By the year 2050, Earth's population will double. If we continue with current farming practices, vast amounts of wilderness will be lost, millions of birds and billions of insects will die, and the public will lose billions of dollars as a consequence of environmental degradation. Clearly, there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production. Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, Tomorrow's Table argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture--genetic engineering and organic farming--is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. The reader sees the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals, a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses. They learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems. This book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices. It is also for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment.

Now in Paperback “A fantastic guide for organic seed breeders and producers. [Navazio] has taken organic seed production to a higher level.” —Suzanne Ashworth, author of Seed to Seed The Organic Seed Grower is a comprehensive manual for the serious vegetable grower who is interested in growing high-quality seeds using organic farming practices. It is written for both home seed savers and diversified small-scale farmers who want to learn the necessary steps involved in successfully producing a seed crop organically. Detailed profiles for each of the major vegetables provide users with practical, in-depth knowledge about growing, harvesting, and processing seed for a wide range of common and specialty vegetable crops, from Asian greens to zucchini. In addition, readers will find extensive and critical information on topics including: • Seed-borne diseases • The reproductive biology of crop plants • Annual vs. biennial seed crops • Isolation distances needed to ensure varietal purity • Maintaining adequate population size for genetic integrity • Seed crop climates • Seed cleaning basics • Seed storage for farmers • and more . . . This book can serve as a bridge to lead skilled gardeners, who are already saving their own seed, into the idea of growing seed commercially. And for diversified vegetable farmers who are growing a seed crop for sale for the first time, it will provide details on many of the tricks of the trade that are used by professional seed growers. This manual will help the budding seed farmer to become more knowledgeable, efficient, and effective in producing a commercially viable seed crop. Written by well-known plant breeder and organic seed expert John Navazio, The Organic Seed Grower is the most useful guide to best practices in this exciting and important field.

This handbook covers a whole range of issues relating to local seed supply systems, including participatory plant breeding, and both technical and practical information on seed production and variety maintenance. It suggests new approaches and methods to support on-farm seed production by small-scale farmers in developing countries. The first part of the book describes the functioning of local seed systems and discusses their strengths, limitations and possibilities for improvement. The authors discuss in detail issues of genetic diversity and in-situ conservation, farmers' rights and legislation. The cases presented here illustrate the functioning of local seed systems and experiences with improving them. The second part contains technical information on seed production, selection, storage and distribution, and varietal maintenance and improvement of different groups of important food crops, which can be applied and implemented at the level of small-scale farming. The third part contains practical guidelines about how on researchers and agriculturalists might carry out surveys to investigate local seed systems and their limitations, and how they can involve interested farmers in practical experimentation to improve their crop seed. This book will be of great value and interest to people who work directly with farmers, including extension agents, national and international NGOs, and farmers' cooperative workers.

Argues that the Earth's deteriorating condition is man-made and outlines a way for the process to be reversed by rehabilitating the deserts using natural farming.