From Dearth to Plenty The Modern Revolution in Food Production [Hardcover]

This 1995 book tells the absorbing story of scientific discovery and its exploitation in agriculture.An absorbing story of scientific discovery and its exploitation for technological advance in agriculture is told in this book. It sets this against the financial and business constraints of the individual farmer and the industry as a whole. It encapsulates the history of an important period, 1936-86, when Government policy sought to aid the competitiveness of the industry through fiscal measures and by encouraging scientific and technical innovation. It thus provides a framework of understanding for current policy-making in agriculture.An absorbing story of scientific discovery and its exploitation for technological advance in agriculture is told in this book. It sets this against the financial and business constraints of the individual farmer and the industry as a whole. It encapsulates the history of an important period, 1936-86, when Government policy sought to aid the competitiveness of the industry through fiscal measures and by encouraging scientific and technical innovation. It thus provides a framework of understanding for current policy-making in agriculture.During the fifty year period from 1936-1986 the modern agricultural revolution occurred, in which, for the first time, science was properly harnessed to the improvement in agricultural productivity. The authors quantify this improvement and identify the work of UK scientists that was seminal to the scientific and technological advances on which the revolution was founded. The topics covered include the advances in animal nutrition (in which the late Kenneth Blaxter was an acknowledged pioneer), animal and plant breeding, soil fertility, weed, pest and disease control, veterinary medicine, engineering (including innovations in tractor design by Harry Ferguson) and statistical measurement. This book describes how these innovations were integrated into the practical business of food production in thelsH