advances and innovations in the use of agricultural technologies that employ the study of the physiology of plants to know their resistance to different environments in modern agriculture. The book presents research offering viable alternatives for the control of pests for safe food production that are environmentally friendly and that facilitate the reduction of production costs and improve the quality and yield of produce. The volume addresses innovative biocontrol systems to reduce or eliminate the use of agrochemicals by controlling plant diseases by minimizing environmental damage through the use of antagonistic organisms. It also presents new strategies of cultivation that maximize production by optimizing light, temperature, humidity, nutrients and humidity in a controlled environment. The diverse topics in the volume include botanical compounds as adjuvants as an alternative to reduce the pesticide use, on-site production of bio-control agents, plant factory systems that offer controlled safe environments for plant cultivation, promising bio-nematicides for sustainable agriculture, wastewater reclamation for agricultural purposes, the recovery of phytochemicals from plants, using LED lights on plants and microgreens production, and much more. Covering the new trends in biological control, plant factories, and plant metabolism for application in modern agriculture, this volume provides important research and knowledge that facilitates environmentally friendly plant systems, advances the reduction of production costs, and improves the quality and yield of produce.
Agricultural trade has become an integral part of world agriculture. During the 1970s, the real growth in world agricultural trade was phenomenal. For example, the value of U. S. agricultural exports alone increased more than fivefold during this period. In April, 1978, a small group of West Coast agricultural economists (Hillman, Josling, Sarris, Schmitz, King, and McCalla) met to form what is now called the International Trade Consortium which is financed, in part, by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and Agriculture Canada. One of the products of this project was a book published in 1979 by A. F. McCalla and T. E. Josling (editors), Imperfect Markets in Agricultural Trade, Allenheld, Osmun and Co., 1981. In the same vein, this book is a result of an International Trade Consortium meeting held in Berkeley, California, in the early 1980s.
This book offers a fresh perspective on the Chinese diaspora. It is about the mobilisation of knowledge across time and space, exploring the history of Chinese market gardening in Australia and New Zealand. It enlarges our understanding of processes of technological change and human mobility, highlighting the mobility of migrants as an essential element in the mobility and adaptation of technologies. Truly multidisciplinary, Chinese Market Gardening in Australia and New Zealand incorporates elements of economic, agricultural, social, cultural and environmental history, along with archaeology, to document how Chinese market gardeners from subtropical southern China adapted their horticultural techniques and technologies to novel environments and the demands of European consumers. It shows that they made a significant contribution to the economies of Australia and New Zealand, developing flexible strategies to cope with the vagaries of climate and changing business and social environments which were often hostile towards Asian immigrants. Chinese Market Gardening in Australia and New Zealand will appeal to students and scholars in the fields of the Chinese diaspora, in particular the history of the Chinese in Australasia; the history of technology; horticultural and garden history; and environmental history, as well as Asian studies more generally.
This book addresses the role of law in the adaptive management of socio-ecological systems. Recent years have witnessed a rise in discussion over the relation between adaptivity and law, as if after decades of insouciance, legal scholars have finally started to understand the impacts of the scientific paradigm called 'adaptive management' on the legal sphere. Even though the complicated relations between law and the adaptive management of socio-ecological systems have become more debated, a thorough examination of the scientific and theoretical fundamentals of such endeavours has yet to be presented. Using the illustrative example of European Union water governance and its path toward embracing adaptive management, this book emphasises the legal significance of properly understanding the manner in which scientific knowledge of the environment is produced. Though always pivotal, rigorously apprehending science is especially crucial when dealing with the management of complex ecosystems as the 'normative' is created gradually before law begins to examine the 'facts' of the matter. After examining the roots of adaptive management, this book argues that the legal needs to understand itself as an integral part of the process of the socio-ecological management of complex systems and not merely an external umpire resolving disputes. As a whole, the book offers new insights into the EU regulator's approaches to scientific realities, making it an interesting read not only to academics and legal scholars but also to regulators striving to deepen their understanding or pondering which approach to adopt in the face of new regulatory challenges, and to scientists interested in the science and law aspects of their work.
1. Provides a comprehensive overview of Vanadium in the total environment 2. Covers the role of Vanadium in various environments such as soils, sediments, water, and plants 3. Includes bioavailability studies and further case studies from various countries around the world 4. Focuses on a better understanding of biogeochemical processes of Vanadium 5. Written by international experts who present the current stage of the knowledge including innovative remediation and management approaches of vanadium-contaminated sites. This book with being of use to upper-level undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in Soil science, Environmental science, Soil ecology, Water science, Plant science, Ecotoxicology, Geology, Geography. Scientists, lecturers, environmental and technical engineers, ecologists, applied ecological scientists, and managers.
This volume explores agricultural commercialization from a gender equality and right to food perspective. Agricultural commercialization, involving not only the shift to selling crops and buying inputs but also the commodification of land and labour, has always been controversial. Strategies for commercialization have often reinforced and exacerbated inequalities, been blind to gender differences and given rise to violations of the human rights to food, land, work and social security. While there is a body of evidence to trace these developments globally, impacts vary considerably in local contexts. This book systematically considers these dynamics in two countries, Cambodia and Ghana. Profoundly different in terms of their history and location, they provide the basis for fruitful comparisons because they both transitioned to democracy in the early 1990s, made agricultural development a priority, and adopted orthodox policies of commercialization to develop the sector. Chapters illustrate how commercialization processes are gendered, highlighting distinctive gender, ethnic and class dynamics in rural Ghana and Cambodia and the different outcomes these generate. They also show the ways in which food cultures are changing and the often-problematic impact of these changes on the safety and quality of food. Specific policies and legal norms are examined, with chapters addressing the development and implementation of frameworks on the right to food and land administration. Overall, the volume brings into relief multiple dimensions shaping the outcomes of processes of commercialization, including gender orders, food cultures, policy translation, national and sub-national policies, corporate investments and programmes, and formal and informal legal norms. In doing so, it offers insight not only on our case countries, but also provides proposals to advance rights-based research on food security. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of food security, agricultural development and economics, gender, human rights and sustainable development.
Turkey is home to the largest Syrian refugee community in the world and the agricultural industry offers work opportunities for vulnerable Syrian refugee families. This book exposes the fast-changing relationship between seasonal agricultural production and the work practices of Syrian refugees in Turkey. Through close ethnographic study carried out over three years with nearly 1000 people, the book illuminates how the increasing number of incoming Syrians results in the ‘precarization’ of the workers – particularly women and children. The author examines Syrian families’ working and living conditions with a special interest in the dynamics of how they utilise the labour of women and children to survive and have access to work. An in-depth study of the Syrian community – at a time when the state apparatus is hostile to research on the subject – the material in this book is unique and offers an insight into remote agricultural sites that are invisible to many. It is an analysis of the precarization process of Syrian labour in an industry that wants to attract the most vulnerable people into the workforce. By focusing on the intersectional vulnerabilities and the context-dependent precarization, the book argues that the commercialization of agricultural production and the increasing use of waged labour blooms antagonistic encounters of different ethnic, cultural and religious groups in rural Turkey.
This book examines the social inequalities relating to food insecurity in the UK, as well as drawing parallels with the US. Access to food in the UK, and especially access to healthy food, is a constant source of worry for many in this wealthy country. Crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have coincided with a steep rise in the cost of living, meaning household food insecurity has become a reality for many more households. This book introduces a new framework to examine the many influences on local-level food inequalities, whether they result from individual circumstances or where a person lives. The framework will allow researchers new to the field to consider the many influences on food security, and to support emerging research around different sub-topics of food access and food security. Providing a thorough background to two key concepts, food deserts and food insecurity, the book documents the transition from area-based framing of food resources, to approaches which focus on household food poverty and the rise of food banks. The book invites researchers to acknowledge and explore the ever changing range of place-based factors that shape experiences of food insecurity: from transport and employment to rural isolation and local politics. By proposing a new framework for food insecurity research and by drawing on real-world examples, this book will support academic and applied researchers as they work to understand and mitigate the impacts of food insecurity in local communities. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of food and nutrition security, public health, and sociology. It will also appeal to food policy professionals and policymakers who are working to address social inequalities and improve access to healthy and nutritious food for all.
This book engages in the controversies of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms, demonstrating how these are reiterated by mainstream theoretical approaches in the field. The reforms that the European Union's CAP underwent during the last three decades were intended to make it less trade-distorting, more taxpayer-friendly and more able to meet the new challenges of environmental concerns and rural development/territorial cohesion. The outcome of the reforms has, however, contradicted these objectives, with the controversies being reiterated by the mainstream theoretical approaches in the field. European Union's Common Agricultural Policy Reforms argues that these controversies are due to reductionist, rationalist and idealist assumptions with regard to the object of inquiry applied by mainstream approaches. It proposes an alternative critical approach that takes into account the role of real material factors. Critical realism is not just an alternative explanation of CAP reforms but an alternative theory of how explanations can be made, which enables readers to reflect upon and endorse the results of existing lines of research in proceeding towards deeper level theory.
This book addresses how to estimate substance use and thereby evaluate policies intended to reduce the harms caused by drugs and other substances. Wastewater analysis (WWA) can provide efficient, affordable, fine-grained and objective data on population substance use trends on a very large scale. The authors discuss the potential implications of WWA as a new method for understanding substance use in a variety of settings and ignite a discourse with policy makers, criminologists, epidemiologists and other disciplines about the need for collaboration with WWA scientists. The book also features an explanation of the costs and harms of substance use with academic literature from criminological and epidemiological sources and reports from lead agencies. Additional features include: Details on the origin of wastewater analysis in environmental science Description of analytical chemistry methods for tracing a wide variety of substances, including illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco and other chemicals Exploration of the major empirical problems in estimating population consumption of alcohol, tobacco and drugs at the international and national level Examination of the principles of human research ethics and their application to wastewater analysis Wastewater Analysis for Substance Abuse Monitoring and Policy Development is a valuable tool for analytical chemists, wastewater scientists and criminologists, as well as researchers and policy makers across disciplines who work in drug sectors.
Provides insight to extremophiles. Unveils the mysticism of extreme environments. Explores applications of extremophiles in biorefineries. Throws light on the advancement of industrially important extremozymes. Explores applications in biofilms and microbial corrosion.
Capitalism and the Commons focuses on the political and social perspectives that commons offer, how they are appropriated or suppressed by capital and state, and how social initiatives and movements contest these dynamics or build their struggles on commoning. The volume comprises theoretical and empirical approaches that engage with three main themes: conceptualizing the commons, analyzing practices of commoning, and exploring commons politics. In their contributions, the authors focus on the development of anti-capitalist commons and explore the issue of practice and politics through case studies from Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Africa more broadly, Austria, Germany and South Korea, ranging from peri-urban and rural agriculture to urban commons and how they manifest in the Global South as well as in the Global North. The book engages with different discourses on the commons in regard to their relevance for social change and thereby reinvigorates the political meaning of the commons. It provides an original and important approach to the topic in terms of conceptualization, detailing diverse empirical realities, and analyzing potential perspectives. In so doing, the book transcends narrow disciplinary boundaries and expands the focus to the global. Providing a fresh perspective on the commons as a decisive component of alternatives, this title will be relevant to scholars and students of resource management, social movements, and sustainable development more broadly.
Home Gardens for Improved Food Security and Livelihoods demonstrates how home gardens hold particular significance for resource-poor and marginalized communities in developing countries, and how they offer a versatile strategy toward building local and more resilient food systems. With food and nutritional security being a major global challenge, there is an urgent need to find innovative ways to increase food production and diversify food sources while increasing income-generating opportunities for communities faced with hunger and poverty. This book shows that when implemented properly, home gardens can become just such an innovative solution, as well as an integral part of sustainable food security programs. It provides a conceptual overview of social, economic, environmental and nutritional issues related to home gardening in diverse contexts, including gender issues and biodiversity conservation, and presents case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America highlighting home gardening experiences and initiatives. The volume concludes with a synthesis of key lessons learned and ways forward for further enhancing home gardens for sustainable food security and development. This book will be a useful read for students and scholars working on local food systems, food security, sustainable development and more broadly development strategy.
Covering all major arthropods of medical importance worldwide, this award-winning resource has established itself as a standard reference for almost 25 years. With the globilization of commerce and the world becoming more intimately connected through the everyday ease of travel, unknown arthropod species are being increasingly encountered. This means access to up-to-date, authoritative information in medical entomology has never been more important. Now in its seventh edition, this book maintains its well-acclaimed status as the ultimate easy-to-use guide to identify disease-carrying arthropods, the common signs and symptoms of vector-borne diseases, and the current recommended procedures for treatment. Includes an in-depth chapter with diagnostic aids to help physicians to recognize and accurately diagnose arthropod-related diseases and conditions more easily Updates all chapters with the latest medical and scientific findings, including Zika virus, red meat allergy, new viruses found in ticks, and vaccine development for malaria and dengue fever Presents a greater medical parasitology emphasis throughout Offers electronic downloads containing additional photographs of arthropod-caused diseases and lesions, as well as instructional videos with pest identification aids, basic entomology, and insect and pest ecology. Illustrated throughout with detailed color images to aid identification, The Goddard Guide to Arthropods of Medical Importance, Seventh Edition will remain an essential guide for physicians, public health officials, and pest control professionals.
Laws of the Sea assembles scholars from law, geography, anthropology, and environmental humanities to consider the possibilities of a critical ocean approach in legal studies. Unlike the United Nations' monumental Convention on the Law of the Sea, which imagines one comprehensive constitutional framework for governing the ocean, Laws of the Sea approaches oceanic law in plural and dynamic ways. Critically engaging contemporary concerns about the fate of the ocean, the collection's twelve chapters range from hydrothermal vents through the continental shelf and marine genetic resources to coastal communities in France, Sweden, Florida, and Indonesia. Documenting the longstanding binary of land and sea, the chapters pose a fundamental challenge to European law's "terracentrism" and its pervasive influence on juridical modes of knowing and making the world. Together, the chapters ask: is contemporary Eurocentric law-and international law in particular-capable of moving away from its capitalist and colonial legacies, established through myriad oceanic abstractions and classifications, toward more amphibious legalities? Laws of the Sea will appeal to legal scholars, geographers, anthropologists, cultural and political theorists, as well as scholars in the environmental humanities, political ecology, ocean studies, and animal studies.
Debates about public expenditure in the agricultural sector have reopened in many developing and emerging economies because of high budget deficits and changes in public opinion. As a result, agricultural policy in many of these countries is beginning to take a more market-oriented approach to agrarian problems, most notably through the introduction of contract farming. This book explores the policy issues around contract farming and its transformative potential and addresses the lack of empirical research on this topic by focusing on South Asia: principally India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The book first addresses the effects of contract farming (vertical coordination) on productivity, food security indicators (yield, consumption expenditures, prices), employment and input usage. Then it draws lessons from the South Asian case studies on the impact of institutional changes, like contract farming, on income and food security of smallholder households. The core of the book includes case study chapters on several commodities that are produced under contract farming, including vegetables and fisheries in Bangladesh, low-value crops in Nepal and coffee in India. Other chapters also explore contracts, storage, input usage and technical efficiency in these cases. This book serves as an essential guide to academics, researchers, students, legislative liaisons and think tank groups interested in agrarian issues, agricultural economics and agricultural policy in emerging economies and particularly in South Asia.
Focuses on tropical East Asia, where there are no competing books dealing with conservation of freshwater animals and their habitats. Takes a case-study based approach emphasizing the multiple, interacting threats facing freshwater animals, and draws attention to the conservation challenges that will be faced in mitigating them. Based on extensive experience in the region, the author points draws attention to the analogous threats to freshwater animals and human livelihoods in tropical East Asia, and demonstrates that unsustainable use of rivers and lakes by some stakeholders is detrimental both to other humans and aquatic biodiversity.
Focuses on the menace of metal pollution on plants, crop plants, pulses and vegetables Covers morphological, anatomical, physiological and biochemical aspects Covers metal hyper-accumulators (metallophytes) and bioremediation Alleviation of metal stress by exogenous phytohormonal supply Includes heavy metals' low dose stimulatory effects Focuses on 'omics' studies i.e. genomics, metabolomics, ionomics, proteomics and transcriptomics |
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