Agricultural research in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries has been characterised by poor communication and limited use of its results by beneficiaries, perhaps due to limited capacity of researchers in scientific writing and communication of agricultural research results.

As the world’s population is projected to reach 10 billion or more by 2100, devastating fossil fuel shortages loom in the future unless more renewable alternatives to energy are developed.

The environmental impact of development projects is currently studied and mitigated from two distinct perspectives: before and after project implementation, with environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental management systems (EMS) being the main instruments on the respective sides.

Dry areas suffer not only from limited rainfall but also ‘natural leakage’ - 90% of rainwater is lost directly or indirectly, and is unavailable for agriculture or domestic use. Water harvesting is a low-cost, easy-to-use, environmentally-friendly way to recover a large part of this lost water.

As interest has increased in topics such as the globalization of the agrifood system, food security, and food safety, the subjects of food and agriculture are making their way into a growing number of courses in disciplines within the social sciences and the humanities, like sociology and food studies.

The relationship between food and development has always been controversial. Over the last thirty years, development in the north and south has failed to deliver people a decent diet. While some people have too little food and die as a consequence, some people have too much food and die from associated diseases.

This book presents topical research in the study of the characteristics, processes and management of soil fertility in agriculture. Topics discussed include agricultural management changes in Pampean soils related to rotation and tillage; agroforestry systems in the Eastern Amazon; soil and crop management practices in bioenergy cropping systems; evaluation of the potassium supplying abilities of animal manures; nitrogen fertilisation in the modern sustainable farming systems of Moldova; and soil fertility enhancing microorganisms and their application as biofertilisers.

Beef cow-calf farms operate in an industry characterised by large numbers of small farms. Many of these farms specialise in beef cattle production, but farm households on these operations tend to generate more income from off-farm sources, such as wages and salaries or retirement income, than from the farm businesses themselves. This book discusses select research on global beef production and trade including beef production in the United States, Japan and Mexico.

The European Union (EU) is one of the United States’ chief agricultural trading partners but also a major competitor in world markets. Both the United States and the EU provide significant government support for their agricultural sectors. In 2009, the EU and the U.S. together accounted for 60% of all government support to agriculture among the major developed economies.

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of the physiology, diseases and farming practices of chickens. Topics discussed include recent trends in the diagnosis and vaccines for poultry diseases; nutrient regulation of intestinal development and function in chickens; the role of selenium in chicken physiology; harvest and post-harvest practices for chickens; organ blood flow in the hen foetal and early postnatal periods; central regulation of physiological and metabolic responses in neonatal chicks; bacteriophages in the control of colibacillosis; and chicken egg size and embryonic development.

In this book, the authors gather and present current research in the study of the technologies, practices and impacts of forest management. Topics discussed in this compilation include forest fire management; forest management systems and conservation in Madagascar; the effects of land use history and forest management practices in Southern Chile; forest conservation and land use planning in Kilosa District

This book presents and discusses current research in the study of agriculture, with a particular focus on technology, production and economics. Topics discussed include agricultural software; mechanised land application of organic fertilisers; pesticide models; optical metrology in agriculture; amplification of small interfering RNAs in transgenic plants; spate irrigation of rangelands; land titling and agricultural development; social labels for agricultural products and contemporary ecological-economic assessment of contaminated agricultural lands.