Royal Fleet Auxiliaries are distinctive in the maritime world – civilian-crewed Merchant Navy ships owned by the Crown working under naval orders. This Dictionary showcases both the famous and the often overlooked ships that have supported the Royal Navy during its prominence in the twentieth century. This comprehensively researched reference work presents a detailed guide to vessels, that in both peace and wartime were essential in the wide field of British maritime history – those that did battle in the Atlantic, Arctic, Mediterranean and Pacific Oceans and for the Falklands. This is a record of those ships along with details of marine and war losses from the traditional tankers taken up from commercial trade to the ships of today that are designed for the sophisticated and critical role of sea-going logistics support. The author is a recognised authority on the history and ships of the RFA. The Dictionary features some 430 RFA ships and 53 classes from the tanker Petroleum and hospital ship Maine of 1905 to the multi-role assets Proteus and Stirling Castle of 2023. Additionally there is information on 22 projected RFA vessels and equipment including the cancelled hospital ship whose material resources were diverted to aid construction of the Royal Yacht and the nuclear-powered replenishment tanker that remained on the drawing board. Comprehensively researched from official records, the ships are technically detailed from the Admiralty’s policy and planning through to their engineering, aviation decks and defensive armament. Where appropriate there is a summary of service and for the historical researcher each entry provides a list of the sources used by the author. The easy-to-read detail is supported by an abundance of photographs and drawings. Uniquely there is an appendix of 67 entries detailing those miscellaneous ships that are commonly but erroneously classed as RFAs. This authoritative work fills an important gap in shipping literature with no previous publication on these ships coming close to including the level of detail provided.

This collection features six peer-reviewed reviews on the economics of key agricultural practices. The first chapter assesses the economic impact of horticultural crops and integrated pest management programmes. The chapter highlights the importance of considering agricultural system design and the utilisation of novel control tactics. The second chapter considers the economic consequences of novel integrated weed management (IWM) strategies, as well as the different approaches used to assess the economics of IWM strategies. The third chapter reviews developments in methods to assess the economic value of agricultural biodiversity. The chapter also outlines the limitations of these methods and proposes a possible, novel way forward. The fourth chapter provides an overview of the economic barriers faced by smallholder farmers, including land, labour, capital and inputs, and their impact on farm profitability. The fifth chapter reviews the economics of soil health, focussing on the adoption of soil health management practices by farmers and the effectiveness of incentives. The final chapter examines the use of economic research as a tool to determine the profitability and adoption potential for a number of precision agriculture technologies.

"The sustainable intensification of smallholder farming systems is a standard reference on how best to target support for smallholders to achieve real improvements in their livelihoods." (IITA - Cassava Matters) Due to a lack of understanding of the constraints they face, many projects developed to support smallholders fail with low adoption rates and limited improvements in livelihoods and food security. Greater emphasis must be placed upon successfully supporting smallholder farmers and their farming systems. The sustainable intensification of smallholder farming systems provides a comprehensive review of recent research on effective support measures to improve the livelihoods of smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa. This collection features detailed discussions on ways to improve access to key resources, such as seeds, tools and expertise for soil health improvement and integrated pest management (IPM) programmes. A part dedicated to finance and information assesses the need to improve support systems, including farmer organisations and commercial extension services, for the benefit of particular groups of smallholders, e.g. female farmers. Based on a wealth of practical experience from leading experts in the field, The sustainable intensification of smallholder farming systems will be a standard reference on how best to target support for smallholders to achieve real improvements in their livelihoods. It will be essential reading for university and other researchers studying smallholder farming systems in departments of agricultural science, international development, politics and development economics. It will also be a key reference for government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in development programmes focussing on smallholders, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Seabuckthorn is one promising plant that got into focus of public interest. It is the wide range of applications, it's ecological promising benefits and the social-economic effect that inspire people around the world to deal with Seabuckthorn. Actual developments shows a growing interest not only of directly involved persons but of public in general. Since 2003 every second year scientist, producers and growers and enthusiasts met at ISA - International Seabuckthorn Association conferences (the society was founded 2001 on Seabuckthorn Workshop in Delhi) to exchange information, establish new contacts and discuss the future of Seabuckthorn-world. Starting with a small heap of enthusiasts, the scientific community now includes several hundred active and certainly far more than a thousand of interested members. In October 2013 6th meeting of ISA was held in Potsdam, Germany. This booklet is to show a selection from the presented results, some outstanding poster and additional material given by various scientists to the authors. It is to encourage Seabuckthorn friends to intensive and faster to deal with the stated aim of this publication, with research on Seabuckthorn and technological-technical developments. Anyone who reads this book is welcome to send his posts and comments on it to the authors.

It was early Cold War days when 17-year-old David Eagles applied to the Fleet Air Arm hoping to be a fighter pilot for his national service. He little imagined the career that would follow. After flying training with the US Navy and Australian Fleet Air Arm, he settled into Fleet Air Arm fighter pilot life. He progressed through Naval Test Pilot duties - where he was forced to eject from a Buccaneer during catapult launch trials - before joining British Aerospace and playing a major part in the cockpit design and flight-testing of the RAF's first fly-by-wire and swing-wing aircraft, the Panavia Tornado. His other experiences include ditching a Firefly into the sea and the near loss of the first British Tornado prototype after a bird strike. Finally, after 6,000 flying hours in sixty different types of aircraft, Eagles finished his career by making the first flight of the EAP, the technology demonstrator for the new Eurofighter Typhoon. Vividly illustrated with photographs, documents and plans, this is a fascinating memoir of naval-flying and test-flying some of the world's most iconic fighters.