This thesis provides the first full-length study of T. S. Eliot’s concern with agriculture. It examines Eliot’s consideration of agrarian issues within his social criticism of the 1930s-50s in relation to the organic thought of the period, and establishes that he should be considered an influential figure in the Christian context of the British organic husbandry movement. In doing so it explores the importance of his roles as the editor of the 'Criterion', a director of Faber, and a member of the editorial board of the 'New English Weekly' and the 'Christian News-Letter'. This thesis also compares Eliot’s religious agrarianism with the farming communities formed by Rolf Gardiner, Ronald Duncan and John Middleton Murry. It emphasizes that, for Eliot, “a wrong attitude towards nature” was as much overvaluing it as undervaluing it, and illustrates that his idea of an agricultural community advanced in the 1930s-40s was in no way idealized. In addition, it demonstrates that Eliot’s agricultural concerns emerged as a notable theme in his literary output – from his early notebook of poems known as 'Inventions of the March Hare' up to 'Murder in the Cathedral' and 'Four Quartets'. For the first time at any length, it offers readings of Eliot’s 'oeuvre' in light of his sustained preoccupation with organic issues. This thesis breaks new ground by demonstrating that a thorough understanding of Eliot’s engagement with agriculture is vital to our interpretation of both his poetry and prose.

There is an extensive diversity of crops and their wild relatives in Mexico, which are distributed throughout the country. Crop wild relatives (CWR) play a special role for present and future food security strategies: they represent a potential source of variation for the domesticated species, contributing to the genetic improvement of these crops. However, the effects of climate change, among other threats, are reducing significantly this biodiversity. The purpose of this study was to analyse the diversity of wild relatives of the most important crops in Mexico as a basis for the development and implementation of a national conservation strategy for these genetic resources. The methods involved the identification of priorities and creation of a national CWR inventory, in situ and ex situ gap analyses at taxon and ecogeographic levels, the evaluation of the impacts of climate change, threat assessment and predictive characterisation. Applying these methods, 310 CWR taxa were identified as priorities and recommendations for immediate in situ and ex situ conservation actions were made to ensure their representativeness under current and future climatic conditions. All these components contribute to the systematic active long-term conservation of priority CWR diversity in the country and enhance their sustainable utilisation thus helping mitigate the threats to Mexican agrobiodiversity and global food security.

The rhizosphere is defined as the area of soil surrounding plant roots, which is influenced by plant exudates. The rhizosphere hosts a diverse and dynamic microbiome, which is shaped by both plant and environmental factors. The plant-microbe and microbe-microbe functional interactions which occur in the rhizosphere can have significant impacts on plant growth. Developing understanding of the composition, functions and interactions of the rhizosphere microbiome and the factors which shape it, may prove valuable to improve agricultural sustainability. The rhizosphere and bulk soil microbiomes of contrasting Brassica napus genotypes growing in the field under high and low N inputs were characterised using amplicon sequencing. Taxonomic identification, functional prediction tools and network analysis were used to gauge how nutrient availability and plant genotype influenced the microbiome. N availability was seen to have a greater influence on composition, function and connectivity of the microbiome than crop genotype, with varying effects on microbes from different Kingdoms. Metatranscriptome analysis enables analysis of the functioning of the microbiome. The effectiveness of different methods for the separation of root and rhizosphere soil for metatranscriptome analysis was compared. Washing roots in water to separate roots and rhizosphere soil followed by freeze drying prior to RNA extraction was shown to be the best method to avoid distorting the metatranscriptome profile. Metatranscriptome analysis of field grown B. napus revealed increases in the rhizosphere relative to soil for protein metabolism functions, and the root compartment contained a high proportion of transcripts related to phage activity. Plant rhizosphere functions were investigated using transcriptomic analysis of a diverse range of cultivated and wild Brassica oleracea plants. Uptake of PO4 is a vital plant process but the identity of PO4 transporters is unknown in B. oleracea. A number of putative PHT1 PO4 transporter genes were identified. Significant differences in expression of the putative PHT1 genes were found between cultivated and wild lines, which may inform future plant breeding strategies.

The objective of this work was to synthesise potential polymeric materials to use in agricultural applications, particularly as pesticide carriers. Synthesis of solid microcapsules, which contain hydrophobic pesticides, from functional polymers, was the primary goal. In addition, promising materials such as poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and acid-labile containing polymers were also explored. The extraordinary reactivity of isocyanates towards nucleophiles offers an interesting synthetic tool as a catalyst-free reaction. Unfortunately, the high reactivity of isocyanate during the polymerisation process is a major concern, thus a facile approach in order to synthesise stable functional polymer was first investigated. Chapter 2 details the synthesis of two types of isocyanate side chain containing copolymers, poly(methyl methacrylate-co-isocyanatoethyl methacrylate) (P(MMAm-co-IEMn)) and poly(benzyl methacrylate-co-isocyanatoethyl methacrylate) P(BnMAm-co-IEMn), via Cu(0)-mediated controlled radical polymerisation. Both copolymers were functionalised with dibutylamine, octylamine, and (R)-(+)-α-methylbenzylamine, which further proved the successful incorporation of the isocyanate groups. Subsequently, P(BnMAm-co-IEMn) was used for the fabrication of liquid core microcapsules via an oil-in-water interfacial polymerisation with diethylenetriamine as a crosslinker. Furthermore, chapter 3 illustrates the synthetic route of solid microcapsules containing hydrophobic pesticides; this illustrates the incorporation of biodegradable materials, modern controlled radical polymerisation techniques and isocyanate chemistry. An α, ω-poly (ɛ-caprolactone) SET-LRP initiator is first prepared by esterification to obtain a degradable halide initiator. Subsequently, biodegradable P(BnMAn-co-IEMn) was polymerised via the conditions from chapter 2. An isocyanate-containing copolymer was used to fabricate a microcapsule which consists of imidacloprid (IMI), followed by water removal via spray dryer. Chapter 4 details an efficient tool to synthesise an amphiphilic copolymer containing PDMS. The versatility of hydrosilylation has been exploited for the preparation of an ABA block copolymer of PDMS and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA), which can be potentially used to prepare polymeric micelles. Also, to demonstrate the adaptability of this method, different methacrylates and vinyl terminated methacrylic macromonomers were applied to modified hydride terminated PDMS. Finally, the α, ω-hydroxyl terminated poly(acetal) SET-LRP initiator was synthesised from the condensation and esterification reaction. A favourable Cu(0)-mediated controlled radical polymerisation and degradation under an acidic conditions of acetal initiator was affirmed. Thus, this offers a great opportunity of using this initiator to synthesise isocyanate-containing copolymers, certainly, an acid-labile microcapsule to use as an agrochemical carrier is potentially achievable.

The way we assess readiness for slaughter in beef cattle has not progressed in the past 200 years, with subjective visual and manual assessments of cattle still the primary mechanisms used to determine peak condition, resulting in less than half of all cattle carcases meeting a UK premium classification. Current losses to the UK Beef industry are estimated at approximately £12.5 million per year through the sending of over-fat and poorly conformed cattle to the abattoir. With global population rapidly increasing, there is a fundamental need to provide more food efficiently and effectively from the resources we have. Therefore, successfully reducing wastage and improving carcase quality across the UK beef industry through accurate assessment and selection of beef cattle for slaughter is an important step forwards towards a sustainable future for beef production. The EUROP system of bovine carcase classification dictates which carcases are most desired for the current market, with those failing to meet market specification subject to a penalty. The aim of this research project was therefore to provide farmers with an objective tool using a binary logistic regression model, to combine fat and morphometric measurements taken from live cattle, in order to help predict which cattle are most likely to achieve a desired carcase classification and therefore most suitable for slaughter. Through the use of a series of binary logistic regression models, it was discovered that out of 15 measurements taken from cattle, a combination of pelvis height, pelvis width, 10th and 12th rib fat point readings and the P8 fat point reading were best able to predict the likelihood of cattle meeting a UK premium carcase classification. In a later study, when breed was factored into the model on a larger, more commercial scale, this reduced the number of measurements required to just the pelvis width and 12th rib fat point reading, subsequently increasing the practicality to apply this research on-farm.

The aim of this study is to understand how ideas about markets and marketing have shaped food policy. It focuses on the vegetable sector in England in the early years of the new millennium. The study takes the 2002 Report of the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food (Curry Commission) as its starting point. It explores how the Curry Commission’s ‘Turn to the Market’ call was interpreted and acted upon by vegetable production in England, and by UK Government (in practice English) Food Policy 2002-2015. It attempts to understand why and how policy makers turned to the market, what they meant by it, and how it changed how those involved in vegetable production thought about and responded to the marketing challenges they faced. The study centres on theoretical understandings of how food policy develops, and draws in marketing theories to contribute to that policy analysis. The study used qualitative methods - a combination of documentary analysis and fieldwork interviews with practitioners, policy-makers and analysts. Two research questions were formulated from the literature review: (1) how have ideas about markets and marketing shaped UK Food Policy since the Curry Commission?; and (2) what impact did the Curry Commission - and the policy that followed - have on English vegetable production? An analysis was conducted of policy documents of the period 2002 – 2015. Interviews were held with 23 key informants who were experts on and/or actors in English policy and vegetable production. The research adopted a realist and critical pluralist approach to food policy development. The research explored: how particular ideas of markets and marketing shaped wider UK Food Policy 2002-2015; how the marketing themes in UK Food Policy evolved; how UK Food Policy understood and framed the priorities for the vegetable sector which then opened up particular solutions and foreclosed others; and how the marketing ideas in UK Food Policy 2002-2015 affected how those involved in English vegetable production understood and responded to the marketing challenges they encountered. The findings show that UK Food Policy evolved from a proactive ‘Turn to the Market’ Food Policy under New Labour to a reactive 'Market Dominated' Food Policy under the Coalition government (2010-15). Policy framed the problems for the vegetable sector as a failure to market and devised policy mechanisms to support better marketing using ideas from orthodox marketing. The policy based on better marketing did halt the decline in the vegetable sector and helped it engage in more environmentally benign production practices. Growers still found it challenging to generate sufficient profit to reinvest and they felt that support for better marketing did not always work in practice. The thesis concludes that the marketing concepts do enrich food policy understanding. A markets-as-networks (MAN) analysis is proposed to provide a better way of understanding the marketing problems in the context of buyer dominated vegetable supply networks, where interaction is an important feature of supply relations and where exchange is embedded in on-going relationships. The research discussion considers the extent to which markets-as-networks (MAN) ideas offer a better framework for policy goals to increase the production of vegetables in England as part of a sustainable model for agriculture. Relationship marketing, from orthodox marketing, displays some features in common with the MAN tradition. By proposing this common ground between orthodox and heterodox marketing, the thesis offers directions for a revitalised market-oriented understanding of UK Food Policy and its development.

This thesis tests perceptions of climate variability with actual rainfall data. It also compares the perceptions of agriculturists in Burkina Faso, West Africa with those of agriculturists in the Sulphur Springs Valley, Southeastern Arizona. This study contests claims by other researchers that farmers' perceptions of climate change are shaped by events rather than variation in climate. The analyses demonstrate that people in both regions are able to detect variations in climate on time-scales of at least a decade. Both groups of farmers key into intra-annual variation that is related to seasonality. That perceptions are based on seasons is due to the fact that seasonality shapes the vulnerability of farming to climate in both regions. This thesis adds perceptions to the analytical field of climate vulnerability studies and points out that the atmospheric phenomena behind the variability farmers perceive merits scientific investigation.

No description available.

This thesis describes the research and development of a decision support system for tomato yield prediction. Greenhouse horticulture such as tomato growing offers an interesting test bed for comparing and refining different predictive modelling techniques. The ability to accurately predict future yields, even for as little as days ahead has considerable commercial value to growers. There are several (measurable) causal variables. Some such as temperature are under the grower's control, while others are not. Modern predictive techniques, based on data mining and self-calibrating models, may be able to forecast future yields per unit area of greenhouse better than the biological causal models implicitly now used by growers. Over the past few decades, it has been possible to use the recorded daily environmental conditions in a greenhouse to predict future crop yields. Existing models fail to accurately predict the weekly fluctuations of yield, yet predicting future yields is becoming desperately required especially with weather change. This research project used data collected during seasonal tomato life cycle to develop a decision support system that would assist growers to adjust crops to meet demand, and to alter marketing strategies. The three main objectives are: firstly, to research and utilize intelligent systems techniques for analysing greenhouse environmental variables to identify the variable or variables that most effect yield fluctuations, and Secondly, to research the use of these techniques for predicting tomato yields and produce handy rules for growers to use in decision-making. Finally, to combine some existing techniques to form a hybrid technique that achieves lower prediction errors and more confident results. There are a range of intelligent systems (IS), which are used to process environment data, including artificial neural networks (ANNs), genetic algorithms (GA) and fuzzy logic (FL). A model providing more accurate yield prediction was developed and tested using industrial data from growers. The author develops and investigates the application of an intelligent decision support system for yield management, and to provide an improved prediction model using intelligent systems (IS). Using real-world data, the intelligent system employs a combination of FL, NN and GA. The thesis presents a modified hybrid adaptive neural network with revised adaptive error smoothing, which is based on genetic algorithm to build a learning system for complex problem solving in yield prediction. This system can closely predict weekly yield values of a tomato crop. The proposed learning system is constructed as an intelligent technique and then further optimized. The method is evaluated using real-world data. The results show comparatively good accuracy.Use was made of existing algorithms, such as self-organizing maps (SOMs), and principal component analysis (PCA), to analyse our datasets and identify the critical input variables. The primary conclusion from this thesis is that intelligent systems, such as artificial neural networks, genetic algorithm, and fuzzy inference systems, can be successfully applied to the creation of tomato yield predictions, these predictions were better and hence support growers’ decisions. All of these techniques are benchmarked against published existing models, such as GNMM, and RBF.

The work in this project is concerned with the headspace analysis of potato volatiles. In the context of the thesis, the term potato volatiles deals with the headspace volatiles that are naturally evolved by raw potato tubers, and the anthropogenic volatile sprout suppressant chemicals that are applied to stored potato tubers. Both aspects of potato volatiles were investigated and consequently this thesis is divided into two sections: Section 1 deals with the headspace analysis of the volatiles that are produced by raw potato tubers; Section 2 deals with the headspace analysis of two widely used commercial potato sprout suppressants. After harvesting, potato tubers undergo a period of dormancy which is defined as the time when the tuber buds are not growing: when dormancy is broken, the buds grow and elongate into sprouts. The mechanism of tuber dormancy is extremely complex, and the transition from the dormant to non-dormant state is associated with several physiological changes in the composition of the tuber. The first section, Section 1, of the project is an account of the investigations of the volatile compounds that are naturally evolved by raw potato tubers, in relation to the question of tuber dormancy. It has been shown that the volatiles produced by dormant potato tubers have sprout suppressant properties, thereby delaying the breaking of tuber dormancy (Burton, W. G., 1952), (Burton, W. G., Meigh, D. F., 1971). Further to this, it has been shown that the dimethylnaphthalene class of compounds is present in raw potato tubers and has been shown to possess potent sprout suppressant properties Neigh, D. F., et al, 1973), (Beveridge, J. 1980). However, it was thought that dormant potato tubers evolved volatiles, apart from the dimethylnaphthalenes, that had sprout suppressant properties. The aim of the project was the isolation and identification of the headspace volatiles that are naturally evolved by raw potato tubers and to relate these volatiles to tuber dormancy. The bulk of the work was taken up with the development of the analytical techniques for the isolation and separation of raw tuber headspace volatiles. Various systems were tested for the containment and separation of the headspace volatiles, from the outset the porous polymer adsorbent Tenax G. C. was used to trap the headspace volatiles, and high resolution gas chromatography using capillary columns was used for their separation. Three systems were developed for sampling: the first using an aluminium tank proved to be unsuitable due to background volatiles arising from the tank, the second and third which were constructed from glass and PTFE were found to be successful from the point of view of isolating a sample of potato tuber volatiles free from background volatiles. These two systems were used to study the headspace volatiles produced by sprouted and dormant potato tubers and to relate the breaking of dormancy to any changes in the volatiles produced. In addition, a gas chromatographic system was developed for the transfer of volatiles adsorbed on a Tenax G. C. precolumn into a capillary column, the final system adopted involved the thermal desorption of the volatiles from the Tenax G. C. into a small volume cold trap to concentrate the volatiles into a small volume and then a rapid reheat of the cold trap for the introduction of the volatiles into the capillary column.