In the last forty years, agriculture in the industrialised countries has undergone a revolution. That has dramatically increased yields, but it has also led to extensive rural depopulation; widespread degradation of the environment; contamination of food with agrochemicals and bacteria; more routine maltreatment of farm animals; and the undermining of Third World economies and livelihoods through unfair trading systems. Confronted by mounting evidence of environmental harm and social impacts, mainstream agronomistis and policy-makers have debatedly recognized the need for change. 'Sustainable agricultutre' has become the buzz phrase. But that can mean different things to different people. We have to ask: sustainable agriculture for whom? Whose interests are benefiting? And whose are suffering? At issue is the question of power - of who controls the land and what it produces. Most of the changes currently under discussion will actually strengthen the status quo and the underlying causes of the damage. The result will be greater intensification of farming, environmental destruction and inequality. There are no simple off-the-shelf alternatives to industrial agriculture. There are, however, groups throughout the world, who have contributed to this report and who are working together on a new approach. An agriculture that, in Wendell Berry's words, 'depletes neither soil nor people'. Originally published in 1992

The need to produce food without the destructive chemical horrors of much modern farming, for an intelligent use of dwindling natural resources and for humane forms of production is universal, the practice is limited. This book is an account of one, large, instance of success in practice. Twenty-five years ago, Winin Pereira, a nuclear physicist abandoned academia to start a co-operative farm at Alonde in a tribal area north of Bombay. The group experienced, and finally discarded, all the false hopes and promises of Western originated forms of development: ploughs that ploughed too deep, irrigation systems that lowered water tables, fertilizers and pesticides which managed the earth and became so expensive that poorer farmers were dispossessed. Instead they learnt from the adivasai, or tribal people, who have nurtured or been nurtured by foresets for millennia, ways of applying popular knowledge to contemporary problems. This book is a combination of Pereira's record of achievement of sustainable livelihoods and an account of the farm and its effect on the India around it by a leading British journalist. Originally published in 1991

The changing climate, the warming of the world and acid rain are among the greatest problems facing us at the end of the twentieth century. This book describes, for the first time, the effects of these phenomena on the high mountains and the forests of Europe. Mountains and the frozen regions (the cryosphere) not only play a major part in our climatic system, but are also central to our water supplies. Yet our glaciers are shrinking, our lakes and soils are becoming acidified, our forests are damaged and the whole fragile ecosystem of ranges like the Alps and the Caucasus is threatened. Nilsson and Pitt present the evidence and assess the probable effects of these changes on mountain society, tourism, water, flora and fauna. They also examine the uncertainties. Above all they look, too, at the best possible strategies in response to What is happening and at what the next steps should be. Originally published in 1991

Agriculture Pollutes: pesticides can destroy wildlife and some are toxic to humans; some fungicides and herbicides cause cancer. Nitrates result in the contamination of drinking water and produce the risk of the ?blue-baby? syndrome in infants and of stomach cancer in adults. Agriculture produces methane, ammonia, nitrous oxide and the products of burning off, all of which add to the world's problems of acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer and global warming. This book, which focuses on the UK, the USA and Third World countries, is the first comprehensive review of agriculture and pollution: it examines the facts and assesses the relative dangers of each pollution problem. It also considers the effects of pollution on agriculture itself ? crop yields are depressed and livestock damaged by various forms of pollution from all sources. The authors offer solutions to these apparently overwhelming problems, and describe existing technology which would allow us to deal with them. Originally published in 1991

This richly-illustrated reference guide presents innovative techniques focused on reducing time, cost and risk in the construction and maintenance of underground facilities:

A primary focus of the technological development in underground engineering is to ease the practical execution and to reduce time, cost and risk in the construction and maintenance of underground facilities such as tunnels and caverns. This can be realized by new design tools for designers, by instant data access for engineers, by virtual prototyping and training for manufacturers, and by robotic devices for maintenance and repair for operators and many more advances.

This volume presents the latest technological innovations in underground design, construction, and operation, and comprehensively discusses developments in ground improvement, simulation, process integration, safety, monitoring, environmental impact, equipment, boring and cutting, personnel training, materials, robotics and more. These new features are the result of a big research project on underground engineering, which has involved many players in the discipline.

Written in an accessible style and with a focus on applied engineering, this book is aimed at a readership of engineers, consultants, contractors, operators, researchers, manufacturers, suppliers and clients in the underground engineering business. It may moreover be used as educational material for advanced courses in tunnelling and underground construction.

Advances in Extraterrestrial Drilling: Ground, Ice, and Underwater includes the latest advances that have been made in recent years in developing drilling and excavation mechanisms for extraterrestrial bodies. The chapters cover drill types, drilling techniques and their advantages and associated issues, rock coring including acquisition, damage control, caching and transport, and data interpretation, as well as unconsolidated soil drilling and borehole stability. This book includes a description of the basic science of the drilling process, associated processes of breaking and penetrating various media, the required hardware, and the process of excavation and analysis of the sampled media. Covers the most recent advances in extraterrestrial drilling. Discusses drilling in the broadest range of media including ground, ice, underwater, and planetary surfaces from shallow to very deep. Provides a comprehensive description of key drilling techniques and the efforts to develop unified approach to assessing the required tools for given drilling requirements. Discusses how environment affects drilling and approaches to addressing the effects and current challenges of drilling and excavation on other planets. Examines novel drilling and excavation approaches. Dr. Yoseph Bar-Cohen is the Supervisor of the Electroactive Technologies Group (http://ndeaa.jpl.nasa.gov/) and a Senior Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Lab/Caltech, Pasadena, CA. His research is focused on electro-mechanics including planetary sample handling mechanisms, novel actuators that are driven by materials such as piezoelectric and EAP (also known as artificial muscles), and biomimetics. Dr. Kris Zacny is a Senior Scientist and Vice President of Exploration Systems at Honeybee Robotics, Altadena, CA. His expertise includes space mining, sample handling, soil and rock mechanics, extraterrestrial drilling, and In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU).

'Powerful' - Silvia Federici It's in our food, our cosmetics, our fuel and our bodies. Palm oil, found in half of supermarket products, has shaped our world. Max Haiven uncovers how the gears of capitalism are literally and metaphorically lubricated by this ubiquitous elixir. From its origins in West Africa to today's Southeast Asian palm oil superpowers, Haiven's sweeping, experimental narrative takes us on a global journey that includes looted treasures, the American system of mass incarceration, the history of modern art and the industrialisation of war. Beyond simply calling for more consumer boycotts, he argues for recognising in palm oil humanity's profound potential to shape our world beyond racial capitalism and neo-colonial dispossession. One part history, one part dream, one part theory, one part montage, this kaleidoscopic and urgent book asks us to recognise the past in the present and to seize the power to make a better world.

Originally published in 1990, this volume discusses the broad theme of rural restructuring looking at the nature of rural related responses to global processes of change. This book provides global viewpoints which show readers a more integral and critical analysis on rural areas based on the changing realities of the 1990s.

Originally published in 1990, this volume addresses issues surrounding global ecological changes and sustainability of present patterns of urbanisation and industrialisation. The book discusses these problems and other issues such as how rural environments in many developed and developing countries have been transformed by a technological revolution. Looking at a diverse range of topics from climate change to slurry pollution and the destruction of genetic resources to the risks of biotechnology, this volume addresses these issues which concern the dynamics and social relations of technological change in rural areas.

Originally published in 1994, this volume brings together a set of essays reflecting the complex political, social and institutional problems encountered by modern states in seeking to manage their agricultural sectors. Drawing on different national and international viewpoints, the essays present original analyses of agricultural regulation in a comparative context. The aspects covered include the roots of the post-war food order; the roles of corporatism, agribusiness and technological change, the challenge of de-regulation and environmental reforms, the introduction of market principles and mechanisms into centrally planned economies and the efforts to forge a new order in international trade.

Named #1 of 15 Best New Biotechnology Books to Read in 2021 by BookAuthority. This volume explores and explains the vast uses and benefits of algae as food, feed, and fuel. It covers the most advanced applications of algae in the food and feed industries and for environmental sustainability. With chapters written by experts and which were extensively reviewed by many well-known subject experts and professionals, Phycobiotechnology: Biodiversity and Biotechnology of Algae and Algal Products for Food, Feed, and Fuel provides an abundance of valuable information. Algae are a genetically diverse group of organisms with a wide range of physiological and biochemical characteristics that have unique capabilities in the fields of agriculture, pharmaceuticals, industry, and environment. Algae hold the potential to become the planet's next major source of energy and a vital part of the solution for climate change and dependence on fossil fuels. Many varieties of algae are also known to be an abundant source of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that can boost the human immune system.

Fresh? Juice? Paste? Canned? Stewed? Diced? Pureed? Sun Dried? Salsa? Sauce? Ketchup? Rare is the cuisine that does not make use of the tomato in some way, shape, or form, and the resulting culinary popularity of the tomato has led to its proliferation in fields and farms around the world. While some may still argue whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable, few would argue that tomato crops are highly lucrative, attractive to farmers in both developing and developed countries and on large and small farms alike. In fact, for those crops with significant global volume and market share, tomatoes are the highest valued among those crops that lack an affiliation to mind-altering drugs. But, the tomato can be a persnickety critter. The tomato doesn't like it too hot, too chilly, too wet, too dry, or too fertile. Many don't ripen at the same time. Most are easily bruised. And, the selective breeding that has yielded a larger, more attractive, and deep red tomato has also mercilessly drained much of the taste and flavor from a once sweet and delectable fruit. Enter the world of sensors and modern sensing technology. The Internet of Things (IOT), when using well chosen, well networked, and well aggregated sensors, has shown tremendous potential to support precision agriculture, providing a more detailed picture of crops than was previously possible using conventional crop monitoring techniques. But, the stringent resources and tight profit margins that are a fact of life among many tomato growing operations, large and small, mean that sensor technologies must be chosen and used carefully. There is no doubt that each sensor must earn its keep in producing the perfect tomato. With that in mind, this book explores key opportunities to marry the potential of sensors that are networked within the IOT to the needs of tomato production in ways that are economically fruitful, technologically robust, and sustainable overall.

This volume explores agricultural commercialization from a gender equality and right to food perspective. Agricultural commercialization, involving not only the shift to selling crops and buying inputs but also the commodification of land and labour, has always been controversial. Strategies for commercialization have often reinforced and exacerbated inequalities, been blind to gender differences and given rise to violations of the human rights to food, land, work and social security. While there is a body of evidence to trace these developments globally, impacts vary considerably in local contexts. This book systematically considers these dynamics in two countries, Cambodia and Ghana. Profoundly different in terms of their history and location, they provide the basis for fruitful comparisons because they both transitioned to democracy in the early 1990s, made agricultural development a priority, and adopted orthodox policies of commercialization to develop the sector. Chapters illustrate how commercialization processes are gendered, highlighting distinctive gender, ethnic and class dynamics in rural Ghana and Cambodia and the different outcomes these generate. They also show the ways in which food cultures are changing and the often-problematic impact of these changes on the safety and quality of food. Specific policies and legal norms are examined, with chapters addressing the development and implementation of frameworks on the right to food and land administration. Overall, the volume brings into relief multiple dimensions shaping the outcomes of processes of commercialization, including gender orders, food cultures, policy translation, national and sub-national policies, corporate investments and programmes, and formal and informal legal norms. In doing so, it offers insight not only on our case countries, but also provides proposals to advance rights-based research on food security. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of food security, agricultural development and economics, gender, human rights and sustainable development.

'There should be a good market for this book. The topic is very timely and a major theme of the new World Development Report 2008. The editors and contributors are world class.' Derek Byerlee, World Bank 'This is a topic of wide interest and high policy importance. The depth of coverage and excellent synthesis should ensure that the book will have a substantial market in high-level undergraduate and graduate courses in agricultural development. It will have a solid readership among development economists and policy makers as well.' Mark Rosegrant, International Food Policy Research Institute The driving forces of income growth, demographic shifts, globalization and technical change have led to a reorganization of food systems from farm to plate. The characteristics of supply chains - particularly the role of supermarkets - linking farmers have changed, from consumption and retail to wholesale, processing, procurement and production. This has had a dramatic effect on smallholder farmers, particularly in developing countries. This book presents a comprehensive framework for assessing the impacts of changing agri-food systems on smallholder farmers, recognizing the importance of heterogeneity between developing countries as well as within them. The book includes a number of case studies from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe, which are used to illustrate differences in food systems' characteristics and trends. The country case studies explore impacts on the small farm sector across different countries, local contexts and farm types. Published with FAO

Originally published in 1995, Early Creationist Journals is the ninth volume in the Creationism in Twentieth-Century America series, reissued in 2021. The book is a concise primary source collection containing a selection of journal articles from the early twentieth century outlining discoveries in biology, geology, physiology and archaeology and their relation to Christianity. The aim of the journals was to provide a platform for creationists of the 1920s to voice their theories on new science and how more recent discoveries fit within creationist beliefs, including flood theory. These interesting and unique journals will be of interest to academics working in the field of religion and natural history and provide a unique snapshot into the debates between evolutionists and Christianity during a period of great scientific change.

Originally published in 1995, Creation and Evolution in the Early American Scientific Affiliation is the tenth volume in the series, Creationism in Twentieth Century America, reissued in 2021. The volume comprises of original primary sources from the American Science Affiliation, a group formed following an invitation from the president of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, in answer to the perceived need for an academic society for American Evangelical Scientists to explicate the relationship between science and faith. The society confronted the debate between creation and evolution head on, leaving a paper trail documenting their thoughts and struggles. This diverse and expansive collection includes 53 selections that appeared during the organisation’s first two decades and focuses on the encounter between science and American evangelicalism in the twentieth century, in particular the debates surrounding the ever-increasing preference for evolutionary theory. The collection will be of especial interest to natural historians, and theologians as well as academics of philosophy, and history.

Microalgae are a valuable resource of carbon materials that may be used in biofuels, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and health supplements. Still, there are tremendous challenges in the microalgae production process, such as mass cultivation, strain improvement, biomass disruption, and reprocessing of nutrients and water that have been the encumbering microalgal industry in several ways. Microalgal biotechnology has the capability to introduce remarkable breakthroughs and innovations. This volume brings together current advancements in the field of microalgal biotechnology to provide understanding of the fundamentals and progress of the industry-oriented technologies. The volume covers biofuel production and its technical challenges; current trends of microalgae in agriculture, aquaculture and food biotechnology; market space; biosafety and other regulatory issues; and sustainability of microalgal products. The volume first provides insight into desmids and other conjugating algae along with prospective trends of diatoms. It then goes on to explore the commercial applications of microalgae that take advantage of their bioactive compounds, natural colorants, and functional metabolites. The role of microalgae in agriculture, aquaculture, and the food sector are discussed, and tools from genome manipulation to bioprocess engineering are studied. Several chapters focus on future prospects of biofuel and biodiesel production for environmental and economic viability. The key features of the book: Presents the role of microalgae in various industries including food, agriculture, aquaculture, biofuel, and metabolites Shows the historical and prospective use of microalgae elements for economic and ecological benefits Explains the integrated technologies for massive production of microalgae-derived products Includes the various industrial case studies to improve the sustainable production of microalgae products Discusses current developments and confronts in microalgae bioprocessing Microalgal Biotechnology: Bioprospecting Microalgae for Functional Metabolites towards Commercial and Sustainable Applications will be a useful reference for academicians, researchers, industry professionals, postgraduate students, and policymakers who are interested in future prospects of microalgae commercialization.

A unique resource that describes the ingredients included in an aquaculture diet, species profiles, processing methods, impacts to environment and industry, and more! Aquaculture is and will remain a major food producing sector in the future. To become more efficient and successful in the aquaculture industry, operations need to provide good nutrition. Alternative Protein Sources in Aquaculture Diets is a unique source describing the ingredients included in fish and crustacean diets, their nutrient compositions, species profiles, suitability for species, processing methods, and impacts of alternative ingredients on the environment and to the aquaculture industry. World-renowned nutritionists and feed technologists explore practical ways for the aquaculture industry to expand and remain competitive, and discuss ways to develop less expensive alternative sources or protein. Diet costs take up a huge chunk of operating expenditures, with fish meal being one of the most expensive ingredients in the aquaculture diet. Alternative Protein Sources in Aquaculture Diets provides detailed knowledge on the use of alternative plant and animal protein sources, offering opportunities to either partially or completely replace fish meal. This comprehensive, up-to-date text discusses the most widely used ingredients as well as various previously under-utilized ingredients which could be of significant potential in the future. The book is extensively referenced and includes numerous helpful tables to clearly present data. Topics discussed in Alternative Protein Sources in Aquaculture Diets (for finfish and crustacean species) include: * farmed fish diet requirements * reduction of waste through diet formulation * poultry by-product meal * meat packing by-products * soybean protein foodstuffs * cottonseed meal * lupins * unconventional plant protein supplements * and much, much more! Alternative Protein Sources in Aquaculture Diets is an essential resource for aquaculturists, nutritionists, feed formulators, feed mill operators, extension specialists, fish farmers and producers, ingredient suppliers, and policymakers.

Forestland investment has surged in the past few decades as a result of land ownership change in the forestry industry. Timberland investment and management organizations and real estate investment trusts have bought up land and resources that were divested by vertically integrated forest products companies. This book provides a seminal coverage of this seismic shift in the industry, exploring the philosophy, driving factors, valuation, theory, research, implementation, practice, and effects of forestland investment. Across 15 chapters the book reviews the history of forestland investment; discusses the optimal forest rotation; explains timberland appraisal; examines the return drivers of forestland; analyzes timberland index construction methods and results; prices timberland assets; reviews financial and real options; investigates real option values in forestland management; evaluates timber harvest contracts; examines new opportunities in the emerging woody bioenergy market; and eventually offers prospects on forestland investment in the future. It also discusses how forest carbon can be used as a nature-based climate solution. This book is essential reading for forestry business students and scholars, as well as practitioners and policymakers in the industry.

Key Features: Provides botanical descriptions, distribution and pharmacological investigations of notable medicinal and herbal plants used to prevent or treat diabetes. Discusses phytochemical and polyherbal formulations for the management of diabetes and other related complications. Contains reports on antidiabetic plants and their potential uses in drug discovery based on their bioactive molecules.

This book offers an original perspective on food supply chains. It argues that the ability to trade food on a global scale could be intrinsically good aside from any instrumental value that people gain from it.

The book provides valuable information on wild plants and their ethnopharmacological properties, discussion on ethnobotany, phytotherapy, diversity, chemical and pharmacological properties including antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antiprotozal properties. The chapters include a wide range of case studies, giving updated evidence on importance of wild plant resources from different countries including Nepal, India, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Peru, etc. In addition, some specific species are used to explain their potential properties. Discussing traditional usage and pharmacological properties of wild plants, this book is entirely different from other related publications and useful for the researchers working in the areas of conservation biology, botany, ethnobiology, ethnopharmacology, policy making, etc.

There are many books on biological control, but this will bring up to date the regulatory and other specific challenges facing biological control, and how they are being met. It is the first book to bring together a comprehensive account of global activities in biological control, region-by-region, amalgamating information from introduction biological control, conservation biological control and augmentative biological control (including commercial use). Offers a historical summary of organisms and main strategies used in biological control. Outlines key challenges confronting biological control in the 21st century and describes the main socioeconomic challenges that need to be addressed. Global overview: summarises biological control efforts around the globe and highlights important successes and failures, providing suggestions to best move biological control forward in a changing world. Biological control is a fairly specialized field but one that is spread across a broad array of socio-environments in agriculture and public health around the world. There is also a significant regulatory component to a subset of this field (classical biological control) that researchers must navigate to achieve the aims of their research and its application. This book will help!

Prevent agricultural loss with natural disease controls that don't harm the environment--or the people who live in it Despite the worldwide use of chemicals and pesticides to control the devastating effects of plant disease, the international agribusiness market still suffers extensive economic losses each year. Biological Control of Plant Diseases offers natural alternatives to the synthetic fungicides, pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides that have not only failed to stop pests and pathogens, but have raised serious safety and environmental concerns. The world's leading plant pathologists examine the use of antagonistic microorganisms, inherent resistance, and natural fungicides for plant protection that's safe, economical, and effective. Biological Control of Plant Diseases presents up-to-date research findings on disease management to provide you with a single-source reference text for developing a sustainable ecosystem that doesn't depend on harmful and unhealthy agrochemicals. This unique book acts as a catalyst for change, presenting fresh ideas and innovative strategies for finding meaningful solutions to the problems of disease control. Contributors working in the areas of plant protection, microbiology, plant pathology, biotechnology, ecology, and food safety examine topics that include the application of plant tissue culture, competitive root colonization, mycorrhiza in biocontrol, microbial siderophores, antagonism, and genetic regulation. Topics addressed in Biological Control of Plant Diseases include: soil-borne pathogens rhizobacteria organic acids white rot Trichoderma and Agrobacterium phyllosphere manure-based microbes gray mold disease major fungal diseases mycoparasitism microbial chitinases and much moreBiological Control of Plant Diseases is an invaluable reference resource for extension scientists and academics working in botany, biology, entomology, ecology, agriculture, horticulture, plant pathology, and the environmental sciences.