An examination of how farming expertise could be shared and extended, over four centuries. All kinds of knowledge, from traditional know-how to modern science, are socially contingent and the product of an age-long and permanent social struggle. This book unravels the creation and the exchange of agronomic knowledge in rural Europe, from the early eighteenth century up until the end of the twentieth. It explores the spreading of knowing through the lens of "knowledge networks": where did agricultural knowledge come from and how did one learn to run a farm? Who was involved in this process of knowledge exchange? Which strategies and communicative methods were employed and what kind of networks were active? The answers to these questions mirror, as the book illustrates, the inventiveness of the actors on the scene: the creativity of a French naturalist in establishing links with local farmers to stop the circulation of a devastating grain moth, the power of the agricultural press to instill "proper values" into Hungarian farming practices or to shape the identity of the Galician agrarian movement, and the agency of post-war British farmers in selecting their own information, from sources such as lectures to the Young Farmers' Club, visits by public advisors and representatives of commercial firms, and radio programs. From the start of the agricultural Enlightenment, increasingly farmers have been besieged by a growing army of experts, telling them what to do, when and how. In a sense farming has become one of the most patronised professions. But farmers can resist and carve their own path. The chapters here reveal the continuous tensions between science-based agriculture and practice-based farming, between the expert image of an ideal agriculture and the (less known) self-image of being a good farmer. The dominant process, as this book shows, is that of an instrumental top-down transmission of knowledge from "the lab to the field". But between these two poles, complex and flourishing networks developed, functioning as trading zones in which knowledge and experience could be circulated, put to the test, forgotten, altered, rejected - and sometimes imposed.

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 study evaluates the state-initiated policies in post-1965 Zaire and their impact on the Zairean people. The author ascertains the overt and underlying relevancy of the priority that the state has accorded the agricultural and rural sector for socioeconomic development, and he examines the indicators provided by conventional agricultural and rural development theories. These indicators show that the sector has not received sufficient financial support and has lacked the political will to obtain the assigned goals. Thus, the author claims, the basic objective of the agricultural and rural policy has been political, not socioeconomic. The failure of the agricultural policy, the study suggests, is rooted in the nature and role of the state. In post-1965 Zaire, the state is a socialist political superstructure standing on a capitalist socioeconomic infrastructure. Both coexist with the traditional forms of production in the Zairean social structure. This incompatible juxtaposition of different systemic components engenders structural conflicts which work in favor of the few who hold key state offices. The study calls for the mastery of the state as the sine qua non without which Zaire will most likely remain in its present state of national and rural socioeconomic underdevelopment.

Jointly published with INRA, Paris.
What will people eat in the future and how can the food requirements in terms of quantity and quality be met? This EU-based study elucidates the need for a productivity level that will make agriculture competitive on the market and yet is reconciled with the need to manage natural resources and lands wisely. In this book the necessary changes for European agriculture from the biological, medical, economic and political perspective are discussed.

Nearly a century before it became known as Silicon Valley, the Santa Clara Valley was world-renowned for something else: the succulent fruits and vegetables grown in its fertile soil. Virtually all farms were owned by whites, but the soil was largely worked by Asian immigrants. In Harvesting the American Dream, Cecilia Tsu tells the overlooked and intertwined histories of the land of the Santa Clara Valley and the Asian immigrants who cultivated it. Weaving together the story of the three overlapping waves of Asian migration from China, Japan, and the Philippines in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Tsu offers a comparative history that sheds light on white and Asian Californians' understandings of race, gender, and national identity. From the mid-nineteenth century on, white farmers had an increased need for labor, and Chinese immigrants willingly and disproportionately filled it. Despite this common labor arrangement, the idea of the independent family farm, worked solely by family members, became even more deeply entrenched, particularly in the West. Farm owners justified the labor of Chinese men as sojourning immigrants disconnected from family, capable of only menial agricultural work. They also viewed Asian crops as marginal, which justified their increasing reliance on foreign workers. Popular belief that the Chinese lacked a coherent family structure was later extended to the Japanese, even though immigrant families began settling in the Valley in the late 1910s. As the earlier family farm framework divided along crop and family lines fell apart, it was adapted, this time barring women from field work. The direct threat of Japanese family farming to the white family farm ideal, Tsu argues, played a significant role in the rise of discrimination against Asians through immigrant exclusion, denial of citizenship, and alien land laws. However, the mutual dependence that characterized Asian-white relations in the Santa Clara Valley prevented the area from becoming a hotbed of racial tension. Efforts to hold on to the white family farm ideal during the Depression led nonwhite laborers, primarily Filipino and Mexican, to be eyed suspiciously, as red-sympathizing foreigners whose involvement in labor militancy revealed a dormant anti-Americanism. Tsu simultaneously tells the story of this agricultural world from the perspectives of the Asian workers who sought to create their own American dream. They saw farming as not just a source of income, but also a way to bolster their community standing. Although they did not share a common heritage, the groups interacted with each other constantly and peacefully, patronizing each others' shops, working for the same landowners, sometimes living in the same area, and encountering many of the same stereotypes.

'Fertility Farming' explores an approach to farming that makes minimal use of plowing, eschews chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and encourages cover cropping and manure application. Turner holds that the foundation of the effectiveness of a fertile soil - and the measure of a fertile soil - is its content of organic matter, ultimately, its humus. Upon a basis of humus, nature builds a complete structure of healthy life - without need for disease control of any kind. In fact, disease treatment is unnecessary in nature, as disease is the outcome of the unbalancing or perversion of the natural order - and serves as a warning that something is wrong. The avoidance of disease is therefore the simple practice of natural law. Much more than theory, this book was written to serve as a practical guide for farmers. Turner's advice for building a productive, profitable organic farming system rings as true today as it did sixty years ago when it was written. Featuring a new foreword by Allan Nation.

In the wake of the global food crisis of 2008 Middle Eastern oil producers announced multi-billion investments to secure food supplies from abroad. Often called land grabs, such investments are at the heart of the global food security challenge and put the Middle East in the spotlight of simultaneous global crises in the fields of food, finance, and energy. Water scarcity here is most pronounced, import dependence growing, and the links between oil and food are manifold ranging from the economics of biofuels to climate change and the provision of crucial input factors like fuels and fertilizers. In the future, the Middle East will not only play a prominent role in global oil, but also in global food markets, this time on the consumption side. In Oil for Food, Eckart Woertz analyzes the geopolitical implications behind the current investment drive of Arab Gulf countries in food insecure countries like Sudan or Pakistan. Having lived in Dubai for seven years, and drawing on extensive archival sources and interviews, he gives the inside story of how regional food security concerns have developed historically, how domestic agro-lobbies shape policy making, and how the failed attempt to develop Sudan as an Arab bread-basket in the 1970s carries important lessons for today's investments drive. The book argues against the media hype that has been created around land grabs and analyzes why there has been such a gap between announced projects and their actual implementation. Instead, it calls for a revision of Gulf food security policies and suggests policy alternatives. It is essential reading for academics interested in the political economy of the Gulf region and for practitioners in governments, media, and international organizations who deal with contemporary food security and energy issues.

Biopesticide: Volume Two, the latest release in the Advances in Bioinoculant series, provides an updated overview on the active substances utilized in current bioinsecticides, along with information on which of them can be used for integrated pest management programs in agro-ecosystems. The book presents a comprehensive look at the development of novel solutions against new targets, also introducing new technologies that enhance the efficacy of already available active substances. Finally, readers will find insights into the advanced molecular studies on insect microbial community diversity that are opening new frontiers in the development of innovative pest management strategies. This book will be valuable to those prioritizing agro biodiversity management to address optimal productizing and enhanced food security.

Nitrogen Assessment: Pakistan as a Case-Study provides a detailed overview of issues and challenges related to nitrogen use and overuse, thus serving as a reference for researchers in Pakistan and providing important insights for other geographic regions. Excess and inefficient nitrogen use in crops and livestock sectors is polluting our rivers, seas, atmosphere, and ecosystems, contributing to climate change, hampering biodiversity, and contributing to stratospheric ozone depletion. This book covers the importance of nitrogen in relation to food security, human health, and economic stability in South Asia. It also discusses nitrogen status, sources, sinks, and drivers of nitrogen use in Pakistan, focusing on current nitrogen measures and policies. Nitrogen pollution is one of the biggest challenges of 21st Century, and the international scientific community is beginning to recognize the significance of nitrogen pollution and to explore how to combat it. The editors' institution, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, partners with South Asia Nitrogen Hub, which includes about 30 organizations from South Asia and UK working on nitrogen assessment, budgeting, awareness, and policy guidance, as well as possible measures to reduce nitrogen pollution. Nitrogen Assessment: Pakistan as a Case-Study provides an important guide to this work and is written in a way that is accessible to an audience with a wide range of experience from advanced students to seasoned researchers.

AI, Edge, and IoT Smart Agriculture integrates applications of IoT, edge computing, and data analytics for sustainable agricultural development and introduces Edge of Thing-based data analytics and IoT for predictability of crop, soil, and plant disease occurrence for improved sustainability and increased profitability. The book also addresses precision irrigation, precision horticulture, greenhouse IoT, livestock monitoring, IoT ecosystem for agriculture, mobile robot for precision agriculture, energy monitoring, storage management, and smart farming. The book provides an overarching focus on sustainable environment and sustainable economic development through smart and e-agriculture. Providing a medium for the exchange of expertise and inspiration, contributions from both smart agriculture and data mining researchers around the world provide foundational insights. The book provides practical application opportunities for the resolution of real-world problems, including contributions from the data mining, data analytics, Edge of Things, and cloud research communities working in the farming production sector. The book offers broad coverage of the concepts, themes, and instruments of this important and evolving area of IOT-based agriculture, Edge of Things and cloud-based farming, Greenhouse IOT, mobile agriculture, sustainable agriculture, and big data analytics in agriculture toward smart farming.

Throughout the 1990s, Russian households experienced a dramatic fall in their traditional sources of subsistence: wages and social benefits. Many commentators have argued that households have adopted 'survival strategies' that enable them to make ends meet, particularly taking second jobs, growing their own food and calling on the help of family and friends. This book reviews the available data to analyse the forms, scale and incidence of these phenomena. The author finds that so-called 'survival strategies' merely represent a continuation of traditional soviet practices. He demonstrates that they disproportionately benefit the better off and that they do not provide a means by which those who have suffered misfortune can compensate for a fall in their earnings. Instead, he illustrates that most Russian households have adapted simply by cutting expenditure rather than by finding new sources of income. The author concludes by arguing that the notion of a 'household survival strategy' is inappropriate for the study of post-soviet society. Based on the analysis of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, Making Ends Meet in Contemporary Russia provides a comprehensive analysis of the means by which Russian households have secured their subsistence in the face of a collapse in wages and employment since the end of the soviet system. It will be required reading for all students, scholars and researchers of transition studies, development studies and human geography.

Dramatically revised and greatly expanded, the second edition of Forensic Botany features triple the amount of images, including a 16-page color insert to aid with macro and micro identification. This edition also features new high profile cases involving the use of botanical evidence, analysis and updating of plant databases, and database sampling. New chapters provide coverage of plant poisons and toxicology, plant bioinformatics, use of plants for death investigation and clandestine grave identification, and the applications of botany to archeology. The book discusses plant biology from a forensic point of view and offers practical guidelines for how to use botanical evidence in a case.

This volume of papers from the Eighth World Congress deals with changes in proportions and growth rates of sectors of the economy in relation to economic development. It includes a survey of theories of sectoral balance and studies of structural transformation in the Kuznets tradition but with richer economometric models and data on more than 100 countries over several decades. There are in-depth country analyses of India, Korea and Nigeria and for Eastern Europe, the GDR and Hungary. In the last part of the volume the link between agriculture and industry is studied in terms of the importance of rural non-farm activities, the effectiveness of balanced growth and of an agriculture-led development strategy. A wide range of data is examined with one chapter focusing particularly on Japan. Jeffrey Williamson has also written "Modelling Growth Economics in Equilibrium and Disequilibrium" with A.Kelley and "Did British Capitalism Breed Inequality". Amongst his other publications, Vadiraj Panchamukhi has written "Trade Policies in India: A Case Study of Karnataka, Capital Formation and Output in the Third World" and "Planning, Development and World Economic Order".

This book aims to provide the reader with an understanding of the concept of the circular economy, in relation to food supply chains. The current food supply chain system, based upon the linear supply chain model, is unquestionably unsustainable: make, use, dispose. The circular supply chain model, on the other hand, aims to keep resources in use for as long as possible, while regenerating products/materials at the end of their service life. In short: reduce, reuse, recycle. This book puts forwards the circular economy as an alternative to the traditional supply chain management models. The circular economy aims to minimise material, energy and environmental damage without restricting economic growth and social and technological progress. It involves transition to renewable energy sources, and it builds on economic, natural and social capital. This shortform monograph will appeal to academics working in the fields of supply chain logistics, operation management, agricultural management, and sustainability more broadly. Dr. Stella Despoudi is Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management at Aston University, UK and Adjunct Lecturer in Supply Chain Management at University of Western Macedonia, Greece. Prof. Uthayasankar Sivarajah is Head of School of Management and Professor of Technology Management and Circular Economy at the School of Management, University of Bradford, UK. Dr Manoj Dora is Director of Collaborative Projects and Outreach at Brunel Business School, UK. Manoj's areas of specialisation are Sustainable Value Chain and Quality Management, with a focus on Lean Six Sigma in the agro-food sector.

Written by world experts in astacology, this book covers a range of aspects of the biology and ecology of freshwater crayfish. With a strong focus on wild crayfish, the book studies the taxonomy and genetics of this interesting group of animals. Under examination also are crayfish growth and reproduction, with detailed illustrations; behavior and chemical ecology of crayfish; diseases of crayfish; holistic understanding of drivers for crayfish population success; and methods for the control of non-native crayfish.

Biofertilizers, Volume One: Advances in Bio-inoculants provides state-of-the-art descriptions of various approaches, techniques and basic fundamentals of BI used in crop fertilization practices. The book presents research within a relevant theoretical framework to improve our understanding of core issues as applied to natural resource management. Authored by renowned scientists actively working on bio-inoculant, biofertilizer and bio-stimulant sciences, the book addresses the scope of inexpensive and energy neutral bio-inoculant technologies and the impact regulation has on biofertilizer utilization. This book is a valuable reference for agricultural/environmental scientists in academic and corporate environments, graduate and post-graduate students, regulators and policymakers.

Our current economic systems have become addicted to growth at all costs, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). They assume that GDP growth is synonymous with increased wellbeing and prosperity. However, this approach has led to growing inequality, an escalating climate crisis, and the depletion of natural and social capital. Our approach to economics and development needs to be fundamentally transformed. New Challenges for Future Sustainability and Wellbeing is a collection of 25 studies about sustainability and the related challenges, such as income, wealth, social aspects, the environment, education and regional equality that influence the pace of economic development and deteriorates well-being of people and organisations all over the world. This book provides a platform for scholars, researchers and professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds to discuss, highlight and exchange ideas on these challenges and prospects for both economic and business development.

A stunning work of popular history-the story of how a crop transformed the history of slavery Americans consume over 1.5 billion pounds of peanut products every year. But few of us know the peanut's tumultuous history, or its intimate connection to slavery and freedom. Lyrical and powerful, Slaves for Peanuts deftly weaves together the natural and human history of a crop that transformed the lives of millions. Author Jori Lewis reveals how demand for peanut oil in Europe ensured that slavery in Africa would persist well into the twentieth century, long after the European powers had officially banned it in the territories they controlled. Delving deep into West African and European archives, Lewis recreates a world on the coast of Africa that is breathtakingly real and unlike anything modern readers have experienced. Slaves for Peanuts is told through the eyes of a set of richly detailed characters-from an African-born French missionary harboring runaway slaves, to the leader of a Wolof state navigating the politics of French imperialism-who challenge our most basic assumptions of the motives and people who supported human bondage. At a time when Americans are grappling with the enduring consequences of slavery, here is a new and revealing chapter in its global history.

Originally published in 1981, The Origins of Open Field Agriculture looks at the problems connected with open field agriculture - the origins of strip cultivation, the three-field system, the adaptation of 'Celtic' fields, and the development of ploughing techniques. The book looks at the challenges to traditional ideas on the origins of settlement and their associated economy, and casts new light on understandings of village development. The book suggests that conventional views of the nucleated village, in the midst of open field strips as a product of the Anglo-Saxon migration, is no longer tenable. The book brings together the work of distinguished archaeologists, historians, and historical geographers and opens up a new perspective on the early development of medieval agriculture.

Biocontrol and Secondary Metabolites: Applications and Immunization for Plant Growth and Protection covers established and updated research on emerging trends in plant defense signaling in, and during, stress phases. Other topics cover growth at interface as a sustainable way of life and the context of human welfare and conservation of fungi as a group of organisms. Further, the book explores induced systemic resistance using biocontrol agents and/or secondary metabolites as a milestone for sustainable agricultural production, thus providing opportunities for the minimization or elimination of the use of fungicides.

This book describes the transformation of the agricultural sector in East-Central European countries after the collapse of the socialist system at the beginning of the 20th century. Through considering their spatial diversity, it identifies diagnoses and evaluates the social and economic processes that have taken place in eleven countries which are currently the members of the European Community. The book analyses all important elements of spatial structure of agriculture such as land use, agrarian structure, agricultural population, technical facilities, structure and volume of production, yields, and types of farms. It also provides a wealth of maps and charts that facilitate the interpretation of the identified phenomena. As such the book is a great resource for academics, students, practitioners and policy-makers in geography and food economics.

This book discusses how to use the wastewaters, liquid biowastes and soils unfit for agriculture to economically viable aquaculture practices; and putting the emphasis on, aquaculture posology, the science of quantification and administration of doses in aquatic health and aquaculture management. Broadly, aquaculture practices come across three types of problems each; in the context of water quality, and fin fish and shell fish diseases; and preventive, curative and noncurative diseases in fin fish and shell fish. Note: T&F does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Given the central role of the food and agriculture system in driving so many of the connected ecological, social and economic threats and challenges we currently face, Rethinking Food and Agriculture reviews, reassesses and reimagines the current food and agriculture system and the narrow paradigm in which it operates. Rethinking Food and Agriculture explores and uncovers some of the key historical, ethical, economic, social, cultural, political, and structural drivers and root causes of unsustainability, degradation of the agricultural environment, destruction of nature, short-comings in science and knowledge systems, inequality, hunger and food insecurity, and disharmony. It reviews efforts towards 'sustainable development', and reassesses whether these efforts have been implemented with adequate responsibility, acceptable societal and environmental costs and optimal engagement to secure sustainability, equity and justice. The book highlights the many ways that farmers and their communities, civil society groups, social movements, development experts, scientists and others have been raising awareness of these issues, implementing solutions and forging 'new ways forward', for example towards paradigms of agriculture, natural resource management and human nutrition which are more sustainable and just. Rethinking Food and Agriculture proposes ways to move beyond the current limited view of agro-ecological sustainability towards overall sustainability of the food and agriculture system based on the principle of 'inclusive responsibility'. Inclusive responsibility encourages ecosystem sustainability based on agro-ecological and planetary limits to sustainable resource use for production and livelihoods. Inclusive responsibility also places importance on quality of life, pluralism, equity and justice for all and emphasises the health, well-being, sovereignty, dignity and rights of producers, consumers and other stakeholders, as well as of nonhuman animals and the natural world.