Guide for Field Crops in the Tropics and the Subtropics

Washington: Agency for International Development, 1974. — 321 pp.In the tropical and subtropical areas of the world, food grains make up the bulk of the diet for most people. Food grains together with fiber and specialty crops are also principal cash producers. It is with these commodities that this Guide for Field Crops in the Tropics and Subtropics concerns
itself. The Guide deals with general situations; local applications are beyond the range of this moderate-size volume, but the basic information presented will permit area-by-area adaptations.
The Guide is designed for use by foreign assistance personnel and cooperators. It is specifically directed to the programs of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Missions, working with country governments. The text is written in layman's language because it is not only the specialists in these crops who are called upon for information about them. Questions come also to nonspecialists and specialists in other fields such as national leaders and advisers, members of the Peace Corps and of international companies, missionaries, teachers, research workers and students. Information on the subject may be found in scientific literature, textbooks and other documents, but finding a compilation of current information in ready reference form is rare.
This concise, up-to-date Guide is composed of 40 chapters. The first four are general introductory chapters, and treat rather extensively the important subjects of climate, soil, cropping, and farming systems as related to the tropics and subtropics. The other 36 chapters are divided as follows: 6 on cereal crops, 9 on food legumes, 6 on oil crops, 7 on root or tuber crops and bananas, 6 on major fiber crops and 2 on other cash crops. These chapters do not attempt to deal with the factors of providing inputs such as national supplies of fertilizer, insecticides and fungicides.