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American agriculture in the twentieth century has given the world one of its great success stories, a paradigm of productivity and plenty. Yet the story has its dark side, from the plight of the Okies in the 1930s to the farm crisis of the 1980s to today's concerns about low crop prices and the impact of biotechnology. Looking at U.S. farming over the past century, Bruce Gardner searches out explanations for both the remarkable progress and the persistent social problems that have marked the history of American agriculture.

Gardner documents both the economic difficulties that have confronted farmers and the technological and economic transformations that have lifted them from relative poverty to economic parity with the nonfarm population. He provides a detailed analysis of the causes of these trends, with emphasis on the role of government action. He reviews how commodity support programs, driven by interest-group politics, have spent hundreds of billions of dollars to little purpose. Nonetheless, Gardner concludes that by reconciling competing economic interests while fostering productivity growth and economic integration of the farm and nonfarm economies, the overall twentieth-century role of government in American agriculture is fairly viewed as a triumph of democracy.

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Those are not your grandfather's potato chips.

As debate rages over the costs and benefits of genetically engineered crops, noted agroecologist Miguel Altieri lucidly examines some of the issue's most basic and pressing questions:

* Are transgenic crops similar to conventionally bred crops?

* Are transgenic crops safe to eat?

* Does biotechnology increase yields?

* Does it reduce pesticide use?

* What are the costs to American farmers?

* Will biotechnology benefit poor farmers?

* Can biotechnology coexist with other forms of agriculture?

* What are the known and potential environmental and biological risks?

* What alternatives do we have to genetically modified crops? ... Read more

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Written to meet the needs of both students and applied researchers, Design of Experiments for Agriculture and the Natural Sciences, Second Edition serves as an introductory guide to experimental design and analysis. Like the popular original, this thorough text provides an understanding of the logical underpinnings of design and analysis by selecting and discussing only those carefully chosen designs that offer the greatest utility. However, it improves on the first edition by adhering to a step-by-step process that greatly improves accessibility and understanding. Real problems from different areas of agriculture and science are presented throughout to show how practical issues of design and analysis are best handled.

Completely revised to greatly enhance readability, this new edition includes:

• A new chapter on covariance analysis to help readers reduce errors, while enhancing their ability to examine covariances among selected variables
• Expanded material on multiple regression and variance analysis
• Additional examples, problems, and case studies
• A step-by-step Minitab® guide to help with data analysis

Intended for those in the agriculture, environmental, and natural science fields as well as statisticians, this text requires no previous exposure to analysis of variance, although some familiarity with basic statistical fundamentals is assumed. In keeping with the book's practical orientation, numerous workable problems are presented throughout to reinforce the reader's ability to creatively apply the principles and concepts in any given situation.

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This book on urban design extends and develops the widely accepted 'compact city' solution. It provides a design proposal for a new kind of sustainable urban landscape: Urban Agriculture. By growing food within an urban rather than exclusively rural environment, urban agriculture would reduce the need for industrialized production, packaging and transportation of foodstuffs to the city dwelling consumers. The revolutionary and innovative concepts put forth in this book have potential to shape the future of our cities quality of life within them.

Urban design is shown in practice through international case studies and the arguments presented are supported by quantified economic, environmental and social justifications.

* Is THE first book on urban agriculture for architects, landscape architects and urban designers
* Presents concepts with the potential to have an immense impact on the future shape of cities
* Includes over 200 images providing readers a clear visual idea of this pioneering subject ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Somewhat specific to geography but filled with good information
I bought this to help understand and choose a site for my thesis in NYC, it came in handy. The price hurt a bit, esp for a grad student ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Agriculture -- California; Agriculture; ... Read more

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In 1652 Robert Cole, an English Catholic, moved with his family and servants to St. Mary's County, Maryland.Using this family's story as a case study, the authors of Robert Cole's World provide an intimate portrait of the social and economic life of a middling planter in the seveneenth-century Chesapeake, including work routines and agricultural techniques, the upbringing of children, neighborhood relationships and community formation, and the role of religion.

The Cole Plantation account, a record that details what the plantation produced, consumed, purchased, and sold over a twelve-year period, is the only known surviving document of its kind for seventeenth-century British America.Along with Cole's will, it serves as the framework around which the authors build their analysis.Drawing on these and other records, they present Cole as an exemplar of the ordinary planter whose success created the capital base for the slave-based plantation society of the eighteenth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Robert Cole's World: Agriculter and Society in Early Maryland
Before the widower, Robert Cole, traveled from the "New World" of Maryland back to England, he appointed a guardian to care for his property and children. This required an inventory.While in England, Robert Cole died. To settle his estate, there was a second inventory.When the Cole children reached adulthood, they sued their guardian, which generated a third inventory.

These three inventories gave us a unique view into the lives of early Marylanders.It has been especially valuable for me with the genealogical research I have been doing on my family's colonial life and times.

Robert Cole's World
Robert Cole's World is a great book. Covering the history of Robert Cole and his family from England to their immigration to Lord Baltimore's Colony of Maryland, the book is a must for anyone interested in early American history. Background on the Cole family, 17th century tobacco cultivation, and daily life in 17th century Maryland are all incorporated into this interesting and nicely written book. Included are copies of the Cole family's inventory, as well as Robert Cole's will. For anyone interested in colonial American history and what life was like before American slavery took hold, Robert Cole's world is for you. ... Read more

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Discusses agricultural technology in various cultures from the Stone Age to 476 A.D., including China, Egypt, Mesoamerica, and Greece. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Traces the history of agriculture with emphasis on future methods of farming and growing food. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Rare book on EPCOT CENTER in Walt Disney World
This is a nice rare book from EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World. It has photos and text describing the history of agriculture, the potential future of agriculture including what Disney is doing with experiments in hydroponics, rotation drums, interplanting, and other advances, including the growth of their own food for restaurants including the Land Pavilion at EPCOT Center. It also has artist conceptual art on what the far future might hold in farming and crop production, even into outer space. The book is a nice collectible for any EPCOT fan, published in 1984 at 182 pages, in hardcover and designed to not have a dustjacket.
... Read more

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In an increasingly globalized world, an understanding of the role of international trade is central to the study of agricultural economics and agribusiness.This text interweaves these two elements, explaining the theories and practices relevant to agricultural trade.Using real-life examples to explain theories and models, the text prepares readers to critically examine agricultural trade issues.

Starting with the basic economics of trade, the text covers agricultural policies affecting trade flows, macroeconomic issues such as exchange rates and the balance of trade, and other important issues including foreign direct investment and the environment.Each chapter features overviews and summaries, key concepts, questions for review, and suggested readings.With its international focus, agricultural perspective, and engaging pedagogy, this text offers an innovative and accessible approach to the study of agricultural trade. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent Book
This book covers everything necessary to understand international trade.From classical theories covering free trade to exchange rates, the entire book is easy to understand and comprehend.An unusually easy to understand book on such a complicated subject like international trade. ... Read more

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The third edition of this popular introductory text maintains the character that won worldwide respect for its predecessors but features a number of enhancements that broaden its scope, increase its utility, and bring the treatment thoroughly up to date. It provides complete coverage of the statistical ideas and methods essential to students in agriculture or experimental biology. In addition to covering fundamental methodology, this treatment also includes more advanced topics that the authors believe help develop an appreciation of the breadth of statistical methodology now available. The emphasis is not on mathematical detail, but on ensuring students understand why and when various methods should be used.New in the Third Edition:"A chapter on the two simplest yet most important methods of multivariate analysis"Increased emphasis on modern computer applications "Discussions on a wider range of data types and the graphical display of data"Analysis of mixed cropping experiments and on-farm experiments ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Nice try - but try again
This was required for my graduate level stats class.I honestly say I found it no use.Explainations were unclear, examples few, and it assumes you are more of a statisics major than biology.It has been sitting on my shelf for 6 years now and I get no use out of it.

Very Good Book
This was the main text for a Graduate Experimental Design class. I found the book very good especially for agriculture. It is not strictly a recipe book on how to do statistics. If you want that get the Gomez and Gomez book or Little and Hills. This book covers many topics well and has problem sets.

not useful for me
I bought the book because it was required in class. I just check it few times for some required exercises, but when the class was finished I sold the book almost new.
The fact is that I don't like the way they explain the topics, it's not very useful for me. I find better stuff on line than in that book. ... Read more

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In the past half century, filamentous fungi have grown in commercial importance not only in the food industry but also as sources of pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of infectious and metabolic diseases and of specialty proteins and enzymes used to process foods, fortify detergents, and perform biotransformations. The commercial impact of molds is also measured on a negative scale since some of these organisms are significant as pathogens of crop plants, agents of food spoilage, and sources of toxic and carcinogenic compounds. Recent advances in the molecular genetics of filamentous fungi are finding increased application in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, and enzyme industries, and this trend promises to continue as the genomics of fungi is explored and new techniques to speed genetic manipulation become available.This volume focuses on the filamentous fungi and highlights the advances of the past decade, both in methodology and in the understanding of genomic organization and regulation of gene and pathway expression. ... Read more

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Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Sustainable agriculture is a discipline that addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control, and biodiversity depletion. Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from sciences as diverse as agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, and social sciences. Indeed, sustainable agriculture decipher mechanisms of processes that occur from the molecular level to the farming system to the global level at time scales ranging from seconds to centuries. For that, scientists use the system approach that involves studying components and interactions of a whole system to address scientific, economic and social issues. In that respect, sustainable agriculture is not a classical, narrow science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that treats only negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats problem sources. Because most actual society issues are now intertwined, global, and fast-developing, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book series gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy and food system for future generations.

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This book teaches the many mathematical applications used in crop production, livestock production and financial management in the agriculture business, skills which are essential for success as an agriculture professional. By giving readers a solid foundation in arithmetic, applied geometry and algebra as they relate to agriculture, the material presented will help develop their ability to think through the many mathematical challenges they will face. Case studies, sample problems, charts, and graphs fully illustrate the important concepts presented. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Ag policy would be funny if it were not so tragic
This book defines the terms "perverse incentives" and "unintended consequences."At virtually every turn, from subsidies and set-asides to tariffs and quotas, the authors show that U.S. agricultural policy is not only expensive and unproductive, but also economically damaging to farmers everywhere - domestic and foreign.

"Plowshares and Porkbarrels" is a must read for all who are concerned with the continued competitiveness of American industry, services, AND FARMING.

... Read more

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* Essential collection of the most important literature covering the full scope and depth of agriculture and food production world-wide
* Edited by Jules Pretty, the world’s leading authority on sustainable food and agriculture
* Substantial set overview and volume introductions by the editor provide comprehensive treatment of the major themes, historical and current trends and schools of thought – ideal for researchers
*World-wide coverage including perspectives and key literature from and on Asia, Europe,the Middle East, Africa and North and South America

This four volume set, edited by the world’s leading expert on agricultural sustainability, brings together and interprets the most influential, important and time-tested international scholarship across the fields of agriculture and food production with a set overview and individual volume introductions that make sense of this diverse and complex field.

Volume I covers the history of agriculture from its ancient origins through successive technological and institutional revolutions to the present. Volume II examines the relationship between agriculture and the environment including agricultural contamination, greenhouse gases and climate change, environmental improvements and sustainability, integrated farming, eco-agriculture and agro-ecology, landscape restoration and environmental goods and services. Volume III provides full coverage of the modern industrialized global food system, corporate control, poverty, hunger and international successes, failures and challenges, diet and health, consumer behavior and local alternatives to industrialization. Volume IV addresses how we think about land and our relationship to it, governance and stewardship of the rural commons, systems thinking, ecological literacy, social connections and a sustainable rural life, supportive and perverse agricultural subsidies and policies that shape food poverty and sustain agriculture into the future. ... Read more

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In the tradition of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, this gives the very early history of how human ingenuity overcame the risk of famine through productive agriculture.Starting with a layman's guide to the chemistry of nitrogen fixation, the book goes on to show how humans emerged from nomadic lifestyles and began developing towns and settlements.When they for the first time began planting the same fields year after year, they noticed quickly the need to ensure soil fertility.But how?The method they came up with is stillin use to this day. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An important subject
This is an iconoclastic telling of the story of what we knew about nitrogen and when we knew it. The author tells the story of the development of the undrestanding of plant nutrition in farming, starting as far back as possible and traveling up to the modern industry of making fertilizer and explosives.
The information is entertainingly presented, but the authors quirks of presentation sometime overcome the information. Important for anyone who wants to understand the development of agriculture in history. ... Read more

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Developing countries have a major stake in the outcome of trade negotiations conducted under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Agriculture and the WTO: Creating a Trading System for Development explores the key issues and options in agricultural trade liberalization from the perspective of these developing countries. Leading experts in trade and agriculture from both developed and developing countries provide key research findings and policy analyses on a range of issues that includes market access, domestic support, export competition, quota administration methods, food security, biotechnology, intellectual property rights, and agricultural trade under the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture. Material is covered in summary and in comprehensive detail with supporting data, a substantial bibliography, and listings of online resources. This book will be of interest to policymakers and analysts in the fields of development economics and commodities pricing and trade. ... Read more