Global environmental change has put enormous pressure on the savannah woodlands in the Sudano-Sahelian zone. Before the recent hydroclimatic changes, monsoonal weather influenced this part of Africa, creating enough rainfall for temporal surface water storage. But even then, the area was drought-prone, sustaining not more than a meager desert flora.

Soaring wheat prices have recently affected the welfare of farmers, middlemen, consumers and the government. The average farm income is projected to be the highest of any year during the past decades. Greater yields and grain prices more than offset higher costs of fertilizers and pesticides. Government subsidies contribute much less to net farm income due to the higher grain prices.

Biological pest control is controlling particular pests by living organism. These organism can be predators, parasites, or diseases which attack the harmful insect pest. As part of an overall Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, biological control methods can reduce but not completely substitute the input of pesticides.

About 26 million people in rural China produce and use biogas for cooking and lighting. China has sound experience in running diesel and gasoline engines with biogas. Renewable energies are expected to provide 10% of the national energy consumption, electricity generated by biological materials to reach 5.5 million kW, and 2.2 million tons of ethanol and 200,000 tons of biodiesel are expected to be produced by 2010.

Many of Latin America's native species are medicinal plants. Traditional knowledge of such plants is currently threatened in rural communities by loss of traditional cultivation systems and conversion of agricultural and forest ecosystems to other purposes. Their conservation has been the focus of numerous activities. Conservation methods targeted at promoting biodiversity include protection of wild species on-site, cultivation in botanical gardens and collection in germplasm banks.

This chapter provides bookmarks to a number of important publications focussing on worldwide beef production. Articles cover intensive and extensive husbandry techniques in Europe, the US, Australia and in other continents and countries. Those include breeding, feeding and waste management. Relations between beef supply and demand on international markets are included.

Located in the southern part of Mysore at 700 m above sea level, the high rice yields of Mandya are due to its climate with large diurnal temperature variations and high solar radiation. Two crops of high-yielding imported and local rice cultivars are cultivated annually since the dry-season crop can be sufficiently irrigated with water from a local reservoir.

Bacterial endotoxins are potentially toxic, natural compounds found inside structural components of bacteria. Small endotoxin concentrations are not considered hazardous but if present in water or milk they can contribute to serious illnesses particularly in infants.

Since populations of many developing Asian countries increase at alarming rates, they will not be able to find productive employment within their economies. Employment opportunities for the mass of the people in these countries can only be created by improving the productivity of the agricultural sector. If small farmers gain access to the requisites of agriculture, productivity can be substantially increased, especially by diversifying rural sectors.