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A Summing Up

Geoffrey Charles Emerson

in Hong Kong Internment, 1942-1945: Life in the Japanese Civilian Camp at Stanley

This chapter provides a summary description of the life and conditions experienced by internees in the Stanley camp. It notes that no one starved to death, and the fact remains that every day of ... More

This chapter provides a summary description of the life and conditions experienced by internees in the Stanley camp. It notes that no one starved to death, and the fact remains that every day of internment there was something to eat. It further observes that many skilled medical personnel were interned and so few people died during internment, a total of less than 120. It reports that the interviews of former internees revealed that the Red Cross had done as much as possible and was extremely hindered by lack of cooperation from the Japanese authorities. It further reports that although Japan had not been a signatory to the Geneva Convention, the Japanese government had announced that it would follow the rules of the Convention. It observes that the Geneva Convention failed to note the vast difference between an Oriental, rice-based diet and a European diet.Less

Evolution of agrourban cultures: II South and east Asia

Denis J. Murphy

in People, Plants and Genes: The Story of Crops and Humanity

This chapter focuses on the Indus Valley region and China, where complex agro-urban cultures evolved at about the same time as in the Near East. Wheat and barley farming originated in the Kachhi ... More

This chapter focuses on the Indus Valley region and China, where complex agro-urban cultures evolved at about the same time as in the Near East. Wheat and barley farming originated in the Kachhi Plain at least 9,000 BP and then spread to the Indus Valley. By 5,500 BP, flourishing urban centres had sprung up throughout this vast region. These impressively organized cities were managed by elites without the trappings of power and warfare found in contemporary Mesopotamia. Around 4,000 BP, the Indus Valley civilization was extinguished in what may have been a climate related catastrophe. Chinese agriculture began with broomcorn millet cultivation in the northern Yellow River catchment, but early urban cultures also collapsed around 4,000 BP, possibly due to climate change. In southern China, rice farming possibly started before 10,000 BP in the Yangtze Basin, but intensive paddy cultivation was not practiced until 3,000 BP.Less

CULTIVATING RICE IN NIHE, CHINA, AND DAVIS, CALIFORNIA

Pamela C. Ronald and Raoul W. Adamchak

in Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food

Rice was first cultivated along the Yangtze River 6000 years ago. Genetics and breeding has been used to improve rice production. This chapter charts this progress and discusses the consequences.

WHO OWNS THE GENES?

Pamela C. Ronald and Raoul W. Adamchak

in Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food

This chapter discusses patents and how to ensure that GE breakthroughs and useful technologies benefit less developed countries in Africa and small farmers in rice and other crops.

Integrating the Arabidopsis thaliana Flower Induction Pathways and Assessing the Extent to Which the Model Is Ubiquitous

Beverley J. Glover

in Understanding Flowers and Flowering: An integrated approach

Previous chapters discussed the different inhibitory and inductive pathways regulating flowering in Arabidopsis. An average Arabidopsis plant will experience inhibitory and promotive signals from ... More

Previous chapters discussed the different inhibitory and inductive pathways regulating flowering in Arabidopsis. An average Arabidopsis plant will experience inhibitory and promotive signals from each of these pathways to a greater or lesser extent. The first part of this chapter investigates how the pathways are brought together to result in a single response, through the activities of the flowering time integrator genes. The second section looks at the evidence that the same or similar pathways operate in other species, with particular emphasis on the short day plant rice, and Gregor Mendel's famous genetic model, the garden pea.Less

Epilogue: Made in Asia

Yoshiko Nakano

in Where There Are Asians, There Are Rice Cookers: How “National” Went Global via Hong Kong

The National rice cooker success story is not simply a case of “Made in Japan” but more accurately a case of “Made in Asia.” The synergy that existed between the Japanese rice cooker team and its ... More

The National rice cooker success story is not simply a case of “Made in Japan” but more accurately a case of “Made in Asia.” The synergy that existed between the Japanese rice cooker team and its Hong Kong intermediary was the determining factor in the successful localization of the rice cooker and its eventual domination of the Hong Kong market and beyond. The process was not unilateral but multidirectional, multifaceted, and above all collaborative. Japanese rice cookers found their way along Chinese and other transnational networks to Asians worldwide.Less

Blights, Rusts, and Rots Never Sleep: A Look at Forestry and Agriculture, Biological Warfare, and the Global Impact of Fungal Disease

Nicholas P. Money

in Triumph of the Fungi: A Rotten History

This chapter explores the future of the ongoing competition between humans and fungi for control of the biosphere. The emerging diseases of white pine blister rust, sudden oak death, jarrah dieback, ... More

This chapter explores the future of the ongoing competition between humans and fungi for control of the biosphere. The emerging diseases of white pine blister rust, sudden oak death, jarrah dieback, soybean rust, and rice blast offer useful perspectives on the planet’s rotten present and rotten future. The use of fungi as agents of agricultural and biological warfare is also featured. The global impact of fungal disease is highlighted, with the idea that a fungal super-pathogen of Cretaceous plants may have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs.Less

Selfish Genes, Sophisticated Plants, and Haphazard Ecosystems

R. Ford Denison

in Darwinian Agriculture: How Understanding Evolution Can Improve Agriculture

This chapter discusses the limitations of natural selection, arguing that the overall organization of even ancient natural ecosystems may be relatively imperfect compared to individual adaptations ... More

This chapter discusses the limitations of natural selection, arguing that the overall organization of even ancient natural ecosystems may be relatively imperfect compared to individual adaptations that have been repeatedly tested through competition. After considering the near-perfection of natural ecosystems from the perspective of agroecology, the chapter explains how natural selection improves genes and individuals, rather than ecosystems. It then compares natural ecosystems with agricultural ecosystems designed by humans in terms of their ability to improve ecosystem-wide properties. It also examines whether we can harvest more food, sustainably, from human-managed ecosystems or from natural ones by focusing on two systems: human cultivation of wild rice without fertilizer, and human management of reindeer herds (domesticated caribou).Less

The domestication of cereal crops

Denis J. Murphy

in People, Plants and Genes: The Story of Crops and Humanity

By 10 million years ago, the major cereal groups had diverged from each other and were distributed across the world. Many of these grassy plants have remained recalcitrant to domestication, but ... More

By 10 million years ago, the major cereal groups had diverged from each other and were distributed across the world. Many of these grassy plants have remained recalcitrant to domestication, but thanks to their unusual genomic architectures, a few of the larger grained species were able to adapt to cultivation during the early Neolithic period to become our most important crop plants. The major cereal crops in the Near East were the wheat/barley/rye groups, which included many polyploid hybrids, especially among the wheats. In eastern Asia, rice and millets were the first cereals to be farmed, while in Africa sorghum and several millet species were cultivated. The major American cereal was maize, which was initially domesticated from teosinte to form small-cob maize in a relatively rapid process that was followed by several millennia of slow increases in cob length that eventually resulted in the high yielding crop of today.Less

People and the emergence of crops

Denis J. Murphy

in People, Plants and Genes: The Story of Crops and Humanity

This chapter is concerned with the emergence and spread of the major crop groups from their centres of origin in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas. Although the initial domestication of some crops ... More

This chapter is concerned with the emergence and spread of the major crop groups from their centres of origin in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas. Although the initial domestication of some crops was sometimes rapid, with non-shattering large seed varieties often appearing within a few decades of cultivation, their subsequent spread across a wider region was relatively slow. In the Near East, domesticated forms of barley and wheat only gradually supplanted wild forms over a 2,500-year period after 10,000 BP. Rice was domesticated before 10,000 BP, but did not become a widespread dietary staple in east Asia until 7,000 BP. Mesoamericans domesticated maize before 9,000 BP, but large cob varieties did not appear until 3,000 BP.Less

Photoperiodic Control of Flowering in the Short-Day Plant Oryza sativa

Takeshi Izawa

in Photoperiodism: The Biological Calendar

This chapter summarizes the progress made in understanding photoperiodic flowering in rice. Over the last decade, major questions regarding the photoperiodic control of flowering in plants have been ... More

This chapter summarizes the progress made in understanding photoperiodic flowering in rice. Over the last decade, major questions regarding the photoperiodic control of flowering in plants have been addressed. First, the external coincidence model was supported at the molecular level in both long-day and short-day plants. Next, studies identified the major genetic components that differ between long-day and short-day plants. Their opposite responses to photoperiods were attributed to the distinct transcriptional mechanisms of florigen genes, such as FT and Hd3a. Finally, the molecular nature of these florigens was revealed. In addition to these achievements, biochemical studies were undertaken to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between light signals and circadian clocks, in order to explain how Arabidopsis thaliana can recognize day length and consequently express FT.Less

Applied aspects of temporary waters

D. Dudley Williams

in The Biology of Temporary Waters

This chapter examines aspects of temporary waters that are largely associated with human activities. Some of these associations are ancient, for example use of temporary floodplain pools for trapping ... More

This chapter examines aspects of temporary waters that are largely associated with human activities. Some of these associations are ancient, for example use of temporary floodplain pools for trapping migrating fishes; the rice-paddy culture method for fishes; and the rotation of grain and carp harvests in Europe. In each case, the characteristics of community structure and dynamics are outlined and compared with other temporary waters.Less

The Emergence of a Fundamentalist Right

Daniel K. Williams

in God's Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right

While most evangelicals supported Eisenhower’s centrist conservatism and moderate position on civil rights, self-identified fundamentalists, including Bob Jones, Jr., Billy James Hargis, Carl ... More

While most evangelicals supported Eisenhower’s centrist conservatism and moderate position on civil rights, self-identified fundamentalists, including Bob Jones, Jr., Billy James Hargis, Carl McIntire, John R. Rice, and Jerry Falwell, supported the more radical positions of the “far right.” Like Billy Graham, they were strongly anticommunist, but unlike Graham, they defended racial segregation and denounced the early civil rights movement. This chapter traces the emergence of a fundamentalist political program that operated alongside the more mainstream evangelical politics of the 1950s. The chapter argues that fundamentalists’ support for racial segregation, a position that was unpopular with many northern evangelicals, prevented them from attaining national political influence during the 1950s. Nevertheless, fundamentalists’ political activities during this decade shaped the political consciousness of many pastors, including Falwell, who would later become Religious Right leaders.Less

A Pleasant Childhood

Todd Lewis and Subarna Tuladhar

in Sugata Saurabha: An Epic Poem from Nepal on the Life of the Buddha by Chittadhar Hridaya

Siddhārtha is depicted as if he had been raised by his foster mother Gautamī in the palace just like an urban Newar of the twentieth century. For example, pyucha bracelets adorn the child when he is ... More

Siddhārtha is depicted as if he had been raised by his foster mother Gautamī in the palace just like an urban Newar of the twentieth century. For example, pyucha bracelets adorn the child when he is two months old; his rice feeding ceremony is performed at six months; a garland of rice cake (yomari) is put around his neck at two years. Here again, the poet was careful not to depict Siddhārtha as supernormal. The ancient biographical text, the Lalitavistara, describes that when young Siddhārtha was taken to Shākya's sacred shrine room, stone images of gods and goddesses fell prostrate on the floor to show reverence. But Chittadhar simply has it that in the presence of the prince the stone images of gods and goddess paled and looked diminished. As King Shuddhodana looks on, the child is taught Newar nursery rhymes, juvenile Newari expressions, folk songs, and literature.Less

Demographic Responses to Short-Term Economic Stress in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Rural Japan: Evidence from Two Northeastern Villages

Noriko O. Tsuya and Satomi Kurosu

in Living Standards in the Past: New Perspectives on Well-Being in Asia and Europe

Examines the patterns and trends of demographic responses to changes in living standards in two farming villages in north-eastern Japan from 1716 to 1870. Using the local population registers ... More

Examines the patterns and trends of demographic responses to changes in living standards in two farming villages in north-eastern Japan from 1716 to 1870. Using the local population registers (ninbetsu-aratame-cho), we analyse the impacts of short-term economic stress measured by annual variations of rice prices on mortality, fertility, first marriage, and migration. The result shows that first marriage and out-migration are most responsive to short-term economic stress. Household resources and wealth also influence these individual demographic behaviours but the effects differ by sex, life stage, and type/reason of behaviour. Findings on temporal trends suggest improvements of female socio-demographic status during the late nineteenth century.Less

The Universe of Agriculture

M.N. Srinivas

in The Remembered Village

This chapter describes the village's general preoccupation with agriculture, land, and other objects or events either incidental to, or derived from, agriculture. It did not take long for a visitor ... More

This chapter describes the village's general preoccupation with agriculture, land, and other objects or events either incidental to, or derived from, agriculture. It did not take long for a visitor to Rampura to discover the villagers' preoccupation with land. It was seen in daily talk and conversation. That brothers should fight each other for ancestral land was tragic but only too frequent. As an irrigated village, Rampura was only indirectly and secondarily dependent upon rain, and the villagers were aware of this. Preoccupation with rice cultivation resulted in a number of domestic and social activities being packed into about five months between the completion of its harvest and the beginning of the rainy season. Meanwhile, killing a bullock, cow, or bull was sacrilege for all Hindus, including Harijans.Less

The Bible and Slavery

Mark A. Noll

in America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln

Central to the slavery debate was the issue of how to use the Scripture. Three major positions emerged on the Bible and slavery. Theological conservatives usually defended a literal reading of the ... More

Central to the slavery debate was the issue of how to use the Scripture. Three major positions emerged on the Bible and slavery. Theological conservatives usually defended a literal reading of the Scripture, which was held to provide a divine sanction for slavery. Radicals who wanted to abolish slavery sometimes agreed that the Bible sanctioned slavery, but that acknowledgment led them to disparage the Bible. In the middle were a distraught contingent of Bible readers who were troubled by their conclusion that the Bible sanctioned slavery, and who failed unsuccessfully in trying to combine faithfulness to Scripture and opposition to slavery. All factions, but especially the middle group, were constrained in their understanding of the Bible by the confluence (distinct to America) between traditional Christianity and commonsense republican principles.Less