"Contains 34 contributions by many distinguished social scientists including Barkin, A. Bartra, Paré, Warman, Oswald, Esteva, Gordillo, and De la Peña. Papers were presented at a 1987 interdisciplinary conference in Zamora (Guanajuato), and are grouped in six categories: rural society towards the end of the century, rural policies, survival alternatives, organization of producers, old and new rural actors, and the future of rural Mexico"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.

Al inaugurar las deliberaciones del VI Congreso de Sociología Rural su Presidente realiza un repaso de las principales temáticas que requieren de la atención de aquellos que se dedican a esta disciplina. En el marco de las grandes transformaciones que se avecinan signadas por la biotecnologia y la informática, y reconociendo sus aportes, se hace referencia a la existencia de una agricultura ¿a dos velocidades¿ y a la extensión del fenómeno de la exclusión económica y ciudadana. Se pasa revista a las distintas problemáticas que recorren a las sociedades rurales y se destaca el resurgimiento de organizaciones y movimientos sociales en el agro como un complemento valioso para el fortalecimiento de las democracias en la región.

This book is devoted to food production and the problems associated with the satisfaction of food needs in different parts of the world. The emerging food crisis calls for development of sustainable food production, and the quality and safety of the food produced should be guaranteed. The book contains thirteen chapters and is divided into two sections. The first section is related to social issues rising from food insufficiency in the third world countries, and is titled "Sustainable food production: Case studies". The case studies of semi-arid Africa, Caribbean and Jamaica, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Pacific Islands, Mexico and Brazil are discussed. The second section, titled "Scientific Methods for Improving Food Quality and Safety", covers the methods for control and avoidance of food contaminants. Substitution of chemical treatment with physical, rapid analytical methods for control of contaminants, problems in animal husbandry related to diary production and hormones in food producing animals, approaches and tasks in maize and rice production are in the covered by 6 chapters in this section.