Yams, an important tropical crop, provide some 18 million tons of food a year in West Africa alone. These papers treat plant improvement, agronomic studies and taxonomy, plant protection, post-harvest biology and technology, economics of production, and mechanization.

A study of yam domestication practices among smallholders has provided an insight into how farmers exploit wild plant genetic resources so as to adapt them to agriculture. This book describes the domestication operations leading to Dioscorea rotundata yams in Africa. The biodiversity of these yams and of their wild relatives is investigated, and the authors put forward hypotheses to explain the phenotypic changes resulting from smallholder practices. These hypotheses could be possible lines of research for breeders.

Important advances in tropical plant breeding achieved by French research teams of Cirad, Inra and Ird, in collaboration with counterpart staff in tropical countries, are reviewed in the present publication. All 24 chapters focus on different plants, and include: in-depth analysis of trait diversity in cultivated forms and links with related wild species; overviews of breeding techniques and biotechnological innovations utilized by breeders; assessment of genetic progress, based on examples from varietal improvement and extension programmes.

Proceedings of the XIVth AETFAT Congress, 22-27 August 1994, Wageningen, the Netherlands

(Peeters 1992)

Dubai-the name alone stands for superlatives. It is a place where clients as well as architects realize their visions of tomorrow's world. The restaurants presented here give an idea of what is considered cool and chic at the boundary between the Orient and the Occidental. The amply illustrated profiles are supplemented with addresses, chef recipes and a location plan. Book jacket.