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Predicting and questioning the text

Click on the highlighted text to see the comments.

Look at the book title and think of some questions to which the book might supply answers.

Now look at the table of contents

Looking at the section and chapter headings, what do you expect to be the focus of each section?

Comments

Imagine your assignment topic is:

"Increasing industrial pollution and a growing world population make it more and more difficult for farmers to produce enough food.

With reference to specific examples, discuss how agricultural practices can be changed to ensure that agricultural resources will be able to meet the needs of future generations."

Look again at the table of contents above and tick the box next to the sections that you think will be relevant to your topic:

Check your answer

Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment

Perspectives on Growth and Constraints

EDITED BY

Vernon W. Ruttan

Westview Press

BOULDER . SAN FRANSISCO . OXFORD

Ruttan, V.W. (editor). (1992). Sustainable agriculture and the environment. Perspectives on growth and constraints. Boulder: Westview Press, p. iii

Contents

Preface .............................................................vii

About the Contributors .......................................ix

PART ONE

INTRODUCTION

  1. Concerns About Resources and the Environment,

    Vernon W. Ruttan ....................................3

PART TWO

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

  1. Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change,

    Dean E. Abrahamson ...............................11
  2. Climate Change Models,

    Norman C. Rosenberg ..............................19
  3. Global Climate Change and Agricultural Production,

    William C. Clark .......................................27
  4. Forest Response to Climate Changes,

    Margaret Bryan Davis ................................47
  5. Stipulations, Conventional Wisdom, and Real Issues,

    Paul E. Waggoner ....................................57
  6. Agricultural Impacts on Climate Change,

    William C. Clark .......................................65
  7. Food Systems Approach,

    Robert Chen ............................................75
  8. Modeling the Social and Economics Effects,

    Steven Sonka ..........................................81

PART THREE

LOCAL AND REGIONAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES

  1. Environmental Change in Eastern Europe,

    Zbigniew Bochniarz ...................................91
  2. Temperate Region Soil Erosion,

    Pierre Crosson .........................................101
  3. Tropical Refion Soils Management,

    Pedro A. Sanchez ....................................113
  4. Soil Fertility,

    Robert D. Munson ....................................125
  5. Information Systems for Soil Management,

    William E. Larson and H.H. Cheng

    ...............................................................131
  6. Pests and Pathogens,

    Richard Jones ..........................................143

PART FOUR

RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE

  1. Nature Myths and Policy Design,

    Steve Rayner ...........................................155
  2. Research Resource Allocation,

    Stephen L. Rawlins and C. Eugene Allen

    ...............................................................165

PART FIVE

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND THE FUTURE

  1. Issues and Priorities for the Twenty-first Century,

    Vernon W. Ruttan ....................................177

References .......................................................185

Ruttan, V.W. (editor). (1992). Sustainable agriculture and the environment. Perspectives on growth and constraints. Boulder: Westview Press, p.v, vi

Comment

It seems likely that:

Part One will raise the issues and problems that exist in the relationship between the environment and agriculture.

Part Two will deal with how climate changes are affecting agricultural production and also how agricultural practices are affecting the climate

Part Three will discuss actual examples of ways in which agriculture and the environment affect each other.

Part Four will discuss the different ways in which people/governments are responding to the problems arising from environmental (particularly climate) change.

Part Five will conclude with a discussion of the kinds of things we/governments need to be doing to ensure agricultural output can be maintained at a level sufficient to feed the world's population.

Note that what is predicted to be in each section is an intelligent guess based on the headings and how they appear to relate to the title and overall purpose of the book. If you read these sections/chapters, you may discover these were not exactly right.

Comment

As the question asks us to establish a successful program for agricultural practices in the future, Part Five will definitely be useful.

Part Four does not appear to be very useful, though it may provide some recommendations for the future. We would have to skim the section (just sub-headings may be enough) to decide whether there is anything there that is likely to be useful for our assignment.

Part One might be useful, but I think not much of it. Careful and thoughtful skimming is necessary to avoid wasting a lot of time.

Once I have decided on the changes that are needed to overcome problems of the future (and I may need to read other texts as well to clarify this further) I might use some of the examples from Part Two, and especially Part Three, to illustrate the problems that agriculture is facing and to show how the changes I am arguing for might help in these situations.

Note If you had difficulty in analysing this essay topic, you may find our online Essay Writing tutorial helpful.

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