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Soybeans of the tropics: Research, production & utilization
Book reviews
311
conservation, while the editors’ review and bibliography point up a central problem of this European section. There is hardly a reference to an article or publication in a language other than English, and no attempt is made to describe the preoccupations or policies of individual European countries. Here one has to refer to a publication like the Institute of Environmental Studies (Milan) International European Environmental Yearbook, 1987 (London, DocTer International), which provides a systematic review of the planning approach of each country to environmental issues and policies. Can the International Year Book of Rural Planning complement this valuable European source book by keeping the information up to date? Surprisingly there is no overall introduction to the International Year Book nor any justification of its new international focus. So one is left to ponder the extent to which the new format is dictated by the contemporary economic realities of the publishing market or by a real desire to promote a cross-fertilisation of ideas between research and practice in the Western Wold. A fair assessment of the utility of the Year Book depends upon establishing whether it is aimed primarily at British readers, or whether there is a genuine attempt to provide a three-way balance for European, North American and British audiences. It would seem from the review of European legislation, which focuses exclusively upon EEC reports and legislation, that the British audience remains paramount in the minds of the editors. More serious thought will have to be given to the relative emphasis upon North American developments, which are more accessible by virtue of common language, versus European developments, where an English language synthesis is much more valuable. Nonetheless, one wishes the editors every success with a venture such as this which will help to break down the insularity of British planners and researchers and broaden their experience in policy formulation, practice and research. John Punter
Soybeans for the Tropics: Research, Production & Utilization. Edited by S. R. Singh, K. 0. Rachie and K. E. Dashiell. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. 1987. Price: i22.50. Fifty years ago soyabean was a relatively unknown crop, but it is now the leading source both of edible oils and of seed protein for animal feed. World production in the mid-1940s was estimated at 13M tonnes; it is now about 1OOM tonnes and the crop is grown in a wide range of environments from the equator to 55” N and S and from below sea level to 2000 m. Even so, the major centres of production are still the USA, east-central South America
312
Book reviews
and China, and it is only in recentyearsthat production in tropical areashas seenany substantial development. Many of the papersin this collection were first presentedat a workshop at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria in 1985. The first section contains six papers on breeding for the tropics, insect problems in Asia and Africa, diseaseproblems, and weed control in the tropics. The second section outlines regional features of production and researchin seven papers from west and central Africa, southern Africa, Egypt, China, India and Latin America. The final section contains three papers on aspectsof processing. The scientist who is already working with soyabeanwill find this a useful publication to get abreast of general tropical developments and problems, but for other purposes it will have its limitations. Within the compass available,most of the paperscannot give much more than an outline of their subjects;for example, what work is happening where,the objectives but not the detail of researchprogrammes, and the occurrenceand brief details of individual pestsand diseases.Again asan example, one might have expected more on the availability of soyabean cultivars for different conditions of photoperiod and temperature in the tropics. However, there are many referencesto sourcesand some 600 are given in a single alphabetical list, so the reader can readily follow up those sections which are of particular interest to him. R. S. Tayler
PortugueseAgriculture in Transition. By Scott R. Pearson et al. Cornell University Press,Ithaca, 1987.283pp. Price: $30.25. This book, by a team of nine social scientistsfrom American and European universities, is the result of a six-year researchproject, funded by the United StatesAgency for International Development, whose object was to assess the present position and future prospects of the agriculture of Portugal immediately preceding her accession to the EEC, and in the transition period, 1986-96,when she must re-align her policies to those of the CAP. The specific aims are to identify the constraints affecting the making of agricultural policy; to measure the profitability and efficiency of farming systems; and to define the technical and structural changes that will be necess,aryif Portuguese agriculture is to remain competitive. The volume is organized in four parts: Constraints, methods and policies; comparative advantagein Portugueseagriculture; agricultural changein the north-west; policies for change.The 14chaptersare unified by the method of analysis.Accounting matrices of revenues,costs and profits (including and
311
conservation, while the editors’ review and bibliography point up a central problem of this European section. There is hardly a reference to an article or publication in a language other than English, and no attempt is made to describe the preoccupations or policies of individual European countries. Here one has to refer to a publication like the Institute of Environmental Studies (Milan) International European Environmental Yearbook, 1987 (London, DocTer International), which provides a systematic review of the planning approach of each country to environmental issues and policies. Can the International Year Book of Rural Planning complement this valuable European source book by keeping the information up to date? Surprisingly there is no overall introduction to the International Year Book nor any justification of its new international focus. So one is left to ponder the extent to which the new format is dictated by the contemporary economic realities of the publishing market or by a real desire to promote a cross-fertilisation of ideas between research and practice in the Western Wold. A fair assessment of the utility of the Year Book depends upon establishing whether it is aimed primarily at British readers, or whether there is a genuine attempt to provide a three-way balance for European, North American and British audiences. It would seem from the review of European legislation, which focuses exclusively upon EEC reports and legislation, that the British audience remains paramount in the minds of the editors. More serious thought will have to be given to the relative emphasis upon North American developments, which are more accessible by virtue of common language, versus European developments, where an English language synthesis is much more valuable. Nonetheless, one wishes the editors every success with a venture such as this which will help to break down the insularity of British planners and researchers and broaden their experience in policy formulation, practice and research. John Punter
Soybeans for the Tropics: Research, Production & Utilization. Edited by S. R. Singh, K. 0. Rachie and K. E. Dashiell. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. 1987. Price: i22.50. Fifty years ago soyabean was a relatively unknown crop, but it is now the leading source both of edible oils and of seed protein for animal feed. World production in the mid-1940s was estimated at 13M tonnes; it is now about 1OOM tonnes and the crop is grown in a wide range of environments from the equator to 55” N and S and from below sea level to 2000 m. Even so, the major centres of production are still the USA, east-central South America
312
Book reviews
and China, and it is only in recentyearsthat production in tropical areashas seenany substantial development. Many of the papersin this collection were first presentedat a workshop at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria in 1985. The first section contains six papers on breeding for the tropics, insect problems in Asia and Africa, diseaseproblems, and weed control in the tropics. The second section outlines regional features of production and researchin seven papers from west and central Africa, southern Africa, Egypt, China, India and Latin America. The final section contains three papers on aspectsof processing. The scientist who is already working with soyabeanwill find this a useful publication to get abreast of general tropical developments and problems, but for other purposes it will have its limitations. Within the compass available,most of the paperscannot give much more than an outline of their subjects;for example, what work is happening where,the objectives but not the detail of researchprogrammes, and the occurrenceand brief details of individual pestsand diseases.Again asan example, one might have expected more on the availability of soyabean cultivars for different conditions of photoperiod and temperature in the tropics. However, there are many referencesto sourcesand some 600 are given in a single alphabetical list, so the reader can readily follow up those sections which are of particular interest to him. R. S. Tayler
PortugueseAgriculture in Transition. By Scott R. Pearson et al. Cornell University Press,Ithaca, 1987.283pp. Price: $30.25. This book, by a team of nine social scientistsfrom American and European universities, is the result of a six-year researchproject, funded by the United StatesAgency for International Development, whose object was to assess the present position and future prospects of the agriculture of Portugal immediately preceding her accession to the EEC, and in the transition period, 1986-96,when she must re-align her policies to those of the CAP. The specific aims are to identify the constraints affecting the making of agricultural policy; to measure the profitability and efficiency of farming systems; and to define the technical and structural changes that will be necess,aryif Portuguese agriculture is to remain competitive. The volume is organized in four parts: Constraints, methods and policies; comparative advantagein Portugueseagriculture; agricultural changein the north-west; policies for change.The 14chaptersare unified by the method of analysis.Accounting matrices of revenues,costs and profits (including and