ASCOT Library Zabali Campus

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Environmental impact of agriculture --
2. Agricultural and crop production --
3. Climate change and food security --
4. Agriculture, growth and poverty reduction --
5. Food security and agriculture policy --
6. Agri-food systems and territorial development --
7. Human health effects of agriculture --
8. Components of agroforestry system and technology development --
9. Evaluation of genetically modified food crops --
10. Agriculture and pollution.

"The environmental impact of agriculture varies based on the wide variety of agricultural practices employed around the world. Climate change and agriculture are interrelated processes, both of which take place on a global scale. Global warming is projected to have significant impacts on conditions affecting agriculture, including temperature, precipitation and glacial run-off. Agricultural science has indeed transformed the practice of agriculture. Discoveries made by people in white coats...have been transferred into farmers' fields in a bewilderingly short space of time, assisted by a wide network of institutions...aimed at speeding up the process of technology transfer. Food production in any given year is affected most directly by the values of the critical climate elements (temperature, radiation, precipitation, etc.) during the year. The stability of available food supplies is governed by the interannual variability of these elements. Access to food supplies in different regions of the world is determined by their share of the food production, the role of cereals in the diet of the people, and the various political and market forces that act upon the global food security system. The climate anomalies that occurred during the 1970s caused fairly small fluctuations in the world cereal supply. To understand accumulation in the agri-food system, it is essential to recognize that industrialization has taken a markedly different course from other production systems. The biological production-consumption cycle underpinning this system has imposed distinctive constraints on the technical and social organization of production. This book is presents a unique assessment of agricultural commodity production and the environmental problems it causes, along with prescriptions for increasing efficiency and reducing damage to natural systems." -- Provided by publisher