This book examines the challenges faced by farmers trying to maintain crop biodiversity in developing and transitional economies. Using a collection of empirical case studies of farmers and crop scientists across a range of agricultural economies and income levels, it presents economic tools and methods for valuing and managing crop biodiversity. It discusses the economic benefits of crop biodiversity for farmers and suggests ways in which crop biodiversity can be supported by national policies. The book provides an indispensable 'tool kit' for all those concerned with the development of strategies to facilitate sustainable management and conservation of crop genetic diversity for future generations.
This book examines the challenges faced by farmers trying to maintain crop biodiversity in developing and transitional economies. Using a collection of empirical case studies of farmers and crop scientists across a range of agricultural economies and income levels, it presents economic tools and methods for valuing and managing crop biodiversity. It discusses the economic benefits of crop biodiversity for farmers and suggests ways in which crop biodiversity can be supported by national policies. The book provides an indispensable 'tool kit' for all those concerned with the development of strategies to facilitate sustainable management and conservation of crop genetic diversity for future generations.
Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology, Second Edition, presents the latest knowledge on potato chemistry, including the identification, analysis, and uses of chemical components in potatoes. Beginning with a brief description of potato components, the book then delves into their role during processing, then presenting information on strategies for quality optimization that provides students, researchers, and technologists working in the area of food science with recent information and updates on state-of-the-art technologies. The updated edition includes the latest information related to the identification, analysis, and use of chemical components of potatoes, carbohydrate and non-carbohydrate composition, cell wall chemistry, an analysis of glycoalkaloids, phenolics and anthocyanins, thermal processing, and quality optimization. In addition, new and sophisticated methods of quality determination of potatoes and their products, innovative and healthy potato-based foods, the future of genetically modified potatoes, and the non-food use of potatoes and their products is discussed. - Includes both the emerging non-food uses of potato and potato-by-products as well as the expanding knowledge on the food-focused use of potatoes - Presents case studies on the problems, factors, proposed solutions, and pros and cons of each, allowing readers facing similar concerns and issues to effectively and efficiently identify an appropriate solution - Written by a global collection of experts in both food and non-food potato science
Experts discuss the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and conservation, integrating disciplines that range from plant and biological sciences to economics and political science. Wide-ranging environmental phenomena—including climate change, extreme weather events, and soil and water availability—combine with such socioeconomic factors as food policies, dietary preferences, and market forces to affect agriculture and food production systems on local, national, and global scales. The increasing simplification of food systems, the continuing decline of plant species, and the ongoing spread of pests and disease threaten biodiversity in agriculture as well as the sustainability of food resources. Complicating the situation further, the multiple systems involved—cultural, economic, environmental, institutional, and technological—are driven by human decision making, which is inevitably informed by diverse knowledge systems. The interactions and linkages that emerge necessitate an integrated assessment if we are to make progress toward sustainable agriculture and food systems. This volume in the Strüngmann Forum Reports series offers insights into the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and sustainability and proposes an integrative framework to guide future research, scholarship, policy, and practice. The contributors offer perspectives from a range of disciplines, including plant and biological sciences, food systems and nutrition, ecology, economics, plant and animal breeding, anthropology, political science, geography, law, and sociology. Topics covered include evolutionary ecology, food and human health, the governance of agrobiodiversity, and the interactions between agrobiodiversity and climate and demographic change.
