Outlook on Agriculture

The world food supply and population growth are considered important variables in today's debate on economic and environmental development. This paper looks at the past, present and future trends of population growth and food production. It then concentrates on the present debate to identify whether rapid population growth poses serious problems for the supply and demand of food. This paper argues the need to apply a simultaneous demographic, economic and ecological policy in order to tackle effectively the problem of a population, development and environment triangle.

Natural ecosystems can offer attractive models for sustainable crop production, but hitherto only relatively complex vegetation has been considered. This review focuses on simple vegetation with a single dominant species. There are many reports of wild relatives of rice, sorghum and wheat in simple, extensive, often annual and apparently stable natural stands. These ‘wild fields’ could provide appropriate models for the ecologically sound management of cereal fields. The authors suggest that early farmers had a working knowledge of the ecology of wild cereal vegetation: this was important during cereal domestication and subsequently in crop management. There is a need for field research on monodominant wild cereal vegetation to confirm the value of simple natural models and to provide an ecological pedigree for the sustainable management of fields for food production.

Insects are attacked by a wide range of pathogens, but the most well known group are the baculoviruses. There are several reasons why the baculoviruses are popular in agriculture as a means of pest control. Insects become infected by eating contaminated food, so spraying a crop is an effective means of transmitting the pathogen, and the infection is usually lethal. Baculoviruses do not infect vertebrates, and are therefore considered to be safe and selective. Nevertheless, their use has remained fairly limited due to the time taken for an infection to kill the insect. Genetic modification provides new potential to develop these pathogens as pest control agents, but what are the risks associated with their use?

About half the farmland of Europe is grassland pasture or hay meadow, and much is impoverished in plant species due to the addition of fertilizers and pesticides, agricultural re-sowing, habitat fragmentation, land abandonment and changes in grazing and mowing regimes. Given this widespread reduction, it is important to understand the effect that loss of biodiversity is having upon our wider environment. Here the authors summarize the main results from the BIODEPTH project, the first multinational, large-scale experiment to examine directly the relationship between plant diversity and the processes that determine the functioning of ecosystems. The results suggest that preserving and restoring grassland diversity may be beneficial to maintaining desirable levels of several ecosystem processes, and may therefore have applications in land management and agriculture.

Iguana production in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama is a complex system with various stakeholders. In order to explore the opinions of stakeholders about iguana production, the system was discussed with two stakeholder groups: Farmers and Organizations. Organizations consisted of officials from government and non-governmental organizations. The stakeholders' discussions resulted in conceptual models of the system. These models were used to discuss problems, possible solutions and the feasibility of these solutions. Problems related to the market, to costs, the environment, information, reproduction and legal problems were mentioned. Suggested solutions included presenting proposals to financiers, organizing farmers, organizing courses and exchanging experiences.

Plant breeding strategy is described as it applies to nut production in the eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) — a minor crop without a well defined cropping system. The strategy relates knowledge of plant biology to a socioeconomic context with the goal of developing cultivars that produce a greater profit than existing ones. It consists of evaluation, selection and mating schemes, each of which are tailored to the requirements of the crop. Several issues concerning such new crop production are discussed that should be resolved prior to the development of a dedicated breeding programme.

Smallholder coffee production in Africa has declined over the last 10 years due to a combination of unfavourable producer prices, inefficient marketing and the high cost of inputs resulting from economic structural adjustment policies and lack of credit facilities. Although there is currently a surplus of coffee on the world market and prices may remain low for some time as a result, the ‘fair trade’ sector is expanding, offering a marketing opportunity for smallholders. This article examines some of the problems currently facing the smallholder sector in Africa and suggests that adapting the principles of integrated crop management (ICM) to the needs of coffee smallholders can contribute to the profitability and sustainability of the sector.

This paper analyses the uptake of veterinary services by small-scale farmers in Eastern province, Zambia, following the change in livestock disease control policy (farmers now have to pay for the veterinary services they receive). The study is based on a questionnaire survey of 209 small-scale farmers and shows that they are using more therapeutic services than prophylactic services. Attitude analysis shows a general similarity in attitudes. However, willingness to pay for veterinary services is a critical issue for small-scale farmers. Empiricallogit analysis shows that the small-scale farmers in the study area who make use of veterinary services are experienced in cattle keeping, earn money from the draft power use of oxen, are educated and knowledgeable about cattle husbandry practices, and share a positive attitude towards veterinary services and privatization. The paper concludes that, if the direct benefits small-scale farmers derive from cattle rearing can be improved (eg through better marketing opportunities for cattle and their products), and the extension system strengthened, the uptake of veterinary services may be expected to increase.