With few exceptions, insects are perceived in industrialized countries as undesirable pests. In reality, relatively few insects interfere with us or our resources. Most have benign or positive effects on ecosystem services, and many represent useful resources in non-industrialized countries. Challenging traditional perceptions of the value of insects, Insects and Sustainability of Ecosystem Services explores the ways insects affect the ecosystem services we depend upon. It also fosters an appreciation for the amazing diversity, adaptive ability, and natural roles of insects. The book discusses how the ways in which we manage insects will determine an ecosystem's capacity to continue to supply services. It reviews aspects of insect physiology, behavior, and ecology that affect their interactions with other ecosystem components and ecosystem services, emphasizing critical effects of insects on the sustainability of ecosystem processes and services. The author examines the integration of insect ecology with self-regulatory aspects of ecosystems that control primary production, energy and nutrient fluxes, and global climate-functions that underlie the sustainability of ecosystem services. Clearly, we need environmental policies that meet needs for pest control where warranted, but do not undermine the important contributions of insects to sustaining ecosystem processes and services. With in-depth coverage of the multiple, often compensatory, effects of insects on various resources or ecosystem services and on the consequences of control tactics for those resources or services, Insects and Sustainability of Ecosystem Services recommends changes in perspectives and policies regarding insects that will contribute to sustainability of ecosystem services.

Using real cases of food fi rms and agriculture supply chains as a context, How is Digitalization Affecting Agri-food? New Business Models, Strategies and Organizational Forms aims to understand the key themes in strategic and organizational research in this area. Despite the importance of food and agriculture in the current political and societal context, analysis of the impact of digitalization and information technologies on the industry is still limited. The objective of this monograph is to understand the direction of this change. With case studies of food firms and agriculture supply chains it sets out to conceptualize food organizing and organizations as a fruitful object of inquiry, both at the intra and interorganizational levels. It aims to understand new business models, strategies, and organizational forms. Contributions in this stream of research have the potential to yield important and relevant insights for both scholars and societies. This book is written primarily for academics engaged in innovation management or strategy, or conducting organizational behavior research. It will also be of relevance to practitioners and managers in the agri-food industry.

Developed by leading authors in the field, this book offers a cohesive and definitive theorisation of the concept of the 'good farmer', integrating historical analysis, critique of contemporary applications of good farming concepts, and new case studies, providing a springboard for future research. The concept of the good farmer has emerged in recent years as part of a move away from attitude and economic-based understandings of farm decision-making towards a deeper understanding of culture and symbolism in agriculture. The Good Farmer shows why agricultural production is socially and culturally, as well as economically, important. It explores the history of the concept and its position in contemporary theory, as well as its use and meaning in a variety of different contexts, including landscape, environment, gender, society, and as a tool for resistance. By exploring the idea of the good farmer, it reveals the often-unforeseen assumptions implicit in food and agricultural policy that draw on culture, identity, and presumed notions of what is 'good'. The book concludes by considering the potential of the good farmer concept for addressing future, emerging issues in agriculture. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of food and agriculture and rural development, as well as professionals and policymakers involved in the food and agricultural industry.

Cockroaches offer a useful and inexpensive alternative to traditional laboratory animals, yet most researchers are unfamiliar with their biology. This unique and comprehensive cockroach handbook is written for everyone from novice to expert. It addresses every aspect of cockroach biology, with a particular emphasis on the neuroendocrine system. Liberally illustrated chapters include such topics as cockroach culture, anatomy, behavior, and various experimental techniques. One of the few available books to provide broad coverage of the neurobiology of a single organism, this second volume is a must for all researchers in biomedical or veterinary fields, as well as for entomologists.

The topic of wildfire is currently receiving a lot of attention in international media. This is the case right now with conflagrations stretching across the American West. This has also been the case over the past few years with fires in Australia, Chile, Brazil, Portugal, and South Africa, among others. While most publications on this topic unpack one scale of intervention—defensible space for protecting individual homes—this book will study a range of potential tactics, from a watershed management scale down to a molecular scale. It aims to provide a more holistic set of approaches for designers to consider when working between wildland and the built environment. For the case studies, this book will not just draw upon work from professional design firms, as these projects tend to be limited in quantity as well as in scope. Rather, it will draw upon indigenous practices, community-driven projects, and speculative academic proposals to create a larger bank of ideas.

This book reviews the Green Revolution, starting with its inception and development from the 1940s to the 1970s, and leading to what is commonly referred to as a second Green Revolution in the 2000s. Building on the historical assessment, it draws insights for contemporary policy debates and demonstrates important lessons for the here and now. 'Green Revolution' refers to the technical measures employed to increase food (particularly grain) production, based mainly on improved seed varieties for higher yields and pest resistance. For it to be successful the Green Revolution often required land reform, investments in irrigation and fertilizer supply that were not available to women and marginal farmers. This book analyses three underlying principles that have guided green revolutions: the political environment in which they were set; how they contributed to both the successes and challenges the Green Revolution continues to face; and the systemic institutional barriers for access to these agricultural production advances, with a focus on how gender relations limit the inclusion of women even when they are the principle cultivators and farm managers. The book draws on experiences in Mexico, India and China, examining government policy, the role of the family farm, and key issues around the inclusion of women. In doing so, this book connects the history of the Green Revolution with contemporary policy debates on the developing world, particularly in relation to Africa and Asia, around foreign aid and agricultural research. It also specifically establishes that greater inclusivity for women and other marginalised farming communities will significantly enhance the effectiveness of these programs. Interlinking themes of development policy, gender, and agricultural research, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of agricultural development, food security, and sustainable development, as well as policymakers and practitioners working in international aid and agri-food policies.

The term "food security" does not immediately signal research done in humanities disciplines. It refers to a complex, contested issue, whose currency and significance are hardly debatable given present concerns about environmental change, resource management, and sustainability. The subject is thus largely studied within science and social science disciplines in current or very recent historical contexts. This book brings together perspectives on food security and related environmental concerns from experts in the disciplines of literary studies, history, science, and social sciences. It allows readers to compare past and contemporary attitudes towards the issues in India and Britain - the economic, social, and environmental histories of these two nations have been closely connected ever since British travellers began to visit India in the latter half of the sixteenth century. The chapters in this book discuss themes such as climate, harvest failure, trade, technological improvements, transport networks, charity measures, and popular protest, which affected food security in both countries from the seventeenth century onwards. The authors cover a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, and their chapters allow readers to understand and compare different methodologies as well as different contexts of time and place relevant to the topic. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of economic and social history, environmental history, literary studies, and South Asian studies.

This study examines various perspectives of the problem of hunger in the world. Beginning with a descriptive overview, it examines different explanations and remedies, concluding that poverty, and thus hunger, should be seen as the direct resurlt of the prevailing system for the creation of wealth. Thus, while our economic system produces many advantages for some people, it also produces many disadvantages for others. This book is centered on the social forces that generate chronic undernutrition and malnutrition. Those interested in finding cures for this world problem as well as those with an economic background, will realize the importance of this work and its focus.

This book offers an in-depth analysis of the political economy of soybean production in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, by identifying the dominant private and public actors and control mechanisms that have given rise to a corporate-driven, vertically integrated system of regionalized agricultural production in the Southern Cone of South America. The current agricultural boom surrounding soybean production has been aided by aggressive new agro-technologies, including biotechnology, leading to massive organizational changes in the agricultural sector and a significant rise in the power of special interest groups and corporations. Despite having similar initial production conditions, the pattern of economic activity surrounding soybean production in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, continues to be largely determined by the needs of the multinational corporations involved, rather than national considerations of comparative advantage. The author uses these findings to argue that the new international model of agricultural production empowers chemical and trading multinational companies over national governments.

Originally published in 1957, The Unservile State looks at the theme of liberty in the Welfare State. Has it survived Welfare - is it even better for it? What of Parliament and our civil liberties? Does the present state of property distribution, of industry, agriculture and our social services satisfy the Liberal mind? And what would a liberal policy for foreign and Commonwealth affairs be like? These are some of the questions which this book sets out to answer. It is the first full scale study of the attitudes and policies of contemporary British Liberalism.

The economic and political rise of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), and powerful middle-income countries (MICs) such as Argentina, Indonesia and Turkey, has far-reaching implications for global agrarian transformation. These countries are key sites of agricultural commodity production, distribution, circulation and consumption and are contributing to major shifts in the character of agro-food systems. This comprehensive collection explores these issues through the lens of critical agrarian studies, which examine fundamental social change in, and in relation to, rural worlds. The authors explore key themes such as the processes of agrarian change associated with individual countries within the grouping, the role and impact of BRICS countries within their respective regions, the role of other MICs within these regions and the rising importance of MICs within global and regional agro-food systems. The book encompasses a wide variety of case studies, including the expansion of South African agrarian capital within Africa; Brazil as a regional agro-food power and its complex relationship with China, which has been investing heavily in Brazil; the role of BRICS and MICs in Bolivia's soy complex; crop booms within China; China's role in land deals in Southeast Asia; and Vietnamese investment in Cambodia. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of critical agrarian studies, with a focus on BRICS and MICs. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Globalizations.

This book is the first comprehensive critical analysis of the cultural politics of a new kind of British heritage discourse. Based on texts ranging from tweets to restaurant menus that tell the story of heritage vegetables, this book explores what it means to think about our food systems, and their future, through the lens of 'heritage'. From town hall seed swaps to restaurant menus and coffee table books, it has become hard in recent years for consumers to avoid the idea of 'heritage' fruit and vegetables. The British counterpart of North American heirlooms, their varied colours, strange shapes and endearing names are charming. Yet their proponents claim far more for them, arguing it is vital that we safeguard our crop heritage for global food security, social justice and consumer choice. This book examines how heritage fruits and vegetables are adopted to subvert corporate food production and take food back into our own hands, while supermarkets are eagerly adding them to their luxury ranges. The book also discusses the practice of heritage seeds being stored in secure facilities where most of the world's growers cannot reach them. Written in an accessible style, this book will appeal to those studying, and those interested in, food studies and food politics; heritage studies; geography and environmental studies; the sociology of consumption and cultural studies.

This book explores the shifting relations of food provisioning in Turkey from a comparative global political economy perspective. It offers in-depth ethnographic analysis, interviews and historical insights into the ambiguities and diversities that simultaneously affect the changing conditions of food and agriculture in Turkey. Specific issues examined include the commodification of land, food and labour; the expansion and deepening of industrial standardization; the expansion of a supermarket model; and concomitant changes in, as well as the simultaneous co-existence of, traditional methods of production and marketing. Contrasting observations are drawn from diverse locales to provide examples of convergence, divergence and cohabitation in relation to transnationally advocated industrial models. Commodification of Global Agrifood Systems and Agro-Ecology employs a form of comparative perspective that allows the particular processes of restructuring of agrifood relations in Turkey to be simultaneously distinguished from, yet related to, changes taking place in global power dynamics. Yildiz Atasoy explores agrifood transformation in Turkey with a unique approach that considers a plurality of intertwined normative influences, ontological beliefs, cultural-religious narratives, political struggles and critical-interpretive positions. Based on original research, the book treats changes in food provisioning as an analytical thread capable of uncovering how the normative acceptability of capitalized agriculture and techno-scientific innovation is entangled with processes of class formation, growing inter-capitalist competition and Islamic politics. Such processes, in turn, frame income/wealth generation, landscape management, agro-ecological dynamics and labour practices, as well as the taste and smell of place.

An in-depth analysis of the politics and practice of food production and supply in Ethiopia, and their impact on the largely agricultural economy and farming populations, who represent nearly 80 per cent of the country's population. Winner of the Bethwell A. Ogot Book Prize to the author of the best book on East African Studies, 2018. In October 2016, the Ethiopian administration declared a State of Emergency in response to anti-Government demonstrations and mass riots. While the Government claimed the riots stemmed from subversive activities among large diasporic populations in the West, the evidence suggests that they were provoked by widespread internal dissatisfaction.Land deals by the Government with foreign investors, the building of vast hydroelectric dams, sugar estates and industry parks, and urban sprawl have put pressure on agricultural, rural areas. Today, dispossessions, drought and social unrest surround fears of the worst food shortages in decades. Examining these developments in Ethiopia's lake region, the author shows how transformations in state-society relations and the organization of production and exchange have impacted on a population of smallholder farmers for whom agriculture is not only the mainstay of the economy but a way of life. Getnet Bekele is Associate Professor of History at Oakland University, MI, wherehe teaches African History and the Environmental and Economic History of Africa and the Global South.

Environmental justice research and activism predominantly focus on openly conflictive situations; claims making is central. However, situations of injustice can still occur even if there is no overt conflict. Environmental Justice and Soy Agribusiness fills this gap by applying an environmental justice incommensurabilities framework to reveal the mechanisms of why conflicts do not arise in particular situations, even though they fall within classic environmental justice schemes. Empirically, the case study focus is on the remote soy frontier in Northwest Argentina, particularly the town of Las Lajitas as the nucleus of soy production. This represents an excellent example of the recent expansion of the soy agribusiness industry in Latin America. First, a classic environmental justice analysis is carried out. Second, and drawing on the epistemological works of Ludwik Fleck, an alternative analytical framework is proposed, visualising locals' thought styles on change, effects and potential conflict in relation to soy agribusiness. Here, visceral elements and the application of a jazz methodology are vital for a more holistic form of multisensory cognition. Third, incommensurabilities among the classic and alternative approach are uncovered, arguing for the importance of temporal and spatial contexts in environmental justice research.

Islands are special because they promote unique forms of life, and large proportions of the species they hold are found nowhere else on Earth. The mammals of the South-west Pacific are no exception, with many distributed only across single islands or archipelagos. Mammals of the South-west Pacific details the natural history for more than 180 species of marsupials, bats and rodents from 24 Pacific nations and territories. Species profiles are accompanied by distribution maps, illustrations and photographs – many being the first images ever captured for the species. By combining available knowledge with unpublished data collected over years of field work, Mammals of the South-west Pacific forms a definitive guide to the mammals from this region.

Earth Matters on Stage: Ecology and Environment in American Theater tells the story of how American theater has shaped popular understandings of the environment throughout the twentieth century as it argues for theater's potential power in the age of climate change. Using cultural and environmental history, seven chapters interrogate key moments in American theater and American environmentalism over the course of the twentieth century in the United States. It focuses, in particular, on how drama has represented environmental injustice and how inequality has become part of the American environmental landscape. As the first book-length ecocritical study of American theater, Earth Matters examines both familiar dramas and lesser-known grassroots plays in an effort to show that theater can be a powerful force for social change from frontier drama of the late nineteenth century to the eco-theater movement. This book argues that theater has always and already been part of the history of environmental ideas and action in the United States. Earth Matters also maps the rise of an ecocritical thought and eco-theater practice - what the author calls ecodramaturgy - showing how theater has informed environmental perceptions and policies. Through key plays and productions, it identifies strategies for artists who want their work to contribute to cultural transformation in the face of climate change.

Dogs in the North offers an interdisciplinary in-depth consideration of the multiple roles that dogs have played in the North. Spanning the deep history of humans and dogs in the North, the volume examines a variety of contexts in North America and Eurasia. The case studies build on archaeological, ethnohistorical, ethnographic, and anthropological research to illuminate the diversity and similarities in canine-human relationships across this vast region. The book sheds additional light on how dogs figure in the story of domestication, and how they have participated in partnerships with people across time. With contributions from a wide selection of authors, Dogs in the North is aimed at students and scholars of anthropology, archaeology, and history, as well as all those with interests in human-animal studies and northern societies.

"Emerging Development of Agriculture in East Africa" offers case studies that find promise in many new innovations. Farmers in Uganda have quickly learned the management of NERICA rice (a new upland rice variety), which is being disseminated in a limited way in the region. Also in Uganda, farmers living in more remote areas have improved access to markets due to the expansion of mobile phones. In Kenya, improved milk marketing systems have increased efficiency and led to tangible increases in the adoption of dairy production technologies. And the adoption of intensive dairy production systems in Kenya and Uganda are providing significant amounts of manure and positively impacting yields of maize and banana.

Biotreatment of Agricultural Wastewater is based on a symposium held in Lake Arrowhead, California in 1986, supported by a coalition of federal, state, and local agencies, and sponsored by the engineering firm of Swanson/Oswald Associates (Lafayette, California) and the research and development firms of Aquasearch, Inc. and EcoTechnology Corp. (La Jolla, California). This book is a synopsis of topics covered by world renowned experts on the biology and aquaculture of algae and bacteria and on the engineering of industrial scale systems for biological wastewater treatment and economists that were gathered to evaluate historically proven systems and develop new and innovative approaches to the biological treatment of agriculture wastewater.

Providing material for practitioners and students alike, Chemical Exposure and Toxic Responses is a clear and straightforward presentation of industrial toxicology. Exposure to toxic chemicals is of major concern to health professionals. In recent years, the scope and importance of hazardous materials toxicology has expanded and now impacts financial institutions, government, private corporations, and many other organizations as well. Chemical Exposure and Toxic Responses presents the myriad health implications of hazardous chemicals in a single source. This book is organized so that readers can proceed from a general perspective on the problem of chemical exposure and toxic responses to an understanding of toxicology and a method of inquiry. Written for anyone who needs practical toxicological information, the book compactly and efficiently presents the scientific basis of toxicology as it applies to the workplace. It covers the diverse chemical hazards encountered in the work environment and provides a practical understanding of these hazards for those charged with protecting the health and well being of people at work. Chemical Exposure and Toxic Responses consists of three parts: Part I establishes the general principles of industrial toxicology; Part II addresses specific effects of toxic agents on specific physiological organs and systems; and Part III is devoted to the evaluation of hazards in the workplace.

Offering diverse perspectives on Hawai'i's food system, this book addresses themes of place and identity across time. From early Western contact to the present day, the way in which people in Hawai'i grow, import, and consume their food has shifted in response to the pressures of colonialism, migration, new technologies, and globalization. Because of Hawai'i's history of agricultural abundance, its geographic isolation in the Pacific Ocean, and its heavy reliance on imported foods today, it offers a rich case study for understanding how food systems develop in-place. In so doing, the contributors implicitly and explicitly complicate the narrative of the "local," which has until recently dominated much of the existing scholarship on Hawai'i's foodways. With topics spanning GMO activism, agricultural land use trends, customary access and fishing rights, poi production, and the dairy industry, this volume reveals how "local food" is emplaced through dynamic and complex articulations of history, politics, and economic change. This book was originally published as a special issue of Food, Culture, and Society.

Fluorescence of Living Plant Cells for Phytomedicine Preparations reveals how valuable medicinal compounds can be identified through the application of vital fluorescence in plant cells. The book explains the roles that fluorescent compounds play in plant physiology and promotes our knowledge of plant secretory cells and phytopreparations. Supported by vivid illustrations, the book reveals how actinic light - light that induces fluorescence in leaves and flowers - can be used in the identification of secretory cells within plant tissue that may be the repository of valuable medicinal compounds. The book demonstrates the potential of fluorescence in pharmacological analysis with detailed methods for applying fluorescence to identify these deposits of natural drugs. As such, this groundbreaking book contains methods of express-pharmaceutical analysis that could open new horizons in pharmacy and the cultivation of medicinal plants. Features Describes various fluorescence microscopy techniques for the localization of compounds contained in plants with pharmaceutical interest Provides an analysis of pharmaceutical material based on autofluorescence and histochemical reactions for numerous medicinal plant species Demonstrates practices for providing optimal growing conditions and improving the quality of the compounds Showing the readiness of plant raw material for pharmaceutical industry, this book will appeal to professionals in the pharmaceutical industry and students and researchers in the fields of phytochemistry, botany and pharmaceutical sciences.

Biometry for Forestry and Environmental Data with Examples in R focuses on statistical methods that are widely applicable in forestry and environmental sciences, but it also includes material that is of wider interest. Features: * Describes the theory and applications of selected statistical methods and illustrates their use and basic concepts through examples with forestry and environmental data in R. * Rigorous but easily accessible presentation of the linear, nonlinear, generalized linear and multivariate models, and their mixed-effects counterparts. Chapters on tree size, tree taper, measurement errors, and forest experiments are also included. * Necessary statistical theory about random variables, estimation and prediction is included. The wide applicability of the linear prediction theory is emphasized. * The hands-on examples with implementations using R make it easier for non-statisticians to understand the concepts and apply the methods with their own data. Lot of additional material is available at www.biombook.org. The book is aimed at students and researchers in forestry and environmental studies, but it will also be of interest to statisticians and researchers in other fields as well.