Storey, P(eter) J. 1937–

PERSONAL: Born June 6, 1937, in England; son of John (a bank clerk) and Edna (a nurse; maiden name, Jones) Storey; married Agnes Watson (a nurse), January 15, 1966; children: Anne, David, Adell. Ethnicity: "White." Education: Durham School of Agriculture, certificate of merit (general agriculture), 1955, certificate of merit (livestock farm management), 1956; attended Queensland Agricultural College, 1969–70. Politics: "Fair and honest." Religion: Christian. Hobbies and other interests: Practical Christianity.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—38 Bellingham Rd., Kendal, Cumbria LA9 5JW, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Farm trainee in England, 1952–54; assistant farm manager in England, 1956–57; agricultural missionary in Taiwan, 1963–79, and Nepal, 1980–90; writer, 1990–. Volunteer manager of agricultural/horticultural and water-engineering project in Nepal, 1994–96. Military service: British Army, vehicle mechanic and craftsman, 1957–60; served in Germany.

MEMBER: World Association of Soil and Water Conservation, Tropical Agriculture Association, Association for Better Land Husbandry.

WRITINGS:

Basic Vegetable Gardening in Nepal (in English and Nepali), United Mission to Nepal (Nepal), 1990.

Bamboo: A Valuable Crop for the Hills (in English and Nepali), Helvetas (Nepal), 1990.

Bamboo: A Valuable Multi-Purpose Crop, privately printed, 1999.

The Conservation and Improvement of Sloping Land, Science Publisher (Enfield, NH), Volume 1, 2002, Volumes 2-3, 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Quality Rural Development; research on fruit and vegetable gardening in warm countries.

SIDELIGHTS: P. J. Storey told CA: "Having worked in agriculture since 1952 and in a range of related work in developing countries with poor farmers since 1963, I have accumulated information and experience which I know is useful and practical. I have been a practitioner and write from personal experience. I have been sickened since 1963, seeing how impractical and how often inaccurate are too many of the books written about agricultural work in the developing countries. So little that is done is effective, or only effective in the short term and harmful in the long term. I decided it was time a practitioner wrote for practitioners.

"My writing is influenced by the need for a different and practical approach to the problems of poor farmers. I take my own experience and supplement it from writings and related research that seems appropriate, put it into a logical order, write and rewrite to improve it, and add relevant information.

"We owe our existence to six inches of topsoil and rain. We are spoiling and reducing that six-inch layer of topsoil. We are wasting the rainfall so that it removes rather than enhances soil fertility. It is now at last being realized that human and ecosystem wellbeing are intimately entwined. We need to plan and manage for ecosystem protection and human development simultaneously."