Agro Commodities & Agricultural Produts

First Lessons in Beekeeping: Complete and Unabridged A great book for anyone who is interested in beekeeping. This easy to understand book with hundreds of illustrations walks you through everything you need to know about beekeeping. Simply one of the best books ever written on the subjects. A facsimile edition. List Price: $ 9.49 Price: $…. Click here to Read More

Postharvest Biology and Technology of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Volume 4: Mangosteen to White Sapote (Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition) Tropical and subtropical fruits are particularly vulnerable to postharvest losses, and are also transported long distances for sale. Therefore maximizing their quality postharvest is essential and there have been many recent advances in this area. Many tropical fruits are processed further into purees, juices and other value-added products, so quality optimization of processed products is also important. Postharvest biology and technology of tropical and subtropical fruits covers current state-of-the-art and emerging post-harvest and processing technologies.  With Chapters in Volume 4 reviewing the factors affecting the quality of different tropical and subtropical fruits from mangosteen to white sapote. Important issues relevant to each product are discussed, including means of maintaining quality and…. Click here to Read More

Agriculture Course: The Birth of the Biodynamic Method When Rudolf Steiner gave these lectures eighty years ago, industrial farming was on the rise and organic methods were being replaced in the name of science, efficiency, and technology. With the widespread alarm over food quality in recent years, and with the growth of the organic movement and its mainstream acceptance, perceptions are changing. The qualitative aspect of food is on the agenda again, and in this context Steiner’s only course of lectures on agriculture is critical to the current debate. With these talks, Steiner created and launched “biodynamic” farming—a form of agriculture that has come to be regarded as the best organically produced food. However, the agriculture Steiner speaks of here is much more than organic—it involves working with the cosmos, with the earth, and with spiritual beings. To facilitate this, Steiner prescribes specific “preparations” for the soil, as well as other distinct methods…. Click here to Read More

Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All A host of books and films in recent years have documented the dangers of our current food system, from chemical runoff to soaring rates of diet-related illness to inhumane treatment of workers and animals. But advice on what to do about it largely begins and ends with the admonition to “eat local or “eat organic.” Fair Food is an enlightening and inspiring guide to changing not only what we eat, but how food is grown, packaged, delivered, marketed, and sold. Oran B. Hesterman shows how our system’s dysfunctions are unintended consequences of our emphasis on efficiency, centralization, higher yields, profit, and convenience–and defines the new principles, as well as the concrete steps, necessary to restructuring it. Along the way, he introduces people and organizations across the country who are already doing this work in a number of creative ways, from bringing fresh food to inner cities to fighting for farm…. Click here to Read More

The Thinking Beekeeper: A Guide to Natural Beekeeping in Top Bar Hives What’s the buzz about the growing popularity of backyard beekeeping? Providing habitat for bees, pollinating your garden, and producing honey for your family are some of the compelling reasons for taking up this exciting hobby. But conventional beekeeping requires a significant investment and has a steep learning curve. The alternative? Consider beekeeping outside the box. The Thinking Beekeeper is the definitive do-it-yourself guide to natural beekeeping in top bar hives. Based on the concept of understanding and working with bees’ natural systems as opposed to trying to subvert them, the advantages of this approach include: Simplicity, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness Increased safety due to less heavy lifting and hive manipulation Chemical-free colonies and healthy hives Top bar hives can be located anywhere bees have access to forage, and they make ideal urban hives due to their small…. Click here to Read More

Outwitting Critters Bill Adler Jr. has put together a great book filled with useful information on how to deal with troublesome critters in your life, from ants to alligators, ducks to deer, mice to moose! Written with wit and the voice of a true storyteller, the book is not only factual and helpful, but a lot of fun to read. Adler’s preference for not using poisons and pesticides is more environmentally friendly, and in the long run, outwitting the bothersome creatures in your life simply works better. –Mark A. Hetts List Price: $ 14.95 Price: $…. Click here to Read More

Organic Manifesto: How Organic Food Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe Drawing on findings from leading health researchers as well as conversations with both chemical and organic farmers from coast to coast, Maria Rodale irrefutably outlines the unacceptably high cost of chemical farming on our health and our environment. She traces the genesis of chemical farming and the rise of the immense companies that profit from it, bringing to light the government’s role in allowing such practices to flourish. She further explains that modern organic farming would not only help reverse climate change by reducing harmful carbon emissions and soil depletion, but would also improve the quality of the food we eat, reduce diseases from asthma to cancer, and ensure a better quality of life in farming communities nationwide.  For every parent wondering how best to safeguard the health and safety of her children; for every environmentalist in search of a solution to the…. Click here to Read More

Silviculture in the Tropics (Tropical Forestry) This book integrates the latest global developments in forestry science and practice and their relevance for the sustainable management of tropical forests. The influence of social dimensions on the development of silvicultural concepts is another spotlight. Ecology and silvicultural options form all tropical continents, and forest formations from dry to moist forests and from lowland to mountain forests are covered. Review chapters which guide readers through this complex subject integrate numerous illustrative and quantitative case studies by experts from all over the world. On the basis of a cross-sectional evaluation of the case studies presented, the authors put forward possible silvicultural contributions towards sustainability in a changing world. The book is addressed to a broad readership from forestry and environmental disciplines. List Price: $ 239.00 Price: $…. Click here to Read More

Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability David Holmgren brings into sharper focus the powerful and still evolving Permaculture concept he pioneered with Bill Mollison in the 1970s. It draws together and integrates 25 years of thinking and teaching to reveal a whole new way of understanding and action behind a simple set of design principles. The 12 design principles are each represented by a positive action statement, an icon and a traditional proverb or two that captures the essence of each principle.Holmgren draws a correlation between every aspect of how we organize our lives, communities and landscapes and our ability to creatively adapt to the ecological realities that shape human destiny. For students and teachers of Permaculture this book provides something more fundamental and distilled than Mollison’s encyclopedic Designers Manual. For the general reader it provides refreshing perspectives on a range of environmental issues and shows how permaculture…. Click here to Read More