This article examines a new role for contract farming in developing countries in the light of the industrialisation of agriculture and the globalisation of world markets. A theoretical rationale for contracting in developing countries is developed on the basis of adopting new institutional economic theory for the purpose of matching governance forms to market failure problems and transaction ch...

Acknowledgement We at the NAVDANYA wish to acknowledge the farmers contributions who for centuries have grown and conserved diversity in their fields. In particular, we want to thank all those farmers who, through their participation in our conservation efforts are in effect co-authors of this work and are changing India's farm destiny to one of hope and health. Publication of this volume has b...

Organic farming is a promising agricultural method with positive effects on the human ecological and social environment. Governments have taken over a major role in defining organic farming by creating legal standards. Many countries all over the world have estabChristian R. Vogl is affiliated with the Institute for Organic Farming, University for Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BO...

This study examined the effects of agricultural child labour on children’s perception of farming occupation in Delta State, Nigeria. A total of 336 respondents comprising of 112 farming household heads and 224 children in the selected households were used for the study.Farming activities of the children were highest during weekends. Highest level of participation was recorded in herbicide and p...

This issue of PLoS Genetics contains the second of two important papers describing the high levels of meiotic failure caused by exposure of female mice to a chemical known as Bisphenol A (BPA) [1]. In the first article [2], Pat Hunt and her collaborators demonstrated high levels of meiotic failure in females exposed to BPA, suggesting that BPA exposure affects maturing oocytes. This conclusion ...

Population growth and climate change challenge our food and farming systems and provide arguments for an increased intensification of agriculture. A promising option is eco-functional intensification through organic farming, an approach based on using and enhancing internal natural resources and processes to secure and improve agricultural productivity, while minimizing negative environmental i...

The management of hydrologic catchments typically faces the challenge of keeping a reasonable balance between water quality demands and farming restrictions. In order to handle this problem it is most important to identify farming areas whose land use have a high influence on the nutrient leaching into the receiving stream. This identification can be regarded as a sensitivity analysis (SA). Cha...

Anecdotal evidence suggests that care farming practices have the potential to provide positive outcomes for young people in foster-care and residential care environments. A systematic review (searching; CINAHL, Web of Knowledge, PsychInfo) was conducted to explore how participation in care farming initiatives impacts attachment in children in foster-care and what aspects of care farming initiat...