This book presents the latest trends and challenges in the development of general engineering and mechanical engineering in the agriculture and horticulture sectors.

Due to many challenges (i.e. climate change, energy, water and land shortage, high demands on food, land grabbing, etc.), agriculture production potential is expected to be seriously affected; thus, increasing food insecurity and hunger in many already affected regions (especially in Africa). In this context, sustainable agriculture is highly recommended as an eco-system approach where soil, water, plants, environment and living organisms live in harmony. Innovative technologies and research should be developed to ensure sustainable agriculture and productivity using modern irrigation systems, improved varieties, improved soil quality, etc. In the meantime, the preservation of natural environment should be based on resource conservation technologies and best management practices. Sustainable Agricultural Development, not only raises the serious ethical and social issues underlying these huge environmental problems, but also aims at presenting successful experiences from all over the world in relation with sustainable farming, sustainable management of water and land resources, and innovative processes in livestock production. It also aims at providing inputs to decision making processes and encouraging the transfer of relevant know-how, technologies and expertise to different countries where similar agro-climatic conditions may exist; thus saving precious resources and promoting sustainable agricultural development as a relevant approach to tackle the food security challenge. Finally, this book focuses on the paradigmatic and policy dimensions and call for an innovative approach by analyzing the key themes in a complex and interrelated manner.

In a time of great agricultural and rural change, the notion of 'multifunctionality' has remained under-theorized and poorly linked to the debates in the social sciences. This book analyses the extent to which the proposed transition towards post-productivist agriculture holds up to scientific scrutiny, and proposes a new transition theory.

The Effect of Modern Agriculture on Rural Development discusses the role of agriculture in rural development and analyzes the interaction between the social and technical aspects of rural development. The 22 chapters of the text are organized into five parts. Part I discusses social changes, modernization of agriculture, and process of rural transformation, and Part II deals with modernizing agriculture and the rural settlement pattern. Part III tackles agrotechniques and rural change, while Part IV covers the industrialization of agriculture and villages. Part V discusses agro-industrial integration and rural transformation. The book will be of great interest to individuals concerned with the effects of the modernization of agriculture on rural areas.

... we do not yet seem to have realised that the exchange of products between countries in one part of the world but at different stages of development is no less natural, and no less profitable for the various nations, than the exchange of products which differ because they grow in different climates' (Thiinen-Hall, xg66, p. 194). There have been few attempts to study agriculture within a spatial framework, notwithstanding the quintessential importance of land as a production factor. Land is most often treated as generalized environment although it could also be considered as social and economic space-social because even the most crowded of farming communities has much greater distance between its basic social units than exist within an urban-industrial agglomeration, and economic because distances to markets, to factor sources and to information must be overcome and frequently vary by type of market, factor and information source. Modem agricultural geography has been largely preoccupied with the development of techniques and with classification, often as ends in thexnselves, or with a geographical element consisting mainly of some general locational reference or regional description. Rarely has there been an attempt to identify a spatial structure associated with some particular agricultural enterprise* or practice.

Monograph on problems of rural development and the modernization of agrarian structures in late-developing countries, with particular reference to the design of agricultural development strategy - discusses the interrelations between agricultural mechanization, productivity and industrialization, and covers choice of technology considerations, economic implications, etc. References and statistical tables.

This book aims to propose a unique analytical framework to find out the general successful experience for large developing countries, which are defined with two main physical characters of large population and vast land. They are naturally crucial for the global development. Thirteen countries are chosen as large developing countries in this book, which are China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Congo (DRC). On the basis of selecting massive data, the author analyzes the performance of large countries in terms of human resources, natural resources, market size and other factors. The book conducts the comparative study of large countries’ latecomer strength, transformation path and innovation strategy with the perspective of development economics. It presents a comprehensive overview about large developing countries