Farming and food Book

This fifth volume in the Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Geography series describes in detail the way farming of both food and non-food crops is practiced throughout the world today, whether by peasant farmers or sharecroppers, state-run collective farms, or multinational agribusinesses. It explores how technology can be applied to increase crop production, from the development of the plough in the earliest times to the latest genetically engineered seed strains, and explains why the immense gulf exists between the developing world, which lives with famine and malnutrition, and the developed world, with its surplus supplies. The influence of natural factors such as climate, and of human ones such as government policy and market conditions, in determining what is grown where, are considered. A 32-page introductory section reviews current methods, achievements, and problems of agriculture on a global level. Included are discussions of the origins and history of agriculture; the producers; consumers; and challenges for the future. Following are regional sections that examine the prevailing farming systems and crops, special problems, and innovations. Special features take a closer look at a particular crop or aspect of farming in each region, for example, forestry and the logging industry in Canada; feedlot beef production in the United States; slash and burn agriculture in South America; private plots in the USSR; aquaculture in China; and small island agriculture in Australia.