Rice is the food crop the world depends on most. In Feeding a Hungry Planet, James Lang demonstrates how research has benefited rice growers and increased production. He describes the life cycle of a rice crop and explains how research is conducted and how the results end up growing in a farmer's field. Focusing on Asia and Latin America, Lang explores lowland and upland rice systems, genetics, sustainable agriculture, and efforts to narrow the gap between yields at research stations and those on working farms. Ultimately, says Lang, the ability to feed growing populations and protect...

The potato has a larger story to tell than its humble status suggests. In this fascinating account of the potato and its role in human history--and the human future--James Lang tells that story. Combining biology and social science, he describes the origins of cultivated potatoes and how they spread as a staple throughout the world; the many ways to propagate, store, and harvest potatoes; and the crop's potential for feeding a hungry planet. Along the way, Lang also muses on art and agriculture, the stars and ancient peoples, and the cycles of time; he reflects on famine and demography,...

This optimistic view of three Latin American countries describes community health programs and rural extension projects through the people who do the work. They explain how credit is organized, describe the routines at health posts, and discuss crops and cooperatives. Here is powerful evidence of what can be accomplished when community-based development focuses on people and their everyday problems. Lang argues that local development is affordable, realistic, and irreplaceable.

Originally published 1988.

A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the...

Three men conspire to make a false accusation that they had been assaulted as boys in a London Comprehensive twenty years earlier. They hope to get compensation. They name a teacher at random and, despite a total lack of evidence, the man is questioned by the police and later charged. To escape harassment by the Press while awaiting trial, Alec goes to stay with friends in a remote fishing-port in Scotland. While there, he meets a young Russian woman who is also a fugitive: she has been living for months on Russian ship to escape the agents of the KGB who are trying to kill her. Alec helps...