This volume sets out to explore the dialectic relating agriculture, crisis and conflict, and attempts to expand the knowledge on these interactions. Part 1 of the volume (chapters 1-6) discusses thematic issues and methodological approaches to understanding the intersection of agriculture, crisis and conflict. Part 2 (chapters 7-20) provides case studies that take a detailed approach to understanding agricultural contexts facing crisis and conflict, or the role played by agriculture within crisis and conflict. Studies are selected from areas that might be expected to feature in such a volume (the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Latin America) as well as less obvious regions where conflict within agriculture refers not to widespread violence or wars but rather latent or simmering crisis (Central Asia and Europe). Crises stemming from politically-driven violence, natural disasters and climate change are covered, as well as competition over resources.

New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice An unsettling journey into the disaster-bound American food system, and an exploration of possible solutions, from leading food politics commentator and former farmer Tom Philpott. More than a decade after Michael Pollan's game-changing The Omnivore's Dilemma transformed the conversation about what we eat, a combination of global diet trends and corporate interests have put American agriculture into a state of "quiet emergency," from dangerous drought in California--which grows more than 50 percent of the fruits and vegetables we eat--to catastrophic topsoil loss in the "breadbasket" heartland of the United States. Whether or not we take heed, these urgent crises of industrial agriculture will define our future. In Perilous Bounty, veteran journalist and former farmer Tom Philpott explores and exposes the small handful of seed and pesticide corporations, investment funds, and magnates who benefit from the trends that imperil us, with on-the-ground dispatches featuring the scientists documenting the damage and the farmers and activists who are valiantly and inventively pushing back. Resource scarcity looms on the horizon, but rather than pointing us toward an inevitable doomsday, Philpott shows how the entire wayward ship of American agriculture could be routed away from its path to disaster. He profiles the farmers and communities in the nation's two key growing regions developing resilient, soil-building, water-smart farming practices, and readying for the climate shocks that are already upon us; and he explains how we can help move these methods from the margins to the mainstream.

Only once we understand the long history of human efforts to draw sustenance from the land can we grasp the nature of the crisis that faces humankind today, as hundreds of millions of people are faced with famine or flight from the land. From Neolithic times through the earliest civilizations of the ancient Near East, in savannahs, river valleys and the terraces created by the Incas in the Andean mountains, an increasing range of agricultural techniques have developed in response to very different conditions. These developments are recounted in this book, with detailed attention to the ways in which plants, animals, soil, climate, and society have interacted. Mazoyer and Roudart’s A History of World Agriculture is a path-breaking and panoramic work, beginning with the emergence of agriculture after thousands of years in which human societies had depended on hunting and gathering, showing how agricultural techniques developed in the different regions of the world, and how this extraordinary wealth of knowledge, tradition and natural variety is endangered today by global capitialism, as it forces the unequal agrarian heritages of the world to conform to the norms of profit. During the twentieth century, mechanization, motorization and specialization have brought to a halt the pattern of cultural and environmental responses that characterized the global history of agriculture until then. Today a small number of corporations have the capacity to impose the farming methods on the planet that they find most profitable. Mazoyer and Roudart propose an alternative global strategy that can safegaurd the economies of the poor countries, reinvigorate the global economy, and create a livable future for mankind.

According to the Fifth Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, 45.7 percent of India's workforce in 2014-15 was employed in agriculture. Around 13 to 14 percent of India's national income originates from the agricultural sector. Agricultural sector, thus, occupies a key position in the Indian economy, at least in terms of employment. Regrettably, agricultural sector in India has been witnessing loss of dynamism in recent years. The sector, as a whole, has showed poor performance lately. Signs of agrarian distress are visible in parts of the country. The spate of suicides by farmers in some areas is the most disconcerting manifestation of this distress. Marginal and small farmers have borne the brunt of the adverse circumstances in agriculture. Agricultural crisis has increased overtime due to a number of reasons but mainly owing to widening disparities between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, resulting in burgeoning gap between the incomes generated per worker from the two sectors. Concerned by the slow growth in the agriculture and allied sectors, the Government of India has launched a series of programmes/schemes in recent years to rejuvenate agriculture and improve farm incomes. These, inter alia, have included the following: Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana Doubling Farmers Income by 2022-23 Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) Farm Loan Waivers Under National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), farmers can sell their produce on the internet. e-NAM is envisaged as a pan-India electronic trading portal which seeks to network the existing agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) and other market yards to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. e-NAM is a virtual market but it has a physical market (mandi) at the back end. India's future agricultural development will require much faster crop diversification in view of changes in consumption pattern. There is growing preference for milk and milk products, meat, poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables. Areas like horticulture and floriculture also hold promise as they have higher export potential. Accelerating the rate of growth of agricultural production must be seen as central to a more inclusive growth. It is imperative that the problems of farmers are addressed with a sense of urgency. The present work focuses on the issues and concerns impacting the Indian agriculture. More importantly, it explains the key reform measures undertaken in recent years to mitigate agrarian distress, modernize agriculture and improve the economic conditions of the farmers, particularly small and marginalized ones.

Explores the social impact of the farm debt crisis of the 1980's through interviews with members of an agricultural community.

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the macro- and micro-level issues associated with agrarian distress. It analyses structural, institutional, and policy changes, highlighting the failure of public support system in agriculture. The crisis manifests itself in the form of deceleration in growth and distress of farmers. The case studies from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Punjab bring out the diversity of conditions prevalent in the states.