Systems approaches for agricultural development are needed to determine rational strategies for the role of agriculture in national development. Mathematical models and computer simulation provide objective tools for applying science to determine and evaluate options for resource management at field, farm and regional scales. However, these tools would not be fully utilizable without incorporating social and economic dimensions into their application. The second international symposium, Systems Approaches for Agricultural Development, held in Los Baños, 6-8 December 1995, fostered this link between the bio-physical sciences and the social sciences in the choice of keynote papers and oral presentations, a selection of which is included in this book. The book's contents further reflect how systems approaches have definitely moved beyond the research mode into the application mode. The large number and high quality of interdisciplinary research projects reported from different parts of the globe, to determine land use options that will meet multiple goals and yet sustain natural resource bases, is a key indicator of this `coming of age'. At the farm level, where trade-off decisions between processes and products (commodities) feature strongly, much progress is also evident in the development of systems-based tools for decision making. This book will be of particular interest to all agricultural scientists and planners, as well as students interested in multidisciplinary and holistic approaches for agricultural development.

A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.

Systems approaches for agricultural development are needed to determine rational strategies for the role of agriculture in national development. Mathematical models and computer simulation provide objective tools for applying science to determine and evaluate options for resource management at field, farm and regional scales. However, these tools would not be fully utilizable without incorporating social and economic dimensions into their application. The second international symposium, Systems Approaches for Agricultural Development (SAAD), held in Los Baños, 6-8 December 1995, fostered this link between the biophysical sciences and the social sciences in the selection of keynote papers and oral presentations, a selection of which are included in these books. The contents further reflect how systems approaches have definitely moved beyond the research mode into the application mode. The large number and high quality of interdisciplinary research projects reported from different parts of the globe, to determine land use options that will meet multiple goals and yet sustain natural resource bases, is a key indicator of this `coming of age'. At the farm level, where trade-off decisions between processes and products (commodities) feature strongly, much progress is also evident in the development of systems-based tools for decision making. At the field level optimization of resource use and minimizing environmental effects has become of major concern for which systems approaches are indispensable. The books, of which Volume I deals with regional and farm studies level and Volume II with field level studies, will be of particular interest to all agricultural scientists and planners, as well as students interested in multidisciplinary and holistic approaches to agricultural development.

Proceedings of the December 1995 symposium, concentrating on the link between the bio-physical sciences and the social sciences. Reflects the move from research to applications in systems approaches, and progress in the development of systems-based tools for decision making at the farm and regional levels. Topics include the role of systems research in grazing management, modelling long-term effects of crop residue management for sustainable farming systems, increasing soybean production in Indonesia, and a model assessing water management strategies for integrated land-use planning in Vietnam. Of interest to agricultural scientists and planners, and students learning holistic approaches for agricultural development. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The use of crop-soil modelling has so far been mainly confined to the research community. Practical applications have occurred in the areas of decision tools for irrigation studies and pest management. However, there is potential to increase its applied use.This book reviews progress in crop-soil simulation modelling and assesses its application to agriculture in developing countries. It is based on work sponsored by the Natural Resources Systems Programme of the UK Department for International Development.

Advances in Agronomy has the highest impact factor among serial publications in Agriculture. The Science Citation Index, 1986, reports an impact factor over 2,459 and a cited half-life over 10 years.Volume 76 contains five excellent reviews on topics of great interest to crop and soil scientists as well as others in various fields. Chapter 1 is concerned with the potential of tropical soils to sequester carbon. Topics that are covered include soil inorganic and organic pools and dynamics, loss of soil organic pools from tropical soils, and potential for C sequestration in tropical soils. Chapter 2 covers the applications of crop/soil simulation models in tropical agricultural systems. Chapter 3 deals with interorganismal signaling in suboptimum environments with emphasis on legume-rhizobia symbiosis. Chapter 4 discusses the surface chemistry and function of microbial biofilms. The authors discuss biofilm formation and matrix architecture and general features and properties. Chapter 5 deals with vegetable crop scheduling and prediction. Topics that are covered include identification of stages of growth and development and experimental approaches for developing scheduling and prediction models. Advances in Agronomy has the highest impact factor among serial publications in Agriculture. The Science Citation Index, 1986, reports an impact factor over 2,459 and a cited half-life over 10 years.Volume 76 contains five excellent reviews on topics of great interest to crop and soil scientists as well as others in various fields. Chapter 1 is concerned with the potential of tropical soils to sequester carbon. Topics that are covered include soil inorganic and organic pools and dynamics, loss of soil organic pools from tropical soils, and potential for C sequestration in tropical soils. Chapter 2 covers the applications of crop/soil simulation models in tropical agricultural systems. Chapter 3 deals with interorganismal signaling in suboptimum environments with emphasis on legume-rhizobia symbiosis. Chapter 4 discusses the surface chemistry and function of microbial biofilms. The authors discuss biofilm formation and matrix architecture and general features and properties. Chapter 5 deals with vegetable crop scheduling and prediction. Topics that are covered include identification of stages of growth and development and experimental approaches for developing scheduling and prediction models.

The symposium In the next decades, agriculture will have to cope with an ever-increasing demand for food and raw basic materials on the one hand, and with the necessity to use resources without further degrading or exhausting the environment on the other hand, and all this within a dynamic framework of social and economic conditions. Intensification, sustainability, optimizing scarce resources, and climate change are among the key issues. Organized thinking about future farming requires forecasting of consequences of alternative ways to farm and to develop agriculture. The complexity of the problems calls for a systematic approach in which many disciplines are integrated. Systems thinking and systems simulation are therefore indispensable tools for such endeavours. About 150 scientists and senior research leaders participated in the symposium 'Systems Approaches for Agricultural Development' (SAAD) at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand, in December 1991. The symposium had the following objectives: - to review the status of systems research and modeling in agriculture, with special reference to evaluating their efficacy and efficiency in achieving research goals, and to their application in developing countries; - to promote international cooperation in modeling, and increase awareness of systems research and simulation. The symposium consisted of plenary sessions with reviews of major areas in systems approaches in agriculture, plus presentations in two concurrent sessions on technical topics of systems research. Subjects of studies were from tropical and temperate countries.

Facing new challenges with respect to sustainable agriculture and rural development strategies for low-income countries, related to global environmental change and globalization of markets, an interdisciplinary Wageningen University and Research Centre group set out to draw lessons from the DLO-IC projects of the last eight years. In discussing the way ahead and a future agenda, a number of major research challenges, as well as policy questions are outlined.

In the coming decades the world will need to more than double its food and feed production, almost all of the increase being needed in developing countries. This has socioeconomic and biophysical implications. Traditional component and commodity research addresses overly narrow issues at too small a scale. Rural development needs an eco-regional approach that integrates biophysical and socioeconomic work on cropping systems, livestock, the environment, and natural resources. This book contains the papers, response papers and discussion report of a five-day seminar on eco-regional approaches. It assesses the state of the art of systems approaches applied to eco-regional problems, presenting and discussing a number of case studies. Future research needs are discussed, as well as ways to improve collaboration between research institutes. The seminar on which the book is based was organised on behalf of the Directorate General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Research Institute for Agrobiology and Soil Fertility (AB-DLO), the Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU), and the International Potato Centre (CIP). It was held at the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), and was attended by participants from all CGIAR centres, among others.