A comprehensive and groundbreaking collection of ideas for plant improvement Most of the world's supply of legumes is cultivated under adverse conditions that make this commercially important crop susceptible to the vagaries of nature and damaging stresses. Genetic manipulation has become a proven way for cultivators to battle these problems; but there has been a lack of reliable information on the practical aspects of this promising method. Handbook of New Technologies for Genetic Improvement of Legumes fills this void by providing a vast array of groundbreaking essays from some of the discipline's most renowned experts. This unique collection is your single source for not only the most up-to-date accounts of genetic manipulation employed today, but also ideas for realistic and practical uses. Comprehensive in its approach, Handbook of New Technologies for Genetic Improvement of Legumes presents the latest research on all aspects of genetically modified legume production. With contributions from over 90 international experts, this eye-opening resource offers an in-depth exploration of key topics such as, genetic transformation technology, suppression-subtractive hybridization, c-DNA micro arrays, molecular mapping, tagging regulatory elements, and real-time PCR. Additionally, this text features a wealth of detailed references and informative tables to clearly explain pertinent data. Chapters in Handbook of New Technologies for Genetic Improvement of Legumes detail both family- and species-specific topics such as: * agrobacterium-mediated transformation in trifolium and medicago * biotechnological approaches to soybean improvement * transgenic approaches for enhancement of vitamin E * particle bombardment and SAAT approaches * agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation and in vitro regeneration * plant regeneration via organogenesis, somatic embryogenesis, and protoplast culture * somaclonal variation and its exploitation * cotyledonary node and embryo axes as explants * in planta transformation of pisum sativum l. * de novo regeneration protocol * reverse genetic approaches in medicago truncatula * tagging regulatory elements in plants * gene expression analysis with DNA array technology * advent of diverse DNA markers to decipher genome sequence polymorphism * defensins in legumes * legume-nematode interaction with reference to model legumes * and much, much more! Handbook of New Technologies for Genetic Improvement of Legumes is an invaluable resource for researchers and educators in the area of plant genetic manipulation and plant biotechnology as well as scientists, educators, and graduate students focusing on the genetic manipulation of legumes.

Although the need to study agriculture in different parts of the world on its aown termsa has long been recognized and re-affirmed, a tendency persists to evaluate agriculture across the globe using concepts, lines of evidence and methods derived from Eurasian research. However, researchers working in different regions are becoming increasingly aware of fundamental differences in the nature of, and methods employed to study, agriculture and plant exploitation practices in the past. Contributions to this volume rethink agriculture, whether in terms of existing regional chronologies, in terms of techniques employed, or in terms of the concepts that frame our interpretations. This volume highlights new archaeological and ethnoarchaeological research on early agriculture in understudied non-Eurasian regions, including Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific, the Americas and Africa, to present a more balanced view of the origins and development of agricultural practices around the globe.

This book deals with ways and means of managing food and water security in various agroclimatic environments through the integration of R & D, training, people participation, agronomic practices, economic instruments, and administrative policies. It includes contributions by global experts in the field, who elaborate on the governance of food security, the biophysical dimensions of more food per drop, as well as on the socioeconomic dimensions of food security. Subjects are presented grouped in three sections: 1. Biophysical Dimensions of Food Security; 2. Socioeconomic Dimensions of Food Security and 3. Governance of Food Security in Different Agroclimatic and Socioeconomic settings. Recommended reading for professionals, water and agricultural scientists, engineers, planners and policy makers in the field of food and water security.

This book brings together current knowledge of terrestrial C sequestration in Central Asia. The themes treated include: biophysical environments, water resources, sustainable agriculture, soil degradation, the effects of irrigation schemes on secondary salinization, soil management and its relationship to carbon dynamics; the relationship between forest management and carbon dynamics, economic analyses of land use practices, important methodological issues arising from the use of GIS, remote sensing, carbon budgeting and scaling, and a review of the knowledge gaps in carbon and climate change. The book is a reference source for soil, water, vegetation, climate, land use and management in the region. The book will be of interest to a wide variety of environmental scientists, economists and those interested in policy issues for the sustainable management of natural resources.

Until recently, historians tended to stress the perceived technological and ecological shortcomings of medieval agriculture. The ten essays assembled in this volume offer a contrary view. Based upon close documentary analysis of the demesne farms managed for and by lords, they show that, by 1300, in the most commercialized parts of England, production decisions were based upon relative factor costs and commodity prices. Moreover, when and where economic conditions were ripe and environmental and institutional circumstances favourable, medieval cultivators successfully secured high and ecologically sustainable levels of land productivity. They achieved this by integrating crop and livestock production into the sort of manure-intensive systems of mixed-husbandry which later underpinned the more celebrated output growth of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. If medieval agriculture failed to fulfill the production potential provided by wider adoption of such systems, this is more appropriately explained by the want of the kind of market incentives that might have justified investment, innovation, and specialization on the scale that characterized the so-called 'agricultural revolution', than either the lack of appropriate agricultural technology or the innate 'backwardness' of medieval cultivators.

This handbook of locally based agricultural practices brings together the best of science and farmer experimentation, vividly illustrating the enormous diversity of shifting cultivation systems as well as the power of human ingenuity. Environmentalists have tended to disparage shifting cultivation (sometimes called swidden cultivation, or "slash-and-burn agriculture") as unsustainable due to its supposed role in deforestation and land degradation. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that such indigenous practices, as they have evolved over time, can be highly adaptive to land and ecology. In contrast, "scientific" agricultural solutions imposed from outside can be far more damaging to the environment. Moreover, these external solutions often fail to recognize the extent to which an agricultural system supports a way of life along with a society's food needs. They do not recognize the degree to which the sustainability of a culture is intimately associated with the sustainability and continuity of its agricultural system.

Unprecedented in ambition and scope, Voices from the Forest focuses on successful agricultural strategies of upland farmers in the Asia-Pacific Region. More than 100 scholars from 19 countries -- including agricultural economists, ecologists, and anthropologists -- collaborated in the analysis of different fallow management typologies, working in conjunction with hundreds of indigenous farmers of different cultures and a broad range of climates, crops, and soil conditions. By sharing this knowledge -- and combining it with new scientific and technical advances -- the authors hope to make indigenous practices and experience more widely accessible andbetter understood, not only by researchers and development practitioners, but by other communities of farmers around the world.

The increased efficiency and profitability that the proper application of technology can provide has made precision agriculture the hottest developing area within traditional agriculture. The first single-source volume to cover GIS applications in agronomy, GIS Applications in Agriculture examines ways that this powerful technology can help farmers produce a greater abundance of crops with more efficiency and at lower costs.

Each chapter describes the nature of a problem, examines the purpose and scope of a GIS application, presents the methods used to develop the application, and then goes on to provide results and offer a conclusion as well as supporting information. When appropriate, the chapters present the underlying statistical approach for the GIS software that is used. The text also includes a CD-ROM featuring data sets and color maps produced by the use of GIS.

Concentrating more on the approach and less on the specific software, the authors describe the methods used to develop an application and discuss limitations to the algorithms and the programming code used. They then summarize the application in terms of what it does, how it works, its limitations, and its potential uses. The book provides a toolkit for the acquisition, management, and analysis of spatial data throughout the agriculture value chain.

This volume, the first in the One World Archaeology series, is a compendium of key papers by leaders in the field of the emergence of agriculture in different parts of the world. Each is supplemented by a review of developments in the field since its publication.

Contributions cover the better known regions of early and independent agricultural development, such as Southwest Asia and the Americas, as well as lesser known locales, such as Africa and New Guinea. Other contributions examine the dispersal of agricultural practices into a region, such as India and Japan, and how introduced crops became incorporated into pre-existing forms of food production.

This reader is intended for students of the archaeology of agriculture, and will also prove a valuable and handy resource for scholars and researchers in the area.

Conventional agriculture destroys our soils, pollutes our water and is a major contributor to climate change. What if our agricultural practices could stabilise, or even reverse these trends? This book explores the dual function of biochar as a carbon-negative energy source and a potent soil-builder. Created by burning biomass in the absence of oxygen, this material has the unique ability to hold carbon back from the atmosphere while simultaneously enhancing soil fertility. Author Albert Bates traces the evolution of this extraordinary substance from the ancient black soils of the Amazon to its reappearance as a modern carbon sequestration strategy. Combining practical techniques for the production and use of biochar with an overview of the development and future of carbon farming, this book describes how a new agricultural revolution can reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to below zero while increasing world food reserves and creating energy from biomass wastes. Biochar and carbon farming can: reduce fossil fuels inputs into our food system; bring new life to desert landscapes; filter and purify drinking water; and, help build carbon-negative homes, communities and nations. Biochar is not without dangers if unregulated, and it is not a panacea, but if it fulfills its promise of taking us back from the brink of irreversible climate change, it may well be the most important discovery in human history.

Biology and Ecology of Fishes Immerse yourself in the world of fish ecology with the newest edition of this essential introduction The study of fish ecology has traditionally proceeded along two tracks: the first is more basic, concerned with the anatomy, physiology and theoretical ecology of fish, and the second is more practical, concerning itself with fish populations, management, and habitats. Many fish researchers have come to view this distinction as artificial, and to develop a new study of fish that combines both tracks in a single holistic approach. It has never been more critical for introductory textbooks to represent this combined study in order to prepare the next generation of fish biologists and fishery scientists. Biology and Ecology of Fishes meets this need with a textbook that incorporates both biology and population management. Beginning with a general introduction to aquatic life and ecosystems, this book covers anatomical, environmental, and ethological topics to give a thoroughly rounded view of its subject, promising to serve as the fundamental introduction to multidisciplinary fish studies. Readers of the third edition of Biology and Ecology of Fishes will also find: Detailed coverage of subjects including growth and bioenergetics, feeding and predation, mortality and recruitment and more Increased attention to stressors of fish populations and communities New and revised chapters that introduce quantitative methods and present emerging issues facing fish populations and communities Biology and Ecology of Fishes is a useful overview for advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying fish ecology or fishery biology, as well as a reference for researchers and professionals in fish ecology, fish population management, and related fields.

Maize has been described as a primary catalyst to complex sociocultural development in the Americas. State of the art research on maize chronology, molecular biology, and stable carbon isotope research on ancient human diets have provided additional lines of evidence on the changing role of maize through time and space and its spread throughout the Americas. The multidisciplinary evidence from the social and biological sciences presented in this volume have generated a much more complex picture of the economic, political, and religious significance of maize. The volume also includes ethnographic research on the uses and roles of maize in indigenous cultures and a linguistic section that includes chapters on indigenous folk taxonomies and the role and meaning of maize to the development of civilization. Histories of Maize is the most comprehensive reference source on the botanical, genetic, archaeological, and anthropological aspects of ancient maize published to date. This book will appeal to a varied audience, and have no titles competiting with it because of its breadth and scope. The volume offers a single source of high quality summary information unavailable elsewhere.

Following the worldwide success of Dr Blancard's volumes on Tomato Diseases and Cucurbit Diseases, the author and his colleagues have produced a further indispensable tool for the diagnosis, understanding and control of parasitic and non-parasitic diseases of lettuce, chicory and endive. Section One (some 200 pages) contains practical analytical text and over 500 superb colour photos and colour diagrams, and includes systematic cross-referencing between similar-looking conditions, to help lead the reader to the correct diagnosis. Section Two (some 140 pages) consists of Factfiles describing the pathogenic organisms that affect the crops, their biological characteristics and appropriate methods of protection and control. This is an important and lasting resource for growers and crop consultants, for scientists, instructors and students in agriculture, agronomy, biology, horticulture, mycology and plant pathology, and for serious gardeners.

Written to meet the needs of both students and applied researchers, Design of Experiments for Agriculture and the Natural Sciences, Second Edition serves as an introductory guide to experimental design and analysis. Like the popular original, this thorough text provides an understanding of the logical underpinnings of design and analysis by selecting and discussing only those carefully chosen designs that offer the greatest utility. However, it improves on the first edition by adhering to a step-by-step process that greatly improves accessibility and understanding. Real problems from different areas of agriculture and science are presented throughout to show how practical issues of design and analysis are best handled.

Completely revised to greatly enhance readability, this new edition includes:

A new chapter on covariance analysis to help readers reduce errors, while enhancing their ability to examine covariances among selected variables

Expanded material on multiple regression and variance analysis

Additional examples, problems, and case studies

A step-by-step Minitab® guide to help with data analysis

Intended for those in the agriculture, environmental, and natural science fields as well as statisticians, this text requires no previous exposure to analysis of variance, although some familiarity with basic statistical fundamentals is assumed. In keeping with the book's practical orientation, numerous workable problems are presented throughout to reinforce the reader's ability to creatively apply the principles and concepts in any given situation.

Table of Contents

The Nature of Agricultural Research. Key Assumptions of Experimental Designs. Designs for Reducing Error. Single-Factor Experimental Designs. Two-Factor Experimental Designs. Three (or More)- Factor Experimental Designs. Treatment Means Comparison. Sample Designs Over Time. Regression and Correlation Analysis. Covariance Analysis. Appendices.

More than a textbookit's also a valuable reference book for researchers and crop science professionals! The Handbook of Statistics for Teaching and Research in Plant and Crop Science presents the fundamental concepts of important statistical methods and experimental designs to the students and researchers who need to apply them to their own specific problems. This comprehensive handbook takes what can be the difficult and confusing topics of statistics and experimental design and explains them in easily understandable terms, making them accessible to nearly every reader. More than a student textbook, it is an essential reference for researchers and professionals in a multitude of fields. Designed as a two-semester statistical textbook, the first section of the Handbook of Statistics for Teaching and Research in Plant and Crop Science focuses on statistical concepts, providing a foundation of useful knowledge on which you can base your own research. The second section concentrates on experimental designs in plant and crop sciences. The material is presented in a way that helps readers with a minimum of mathematical background to understand important theories and concepts. Derivations of formulas are avoided, and mathematical symbols are used only when essential. To illustrate the computational procedures, data is drawn from actual experiments. At the end of each chapter, examples and exercises are given to provide clear insight into real-life problems. A comprehensive appendix of clearly presented statistical tables is included. Part One of Handbook of Statistics for Teaching and Research in Plant and Crop Science focuses on statistical methods, principles, and procedures, exploring: methods of display of statistical information, such as tables, diagrams, graphs, etc. symbols and their use in denoting variables descriptions of types of statistical data methods of computation from raw and graphed data the importance of studying variables and dispersion in research the use of normal probability integral tables and their application to practical problems descriptions of different types of experiments, such as determinate and nondeterminate the significance of expected value in research special techniques in descriptive statistics explanations of population, sample, and statistical inference the significance of null hypothesis in research methods of correlation studies assumptions and principles in regression analysis Part Two concentrates on experimental design, principles and procedures, exploring: basic principles of experimental design the fundamental concepts of linear models and analysis of variance method and layout of Completely Randomized Design (CRD) the advantages and disadvantages of Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) methods and procedures for comparison of several treatment means the important features of Latin Square Design factorial experiments split plot design completely confounded design analysis of covariance the Chi Square Test of Significance the transformation of experimental data quality control and so much more! The Handbook of Statistics for Teaching and Research in Plant and Crop Science serves not only as a textbook for instructors and students in experimental design and statistics but also as a reference book on plant and crop sciences for professionals and researchers. The comprehensive text is also useful for professionals in other statistic-heavy fields.

This book constitutes Part I of the refereed four-volume post-conference proceedings of the 4th IFIP TC 12 International Conference on Computer and Computing Technologies in Agriculture, CCTA 2010, held in Nanchang, China, in October 2010. The 352 revised papers presented were carefully selected from numerous submissions. They cover a wide range of interesting theories and applications of information technology in agriculture, including simulation models and decision-support systems for agricultural production, agricultural product quality testing, traceability and e-commerce technology, the application of information and communication technology in agriculture, and universal information service technology and service systems development in rural areas.

Since the advent of agriculture approximately 12,000 years ago, human activity has created a unique set of ecosystems. However, the recent development of world markets, rapid technological advances, and other changes to farming practices have led to hugely increased pressures on farm habitats and organisms. Global human populations are rising and diets are becoming ever more complicated, leading to unrelenting requirements for increased levels of food production. Natural biotopes are becoming increasingly fragmented as agricultural activities expand around them. "Agroecosystems" now occur from the tropics to subarctic environments and comprise systems as varied as annual crops, perennial grasslands, orchards, and agroforestry systems. They presently cover almost 40% of the terrestrial land surface and significantly shape landscapes at a global scale. This key addition to the OUP Biology of Habitats Series provides a novel perspective on agroecosystems, summarising our current understanding of the basic and applied aspects of these important and complex habitats, whilst focusing on environmental concerns in the context of global change. The Biology of Agroecosystemsis is for both senior undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in agroecology, farmland ecology, conservation, and agriculture as well as the many professional ecologists, conservation biologists, and land managers requiring a concise overview of agroecology.

This book meets the needs of teachers and students of agriculture and rural development project and programme planning, planners employed by governments in developing countries and by external financing agencies. Project planners must understand the aspirations of rural families and their local leaders, the national development and sector planning goals and policies of their governments and the development goals and policy priorities perceived by external financing agencies in relation to their countries. These areas are not always consistent and trade-offs may be required. However it is recognised that poor project planning is a major constraint to the sustainable realization of project and programme objectives and sector goals. Illustrated with case studies and logical framework matrices, this book presents well-established and relatively new practices followed in the context of agriculture and rural development project and programme planning. Although based on experiences gained in Africa, the issues described are relevant to planning problems encountered in other developing regions of the world. It addresses the main factors which affect the success of planning such as a government's ability to guarantee macro-economic stability and sound sector development policies; the shift from 'top-down', bureaucratic to 'bottom-up', participatory planning approaches and the roles played by external financing agencies. It explains key technical, financial, economic, environmental, socio-cultural, equity, gender and institutional-strengthening issues concerning planning in rural areas and reviews the planning tools and approaches available. The procurement of goods and services, the disbursement of funds and monitoring and evaluation requirements are examined in detail.

Make the right decisions when it comes to pest control in agriculture
"Bacillus thuringiensis" A Cornerstone of Modern Agriculture explores the impact that one of the most prominent biologically based pesticides has had on pest control technology--and the issues that surround its use. The book examines the development, use, and management of technologies derived from "Bacillus thuringiensis" ("Bt"), addressing the health, economic, environmental, and social concerns generated by the deployment of genetically engineered crops. Authors representing a diverse cross section of the international scientific community contribute review articles and research findings that address the use of "Bt" in microbial formulations and transgenic crops, technological advances in the genetic engineering of plants, advances in methodologies, and improved agricultural practices and productivity through the use of "Bt" cotton.
"Bacillus thuringiensis" A Cornerstone of Modern Agriculture examines the vital issues surrounding this Gram-positive bacterium. Contributors from academia, government, and industry address the safety of "Bt" for human consumption, its effects on non-target organisms, the role of microbial "Bt" products in crop production in the United States, and the utility and management of transgenic plants. The book also explores: engineering "Bt" transgenic rice for insect pest protection the "Bt" potato in developing countries Bt expression in sugarcane and cauliflower a comparative analysis of "Bt" cotton in Argentina the ecological impact, gene expression, and current resistance management requirements of "Bt" cotton in the United States and much more "Bacillus thuringiensis" A Cornerstone of Modern Agriculture is an essential resource for advanced students and technical specialists working in agriculture, biotechnology, entomology, pest management, and crop sciences. Stakeholders will also find it invaluable in regulatory decision making about genetically engineered crops, pesticide use, and crop protection.

This book is an interdisciplinary primer on critical thinking and effective action for the future of our global agrifood system, based on an understanding of the system's biological and sociocultural roots. Key components of the book are a thorough analysis of the assumptions underlying different perspectives on problems related to food and agriculture around the world and a discussion of alternative solutions. David Cleveland argues that combining selected aspects of small-scale traditional agriculture with modern scientific agriculture can help balance our biological need for food with its environmental impact--and continue to fulfill cultural, social, and psychological needs related to food. Balancing on a Planet is based on Cleveland's research and engaging teaching about food and agriculture for more than three decades. It is a tool to help students, faculty, researchers, and interested readers understand debates about the current crisis and alternatives for the future.

Learn to create and use simulation modelsthe most reliable and cost-effective tools for predicting real-world results! The Handbook of Processes and Modeling in the Soil-Plant System is the first book to present a holistic view of the processes within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Unlike other publications, which tend to be more specialized, this book covers nearly all of the processes in the soil-plant system, including the fundamental processes of soil formation, degradation, and the dynamics of water and matter. It also illustrates how simulation modeling can be used to understand and forecast multiple interactions among various processes and predict their environmental impact. This unique volume assembles information that until now was scattered among journals, bulletins, reports, and symposia proceedings to present models that simulate almost all of the processes occurring in the soil-plant system and explores the results that these models are capable of producing. With chapters authored by experts with years of research and teaching experience, the Handbook of Processes and Modeling in the Soil-Plant System examines: physical, chemical, and biological soil processes the soil formation and weathering process and its modeling the impact of radioactive fallout on the soil-plant system soil degradation processes and ways to control them water and matter dynamics in the soil-plant system growth and development of crops at various levels of production the potentials and limitations of using simulation models Students, educators, and professionals alike will find the Handbook of Processes and Modeling in the Soil-Plant System an invaluable reference on the soil-plant-atmosphere system and an ideal tool to help develop an effective decision support system.

“Zhun Xu’s careful analysis debunks the conventional wisdom about the supposed failure of agricultural collectives in China. Xu’s reassessment of the path of agrarian change in China since 1949, which relies on interviews with peasants as well as statistical analysis, provides a fascinating window into the successes and the problems of collective farming in China.�—David M. Kotz, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst; author, The Rise and Fall of Neoliberal Capitalism In the early 1980s, China undertook a massive reform that dismantled its socialist rural collectives and divided the land among millions of small peasant families. Known as the decollectivization campaign, it is one of the most significant reforms in China's transition to a market economy. From the beginning, the official Chinese accounts, and many academic writings, uncritically portray this campaign as a huge success, both for the peasants and the economy as a whole. This mainstream history argues that the rural communes, suffering from inefficiency, greatly improved agricultural productivity under the decollectivization reform. It also describes how the peasants, due to their dissatisfaction with the rural regime, spontaneously organized and collectively dismantled the collective system. A closer examination suggests a much different and more nuanced story. By combining historical archives, field work, and critical statistical examinations, From Commune to Capitalism argues that the decollectivization campaign was neither a bottom-up, spontaneous peasant movement, nor necessarily efficiency-improving. On the contrary, the reform was mainly a top-down, coercive campaign, and most of the efficiency gains came from simply increasing the usage of inputs, such as land and labor, rather than institutional changes. The book also asks an important question: Why did most of the peasants peacefully accept this reform? Zhun Xu answers that the problems of the communes contributed to the passiveness of the peasantry; that decollectivization, by depoliticizing the peasantry and freeing massive rural labor to compete with the urban workers, served as both the political and economic basis for consequent Chinese neoliberal reforms and a massive increase in all forms of economic, political, and social inequality. Decollectivization was, indeed, a huge success, although far from the sort suggested by mainstream accounts.

A simple solution to complicated statistical techniques and formulas! The Handbook of Formulas and Software for Plant Geneticists and Breeders is an up-to-date reference source that eliminates the need for hand calculations of complicated genetic formulas and equations. Contributions from members of the C1 Division of the Crop Science Society of America include computer program codes not found in Statistical Analysis System (SAS) and other commonly available statistical packages. The book provides an invaluable shortcut to sorting through piles of literature in search of programs that may have been published in abbreviated forms or never at all. The Handbook of Formulas and Software for Plant Geneticists and Breeders puts full-fledged program codes of specialized statistical and genetics-related software programs at your fingertips. It shows practicing geneticists, breeders, and students how to use specialized software through practical examples. The book is an excellent research and teaching tool in quantitative genetics and plant breeding, providing definitions of key terms and information on how to obtain desired software and key references. It also includes an extensive listing of programs available for linkage and mapping software that can be accessed through the Internet. The Handbook of Formulas and Software for Plant Geneticists and Breeders presents, among others, programs related to: genotype-by-environmental interaction (GEI) and stability analysis genetic diversity estimation best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) principal component and additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analyses quantitative trait loci -by-environment (QTL x E) analysis GGE biplot analysis diallel analyses path analysis trend analysis field plot technique The Handbook of Formulas and Software for Plant Geneticists and Breeders is essential for academics and researchers working in genetics, breeding, and genomics, and as a supplement for coursework in quantitative genetics and plant breeding.

Throughout the tropical world, especially in South and Southeast Asia, tropical America, Africa and Oceania, there exists a range of forest garden farming systems. These are small, low-input, but productive and sustainable family units of highly diversified trees, palms, bushes and vines, with few conventional field crops or livestock. Providing a survey of these systems around the world and an in-depth analysis of the farms around Kandy, Sri Lanka, this book offers an economic and ecological description and evaluation of this ancient agroforestry system and its relationship to a wide range of global agro-development and environmental problems. Guided by a table that lists some 30 socio-economic and social criteria by which all farming systems can and should be evaluated, the book presents persuasive evidence supported by comprehensive references. It also examines historical and archaeological findings in order to assess the role these tropical forests played in the general adoption of agricultural farming.

Today the use of the term countryside reflects a dual historical shift due to the decreasing importance of agriculture - both in terms of employment and production - in European economies and the shift toward the environment. An increasing part of rural populations is being drawn into non-agricultural sectors such as tourism, construction, manufacturing, and the conventional and innovative services, thereby granting a more diversified and contemporary role to the countryside. The environmental shift has questioned many of the very fundamental premises governing the relationship between social practices and nature. Agenda 2000 and the ongoing debate concerning the CAP reforms are connected to a large extent with these new realities. This engaging book focuses on the prospects for the development of the Southern European countryside during a transitional period of a major policy paradigm shift. Bringing together case studies from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece, the book discusses the key issues mentioned above, as well as the restricting factors and prospects of the adjustments required.