This book has been seminal in bringing to the fore the injustices that have been inflicted on the Highlands in the name of government and landlord - injustices often lost in the name of dry statistics and academic balance. Written by a man who has gone on to become both an award-winning historian of the Highlands and a leading figure in the public life of the region, The Making of the Crofting Community has attracted praise, inspired debate, and provoked outrage and controversy over the years. This book remains necessary to challenge standard academic interpretations of the Highland past. Having long been one of the classics of Birlinn's John Donald list, this revised and updated new edition includes a substantial new preface and an extensive reworking of the existing text.

This volume seeks a better understanding of the issues and options involved in the generation and transfer of technology to poor small farmers. It is intended to provide a fresh opportunity to develop guidelines for the future design and implementation of rural development investment projects.

Land and Work in Mediaeval Europe was first published in English in 1967. Throughout the work, the idea that Marc Bloch was not only a historian but a great teacher is exemplified, as is his ability to ask interesting and original questions through his writing. Topics covered include medieval Germany, technical problems in the medieval economy and society, and the medieval class structure.

This innovative text provides a compelling narrative world history through the lens of food and farmers. Tracing the history of agriculture from earliest times to the present, Christopher Isett and Stephen Miller argue that people, rather than markets, have been the primary agents of agricultural change. Exploring the actions taken by individuals and groups over time and analyzing their activities in the wider contexts of markets, states, wars, the environment, population increase, and similar factors, the authors emphasize how larger social and political forces inform decisions and lead to different technological outcomes. Both farmers and elites responded in ways that impeded economic development. Farmers, when able to trade with towns, used the revenue to gain more land and security. Elites used commercial opportunities to accumulate military power and slaves. The book explores these tendencies through rich case studies of ancient China; precolonial South America; early-modern France, England, and Japan; New World slavery; colonial Taiwan; socialist Cuba; and many other periods and places. Readers will understand how the promises and problems of contemporary agriculture are not simply technologically derived but are the outcomes of decisions and choices people have made and continue to make.

Intended as a 'one stop shop' of a veritable who's who of leading urban agriculture authors and scholars, this book brings together multiple contributions on the design, development, science, and society of the rapidly expanding, multi-disciplinary field. The book is accessible, well written, free of jargon, and full of pictures, graphics and charts. Exciting and innovative, Integrated Urban Agriculture combines original papers and commentary/reflections to them which make it a perfect candidate for class discussions. The contributors form an exceptional international, interdisciplinary, expert dream team. Many of these authors have already been recognised as key contributors to this literature. However, the way the book is designed - as a conversation among a group of scholars, thinkers, authors - allows fresh new insights and adds vibrancy to this volume. It is not a simple how to do UA book. It is a thoughtful book about re-imagining urban living, urban livelihoods, and urban culture through urban agriculture.

Prevention and preparedness are the two basic approaches to maximize food security against any sort of tampering, whether natural, inadvertent or intentional. The NATO funded project "Tools for crop biosecurity" was designed to strengthen the cooperation among U.S., Europe and Israel in the field of crop biosecurity and to generate awareness on how the psychological, economic and cultural consequences of crop bioterrorism, especially attacks on soft targets such as crop seeds, could have a disproportionate adverse effect on Mediterranean agriculture and, more generally, on society.

This book illustrates the achievements of the project originated from the workshops organized during the project itself taking in consideration main microbiological threads posed to crops, the tools to recognize and to control them, the needs for international cooperation and research funds to create networks which can face emerging risks for agriculture.

These are the final results and reflections of the project MEA-Scope. This project with the full title "Micro-economic instruments for impact assessment of multifunctional agriculture to implement the model of European Agriculture" was a pioneering project. It was among the first which were funded in the new activity Scientific Support to Policies of the th 6 Research Framework Programme. Policy decisions - especially at the European level - are never easy. What policy-makers decide will potentially affect the lives of millions of people for many years. This makes reaching informed decisions crucial, and scientific research can help illuminate their policy choices. MEA-Scope was one of two projects which addressed the research p- orities for European Rural areas which were identified in an EC workshop on Multifunctionality in Agriculture in 2001. Scientific Support to Policies in the Research Framework Programme is facing the challenge to identify in the discussions between policy makers and the research community those topics which can be addressed in a m- term strategic research programme. When the research topic was published Multifunctionality of Agriculture was among the concepts with many - search questions open. It was considered that positivistic approaches into technology aspects of agriculture, forestry and other rural activities based on natural resources and land use are needed, as well as more normative research with regard to trade, food quality and safety, animal welfare, en- ronment, rural development and cultural issues.

This book begins with an extensive descriptive account of villagers' dealings in the markets for labor, tenancies, credit, and crops, drawing on interviews and household surveys from the early 1980s. The book subsequently analyzes various alternative contractual arrangements and villagers' choices among them.

This book describes initiatives and concrete examples on sustainable food production worldwide. In the current world scenario, where nations all over the world are struggling to accomplish the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to ensure sustainable patterns for all, this book provides a contribution towards a more comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding of the cross-cutting issues related to Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security. This interdisciplinary book supports the efforts to engage a commitment from all fields of science, to work together to provide knowledge that could help to address SDG2 (No hunger) and lead to the promotion of quality of life, by means of a more sustainable food production, and improved food security. This book is expected to fill the gap of publications in this field. It gives a special emphasis to a state-of-the-art descriptions of approaches, methods, initiatives and projects from universities, stakeholders, organizations and civil society across the world, regarding cross-cutting issues in sustainable food production. It includes examples of policies and practices case studies, examples of projects, institutional policies, innovative methods and tools and research outputs, which highlight the interdependence between sustainable agriculture and food security issues. It is expected that the "Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security" will make the many benefits of sustainable food production clearer and, inter alia, lead to an increase in the emphasis provided to this central theme.

The joint challenges of population increase, food security and conservation of agrobiodiversity demand a rethink of plant breeding and agricultural research from a different perspective. While more food is undeniably needed, the key question is rather about how to produce it in a way that sustains biological diversity and mitigates climate change. This book shows how social sciences, and more especially law, can contribute towards reconfiguring current legal frameworks in order to achieving a better balance between the necessary requirements of agricultural innovation and the need for protection of agrobiodiversity. On the assumption that the concept of property can be rethought against the background of the 'right to include', so as to endow others with a common 'right to access' genetic resources, several international instruments and contractual arrangements drawn from the plant-breeding field (including the Convention on Biological Diversity, technology exchange clearing houses and open sources licenses) receive special consideration. In addition, the authors explore the tension between ownership and the free circulation and exchange of germplasm and issues such as genetic resources managed by local and indigenous communities, the ITPGRFA and participatory plant-breeding programmes. As a whole, the book demonstrates the relevance of the 'Commons' for plant breeding and agricultural innovation.

Onshore unconventional gas operations, in most jurisdictions, operate on the legal principle that all activities during exploration and extraction are 'temporary' in nature. The concept that the onshore unconventional gas industry has a temporary effect on the land on which it operates creates a regulatory paradox. On one hand, unconventional gas activities create energy security, national wealth and a bourgeoning export industry. On the other, agricultural land and agriculturalists may be significantly disadvantaged by unconventional gas activities potentially producing permanent damage to non-renewable fertile soils and spoiling the underground water tables. Thus, threatening future food security and food sovereignty. This book explores the socio-regulatory dimensions of coexistence between agricultural and onshore unconventional gas land uses in the jurisdictions with the highest concentration of proven unconventional gas reserves - Australia, Canada, the USA, the UK, France, Poland and China. In exploring the differing regulatory standpoints of unconventional gas land uses on productive farming land in the chosen jurisdictions, this book provides an original three-part categorisation of regulatory approaches addressing the coexistence of agricultural land and unconventional gas namely: adaptive management, precautionary and, finally, statism. It offers a timely and topical approach to socio-legal natural resource governance theory based on the participation, transparency and empowerment for agricultural landholders, examining how differing frameworks such as the collective bargaining framework can create equitable and sustainable contractual arrangements with unconventional gas companies.

An Introduction to Soils for Environmental Professionals assembles and presents the basic principles of each of the major soil science fields. It introduces fundamental concepts and shows the interrelationships between the various branches of soil science - from mineralogy to soil physics. Each chapter was reviewed by a professional in the particul

The Global Food Economy examines the human and ecological cost of what we eat. The current food economy is characterized by immense contradictions. Surplus 'food mountains', bountiful supermarkets, and rising levels of obesity stand in stark contrast to widespread hunger and malnutrition. Transnational companies dominate the market in food and benefit from subsidies, whilst farmers in developing countries remain impoverished. Food miles, mounting toxicity and the 'ecological hoofprint' of livestock mean that the global food economy rests on increasingly shaky environmental foundations. This book looks at how such a system came about, and how it is being enforced by the WTO. Ultimately, Weis considers how we can find a way of building socially just, ecologically rational and humane food economies.

About two-thirds of Britain's small, traditional orchards have been lost since 1960. This is a loss in ecological diversity, in community knowledge and the intricacy of local distinctiveness. In 2007 the pomologist Liz Copas and cidermaker Nick Poole began a quest to find and identify old varieties of cider apple trees around Dorset. The search lasted more than a decade, taking them across the county, searching in forgotten orchards, hedgerows and the corners of gardens. The Lost Orchards follows the journey they took to find, propagate and make cider with Dorset's forgotten apple varieties: Golden Ball, Kings Favourite, Yaffle, Dewbit, Golly Knapp, Tom Legg, Best Bearer and Symes Seedlings. The book is also an illustrated guide to the apple varieties they discovered and an important history of West Country Orchards. This hopeful story will resonate far beyond Dorset and will encourage readers to look closely at their surroundings and conserve their local orchards.

Megaplasmids are extrachromosomal genetic elements in the size range of 100 kb and larger. They are found in physiologically and phylogenetically diverse groups of bacteria and archaea. By definition, megaplasmids are not essential for the viability of their hosts under all growth conditions, but paradoxically many megaplasmids carry the genetic information for the defining and characteristic traits of the organism in which they reside.

Microbial Megaplasmids reviews our knowledge of the extensively studied representatives, such as the catabolic plasmids of the pseudomonads, the rhizobial Sym plasmids, the Ti plasmids of the genus Agrobacterium and the giant enterobacterial virulence plasmids. It also presents snapshots of more recently discovered megaplasmids. The contribution of megaplasmids to the biology of their hosts is described, highlighting the interactions between megaplasmid and chromosomal genes.

After almost fifteen years in the laboratory and in the test plots, bioengineered crops arrived to the market in the mid-1990s. Adoption was rapid and wide spread. In 1996, less than 4 million acres in six countries were planted with bioengineered crops. By 2001, worldwide adoption had expanded to more than 115 million acres. Important questions quickly followed. What were the factors driving the widespread adoption and rapid diffusion of these first-generation agrobiotech nologies? What were their economic and environmental impacts? How were such impacts distributed among large and small producers, innovators and adopters, developed and developing countries, exporters and importers, domestic and foreign consumers? How were such impacts and their distribu tion affected by market structure and government policies? A growing body of literature has provided valuable answers to some of these questions. However, an assessment that accounts for the full range of differences in geography, weather, pests, farm structures, and institutions had not been completed. It brings together leading This book provides just such an assessment. authors from around the world who have analyzed the production, environ mental, and economic impacts of first-generation crop biotechnologies. By pooling experiences across various countries, time periods, crops, and traits, this global panel is able to synthesize a complete picture of the impacts of first-generation crop biotechnologies."

Originally published in 1975 this book analyses the factors making for success and failure in agricultural development among black Zimbabweans during the 20th century. A detailed analysis is given of 2 tribal trust lands, including government policies and administrative control of these areas, voluntary and forced adjustment to land shortage and the economic resources and productivity of peasant cultivators. Settlements under individual land tenure are examined, as are government policies to these, the internal transofrmation of these communities and their economic resources and productivity. There is also a section on irrigation schemes and the reaction of people to irrigation farming. This is an indispensable book in understanding the present-day situation of agriculture in Zimbabwe.

The potato is one of the world's most important food crops. It produces more nutritious food from less land in a shorter time than any other major crop. Therefore advances in the production of new potato varieties will greatly contribute to the world's food supply. The book outlines strategies used in the breeding and testing of potato varieties. It considers prospects for varietal improvement using both traditional and new techniques, including genetic manipulation, tissue culture and protoplast fusion. Opportunities for breeding varieties suitable for propagation from true seed, of particular significance to the agricultural systems of developing countries, are also featured, together with an extensive and bibliography. The book is based on the proceedings of a joint meeting of EAPR and EUCARPIA at King's College, Cambridge, December 1985. It contains contributions from many leading authorities in potato breeding and variety assessment throughout the world, and will interest post-graduate students in plant breeding, genetics and molecular biology, together with professionals engaged in potato research and the application of molecular biology to agriculture.

Plant Breeding Reviews is an open-ended, serial continuation series of review articles on research in plant genetics, especially the breeding of commercially important crops. This detailed analysis bridges the gap between the specialized researcher and the broader community of plant scientists.

Of immeasurable value to students, faculty, and professionals involved in agricultural economics, finance, policy, and a host of agribusinesses, this unique volume brings together leading farmland authorities in the United States and Canada to examine the economic determinants of land value and the consequences of changes in land values. The authors of this timely book provide expert analysis and review of this subject, examining it from the following perspectives: an historical overview of the structure and performance of farmland markets in the United States; the links between farmland values and agricultural policy in the United States; the capital market dimension of farmland values; the mechanics of farmland markets, especially the cost of buying and selling farmland; environmental concerns, including the potential impact of urban encroachment; and, the role of regulations against foreign ownership of farmland on farmland values in Canada.

Urban agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa has gained momentum in recent years in terms of research and policy, as well as in practical terms. The paradox of accelerated urbanisation and the increase in urban agriculture in developing countries is widely recognised. More than ever before, urban residents all over the developing world are cultivating urban plots and/or keeping animals to sustain their livelihoods. This volume looks at urban farming in the Kenyan town of Nakuru and is based on surveys and in-depth studies carried out by various researchers, including Kenyan Masters students. It considers farming techniques, the socio-economic aspects of urban farming and the environmental issues involved, and there is also a chapter on school farming. Specific attention is paid to urban farming in relation to poverty, with the conclusion being that those who depend on urban agriculture the most are, in fact, benefiting the least from it.

Countryside Stewardship is the first cross-country, empirical study to examine the market effects of stewardship policies across Europe, as well as their possible impact on the supply of agricultural commodities.
This timely and insightful book examines the economic nature of the agri-environmental measures that were intended to reduce the negative effects of agricultural production on countryside amenities and stimulate the positive contributions of farmers to countryside management. An international team of authors offers a comparative analysis of stewardship policies across eight different European countries, drawing upon a classification of 330 different agri-environmental measures introduced since 1985. The objective of their analysis is to provide policy makers and all those involved - farmers, extension officers, researchers - with more insight into the organisation and effects of these policies and to present some options for a more effective implementation of policies in this new field.