This book responds to the widespread recognition among experts that our educational system needs to change in order to provide the skills and knowledge necessary to ensure the future vitality of U.S. agriculture. Understanding Agriculture focuses on agricultural literacy (education about agriculture) and vocational agricultural education (education in agriculture). The section on agricultural literacy addresses the teaching of science through agriculture, teacher education and training, model educational programs, community support, and agricultural career exploration programs. Vocational agricultural education is examined in terms of program enrollment, availability and content, supervised occupational experiences, the Future Farmers of America program, and teacher education and supply.

The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors are the cornerstone of industries that produce food, fiber, and biofuel. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts research in order to improve worker safety and health in these sectors. This National Research Council book reviews the NIOSH Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program to evaluate the 1) relevance of its work to improvements in occupational safety and health and 2) the impact of research in reducing workplace illnesses and injuries. The assessment reveals that the program has made meaningful contributions to improving worker safety and health in these fields. To enhance the relevance and impact of its work and fulfill its mission, the NIOSH Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program should provide national leadership, coordination of research, and activities to transfer findings, technologies, and information into practice. The program will also benefit from establishing strategic goals and implementing a comprehensive surveillance system in order to better identify and track worker populations at risk.

Management of Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Enterprises theme is a component of Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Engineering and Technology Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Growing populations and expectations have placed extreme pressure on agricultural, forestry and fisheries resources. Sustainability of resources and resource industries will be achieved only with commitment, ingenuity and cooperation at unprecedented scale. The theme on Management of Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Enterprises begins with an assessment of the organization of agricultural, forestry, fisheries and rural enterprises introducing community-based management, traditional small farms, cooperatives and marketing boards, collective and state enterprises, and integrated global corporate systems. This is followed by thorough assessments of management systems for plants, livestock, forests and fisheries. Plant management systems are based on genetic resources, water management, nutrient management and agronomic systems. Livestock production systems are considered from the standpoints of genetic resources, range and pasture-based systems, landless systems, and options for diversification. Trends in the forest industry are revealed in terms of demand for a variety of products from forests, evolving policy regimens and sylvicultural developments. The final topic addresses the complex issues surrounding sustainability of the world's fisheries. This theme assess the evolving state of the main resource industries interpreting trends and identifying challenges and opportunities. Contributors have attempted to project these developments and raise questions about their impact and role in a changing world. Clearly, they are part of an unfolding story of adaptation of the resource industries in an increasingly global society. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers, NGOs and GOs.

New Directions in Urban-Rural Migration: The Population Turnaround in Rural America covers a wide-ranging treatment of urban-rural migration and population growth in contemporary America. The book discusses the national and regional changes in internal migration and population distribution; the regional diversity and complexity of economic structure in modern-day rural America; and the reasons for the gap, or lag, between changed conditions and unchanged policy. The text also describes the turnaround's implications for new models of migration; the economic framework for the turnaround; and the traditional concept of the migrant as labor and the structural conditions within and between areas that fix the demand for labor. Migration trends and consequences in rapidly growing areas, as well as data resources for population distribution research are also considered. Sociologists and people involved in studying migration will find the book invaluable.

This volume analyzes the dominance of STEM fields in various university rankings and the reasons why many governments in the world disproportionately give value to STEM fields. Secondly, although there is general agreement that STEM fields are important, chapter authors also examine the role of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches for a revised STEM education as well as implications for the future. The book presents examples from the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.