Investing in agriculture is essential for reducing hunger and promoting sustainable agricultural production. Those parts of the world where agricultural capital per worker and public investments in agriculture have stagnated are the epicentres of poverty and hunger today. Demand growth over the coming decades will place increasing pressure on the natural resource base. Eradicating hunger sustainably will require a significant increase in agricultural investments, but also an improvement in their effectiveness.

This book is a continuation of the book Agriculture and Food Science Researcher Biographical Sketches and Research Summaries which compiles biographical sketches of top professionals in the field of agriculture and food science research, as well as research summaries from a number of different focuses in this important field.

The effects of climate change can already be felt around the world, and they will likely impact all facets of human civilization—from health, livelihood security, agricultural production, and shelter to international trade. Since anthropogenic factors are mainly to blame for the current trends in global warming, human intervention will be necessary to mitigate it. With 17 authoritative chapters, Combating Climate Change: An Agricultural Perspective outlines a framework for preparing agriculture for climate change, presenting the causes and consequences of climate change and possible remediation measures.

Currently 925 million people are undernourished and 195 million children under five years of age are stunted. At the same time, over 1 billion people are overweight and obese in both the developed and developing world. Diseases previously associated with affluence, such as cancer, diabetes and cardio-vascular disease, are on the rise.

This book presents current research in the study of the cultivation, varieties and uses of cotton. Topics included in this compilation include cotton pests and strategies for management control; cotton biotechnology and application in breeding; phosphorous acquisition characteristics of cotton plants; chemically modified cotton fibres for biomedical applications; China and Australia’s global cotton production; and climatic conditions affecting Egyptian cotton.

This book offers a broad introduction to food policies in the United States. Real-world controversies and debates motivate the book’s attention to economic principles, policy analysis, nutrition science and contemporary data sources. It assumes that the reader’s concern is not just the economic interests of farmers, but also includes nutrition, sustainable agriculture, the environment and food security. The book’s goal is to make US food policy more comprehensible to those inside and outside the agri-food sector whose interests and aspirations have been ignored.

In this book, the authors present topical research in the study of the nutrition, consumption and health benefits of bean products. Topics discussed in this compilation include the chemical composition and food properties of six cultivars of African yam bean flours; food-grade soybean consumption and nutrition; proteinase inhibitors from legumes; lectins in legumes; seed yield in mungbean as correlated with root length density and total dry matter; defensins in beans; nutritional quality of beans and growing conditions; bean by-products and the angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory and antioxidant activities of protein hydrolysates from four tropical legumes.

This tenth edition of State of the World’s Forests explores the role of forests in human history, finding strong links between forest use and economic and social development. It suggests that forest production has an important role to play in a sustainable future in which consumption and production are connected in a closed cycle and it also points out the importance of striking a balance between forest conservation and use.

This edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture highlights the vital role of fisheries and aquaculture in both food and nutrition security as well as economic expansion. The sector remains a major supplier of high-quality animal protein and supports the livelihoods and well-being of more than ten percent of the world’s population.

FAO has launched the new and revised Statistical Yearbook 2012. This publication is the foremost collection and reference point for statistical data on food and agriculture globally.

The 2012 edition of the FAO Statistical Yearbook represents a break away from FAO tradition. Through employing data from global statistical providers, including FAO, the publication presents a visual synthesis of the major trends and factors shaping the global food and agricultural landscape and their interplay with broader environmental, social and economic dimensions. In doing so, it strives to serve as a unique reference point on the state of world food and agriculture for policy-makers, donor agencies, researchers and analysts as well as the general public.

This ACS Symposium Series title addresses global warming, one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our times. The agricultural sector is the largest source of global anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4), both of which are potent greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The book provides a comprehensive overview of important issues related to greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems, including measurement of greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural fields, development of alternative management practices as mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and greenhouse gas accounting methodologies and modeling.

This book examines the state of food insecurity in the world and provides an overview of the Obama Administration’s global hunger and food security initiative, called "Feed the Future".