Contributed articles; with reference to India.

This timely Handbook synthesizes and analyzes key issues and concerns relating to the impact of agriculture on both farmers and non-farmers. With a unique focus on humans rather than animals or the environment, the book is interdisciplinary and international in scope, with contributions from sociologists, economists, anthropologists and geographers providing case studies and examples from all six populated continents.

India's agricultural growth in the twentieth century has been low compared to that in other developing countries. However, there have been some important developments in the agricultural sector in this period. Famines have all but disappeared and there is now a food surplus. The green revolution too increased yield and productivity for certain crops in specific agro-climatic zones. Having said that, a lot still needs to be done. While agricultural growth has contributed to significant decline in poverty, India still remains home to the largest number of poor. Agricultural productivity remains low in much of the rain fed areas where poverty and malnutrition are concentrated. Land productivity is also declining in areas which are over-irrigated. Agricultural growth must be restarted, and the benefits more fairly distributed. This timely handbook reviews key issues in Indian agriculture today. Individual contributors assess: · The state of Indian agriculture in relation to state and central economic policies and their impact on the economic and societal environment · The need to shift focus from green revolution areas to other regions and crops in the context of globalization and even distribution of the benefits achieved · Food security, not only at the national but also at the regional, household, and group levels · Contemporary issues relating to poverty and agricultural subsidies · Emerging issue of the changing agrarian system and rural urban linkages

Contributed articles; with reference to India.

Excerpt from Handbook of Indian Agriculture Chapter lx. - Fertility and Barrenness. - Absolute barrenness impas sible; practical means of judging relative fertility; absorbent coefficient of soils; available plant food; acid secretions from rootlets exercising different amounts of solubility; the law of minimum; specific causes of barrenness. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is a sweeping survey of American Indian agriculture from its ancient origins to the present. It combines a wealth of historical, anthropological, legal, and economic information in a clear, readable synthesis. "This is without doubt the most thorough and comprehensive treatment of American Indian agriculture in print. It is multidisciplinary and impressive both in scope and in depth. Hurt shows a deft hand in summarizing not only the literature on the evolution of agriculture in North America, but also the dismal failure of American Indian policy to build on earlier Native American achievements. This book is the starting point for any serious consideration of the literature on subjects ranging from the domestication of corn, to pre-contact irrigation, to current Indian water rights."—Richard White, author of It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own. "This extremely worthwhile work is a significant contribution to both Indian history and general American history."—Gilbert Fite, past president of the Agricultural History Society and the Western History Association. "Merits the attention of all who are concerned about the past, present, and future of American Indians. The chapters devoted to the past century should be required reading for students of modern agricultural and American Indian history."—Peter Iverson, author of When Indians Became Cowboys: Native Peoples and Cattle Ranching in the American West. "A very thorough and readable account. The scope of this work is truly impressive. The bulk of it revolves around the implementation of United States federal Indian policies aimed at transforming Native Americans into self-sufficient yeoman farmers and farm families during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Hurt's chapters on Indian agriculture and water rights in the twentieth century are very timely and instructive. Should become a standard text for American Indian history courses."—New Mexico Historical Review. "A useful introduction to the subject that is organized in an admirably clear fashion and can be recommended to student and specialist alike."—Journal of American History. "Offers fresh and vital insights into the life and culture of the American Indian."—American Historical Review. "A comprehensive, authoritative account of one of the most significant topics in the history of Indian-white relations."—Western Historical Quarterly.

This book tackles the central question of the political and structural changes and characteristics that govern agriculture and food. Original contributions explore this highly globalized economic sector by analyzing salient geographical regions and sub