Choice Review
Agriculture is by far the world's largest industry, with correspondingly large social and environmental impacts. Clay (a consultant for the World Wildlife Fund-US) provides an encyclopedic but not exhaustive review of 21 major plant and animal commodities representing temperate, tropical, terrestrial, and aquatic production systems. One goal is to identify and analyze concrete examples of crop production and management practices that reduce environmental impacts and increase sustainability. Though this work analyzes economics, subsidies, incentives, and regulatory factors, much of the emphasis is on current production practices, agrochemicals, soil fertility, biodiversity, and erosion. Economic trends and statistics are current; production, processing, and marketing data are extensive, but information on specific crop production practices is often derived from secondary and tertiary sources. This book compares the impacts of large-scale, capital-intensive, high-input commercial farms with those of low-input systems or small farmers trying to scrape together a living; the author discusses the faults and advantages of each. There is much discussion of needs, opportunities, and various incentives for better management practices for all these crops, but costs, efficiencies, and consumer demands will dictate much of what is feasible and sustainable for producers who remain in business. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. General readers; two-year technical program students; lower-level undergraduates through faculty. W. Loescher Michigan State University
Library Journal Review
Clay (vice-president, Ctr. for Conservation Innovation, World Wildlife Fund U.S.) brings us this economic and environmental overview of 21 commodities, including coffee, soybeans, tobacco, rice, corn, salmon, and beef. For each, he offers both summary data for and maps of production areas, production systems, market trends, and environmental impacts. Clay successfully compresses a large amount of data from diverse aspects of commodity production into trim portions. The market chain and trend data are especially welcome additions to the more traditional agricultural and ecological information. In general, Clay keeps the overviews neutral in tone, although his positive personal experiences with farming do influence his discussion of agricultural history and what he sees as the future trends in this area. Anyone looking for a global perspective on a current situation or a future outlook for these commodities will be well satisfied. Recommended for all agricultural and undergraduate library collections.-Marianne Stowell Bracke, Science-Engineering Lib., Univ. of Arizona, Tucson (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
