Notes of a Potato WatcherTexas A&M University Press, 2001 - 365 σελίδες The potato has a larger story to tell than its humble status suggests. In this fascinating account of the potato and its role in human history--and the human future--James Lang tells that story. Combining biology and social science, he describes the origins of cultivated potatoes and how they spread as a staple throughout the world; the many ways to propagate, store, and harvest potatoes; and the crop's potential for feeding a hungry planet. Along the way, Lang also muses on art and agriculture, the stars and ancient peoples, and the cycles of time; he reflects on famine and demography, describes village-based, farmer field schools, and looks at the role the potato plays in feeding China. Native to the New World, the potato was domesticated by Andean farmers, probably in the Lake Titicaca basin, almost as early as grain crops were cultivated in the Near East. Full of essential vitamins and energy-giving starch, the potato has proved a valuable world resource. Curious Spaniards took the potato back to Europe, from whence it spread worldwide. Today, the largest potato producer is China, with India not far behind. To tell the potato's story, Lang has done fieldwork in South America, Asia, and Africa. From the many potato projects studied, Lang learned a simple, direct lesson: how to address basic problems with practical solutions. Whether the problem is seed production, pest management, genetic improvement, or storage, projects take the diversity imposed by place and by farming traditions as a starting point. In agriculture, one size does not fit all. Lang's grasp of the social and technological issues involved is formidable; his revisionist thoughts on the origins of agriculture are convincing. Notes of a Potato Watcher explains how "think globally, act locally" can actually be applied. Here is a book that anyone interested in potatoes, development, and small farms will not want to miss, a book that explains why the potato was not the culprit in the Irish famine, a book that shows why solutions must begin at home. |
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Άλλες εκδόσεις - Προβολή όλων
Συχνά εμφανιζόμενοι όροι και φράσεις
agriculture America Andean Annual average beans beds Center CHAPTER China CIP's cities collection Compared corn country's crop culture cuttings Development disease domesticated drop early estimated families famine farm farmers feed fertility field five follows four fresh frost grain grow harvest hectare highlands hundred improved Inca insecticides insects International interview keep kilos land late blight leaves less lost meters metric tons million multiplication notes Once organized percent Peru pest plant plots population problems processing production Province reduce Report resistance result rice road roots season seed selected showed soil South species starch started station storage stored sweet potato thousand tion took true tuber moth tubers types United University valleys varieties village weevil World yields
Δημοφιλή αποσπάσματα
Σελίδα 39 - ... a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.
Σελίδα 11 - Colombia), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in India and the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas in Iran, Lebanon and Syria.
Αναφορές για αυτό το βιβλίο
Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology Jaspreet Singh,Lovedeep Kaur Περιορισμένη προεπισκόπηση - 2009 |