Planting The Future

"Planting the Future" shows how land stewardship, habitat protection, and sustainable cultivation are of critical importance to ensure an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for future generations.

Synthesizes results of the "Sustainable Agriculture Initiative," a "systematic socioeconomic comparison of sustainable and conventional farming" sponsored by the Northwest Area Foundation and conducted in a five-state area.

This book aims to help plant breeders by reviewing past achievements, currently successful practices, and emerging methods and techniques. Theoretical considerations are also presented to strike the right balance between being as simple as possible but as complex as necessary. The United Nations predicts that the global human population will continue rising to 9.0 billion by 2050. World food production will need to increase between 70-100 per cent in just 40 years. First generation bio-fuels are also using crops and cropland to produce energy rather than food. In addition, land area used for agriculture may remain static or even decrease as a result of degradation and climate change, despite more land being theoretically available, unless crops can be bred which tolerate associated abiotic stresses. Lastly, it is unlikely that steps can be taken to mitigate all of the climate change predicted to occur by 2050, and beyond, and hence adaptation of farming systems and crop production will be required to reduce predicted negative effects on yields that will occur without crop adaptation. Substantial progress will therefore be required in bridging the yield gap between what is currently achieved per unit of land and what should be possible in future, with the best farming methods and best storage and transportation of food, given the availability of suitably adapted cultivars, including adaptation to climate change. My book is divided into four parts: Part I is an historical introduction; Part II deals with the origin of genetic variation by mutation and recombination of DNA; Part III explains how the mating system of a crop species determines the genetic structure of its landraces; Part IV considers the three complementary options for future progress: use of sexual reproduction in further conventional breeding, base broadening and introgression; mutation breeding; and genetically modified crops.

This book honors the advocacy of Dr. Wangari Maathai, acclaimed environmentalist and the first African woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace. Dr. Maathai was a gifted orator who crafted messages that imagined new possibilities for human agency and social justice and who inspired action to protect our natural habitats. This collection explores the various strategies Maathai employed in her speeches to create memorable images and arguments for audiences in Kenya and around the world. Specifically, authors examine Maathai's use of storytelling, her creative use of metaphor and local cultural knowledge, and her use of sharp social-political analysis. Authors approach Maathai's rhetoric from both African and Western ways of knowing.

In a time of climate change and mass extinction, how we garden matters more than ever: “An outstanding and deeply passionate book.” —Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals Plenty of books tell home gardeners and professional landscape designers how to garden sustainably, what plants to use, and what resources to explore. Yet few examine why our urban wildlife gardens matter so much—not just for ourselves, but for the larger human and animal communities. Our landscapes push aside wildlife and in turn diminish our genetically programmed love for wildness. How can we get ourselves back into balance through gardens, to speak life's language and learn from other species? Benjamin Vogt addresses why we need a new garden ethic, and why we urgently need wildness in our daily lives—lives sequestered in buildings surrounded by monocultures of lawn and concrete that significantly harm our physical and mental health. He examines the psychological issues around climate change and mass extinction as a way to understand how we are short-circuiting our response to global crises, especially by not growing native plants in our gardens. Simply put, environmentalism is not political; it's social justice for all species marginalized today and for those facing extinction tomorrow. By thinking deeply and honestly about our built landscapes, we can create a compassionate activism that connects us more profoundly to nature and to one another.

Whenever the book of history is opened, it will interest you to know that only those who left their footprints on the sand of history are recognized, for they are the ones who discovered their purpose and translated it into a solution to their World. They optimized their lives and planted their future. Because of this, they are forever remembered. Everyone is entitled to be remembered, either for good or for bad. However, if I may ask: what will you be remembered for? Why will you be remembered? Where will you be remembered? When will you be remembered? How will you be remembered? The answers to these questions all boil down to how you plant your future. So, how do you want to plant your future if you want to be remembered? This is a question life poses to you at every point in time. If properly answered, you have the chance of optimizing your life in every way. Plant your future today! This book answers five critical life questions everyone needs to answer if they were to live optimally and all these questions were discovered from one of the great parables from Scripture (Matthew 13:3-8) spoken by Jesus and they are: What do you want to plant? Where do you want to plant? When do you want to plant? Who do you want to plant for? How do you want to plant? This parable webs a lot of wisdom to instruct everyman who wants to get the best out of his time while on the earth. It is with this foundation this book was scrutiny documented. Through the insights discussed, you will draw wisdom from a farmer. It unravels the reason why every man needs to discover, takes responsibility, and impact his or her world with the purpose he or she exists for with the time he or she has. And this would only be possible by Planting the Future. The canon on which this book is made applies to every endeavor of life be it business, finance, marriage, ministry, relationships amongst others. I of no doubt believe that you will not only get wisdom, instructions, and new perspective alone from this book. You will definitely have it for a testimony that this was the book you read that transformed your life into generating greater results in your chosen endeavor. And when this happens don't keep it to yourself.

Savor your best tomato harvest ever! Craig LeHoullier provides everything a tomato enthusiast needs to know about growing more than 200 varieties of tomatoes, from planting to cultivating and collecting seeds at the end of the season. He also offers a comprehensive guide to various pests and tomato diseases, explaining how best to avoid them. With beautiful photographs and intriguing tomato profiles throughout, Epic Tomatoes celebrates one of the most versatile and delicious crops in your garden.

This collection starts by reviewing key issues such as valuing, identifying and monitoring plant genetic diversity. The book goes on to assess advances in in-situ and on-farm strategies for protecting crop wild relatives and landraces. Chapters cover topics such as local strategies for preserving crop genetic resources, in-situ management of wild plant populations, monitoring genetic diversity and collecting wild varieties. The book also discusses community-based conservation strategies, participatory plant breeding programmes and seed systems to ensure farmer access to improved varieties. Part 4 reviews key challenges facing ex-situ collections such as genebanks, including improved storage and conservation techniques. Parts 5 and 6 assesses improvements in characterising and evaluating plant genetic resources such as DNA-based screening and phenotyping, as well as ways of improving the quality and exchange of information and germplasm for use in breeding improved varieties.

Most books on coal preparation focus on theory or day-to-day issues and operations. Designing the Coal Preparation Plant of the Future provides a unique, thought-provoking look at the industry from a different point of view--that of the preparation plant designer or engineer. How can we design more efficient plants, and what will plants look like in the future? What are the new techniques for designing plant layouts, monitoring performance, and building in preventive maintenance? What challenges face the industry and how can operators capitalize on opportunities to maximize yield, reduce costs, and improve efficiency? The 15 informative, meticulously researched chapters provide a compelling road map of where we've been and where we need to go, what we're doing today, and, most importantly, how we can do it better. Internationally respected experts address these and other issues, offering cutting-edge insights and compelling case histories from industry leaders throughout the world. Generously illustrated with photos and diagrams, Designing the Coal Preparation Plant of the Future is a big-picture, yet practical, how-to resource for practitioners, students, and faculty. Designing the Coal Preparation Plant of the Future is truly groundbreaking work for an industry where groundbreaking is a long-standing, proud tradition.

Planting Nature exposes a collaboration that cuts across environmental, governmental, and business interests, that subverts the power of people who think that they are building a better world by planting trees.