21st Century Agriculture

This is a comprehensive book outlining the issues being faced by the agriculture sector worldwide. The book covers diversified topics including water scarcity, food security, international research collaboration, sustainable agriculture, soil erosion, weed management, micro nutrients, biotechnology, investment in research, sustainable viticulture and desertification. The key theme of the book is achieving food security at the national and global scale. Various dimensions of food security are addressed simultaneously while analyzing the effect of population, water scarcity, sustainable agriculture and desertification in detail. Case studies from Pakistan, Russia, the Philippines and Portugal are presented with national focus and their implications at the global level. Each chapter presents state-of-the-science synthesis on the subject matter and solutions to the specific problems."--pub. desc.

21st Century Homestead: Sustainable Agriculture III contains the third part of everything you need to stay up to date on sustainable agricultural practices.

21st Century Homestead: Organic Farming contains everything you need to stay up to date on organic farming.

The Canadian Farming Community is facing numerous ongoing challenges, including rapidly changing technologies, the gradual erosion of the rural lifestyle, growing consumer concerns about the healthiness of food, and growing environmental concerns (including climate change). This book begins with an historic overview of agriculture in Canada, followed by a statistical profile of the contemporary Canadian farm/ranch, supporting agri-industrial complex, and the innumerable farm organizations in Canada. The vital role of international trade and government support in the evolution of Canadian agriculture is also highlighted. Resource management issues and related “hot button” issues (e.g. climate change, GMO’s) are also addressed in considerable detail. In addition, Dr. Anderson identifies the likely trends in Canadian agriculture in the immediate years ahead. Emphasizing the diversity, complexity, strength and vitality of the agricultural sector, Canadian Agriculture in the 21st Century ultimately highlights how it effectively molds and remains integral to the socioeconomic fabric of both rural and urban Canada. An underlying theme is the importance of having Canadian agriculture become increasingly ecofriendly in the challenging years ahead, particularly the need to gradually adopt more sustainable, regenerative (organic) technologies and the need to more pro-actively serve as a vital CO2 sink in climate change mitigation. Dr. Anderson also suggests that the public should financially compensate farmers/ ranchers for protecting environmental amenities that accrue to everyone. A complimentary theme is the need for Canadian agriculture to become increasingly sensitive to consumer concerns, particularly with respect to rigorous health standards, animal welfare, and sustainable resource management.

In the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable emergence of innovations and technological advances that are generating promising changes and opportunities for sustainable agriculture, yet at the same time the agricultural sector worldwide faces numerous daunting challenges. Not only is the agricultural sector expected to produce adequate food, fiber, and feed, and contribute to biofuels to meet the needs of a rising global population, it is expected to do so under increasingly scarce natural resources and climate change. Growing awareness of the unintended impacts associated with some agricultural production practices has led to heightened societal expectations for improved environmental, community, labor, and animal welfare standards in agriculture. Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century assesses the scientific evidence for the strengths and weaknesses of different production, marketing, and policy approaches for improving and reducing the costs and unintended consequences of agricultural production. It discusses the principles underlying farming systems and practices that could improve the sustainability. It also explores how those lessons learned could be applied to agriculture in different regional and international settings, with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. By focusing on a systems approach to improving the sustainability of U.S. agriculture, this book can have a profound impact on the development and implementation of sustainable farming systems. Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century serves as a valuable resource for policy makers, farmers, experts in food production and agribusiness, and federal regulatory agencies.

Farming Systems Research has three core characteristics: it builds on systems thinking, it depends on the close collaboration between social and biophysical sciences, and it relies on participation to build co-learning processes. Farming Systems Research posits that to contribute towards sustainable rural development, both interdisciplinary collaborations and local actor engagement are needed. Together, they allow for changes in understanding and changes in practices. This book gives an overview of the insights generated in 20 years of Farming Systems Research. It retraces the emergence and development of Farming Systems Research in Europe, summarises the state-of-the-art for key areas, and provides an outlook on new explorations, especially those tackling the dynamic nature of farming systems and their interaction with the natural environment and the context of action.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research works to promote food security, poverty eradication, and the sound management of natural resources throughout the developing world. It is the largest scientific network of its kind. CGIAR operates through 16 international research centres around the world and its members comprise 58 industrial and developing countries, private foundations, and regional and international organisations.