While policy makers, media, and the international community focus their attention on Pakistan’s ongoing security challenges, the potential of the rural economy, and particularly the agricultural sector, to improve Pakistanis’ well-being is being neglected. Agriculture is crucial to Pakistan’s economy. Almost half of the country’s labor force works in the agricultural sector, which produces food and inputs for industry (such as cotton for textiles) and accounts for over a third of Pakistan’s total export earnings. Equally important are nonfarm economic activities in rural areas, such as retail sales in small village shops, transportation services, and education and health services in local schools and clinics. Rural nonfarm activities account for between 40 and 57 percent of total rural household income. Their large share of income means that the agricultural sector and the rural nonfarm economy have vital roles to play in promoting growth and reducing poverty in Pakistan.

Strategic plan; External program review (EPR); Five-year plan; Currentactivities; Future issues; Acknowledgments; History of wheat crop management and physiology research (CMP) at CIMMYT/Mexico; Background; Evolution of CMP research objectives; Achievements; Research highlights; Support to trial and nursery management; Investigations of the agronomy of new materials; Development of screening techniques for abiotic stresses; Interface with agronomy and pathology; On-farm trials; Nitrogen trials; Organic and inorganic fertilization of wheat; Drought responses; Physiology of yield potential; Heat stress responses; Present focus of CMP strategic research at CIMMYT; Component agronomy; Sustainability of major wheat cropping systems; Pakistan: a foundation for strategic research; Rice-wheat system: the CIMMYT CMP wheat program in South Asia; Soybean-wheat system: Southern cone; Sustaining wheat cropping systems of tropical highlands: a case study of wheat-maize in MexicoSupport to breeding; Physiology and agronomy of wheat grown in environments with supra-optimal temperatures (ME5); Morpho-physiological traits of adaptation in wheat; Agronomic support for management of CIMMYT wheat program trials and nurseries at experiment stations in Mexico, Adaptive crop management research; East Africa cereals program-wheat; Bangladesh wheat program; Crop management research (CMR) training; Types of courses.

Durable commodities are the raw products from which food can be made and are the staples on which most humans rely; with but a few exceptions they are the seeds of plants. Volume 1 of this ground-breaking book series (details below) explains how crops should be dried, handled, protected from pests and stored by smaller holders or large-scale enterprises. This second volume presents a series of case studies on how durable crops are actually stored and marketed. The compilation of this three-volume work has been supported and is endorsed by the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich, U.K. The editors of this comprehensive and thorough book are well known and respected in the world of post-harvest science and technology. They have drawn together 36 expert contributors from Europe, North America, Asia, Australasia, South America and Africa to provide a huge wealth of information on major world crops including rice, maize, wheat, barley, sorghum, beans, cowpea, oilseeds, peanuts, copra, coffee, cocoa, dried fruit and nuts, and dried fish. Crop Post Harvest, Volume 2 is an essential purchase for cereal technologists, food scientists and technologists, agricultural scientists, entomologists, post-harvest crop protection specialists and consultants, commercial growers, shippers and warehousing operatives, and personnel of packaging companies. Researchers and upper-level students in food science, food technology, post-harvest science and technology, crop protection, applied biology, and plant and agricultural sciences will find a huge amount of great use within this landmark publication and the three-volume series as a whole. All libraries in research establishments and universities where these subjects are studied and taught should have several copies of each on their shelves.

Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the economy and development of Pakistan providing food to consumers, raw materials to industries, and a market for industrial goods. Unfortunately, agricultural production is stagnant due to several barriers including a fixed cropping pattern, reliance on a few major crops, a narrow genetic pool, poor seed quality, and a changing climate. In addition, the high cost of production, weak phytosanitary compliance mechanisms, and a lack of cold chain facilities makes Pakistan agriculturally uncompetitive in export markets. Despite all these issues, agriculture is the primary industry in Pakistan and small farmers continue to dominate the business. Small farmers grow crops for subsistence under a fixed cropping pattern and a holistic approach is required to develop agriculture to improve the livelihoods of the rural populace. This book presents an exhaustive look at agriculture in Pakistan. Chapters provide critical analyses of present trends, inadequacies in agriculture, strategic planning, improvement programs and policies while keeping in view the natural resources, plant- and animal-related agricultural production technologies, input supplies, population planning, migration and poverty, and balanced policies on finance, credit, marketing, and trade.

The overall objective of this volume is to show the impact of farming systems research (FSR) activities in Ethiopia on agricultural research and on the development of technologies and policies for small-scale farmers. The work reported is based on research conducted by scientists at the Institute of Agricultural Research, in collaboration with staff from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Center for tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Livestock Center for Africa (ILCA). Ethiopia is one of the few developing countries where FSR activities have been institutionalized and have had and important influence on the development of new technologies for farmers. Consequently, the research results, as well as the policy analysis, methodology and the institutionalization process, will be relevant to all researchers and change agents concerned with the developing world, whether they be economists, policy makers or administrators.

Historically, agriculture has been crucial to Pakistan's economic growth and development and remains so even today. The sector employs almost half of the country's labor force, supplies key inputs to the country's manufacturing sector, generates a significant share of export earnings, and nourishes a rapidly growing population. Further, beyond agriculture is the wider rural economy, including nonfarm economic activities such as small enterprises, transport services, village retail shops, local schools, and clinics, all of which account for an estimated 40 to 57 percent of total rural household income. Given the importance of these rural activities, the slow growth of agriculture in recent years—averaging just 2.8 percent during the period 2010-2014—should be a source of concern for Pakistan. Can the country's agricultural sector and rural economy once again play a significant role in growth and development? Can it contribute to poverty reduction? Agriculture and the Rural Economy in Pakistan: Issues, Outlooks, and Policy Priorities seeks to answer these questions by examining the performance of both agriculture and the rural economy. The authors identify several measures that can promote agricultural productivity growth as well as wider economic and social development. These include increasing the efficiency of water use in the Indus river basin irrigation system, especially in the face of climate change; reforming policies and regulations that govern markets for agricultural inputs and commodities; and improving the provision of rural public services for health, education, women's empowerment, and community development. The analyses and conclusions in Agriculture and the Rural Economy in Pakistan will be of use to policy makers, development specialists, and others concerned with Pakistan's development. Contributors: Madiha Afzal, Nuzhat Ahmad, Faryal Ahmed, Mubarik Ali, Shujat Ali, Elena Briones Alonso, Hira Channa, Stephen Davies, Paul Dorosh, Gisselle Gajate Garrido, Arthur Gueneau, Madeeha Hameed, Brian Holtemeyer, Huma Khan, Katrina Kosec, Mehrab Malek, Sohail J. Malik, Shuaib Malik, Amina Mehmood, Dawit Mekonnen, Hina Nazli, Sara Rafi, Muhammad Ahsan Rana, Abdul Wajid Rana, Danielle Resnick, Khalid Riaz, Abdul Salam, Emily Schmidt, Asma Shahzad, David J. Spielman, James Thurlow, Ahmad Waqas, Edward Whitney, Fatima Zaidi.