This is a very interesting, thought-provoking and timely book that through 12 chapters on subjects as diverse as Conservation Agriculture, Bio-fortification, Bio-char, Water Management/Agronomy in Africa and the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) illustrates how politics may profoundly influence the way agronomic issues are presented at policy levels and to a general public. As such the book should be an obligatory reading for any (senior) agronomist.

A criticism is that the book does not present a clear view as to what the agronomic research discipline is about. Agronomy is a kind of an orphan discipline among the agricultural sciences that is being taught very superficially, if at all, at universities. It is crucial in two specific ways: (a) as an essential link between agricultural research and hands-on farming, and (b) as an integrating and holistic discipline that brings together research contributions from other specialised disciplines (be it plant breeders or socio-economists) into technical and policy options for the agricultural sector.

Indicative of the weakness in agronomic background is the lack of attention paid to the critical features of interactions and confounding that are involved in any comparison between agricultural systems. Confounding interferes with the objective interpretation of field data and observations, thereby often rendering scientific conclusions and explanations questionable. This is well illustrated by the debates surrounding SRI.

Unfortunately, some of the contributions, certainly the concluding chapter, are written in a rather academic style, which makes the subject less accessible to a desired readership of generalists.