Peasants, Farmers And Scientists A Chronicle of Tropical Agricultural Science in the Twentieth Century /

• Main Author: Mutsaers, H. J. W. (Author)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands, 2007.
• Subjects: Life sciences.; History.; Agriculture.; Plant science.; Botany.; Soil science.; Soil conservation.; Development economics.; Life Sciences.; Plant Sciences.; Environmental Monitoring/Analysis.; Soil Science & Conservation.; Development Economics.; History of Science.

This book is a critical account of tropical agricultural science and agricultural development in the twentieth century, in particular in Africa. It describes successes as well as fads and failures, from the perspective of a practitioner of more than 40 years. The emphasis is on the second half of th...

Table of Contents:

• What Is Tropical Agronomy?
• A Tropical Agronomist's Education
• Old and New: The 1960s and 1970s
• Farmers Are Smarter Than You Think
• Forests, Fallows and Fields
• Farmer Skills, an Elusive Property
• Mainly Technology
• Follies and Sanity of Farming Systems Research
• The Modelling Sorcerers and Their Apprentices
• Donors, Experts and Consultants
• Can African Farming Be Improved? (And Can Agronomists Help?).