Global Land Food In The 21st Century

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.

The CGIAR: meeting the challenge. New cballenges. The CGIAR system in action. Putting science to work for change. The CGIAR system: a closer look. History, structure, and function. The CGIAR system's acomplisbments.

In this volume, an interdisciplinary and internationally- situated group of experts consider the ways in which culture creates and transforms discourses and practices in decisions on agricultural land.

The most serious environmental problems of the twenty-first century have the potential to alter the course of life on this planet. Global warming, toxic waste, water and air pollution, acid rain, and shrinking energy supplies are frightening challenges that may threaten our future if we do not face up to them.p Global Environmental Challenges provides important information and gives us hope about the environment. This book first helps us to grasp these difficulties, then shows us the choices we can make. How long to leave a light on, whether to take the car, the train, or bicycle to work, whether to recycle or throw away, whether to vote to curb continued suburban sprawl-all of these decisions can make a difference.p This collection of some of the best essays and articles on the environment comes from a variety of sources, including journals, magazines, websites of ecological/conservation organizations, and other publications.p Five major sections investigate the interaction of population growth,consumption, and environment; the emerging crisis in freshwater around the globe; global climate and atmosphere (including global warming); biodiversity loss; and the concept of sustainable development-using natural resources to place future human development on a sustainable path. The final section on sustainable development reveals how we can take action. As individuals, we can make a difference readily and easily without making huge personal sacrifices. As societies, we can work together in a global community of interest to sustain the earth.p This valuable resource offers readers a better understanding of our environmental problems and presents solutions to improving the health of theplanet.p

This comprehensive two-volume encyclopedia examines specific famines throughout history and contains entries on key topics related to food production, security and policies, and famine, giving readers an in-depth look at food crises and their causes, responses to them, and outcomes. Famines have claimed more lives across human history than all the wars ever fought. This two-volume set represents the most comprehensive study of food and famine currently available, providing the broadest analysis of hunger and famine causes as well as a detailed examination of the ramifications of cultural and natural hazards upon famine. Volume one focuses upon 50 topics and issues relating to the creation of hunger and famines in the world from 4000 BCE to 2100, including an overview of how agriculture has evolved from primitive hunting and gathering that supported limited numbers of people to a worldwide system that now feeds over seven billion people. Volume two, entitled Classic Famines, begins with famines of the past, from 4000 BCE to 2100 CE, includes ten classic famine case studies, and concludes with predictions of famines we could see in the 21st century and beyond.

A realistic yet encouraging look at how society can change in ways that will allow us to feed an expanding global population. This book addresses the question of how we can best feed the ten billion or so people who will likely inhabit the Earth by the middle of the twenty-first century. He asks whether human ingenuity can produce enough food to support healthy and vigorous lives for all these people without irreparably damaging the integrity of the biosphere. What makes this book different from other books on the world food situation is its consideration of the complete food cycle, from agriculture to post-harvest losses and processing to eating and discarding. Taking a scientific approach, Smil espouses neither the catastrophic view that widespread starvation is imminent nor the cornucopian view that welcomes large population increases as the source of endless human inventiveness. He shows how we can make more effective use of current resources and suggests that if we increase farming efficiency, reduce waste, and transform our diets, future needs may not be as great as we anticipate. Smil's message is that the prospects may not be as bright as we would like, but the outlook is hardly disheartening. Although inaction, late action, or misplaced emphasis may bring future troubles, we have the tools to steer a more efficient course. There are no insurmountable biophysical reasons we cannot feed humanity in the decades to come while easing the burden that modern agriculture puts on the biosphere.

Agriculture in this century is confronted with the challenges of ensuring global food security. Diminishing land and water resources, a rapid increase in population particularly in developing countries, and onset of climate change are the key limitations towards sustainability of the agriculture sector. The situation demands that we address the problems of agriculture using a system approach. 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. Chapters include contributions from vastly experienced scientists in their area of expertise. This book can be of particular interest for students, professors, researchers, farmers and policy makers who intend to have a food secure 21st century.