Farmers' bounty : locating crop diversity in the contemporary world / Stephen B. Brush.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brush, Stephen B., 1943-

Series:

Yale agrarian studies.

Yale agrarian studies series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Crops--Germplasm resources.

Crops.

Germplasm resources, Plant.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (348 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Biological diversity is as crucial in agriculture as it is in nature, and it is equally important to the economic health of both industrial and nonindustrial societies. This book offers a sweeping assessment of crop diversity and the potential for its preservation. Stephen B. Brush develops a framework for investigating biological diversity in agriculture that focuses on the knowledge and practice of farmers, and he shows how this human ecology perspective can be applied to three global issues that affect crop resources. Brush defines the dimensions of crop diversity and outlines the essential questions surrounding it. He describes the techniques used to maintain diversity in major crops of three cradles of agriculture in which he has worked: potatoes in the Peruvian Andes, maize in Mexico, and wheat in Turkey. Finally, he explores the policy issues surrounding genetic erosion of crop varieties, conservation of crop diversity, and ownership of genetic resources.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

List of Tables and Figures

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Encountering Crop Diversity

2. A Naturalist's View of Crop Diversity

3. The Measure of Crop Diversity

4. Crop and Society in Centers of Diversity

5. The Ethnoecology of Crop Diversity in Andean Potato Agriculture

6. The Farmer's Place in Crop Evolution: Selection and Management

7. Genetic Erosion of Crop Populations in Centers of Diversity: A Revision

8. The Ecology of Crop Diversity

9. Maintaining Crop Diversity On-Farm and Off

10. Rights over Genetic Resources and the Demise of the Biological Commons

11. Locating Crop Diversity in the Contemporary World

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-318) and index.

ISBN:

9786611722098

9781281722096

128172209X

9780300130140

0300130147

OCLC:

1013966365