A no-nonsense guide to farm digesters, providing a wealth of useful information for anyone interested in installing one.Most people have heard of farm digesters and how they can produce renewable energy from cattle slurry and other organic waste. But digesters can do a lot more than that. They transform what is often considered problematic, noxious waste into fertiliser, massively reducing our dependence on fossil fuel-based artificial fertilisers. They produce sal...

The expert guide to biodynamic farming and gardening. In this revised and updated edition of Grasp the Nettle Peter Proctor tells the reader how to apply biodynamic methods of farming and gardening to a wide range of conditions in New Zealand and in other countries. The book provides practical observations and techniques, and relates these to the spiritual scientific knowlege upon which that biodynamic practice is based. Peter gives tips on how to recognise health...

Country and city mice alike will delight in Julia Rothman’s charming illustrated guide to the curious parts and pieces of rural living.Dissecting everything from the shapes of squash varieties to how a barn is constructed and what makes up a beehive to crop rotation patterns, Rothman gives a richly entertaining tour of the quirky details of country life.Also available in Julia Rothman's Anatomy series: *Nature Anatomy, Nature Anatomy Notebook, Ocean Anatomy...

Rainforest Restoration Manual for South-Eastern Australia is the definitive guide to the recovery and restoration of Subtropical, Warm Temperate, Cool Temperate, Gallery, Dry, Dry Gully and Littoral Rainforests from south-eastern Queensland to Tasmania. All of these rainforest types were inherently rare prior to settlement, and today with depletion, feral animals, weeds and climate change, all are threatened – with many listed under state and federal legislation. The manual presents detailed ...

Choosing appropriate practices and policies for biofuel production requires an understanding of how soils, climate, farm types, infrastructure, markets and social organisation affect the establishment and performance of these crops. The book highlights land use dynamics, cultivation practices related to conversion and wider impacts. It explores how biofuel production chain development is steered by emerging technologies and management practices and how both can be influenced by effective p...

Improving the dynamic relationship between nature and human well-being is a pressing issue of our time. Landscapes embody this tight interconnectedness and serve as unique sustainability learning hubs, showcased by the global rise of place-based and holistic landscape stewardship initiatives. Incorporating these exciting developments, this book explores the principles of landscape stewardship and their function in fields such as agriculture, ecological restoration and urban green infrastru...

When other nations are forced to rethink their agricultural and food security strategies in light of the post-peak oil debate, they only have one living example to draw from: that of Cuba in the 1990s. Based on the first and - up till now - only systematic and empirical study to come out of Cuba on this topic, this book examines how the nation successfully headed off its own food crisis after the dissolution of the Soviet Bloc in the early 1990s.The author identifies the policies a...

This book is at the cutting edge of the ongoing research in bioeconomy and encompasses both technological and economic strategies to master the transformation towards a knowledge- and bio-based production system. The volume combines different international perspectives with approaches of the various fields of research. Bioeconomy is one of the future concepts of an economy which, while based on renewable biological resources, also predicts economic growth. Starting from a growth-economic a...

In eastern Australia, grassy eucalypt woodlands have been under severe pressure from agricultural development, with problems of land degradation and species decline being most severe in the cropping lands of south-eastern Australia. Managing and Conserving Grassy Woodlands describes a set of principles that will enable landholders to maintain or increase productivity without compromising ecological sustainability, and at the same time maintaining a substantial proportion of the native flora a...

"Not only do we need to know what agriculture is, but the relative importance of its parts". The Principles of Agriculture is an extensively comprehensive handbook covering absolutely everything necessary for success in agriculture, written by one of the most knowledgeable practitioners of his time: Liberty Hyde Bailey. This text starts by outlining the intrinsic roles of science and business in agriculture, going on in a logical order to set forth the skeleton of the subject to be used by...

This volume discusses a broad range of vital issues encompassing the production and consumption of food in the current period of climate change. All of these add up to looming, momentous challenges to food security, especially for people in regions where malnutrition and famine have been the norm during numerous decades. Furthermore, threats to food security do not stop at the borders of more affluent countries – governance of food systems and changes in eating patterns will have worldwide...

Knoevenagel Reaction of Unprotected Sugars, By M.-C. Scherrmann ; Carbohydrate-Based Lactones: Synthesis and Applications, By N. M. Xavier, A. P. Rauter, and Y. Queneau; Heterogeneously-Catalyzed Conversion of Carbohydrates, By K. De Oliveira Vigier and F. Jérôme; Palladium-Catalyzed Telomerization of Butadiene with Polyols: From Mono to Polysaccharides, By S. Bouquillon, J. Muzart, C. Pinel, and F. Rataboul; Monosaccharides, By J.A. Galbis and M.G. García-Martín; Natural Sources, By L. We...