Agriculture In The New Global Economy

Illustrating contemporary policy debates using both theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence, this book will appeal to academics, researchers and students specialising in political science, environmental studies, agricultural economics, management and food policy. The book will also be of interest to government practitioners in agriculture and environment departments as well as international organisations such as the EU, FAO and WTO.

This important book explores alternative strategies in agriculturaland rural development to address the impacts of globalizationprocesses on smallholder agriculturalists and marginalized ruralpeople. Its goal is twofold: (1) to identify and assess the keyprocesses by which globalization is affecting the smallholderagricultural and rural sectors; and (2) to identify and propose bothmicro- and macro-level policies and other strategies to deal with theproblems that arise.

Since the emergence of human civilization, agriculture has played a critical role in maintaining livelihood and economy. Agricultural products play a major role in determining national economy as well as food security for nations in modern times. The topics covered in this book are aimed at providing a critical overview about the theory and practice of agriculture and its impact on global economy. It provides significant information of this discipline to help develop a good understanding of agricultural marketing, industrial and production technology and related fields. This book will serve as a reference to a broad spectrum of readers.

The production, trade and consumption of pulses have seen substantial growth over the last fifteen years. This report examines the trends and patterns of this growth, and the factors that explain these for different kinds of pulses. The report presents an analysis of trends of consumption of pulses in different regions of the world and discusses the role that pulses can play in human nutrition. The report presents an analysis of the dynamics of growth of major pulses in different pulse-producing countries of the world. It describes the increasingly important role of trade in the global economy of pulses and presents an analysis of changing patterns of trade. The report argues that there is a pressing need to close the large gap between potential and actual yields, particularly on smallholder farms in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, by increased adoption of improved varieties and modern agronomic practices in all developing countries. This in turn requires a major thrust in agricultural research and extension, improving credit availability, and public investment directed at pulse production. The report discusses future prospects and policy imperatives for sustaining the growth of pulse production.

Originating as a miniconference at the August 1988 meeting of the Rural Sociological Society in Madison, Wisconsin, 16 papers offer ideas on how agriculture can and must be reconceived in the context of global economics and food production. Among the considerations are labor, government, technology, and gender. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR