Farmers' bounty : locating crop diversity in the contemporary world /

Crop diversity is the single most important biological resource in the worldwide effort to meet the food demand of a rapidly expanding population. It also encourages farmers to aspire to a better life. Brush (Univ. of California, Davis) pulls together a quarter century of research on the puzzles and pleasures of crop diversity. The first four chapters define the dimensions of crop diversity and questions surrounding it. Chapters 5 through 8 explore scientific issues. Brush draws on his experience with potatoes in the Peruvian Andes, maize in Mexico, and wheat in Turkey. The remaining chapters cover three broad policy issues--conservation, equity, and the future of crop diversity. The book is liberally sprinkled with tables, figures, and photographs. Paper and binding are average, and font size is adequate. Given the extreme importance of plant diversity, particularly in the area of discovering resistance to various diseases, this book should be in all agriculturally focused libraries. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above. H. W. Ockerman Ohio State University