John Steinbeck's 1939 novel can be given a reading that links events and the mentality of characters to mainstream schools of liberal and neo-liberal political theory: libertarianism, egalitarianism, and utilitarianism. Each of these schools is sketched in outline and applied to topics in rural political culture.

Ranching generally causes a progressive deforestation. Nevertheless in Mediterranean countries trees are still present in many pastoral systems, here referred to as silvopastoral systems (SPs). Trees provide products as fruits as human food, fruits or leaves as fodder, wood and firewood, environmental services like patches of soil fertility and shelter for animals, and environmental goods such as carbon sequestration, water yield and quality and reinforced biodiversity.

This paper is a review of the Land Use Act of 1978 with a view to examining the implications of the Act for security of tenure and environmental conservation. The review indicates that while the inalienation of rights of use and ownership of land under the communal or group ownership tenure system limited access to land and security of tenure, it encouraged the protection and conservation of land resources and the physical environment.

World population is increasing, particularly in the developing countries. Groundwater reserves are being depleted; lands are being degraded. The required increase in food production must come principally from new supplies of water for irrigated lands. If irrigated lands fail to produce the required food, increased destruction of resources and degradation of the environment from increasing slash and burn agriculture is anticipated. Various countries and international agencies have recognized the possibility of future food shortage.

Land consolidation in Slovak Republic is claimed to be negatively perceived, although, there is no empirical evidence of this. This is used by administration to interfere with land consolidation. Based on owners' opinion in cadastral area of Malý Báb, where land consolidation was carried out, we show that a positive view on land consolidation prevails (almost 80%). Groups of respondents with inclination to a negative perception (e.g. the seniors with bad experiences in the past, ignorant juniors) were identified, problematic areas (e.g.

A dráguló olajár „felszínre hozta” a fosszilis energiahordozók környezetbarát energiahordozókkal való kiváltásának problémáját. Az olajkészletek korlátozottságamellett a bizonytalan kitermelés és a folyamatosan növekvő árak a bioüzemanyagokfelé irányítják a politikai döntéshozók és a befektetők figyelmét.

The article presents ecological and economic zoning of the territory of the Republic of Belarus for the purposes of land use planning by the method of average differences, taking into account the factors which influence the efficiency of agricultural lands usage.

The 2003 reform of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) introduced Single Farm Payments (SFPs) which are decoupled payments conditional on cross-compliance, and allows these payments to be claimed for land kept fully idle but maintained in good agricultural and environmental conditions (GAEC). This paper focuses on the potential impact of the reform on land idling decisions in France with the help of a survey of the intentions of landowners.

The increasing scarcity of water in California and the rising cost of compliance with environmental regulations are motivating some farmers in the San Joaquin Valley to sell their land and water, and discontinue production of irrigated crops. In the summer of 2004, all landowners in the 3,700-ha Broadview Water District decided to sell their land to Westlands Water District. The land sales have been completed and Westlands has acquired Broadview's water supply contract. Farmland in Broadview will no longer be irrigated.

The present state of the landscapes and territories in the Sahel is the result of interactions between climatic, economic, social and political factors which have been taking place for more than four decades.

Agri-environmental measures have not been able to halt the decline of biodiversity in agricultural systems. Agricultural practices aimed at preserving diversity on a field scale appear to be deficient. This study models the interactions between grazing/mowing practices and the ecological dynamics of two grassland bird species (Northern Lapwing and Common Redshank) at three nested spatial scales (field, farm and landscape). On a field scale, grazing periods and intensity determine the balance between production and conservation.