technology & engineering > agriculture / agronomy / crop science
Unnatural Selection: Technology, Politics, and Plant Evolution
Imported Edition - Ships in 10-12 Days
Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500
Imported Edition - Ships in 10-12 Days
Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500
Seeds and planting materials are central to the agricultural system that feeds us all. Yet there has been surprisingly little interest in seriously analyzing the legal and political processes through which intellectual property rights and policy are constructed for this all-important biological diversity. Concentrating on the American experience, Unnatural Selection offers a comprehensive history and insightful sociological analysis of the struggle to own, control, and benefit from agriculture's plant diversity.
Unnatural Selection elucidates the seldom-told story of how the United States acquired seeds of non-native crops from abroad in the 1800s and multiplied and distributed them to farmers to encourage experimentation and crop adaptation to local conditions, thus promoting the spread of agriculture on the continent. It was one of the largest and most consequential agricultural experiments in human history.
In the United States it also gave rise to the modern seed and nursery industry which began to push for legal mechanisms to protect and advance their interests in the marketplace. Cary Fowler provides the most complete history to date of the origins of the Plant Patent Act of 1930 and the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970. He examines how Congress and the Courts expanded these intellectual property rights, and then how and with what effect these issues of control and ownership became international controversies in the 1980s--controversies that continue, largely unresolved, to this day.
Features a new preface by the author.
Fowler, Cary: -
Cary Fowler currently serves as the President of the Food Security Leadership Council. During the Biden Administration he was U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security. In the 1990s, Fowler headed the first United Nations assessment of the state of the world's plant genetic resources and oversaw negotiations for an associated 150-country Global Plan of Action. Considered the "Father" of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, he authored an award-winning book, Seeds on Ice, about this initiative. Dr. Fowler earned a doctoral degree from Uppsala University in Sweden and has received several honorary doctorates, including one from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences where he is Professor Emeritus of Environment and Development Studies. In 2024, he was awarded the World Food Prize.
• Author(s): Clear | James • Publisher: Penguin • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Random House • Subject: General Books
• Author(s): Jeff Kinney • Publisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Random House Children's UK • BISAC: Comics & Graphic Novels - Humorous
• Author(s): Ichiro Kishimi • Publisher: GROVE ATLANTIC • Publisher Imprint: Allen & Unwin • BISAC: Personal Growth - SuccessIchiro Kishimi lives in Kyoto. He writes, lectures and teaches in psychiatric clinics as a certified counsellor and c...
View full details• Author(s): Chetan Bhagat • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India • Publisher Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers India • BISAC: GeneralFrom India's top-selling writer Chetan Bhagat comes a powerful new love story that will make you laugh, cry...
View full details• Author(s): Brianna Wiest • Publisher: Manjul Publishing • Publisher Imprint: Amaryllis • BISAC: Body Mind And SpiritThis is a book about self-sabotage. Why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it—for good. Coexisting but conflicting n...
View full details• Author(s): Morgan Housel • Publisher: Pan Macmillan • Publisher Imprint: Pan Macmillan • BISAC: Finance - Wealth ManagementA third book from the International bestselling author of The Psychology of Money and Same as Ever, lessons on harnessing...
View full details• Author(s): Arundhati Roy• Publisher: PRH INDIA LOCAL PRINT• Publisher Imprint: Penguin Hamish Hamilton• BISAC: Literary FiguresArundhati Roy’s first work of memoir, this is a soaring account, both intimate and inspiring, of how the author became...
View full details• Author(s): Acharya Prashant • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India • Publisher Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers India • BISAC: GeneralIn a world where vagueness is mistaken for depth and obscurity passes for wisdom, Truth without Apology ...
View full details• Author(s): Sudha Murthy • Publisher: India Puffin • Publisher Imprint: India Puffin • BISAC: Short StoriesWho can resist a good story, especially when it's being told by Grandma? From her bag emerges tales of kings and cheats, monkeys and mic...
View full details• Author(s): Satoshi Yagisawa • Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd • Publisher Imprint: Bonnier Books Ltd
• Author(s): Newport, Cal • Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group • Publisher Imprint: Piatkus
• Author(s): Shrijeet Shandilya • Publisher: Ebury Press • Publisher Imprint: Ebury Press • BISAC: Romance - GeneralIn the electric haze of college life, three friends are bound by laughter, late-night talks and unspoken promises. But when two of...
View full details• Author(s): Dan Brown • Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd • Publisher Imprint: Transworld Publishers Ltd • BISAC: Thrillers - EspionageDan Brown is the bestselling author of Digital Fortress, Deception Point, Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci C...
View full details• Author(s): Sudha Murty • Publisher: India Puffin • Publisher Imprint: India Puffin • BISAC: Action & Adventure - General
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
• Publisher: Penguin • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Random House • Subject: General Books • BISAC: Personal Finance - GeneralApril of 2022 marks a 25-year milestone for the personal finance classic Rich Dad Poor Dad that still ranks as the #1 Pers...
View full details• Author(s): Dale Carnegie | Napoleon Hill • Publisher: Fingerprint • Publisher Imprint: Fingerprint • Subject: General Books
• Author(s): Freida Mcfadden • Publisher: Penguin Select Print • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Select Publishing"Multi-Million Copy Bestselling Series •Now Being Made Into a Major Motion Picture Starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried #1 New Yor...
View full details• Author(s): Wonder House Books • Publisher: Wonder House Books • Publisher Imprint: Wonder House Books • BISAC: Comics & Graphic Novels - Fairy Tales, Folklore, Legends & MTimeless Wisdom, Talking Animals & Life Lessons for Young Min...
View full details• Author(s): Viktor E. Frankl • Publisher: Random House • Publisher Imprint: Random Hou • Subject: Medical, Nursing and Health Sciences
• Author(s): Madhavi Bharadwaj • Publisher: PRH India • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Ebury Press • BISAC: Parenting - MotherhoodWelcome to the wild, messy, wonderful world of parenting--where the nights are long, the diapers are explosive, and unso...
View full details• Author(s): Vir Das • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India • Publisher Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers India • BISAC: Entertainment & Performing ArtsComedian and actor Vir Das is beloved (by some, tolerated by others, blocked by a few...
View full details• Author(s): Eric Carle • Publisher: Penguin Books, Limited (UK) • Publisher Imprint: Penguin Books, Limited (UK) • BISAC: Animals - Butterflies, Moths & CaterpillarsEric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a perennial favourite with child...
View full details• Author(s): Prajakta Koli • Publisher: Harper Fiction India • Publisher Imprint: Harper Fiction India • BISAC: Romance - ContemporaryWinner of the Amazon India Popular Choice Debut Book 2025 Award. From one of India's most-loved creators comes s...
View full details