The Nature of Crops
How we came to eat the plants we do
Published on 24. April 2015
167 pages
978-1-78924-458-8 (ISBN)
Description
Have you ever wondered why we eat wheat, rice, potatoes and cassava? Why we routinely domesticate foodstuffs with the power to kill us, or why we chose almonds over acorns? Answering all these questions and more in a readable and friendly style, this book takes you on a journey through our history with crop plants. Arranged into recurrent themes in plant domestication, this book documents the history and biology of over 50 crops, including cereals, spices, legumes, fruits and cash crops such as chocolate, tobacco and rubber. In The Nature of Crops John Warren reveals: -Why the Egyptians worshipped onions; -Why red-flowering runner beans provide fewer beans than white-flowering; -The inherent dangers of being a pineapple worker; and -Why a bird will always beat you in a chilli pepper eating competition!
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Wallingford
United Kingdom
File size
2,46 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-78924-458-8 (9781789244588)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
04/2015
CABI Publishing
€43.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
John Warren has had a career spread across three continents and many different agricultural systems. He has worked with farmers and growers from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland to the smallholder farmers and oil palm plantations of Papua New Guinea. Within education he was involved in teaching students from diploma level through to post-graduates, covering topics including: sustainable agriculture, countryside management, conservation, and ecological design. In 2016, he left Aberystwyth University where he had been Professor of Agri-Botany to become Vice Chancellor of the Papua New Guinea, University of Natural Resources and Environment. Since retiring, he runs a small holding in west Wales, trying to put into practice much of what he covered in lectures.
Content
1: Introduction: The Nature of Natural - What does domestication involve? 2: Wild Things - Recently domesticated crops and crops that have returned to the wild 3: Learning to Live with Exotic Sexual Practices - How plant breeding systems limit domestication 4: Storing up Trouble - Plants with storage organs 5: The Weird and Wonderful - Herbs, spices and crops with exotic phytochemicals 6: Accidents of History - The role of chance events in domestication 7: Classic Combinations and Reoccurring Themes - Plant families that have been repeatedly domesticated 8: Ownership and Theft - How the economic value of crops has influenced their domestication 9: Fifty Shades of Green - Nutrient rich crops and the next generation
