Teaching Organic Farming and Gardening Edited by Albie Miles and Martha Bro Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems

Designed to inform and inspire the next generation of plant biotechnologists Plant Biotechnology and Genetics explores contemporary techniques and applications of plant biotechnology, illustrating the tremendous potential this technology has to change our world by improving the food supply. As an introductory text, its focus is on basic science and processes. It guides students from plant biology and genetics to breeding to principles and applications of plant biotechnology. Next, the text examines the critical issues of patents and intellectual property and then tackles the many controversies and consumer concerns over transgenic plants. The final chapter of the book provides an expert forecast of the future of plant biotechnology. Each chapter has been written by one or more leading practitioners in the field and then carefully edited to ensure thoroughness and consistency. The chapters are organized so that each one progressively builds upon the previous chapters. Questions set forth in each chapter help students deepen their understanding and facilitate classroom discussions. Inspirational autobiographical essays, written by pioneers and eminent scientists in the field today, are interspersed throughout the text. Authors explain how they became involved in the field and offer a personal perspective on their contributions and the future of the field. The text's accompanying CD-ROM offers full-color figures that can be used in classroom presentations with other teaching aids available online. This text is recommended for junior- and senior-level courses in plant biotechnology or plant genetics and for courses devoted to special topics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also an ideal reference for practitioners

Where There is No Vetis more than just a book on first aid for animals. It aims to help people keep their animals healthy. It covers a wide range of topics that affect the health of livestock, from diarrhea to rinderpest, from helpful traditional remedies to the uses of modern medicines and vaccines. It includes advice on the care, feeding and handling of animals. By describing the signs of disease to look for, it helps readers to work out what is wrong with an animal and then tells them what to do about it. Special emphasis is placed on preventing and controlling diseases and problems. The book covers routine treatments, assisting births and dealing with emergencies and simple operations. Not only does it help readers realize what they can do for their own animals, it also helps them recognize which problems need assistance from experienced vets or skilled workers. The book deals with cattle, buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, donkeys and camels. It also describes some important problems of dogs, rabbits and poultry. The book is essential for anyone who keeps animals and for people who help advise or teach others who keep animals: · The farmer who lives far from a vet. It explains in simple words and drawings what can be done to prevent, recognize, and treat many common sicknesses. · The teacher in a rural school. The book gives guidelines for teaching other people about animal health and will be useful in the teaching of agricultural science. · The NGO worker or agricultural extension worker who advises farmers on how to look after animals. · The vet assistant or other skilled worker who advises others on how to look after their animals. The book explains which medicines or treatments are most useful for specific sicknesses and warns against any which are useless or dangerous. Published by Oxfam in association with Macmillan and CTA

Climate change and migration are major concerns in the MENA region, yet the empirical evidence on the impact of climate change and extreme weather events on migration remains limited. Information is broadly lacking on how households in vulnerable areas perceive changes in the climate, how they are affected by extreme weather events, whether they benefit from community and government programs to help them cope with and adapt to a changing climate, and how these conditions influence the decision of household members to migrate, either temporarily or permanently. This introductory chapter summarizes briefly the main results of the study which relied on existing data as well as focus groups and new household surveys collected in 2011 in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen. The results suggest that households do perceive important changes in the climate, and that many households are being affected by extreme weather events resulting in losses in income, crops, and livestock. The coping and adaptation strategies used by households to deal with weather shocks are diverse, but also limited, with most households not able to recover from the negative impact of weather shocks. The ability of community level responses and government programs to support households is also very limited. Finally, while climate change is not today the main driver of migration flows, it does appear to contribute substantially to these flows, so that worsening climatic conditions are likely to exacerbate future migration flows.

The horticulture sector encompasses a wide range of crops namely fruit crops, vegetables crops, potato and tuber crops, ornamental crops, medicinal and aromatic crops, spices and plantation crops. New introductions like mushroom, bamboo and bee keeping (for improving the crop productivity) further expanded the scope of horticulture. While the first few Five Year Plans assigned priority to achieving self sufficiency in food grain production, over the years, horticulture has emerged as an indispensable part of agriculture, offering a wide range of choices to the farmers for crop diversification. It also provides ample opportunities for sustaining large number of agro-industries which generate substantial employment opportunities. The horticulture sector contributes around 28% of the GDP from about 13.08% of the area and 37 % of the total exports of agricultural commodities. During the previous three Plan periods, focused attention was given to horticultural research and development which placed India as the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables, largest producer and consumer of cashew nut, tea spices, third largest producer of coconut, forth largest producer and consumer of rubber and sixth largest producer of coffee in the world. Today, as a result synergy between focused research, technological and policy initiatives, high efficiency inputs, horticulture in India, has become a sustainable and viable venture for the small and marginal farmers. Besides, the sector has also started attracting entrepreneurs for taking up horticulture as a commercial venture. Therefore, there is a great scope for the horticulture industry to grow and flourish.

Man's explosive intrusion into forest ecosystems has not only affected the present character of our forests but in a more profoundly disturbing way has also affected the evolution of our future forests. Not only are the trees growing today different from those of past decades, but we have often lost the resilient capacity of this renewable resource to respond to the changing demands of nature and man. When whole forests are lost, the genes are lost, and replanting the land cannot recover the potential of any extinct genes. Even during breeding, the genetic resource may often be so reduced that future evolution is halted. Today, forests are being more intensively exploited and the forester has an obligation to safeguard the future of his resource. He can constructively direct the evolution of forests toward increased productivity within a genetic system that is capable of cumulative improvement and of meeting the varying and uncertain demands of the future.

To respond to the increasing need to feed the world's population as well as an ever greater demand for a balanced and healthy diet there is a continuing need to produce improved new cultivars or varieties of plants, particularly crop plants. The strategies used to produce these are increasingly based on our knowledge of relevant science, particularly genetics, but involves a multidisciplinary understanding that optimizes the approaches taken. Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2nd Edition introduces both classical and molecular tools for plant breeding. Topics such as biotechnology in plant breeding, intellectual property, risks, emerging concepts (decentralized breeding, organic breeding), and more are addressed in the new, updated edition of this text. Industry highlight boxes are included throughout the text to contextualize the information given through the professional experiences of plant breeders. The final chapters provide a useful reference on breeding the largest and most common crops. Up-to-date edition of this bestselling book incorporating the most recent technologies in the field Combines both theory and practice in modern plant breeding Updated industry highlights help to illustrate the concepts outlined in the text Self assessment questions at the end of each chapter aid student learning Accompanying website with artwork from the book available to instructors

Environmental preservation, resource conservation and assuring of food quality for the ever growing population had been the major challenges in agriculture during the last two decades. Growing awareness among consumers for safe and healthy food grown in tandem with nature has triggered the growth of another food segment across the world. Organic farming was found to be the most viable and effective option to address all these concerns and to address the consumers need. Although modern organic agriculture has its roots in consumers’ desire for safe and healthy food and has emerged from western developed economies, of late it has also caught the attention of sustainability promoters and has been found to address all the global concerns. Organic farming in its modern form is not only productive enough to meet our growing demands but is also resource conserving and continuously contributing to the improvement of soil health and fertility. Ardent promoters of organic farming consider that present day organic agriculture, which is a mix of traditional wisdom and modern science and technology, can meet emerging demands and become the means for complete development of rural areas, especially in the developing countries like India where large chunk of farmers are small, with limited resources and with limited access to water, mainly through seasonal rains.

This book provides an overview of the rapidly-developing field of quantitative genetics and genomics, and their application to plant breeding. Chapters have been developed from a symposium held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in March 2001. Authors include international authorities from around the world. Contents include quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, genomics and marker-assisted selection; tissue culture and alien introgression for crop improvement; and advances in genotype by environment interaction/stability analysis.