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Crop productivity — Research imperatives revisited
Scientia Horticulturae, 36 (1988) 151-155 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - - P r i n t e d in T h e Netherlands
151
Book Reviews CROP P R O D U C T I V I T Y
Crop Productivity - Research Imperatives Revisited. M. Gibbs and C. Carlson
(Editors). An International Conference held at Boyne Highlands Inn, 1318 October 1985, and Airlie House, 11-13 December 1985, x + 304 pp. In the last decade there has been a mingling of great achievements in many streams of science. These include microbiology, genetics, biochemistry, plant physiology, plant growth regulation, biotechnology plant protection and intensive crop management. The challenge facing participants in the International Conference on "Crop Productivity - Research Imperatives Revisited" was firstly to condense these developments into a set of research imperatives for the future, and secondly to get them implemented. The planning of the conference was meticulous and the result is a book that will be of immense interest to all concerned with agricultural decision-making, especially those involved with policy formulation and research. The conference consisted of two parts held in two different States, Michigan (October 1985) and Virginia (December 1985), but its findings are of relevance well beyond the boundaries of the United States. The new technologies now available to agriculture and the impressive gains in food production in China, Indonesia and other countries will give encouragement to those developing countries, mainly in Africa, where the need for food is still critical. In particular, the Conference Proceedings will provide valuable guidelines to many developed countries currently facing the problem of maintaining essential agricultural research programmes and establishing new priorities during a period of widespread and stringent budget cut-backs. The raisons d'etre for the conference were the widespread changes that had occurred since 1975, when a similar conference was held with the same title, objectives, organisers, editor and sponsors. The format of the second conference and the problems tackled reflect these changes. In 1975 there were food shortages, minimum to non-existent grain reserves, rising prices and an urgent need to increase production. In 1985, in developed countries, there were surplus food supplies, low prices, large reserves and attempts at production control. Too many meetings are merely talking-shops without clear conclusions and with little real effort being made to achieve positive follow-up action. Not so this conference. As a major attempt to remove possible administrative impediments, the conference was organised in two stages. In the first stage, participants focused on the basic biological processes responsible for the size and consistency of crop productivity, and on the identification of the potentially most important research imperatives contributing to increased stability and
152
productivity. At this stage plant scientists predominated, but other biologists, economists, administrators and research policy leaders also participated. The second stage was made up of research administrators and those knowledgeable about policy issues and channels for implementation, along with social scientists from academia, Government and private sectors. Conferees at this stage focused on the derivation of policy for implementing the imperatives identified at Stage I. Working groups which had proved so successful at the 1975 conference were again used effectively, although the themes discussed were quite different. The topics covered in the six working groups at Stage I were genetic improvement, plant and cell physiology, rhizosphere dynamics, biological constraints, environmental constraints and production systems. The three working groups at Stage II were public policies and institutions to enhance crop productivity, development of scientific capabilities, and government/industry/university interactions. These topics are still highly pertinent today. However, some of the reports of the nine working groups, being the outcome of position papers previously circulated but modified and finalised during the conference, are so chock full of information that they make heavy reading. Fortunately, the Proceedings are exceptionally well laid out and summarised, so that an impatient or superficial reader can rapidly assess which of the many themes covered merit immediate attention. Not only are the imperatives emerging from each of the nine working groups presented at the start, but there is also a valuable interpretative summary of the major issues arising from the Conference. Further, as a preamble to Stage II, there is a concise analysis of Stage I imperatives in the light of public policy needs. In addition, the salient statements by six featured speakers are highlighted and 10 major issues of common concern, which extended beyond the bounds of any single group, are presented as conference imperatives. The international nature of the conference is reflected by the sizeable number of participants from outside North America (about 16% ) and the fact that two of the six featured speakers were Peter R. Day from the Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge, and Abdel Muhsan Alsudery from Saudi Arabia, a former President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome. The papers by the home speakers naturally present the U.S. case. There is, however, an enormous amount of information for overseas readers in every one of these papers, and not merely on the grounds that what happens in the U.S. today is relevant in other countries sooner or later. A recurring statement from several U.S. speakers is that despite present problems of surplus production, research into crop productivity must continue to sustain and improve the nation's competitive position on world markets. Many other countries have a similar goal, setting the scene for still higher yields and greater surpluses in the years ahead. Nevertheless, it is far too early to predict the main topics to be discussed at a follow-up Research Imperatives
153
Conference in 1995. Almost certainly the rate of change in the 10 years after 1985 will be even greater than in the previous decade. Surprises are inevitable. Catastrophes such as a major disruption of the global weather machine or a severe nuclear disaster could well change the equation again. In the meantime, the proceedings provide an excellent account of the research needs of agriculture in the mid-1980's and of the social, political and policy issues governing the nature of this research. The proceedings deserve wide readership. D.W. ROBINSON An Foras Taluntais Kinsealy Research Centre Dublin 17, Eire
VEGETABLES
Vegetables: Characteristics, Production and Marketing by Lincoln C. Peirce. John Wiley, New York, Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore, xii + 434 pp., 1987, price £45.15, SB320.9.p.45, ISBN 0-471-85022-5 (printed in the United States of America). Vegetables are recognized as an important group of crops in the human food spectrum. In this book there are 21 chapters, a glossary of terms, an appendix of conversion factors for metric and U.S. units, and an index. Throughout the book there are many excellent illustrations, statistical data and tables, and many up-to-date experiment results. At the end of each chapter, selected references and study questions are listed. These are useful for college students who have acquired an understanding of basic science. The first 9 chapters are devoted to the general resources and basic principles of the vegetable industry, plant and its environment, production systems, quality control and marketing. The other 12 chapters are devoted to discussions of the historical perspective and current status, classification, growth and development, crop establishment and maintenance, cultivars, disease and insect pests, and harvest and market preparation of vegetables. Each chapter contains much new scientific information and many new techniques supplied by biochemists, physiologists, geneticists, engineers, economists and others. The book also contains many up-to-date experimental results and successful methods of weed control, irrigation, fertilization, pest control, and mechanical harvest and package. All of these are important for yield increase, labour efficiency, reduction of energy consumption, and improvement of quality and marketability. The contents of this book may be easily understood by readers in the United States, but may be strange to those in the developing countries. A good point is the conversion of U.S. units into metric units in the text,
151
Book Reviews CROP P R O D U C T I V I T Y
Crop Productivity - Research Imperatives Revisited. M. Gibbs and C. Carlson
(Editors). An International Conference held at Boyne Highlands Inn, 1318 October 1985, and Airlie House, 11-13 December 1985, x + 304 pp. In the last decade there has been a mingling of great achievements in many streams of science. These include microbiology, genetics, biochemistry, plant physiology, plant growth regulation, biotechnology plant protection and intensive crop management. The challenge facing participants in the International Conference on "Crop Productivity - Research Imperatives Revisited" was firstly to condense these developments into a set of research imperatives for the future, and secondly to get them implemented. The planning of the conference was meticulous and the result is a book that will be of immense interest to all concerned with agricultural decision-making, especially those involved with policy formulation and research. The conference consisted of two parts held in two different States, Michigan (October 1985) and Virginia (December 1985), but its findings are of relevance well beyond the boundaries of the United States. The new technologies now available to agriculture and the impressive gains in food production in China, Indonesia and other countries will give encouragement to those developing countries, mainly in Africa, where the need for food is still critical. In particular, the Conference Proceedings will provide valuable guidelines to many developed countries currently facing the problem of maintaining essential agricultural research programmes and establishing new priorities during a period of widespread and stringent budget cut-backs. The raisons d'etre for the conference were the widespread changes that had occurred since 1975, when a similar conference was held with the same title, objectives, organisers, editor and sponsors. The format of the second conference and the problems tackled reflect these changes. In 1975 there were food shortages, minimum to non-existent grain reserves, rising prices and an urgent need to increase production. In 1985, in developed countries, there were surplus food supplies, low prices, large reserves and attempts at production control. Too many meetings are merely talking-shops without clear conclusions and with little real effort being made to achieve positive follow-up action. Not so this conference. As a major attempt to remove possible administrative impediments, the conference was organised in two stages. In the first stage, participants focused on the basic biological processes responsible for the size and consistency of crop productivity, and on the identification of the potentially most important research imperatives contributing to increased stability and
152
productivity. At this stage plant scientists predominated, but other biologists, economists, administrators and research policy leaders also participated. The second stage was made up of research administrators and those knowledgeable about policy issues and channels for implementation, along with social scientists from academia, Government and private sectors. Conferees at this stage focused on the derivation of policy for implementing the imperatives identified at Stage I. Working groups which had proved so successful at the 1975 conference were again used effectively, although the themes discussed were quite different. The topics covered in the six working groups at Stage I were genetic improvement, plant and cell physiology, rhizosphere dynamics, biological constraints, environmental constraints and production systems. The three working groups at Stage II were public policies and institutions to enhance crop productivity, development of scientific capabilities, and government/industry/university interactions. These topics are still highly pertinent today. However, some of the reports of the nine working groups, being the outcome of position papers previously circulated but modified and finalised during the conference, are so chock full of information that they make heavy reading. Fortunately, the Proceedings are exceptionally well laid out and summarised, so that an impatient or superficial reader can rapidly assess which of the many themes covered merit immediate attention. Not only are the imperatives emerging from each of the nine working groups presented at the start, but there is also a valuable interpretative summary of the major issues arising from the Conference. Further, as a preamble to Stage II, there is a concise analysis of Stage I imperatives in the light of public policy needs. In addition, the salient statements by six featured speakers are highlighted and 10 major issues of common concern, which extended beyond the bounds of any single group, are presented as conference imperatives. The international nature of the conference is reflected by the sizeable number of participants from outside North America (about 16% ) and the fact that two of the six featured speakers were Peter R. Day from the Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge, and Abdel Muhsan Alsudery from Saudi Arabia, a former President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome. The papers by the home speakers naturally present the U.S. case. There is, however, an enormous amount of information for overseas readers in every one of these papers, and not merely on the grounds that what happens in the U.S. today is relevant in other countries sooner or later. A recurring statement from several U.S. speakers is that despite present problems of surplus production, research into crop productivity must continue to sustain and improve the nation's competitive position on world markets. Many other countries have a similar goal, setting the scene for still higher yields and greater surpluses in the years ahead. Nevertheless, it is far too early to predict the main topics to be discussed at a follow-up Research Imperatives
153
Conference in 1995. Almost certainly the rate of change in the 10 years after 1985 will be even greater than in the previous decade. Surprises are inevitable. Catastrophes such as a major disruption of the global weather machine or a severe nuclear disaster could well change the equation again. In the meantime, the proceedings provide an excellent account of the research needs of agriculture in the mid-1980's and of the social, political and policy issues governing the nature of this research. The proceedings deserve wide readership. D.W. ROBINSON An Foras Taluntais Kinsealy Research Centre Dublin 17, Eire
VEGETABLES
Vegetables: Characteristics, Production and Marketing by Lincoln C. Peirce. John Wiley, New York, Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore, xii + 434 pp., 1987, price £45.15, SB320.9.p.45, ISBN 0-471-85022-5 (printed in the United States of America). Vegetables are recognized as an important group of crops in the human food spectrum. In this book there are 21 chapters, a glossary of terms, an appendix of conversion factors for metric and U.S. units, and an index. Throughout the book there are many excellent illustrations, statistical data and tables, and many up-to-date experiment results. At the end of each chapter, selected references and study questions are listed. These are useful for college students who have acquired an understanding of basic science. The first 9 chapters are devoted to the general resources and basic principles of the vegetable industry, plant and its environment, production systems, quality control and marketing. The other 12 chapters are devoted to discussions of the historical perspective and current status, classification, growth and development, crop establishment and maintenance, cultivars, disease and insect pests, and harvest and market preparation of vegetables. Each chapter contains much new scientific information and many new techniques supplied by biochemists, physiologists, geneticists, engineers, economists and others. The book also contains many up-to-date experimental results and successful methods of weed control, irrigation, fertilization, pest control, and mechanical harvest and package. All of these are important for yield increase, labour efficiency, reduction of energy consumption, and improvement of quality and marketability. The contents of this book may be easily understood by readers in the United States, but may be strange to those in the developing countries. A good point is the conversion of U.S. units into metric units in the text,