Increasing population and industrialization are the key pollutant contributors in water bodies. The wastes generated by industries are highly hazardous for humans and the ecosystem and require a comprehensive and effective treatment before being discharged into water bodies. Over the years, many up gradations have been introduced in traditional water treatment methods which were expensive and ineffective especially for removal of toxic pollutants. Phycoremediation has been gaining attention due to its mutual benefit in wastewater treatment and for valuable algae biomass production. Wastewater, especially sewage and industrial effluents, is rich in pathogenic organisms, organic and inorganic compounds and heavy metals that adversely affect human and aquatic life. Microalgae use these inorganic compounds and heavy metals for their growth. In addition, they also reduce pathogenic organisms and release oxygen to be used by bacteria for decomposition of organic compounds in a secondary treatment. In this book, the potential of microalgae in wastewater treatment, their benefits, strategies, and challenges are discussed. The increasing need of finding innovative, low-cost, low-energy, sustainable and eco-friendly solutions for wastewater treatment makes the publication of a book on phycoremediation timely and appropriate. Features: (1) Deals with the most emerging aspects of algal research with special reference to phycoremediation. (2) Studies in depth diversity, mutations, genomics and metagenomics study (3) An eco-physiology, culturing, microalgae for food and feed, biofuel production, harvesting of microalgae, separation and purification of biochemicals.

Economic assessment of sustainable agricultural practices has continued to mature and to add to our understanding of how we might design policies to ensure an adequate and diverse food supply. This volume presents some of the recent developments and applications in this field and is much more nearly self-contained than typical edited volumes. It provides a comprehensive treatment of topics, including a historical perspective leading to current developments in methods and policy. The introductory chapter presents an early history of research by entomologists and economists, tracing the concept of integrated pest management, the nascent organic food industry, and reviewing pesticide policy options debated over the last several decades. The remainder of the volume is divided into four sections focusing on the economic aspects of production, and related policy issues. These four sections encompass the range of advances in theoretical and applied economic analyses concerned with pesticides and sustainable food markets. Chapters present different methodological, ideological, and geographical perspectives from some of the environmental and agricultural economics concerned with pesticides and sustainable production. This volume includes unique contributions that incorporate international experiences and viewpoints concerning both methods and policy. This volume includes material valuable for students in agricultural economics and environmental science, and is essential reading for economists who conduct research in sustainable agriculture. It is also excellent reference for policy analysts.

This book presents a collection of papers on topics in the field of strategic mine planning, including orebody modeling, mine-planning optimization and the optimization of mining complexes. Elaborating on the state of the art in the field, it describes the latest technologies and related research as well as the applications of a range of related technologies in diverse industrial contexts.

In this book we present recent studies that have been carried out on some widely used medicinal plants. The need for new and alternative treatments stem from the lack of efficiency of existing remedies for certain illnesses. We have compiled information that may be useful to researchers in their quest to develop new drugs.

This contributed volume presents a multi-perspective collection of the latest research findings on oil and gas exploration and imparts insight that can greatly assist in understanding field behavior, design of test programs, and design of field operations. With this book, engineers also gain a powerful guide to the most commonly used numerical simulation methods that aid in reservoir modelling. In addition, the contributors explore development of technologies that allow for cost effective oil and gas exploration while minimizing the impact on our water resources, surface and groundwater aquifers, geological stability of impacted areas, air quality, and infrastructure assets such as roads, pipelines, water, and wastewater networks. Easy to understand, the book identifies equipment and procedural problems inherent to oil and gas operations and provides systematic approaches for solving them.

Carbon Dots in Agricultural Systems integrates and crystallizes the emerging knowledge and application strategies of carbon dots as a powerful tool in agriculture systems. The book includes practical insights into the synthesis of carbon dots from indigenous raw materials and how to employ them in agriculture systems to increase crop productivity and provide renewable and cost-effective strategies that meet agricultural needs. Presented by an international team of experts, this resource updates on the latest in synthesis, physical, chemical and optical properties, along with the effects and mechanisms of carbon dots, all further explained in real-world studies. Finally, the book highlights emerging innovative topics which are of great relevance to scientists, academicians and innovators in agriculture (soil science, agricultural chemistry and agronomy) and biotechnology for further research and development.

The Caribbean banana trade is a controversial issue within international affairs, and this book investigates the complex political relationships between the traditional actors in the trade and how the issues of colonialism and globalization have shaped their interactions. It presents a detailed analysis of the development of the Caribbean banana trade and analyzes why the influence and importance of the traditional actors within the trade has diminished over the last thirty years.

Today the goal of designing highly productive, sustainable agricultural produc tion systems is at the forefront of the agricultural research agenda around the world. The key to designing sustainable agricultural production technologies is in understanding their economic, environmental, and human health impacts. This volume presents a methodology designed to quantify such impacts and to represent them as tradeoff's. We propose this tradeoff' methodology as an approach to accomplish two essential elements in achieving agricultural sustainability. First, the tradeoff's method is a key to the design of successful interdisciplinary research projects to assess sustainability of production systems. Second, the tradeoff's method provides a successful means to communicate research findings to policy makers and the public. To put this effort into perspective, we would like to explain its origins and reflect on its implications for conducting future research. In 1987, the Rockefeller Foundation commissioned a report that set out to ascertain why, in view ofthe extensive literatures on certain classes of agricul tural pollution, there had been few if any attempts to incorporate pollution externalities into the rather voluminous literature on the assessment of agricultural research impacts (Antle and Capalbo, 1988; see also Antle, 1994)."

This incisive book addresses the challenges facing the current institutional framework for governance of high seas fisheries. Marcus Haward identifies significant issues and difficulties affecting the management of fisheries in areas beyond national jurisdiction, as well as highlighting the key role that fishing and fisheries play in global ocean governance. Through an assessment of the development of regional fisheries organizations and their implementation of management tools, Haward demonstrates their importance in contemporary ocean governance, offering a critical examination of the challenges they face in the pursuit of sustainable fisheries management. The book investigates the ability of regional fisheries bodies to constrain catches and capacity, and explores the factors impacting this, for example, states' lack of cooperation and failure to commit to effective enforcement, and conflicting interests in resource utilization and conservation. Governing Oceans in a Time of Change will prove a critical read for scholars and students of environmental policy, management and governance, particularly those with an interest in ocean governance and fisheries. Policymakers and practitioners working in this area will also find this book beneficial.

This Lab Manual is a companion to the textbook Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing with R. It covers examples of natural resource data analysis applications including numerous practical, problem-solving exercises, and case studies that use the free and open-source platform R. The intuitive, structural workflow helps students better understand a scientific approach to each case study in the book and learn how to replicate, transplant, and expand the workflow for further exploration with new data, models, and areas of interest. Features 1. Aims to expand theoretical approaches of remote sensing and digital image processing through multidisciplinary applications using R and R packages. 2. Engages students in learning theory through hands-on real-life projects. 3. All chapters are structured with solved exercises and homework and encourages readers to understand the potential and the limitations of the environments. 4. Covers data analysis in free and open-source (FOSS) R platform, which makes remote sensing accessible to anyone with a computer. 5. Explores current trends and developments in remote sensing in homework assignments with data to further explore the use of free multispectral remote sensing data, including very high spatial resolution information. Undergraduate and graduate level students will benefit from the exercises in this lab manual, as they are applicable to a variety of subjects including environmental science, agriculture engineering, as well as natural and social sciences. Students will gain a deeper understanding, and first-hand experience, with remote sensing and digital processing with a learn-by-doing methodology using applicable examples in natural resources.

'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.

This book offers historical and comparative analyses of changes in agrarian society forced by the globalization of capitalism, and the implications of these changes for human welfare globally. The book gives special attention to recent economic development and urbanization in the People s Republic of China which have had a major impact on contemporary transformations globally. Case studies from South and Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America in turn place these transformations in a comparative global perspective. The contributors include distinguished scholars from the UN, PRC, India, Zimbabwe, and Latin America who are also active in policy issues."

Echinoderms are an ancient and diverse group of marine animals with a rich fossil record. They occur abundantly in all modern oceans and at all depths, where they contribute importantly to patterns in biodiversity and to the structure and functioning of marine systems. It is therefore vital to understand how they will respond to a rapidly changing ocean climate and other anthropogenic stressors, informed by both the dynamics of the fossil record and responses of extant species. The theme of the 13th International Echinoderm Conference (Hobart, Tasmania, 5-9 January 2009) was the response of echinoderms to global change. Echinoderms in a Changing World contains a selection of plenary and contributed papers, and a comprehensive presentation of abstracts of all oral papers and posters. The collection will be useful to all students of echinoderm biology, ecology and palaeontology, from undergraduate level to professional researchers.

As in many other sectors, in agribusiness major changes are taking place. On the demand side, consumers are changing lifestyles, eating and shopping habits, and increasingly are demanding more accommodation of these needs in the supermarket. With regard to the supply: the traditional distribution channel dominators - manufacturers of branded consumer products - are trying hard to defend their positions against retailers, who gather and use information about the consumer to streamline their enterprises and strengthen their ties with the consumer. The agricultural producers, meanwhile, face increased regulations with regard to food additives, pesticides, and herbicides. Pressures rise as their business becomes more specialized and capital-intensive than that of their predecessors. Finally, the larger political climate is not so favorable to agriculture, which now has to compete in the global market without significant government support. This title describes and interprets changes in the domain of agriculture and food. The contributors develop the theme of taking an interdisciplinary approach to coping with these changes, using concepts and methods developed in general marketing, which are adapted so as to apply to the particular characteristics of the food and agriculture sector. This book is published to honor the distinguished career of Professor Mathew T.G. Meulenberg from Wageningen Agricultural University, on the occasion of his retirement in September 1996. As a scientist, teacher, and advisor to the agribusiness and the government, Professor Meulenberg has made an important contribution to the development of marketing, inside and outside the domain of agriculture.

Biofuels and Rural Poverty makes an original contribution to the current controversial global debate on biofuels, in particular the consequences that large-scale production of transport fuel substitutes can have on rural areas, principally in developing countries but also in some poor rural areas of developed countries.

Three key concerns are examined from a North-South perspective: ecological issues (related to land use and biodiversity), pro-poor policies (related to food and land security, gender and income generation) and equity of benefits within the global value chain. Can biofuels be pro-poor? Can smallholder farmers be equitably integrated in the biofuels global supply chain? Is the biofuels production chain detrimental to biodiversity?

Most other books available on biofuels take a technical approach and are aimed at addressing energy security or climate change issues. This title focuses on the socio-economic impacts on rural people's livelihoods, offering a unique perspective on the potential role of biofuels in reducing rural poverty.

Fragmentation characteristics influence mucking productivity, crusher throughput and energy consumption, plant efficiency, yield and recovery, or the price itself of the end product in the case of industrial minerals and aggregates. Reliable, quantitative measurements of fragment sizes are instrumental in controlling and optimizing the blasting results. Measurement and Analysis of Blast Fragmentation presents the latest developments in rock fragmentation measurement techniques and analysis. It includes image analysis and machine vision techniques, either photographic or 3D such as stereo-photogrammetry and laser triangulation; case studies of fragmentation measurements in a variety of situations and used in different optimization and control tasks; fragmentation analysis and new suitable functional descriptions of size distributions, and model-scale fragmentation tests with weighed size distribution data. The contributions in this book were presented at the workshop Measurement and Analysis of Blast Fragmentation, which was hosted by Fragblast 10 (New Delhi, India, November 2012), provide a snapshot of the activity in rock fragmentation measurements and analysis around the world, and are a must-have reference for engineers and researchers working in rock blasting.

Blasting practices in mines have undergone many changes in the recent past and continue to be honed and reconfigured to meet the demands of today's mining needs. This volume compiles papers of the workshop Blasting in Mines - New Trends, hosted by the Fragblast 10 Symposium . The 17 papers provide a mix which highlight the evolving trends in blasting in mines. These range from special techniques of cast blasting, applications of seed wave modelling for improved fragmentation, to design of mass blasts and controlled blasting for stability of pit-walls. Blasting in Mines - New Trends will be of particular interest to mining and blasting engineers.

The contributors argue that rare earths are essential to the information technology revolution on which humans have come to depend for communication, commerce, and, increasingly, engage in conflict. They demonstrate that rare earths are a strategic commodity over which political actors will and do struggle for control.

Knowledge generation and transfer mechanisms are being transformed in important and controversial ways. Investment in research and development has increased in response to recognition that scientific productivity is tightly connected to economic dynamism. Patent protection has been expanded in order to stimulate higher levels of private investment. Intellectual property rights held by public organizations and researchers are now increasingly transferred to private organizations to accelerate the diffusion and enhance the value of knowledge produced by public agencies and universities. Additionally, new institutions such as university offices of technology transfer, venture capital markets, and a variety of consortia in knowledge-intensive industries are being established throughout the United States and in other parts of the world. These changes have led to a repositioning of the state in systems of innovation and an increase in the proprietary character of technical information. The purpose of this book is to review and analyze i) contemporary transitions in agricultural knowledge generation and extension arrangements from an empirical perspective, and ii) emerging and contradictory perspectives as to how knowledge systems can be assessed effectively. The authors aim to provide the reader with a better understanding of the implications of new biotechnologies and new intellectual property rights regimes on public-private relations in science, the extent to which benefits from scientific knowledge are being appropriated by private sector actors, the diversity and possible outcomes of privatization initiatives in extension, and prospects for public goods production and ecological sustainability given contemporary trends. The book presents contrasting views on the degree of complementarity and substitution between private and public sector investments in research and extension. Recognizing that the labels `public' and `private' are incomplete and at times misleading descriptions of the structure and function of coordinating bodies in social systems, the analyses highlight ways in which public and private spaces and modes of functioning combine. In addition to illustrating a broad range of analytic methodologies useful for studying organizational questions in knowledge systems, the authors identify the implications of a range of past and potential institutional innovations.

The Science of Grapevines, Third Edition reflects the latest insights into cultivar relationships, vascular transport, hormone action, and stress responses of grapevines. Based on the author's many years of teaching, research and practical experience with grapevines and grape production, the book is completely revised and updated, presenting a comprehensive introduction on the physical structure of the grapevine, its organs, their functions, and their environmental interactions. While many concepts discussed are broadly applicable to plants in general, the focus is on grapevines, especially cultivated grapevines. This book enables readers to use these concepts in their own scientific research or in practical production systems. Scientifically grounded and integrating discoveries in other plant species, the book explores the physiological processes underlying grapevine form and function, their developmental and environmental control, and their implications for practical vineyard management.