Ecological Principles of Agriculture is a text for students of agriculture and ecology. Its strength can be found in its versatility. Agricultural students with no prior coursework in ecology will find it invaluable as an introduction to ecological principles, while ecology students will gain insight into the practical application of these principles with respect to agriculture. This text will help students understand the ecological processes inherent in any agricultural system as well as their implications in agricultural management. Without discussing every different type of agricultural practice (an impossible task), students will come away with an understanding of how to apply these principles to agricultural design, management and problem-solving in very specific situations.
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
Nearly two billion people depend on hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers for food security. Yet, these farmers’ lives also hang in the balance due to their extreme vulnerability to the risks of soil degradation and depletion, soil exhaustion, climate change, and numerous biotic and abiotic stresses. Soil Management of Smallholder Agriculture explores the potential smallholder agriculture hold for advancing global food security and outlines the challenges to achieving this goal.
The book addresses the challenges and opportunities that resource-poor and small landholders face and provides recommended management practices to alleviate soil-related constraints, and increase and sustain crop yield and production. It discusses the cultural, economic, social, and technological aspects of sustainable soil management for smallholder farmers. It then examines soil-related and institutional constraints, principles of sustainable agriculture, soil quality improvement, nutrient and soil fertility management, soil carbon sequestration, soil security, efficient use of resources, and agronomic production.
Edited by experts, the book makes the case for the adoption of proven technologies of sustainable intensification, producing more from less, both for advancing agronomic production and adapting to changing climate. It outlines a strategy that will usher in a soil-based Green Revolution by increasing the use efficiency of energy-based inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation to restore soil quality, and sequestering carbon in the terrestrial ecosystems. This strategy helps small farms narrow the gap between the actual and attainable crop yield.
* A key contribution to the debate on sustainable agriculture and food * Includes interviews with 40 world-leading experts * An innovative step-by-step process approach to solving complex problems that can be applied to any business
By 2100, the world’s population is estimated to grow to over 10 billion. Changing the Food Game shows how our unsustainable food production system cannot support this growth. In this prescient book, Lucas Simons argues that the biggest challenge for our generation can only be solved by effective market transformation to achieve sustainable agriculture and food production.
Lucas Simons explains clearly how we have created a production and trading system which is inherently unsustainable. But he also explores that we have reason to be hopeful – from a sustainability race in the cocoa industry to examples of market transformation taking place in palm oil, timber and sugarcane production. He also poses the question: where next?
Rigorous and eye-opening, Changing the Food Game uncovers the real story of how our food makes it on to our plates and presents a game-changing solution to revolutionize the industry.
Climate change presents an unprecedented challenge to the productivity and profitability of agriculture in North America. More variable weather, drought, and flooding create the most obvious damage, but hot summer nights, warmer winters, longer growing seasons, and other environmental changes have more subtle but far-reaching effects on plant and livestock growth and development.
Resilient Agriculture recognizes the critical role that sustainable agriculture will play in the coming decades and beyond. The latest science on climate risk, resilience, and climate change adaptation is blended with the personal experience of farmers and ranchers to explore:
The “strange changes” in weather recorded over the last decade
The associated shifts in crop and livestock behavior
The actions producers have taken to maintain productivity in a changing climate
The climate change challenge is real and it is here now. To enjoy the sustained production of food, fiber, and fuel well into the twenty-first century, we must begin now to make changes that will enhance the adaptive capacity and resilience of North American agriculture. The rich knowledge base presented in Resilient Agriculture is poised to serve as the cornerstone of an evolving, climate-ready food system.
Laura Lengnick is a researcher, policymaker, activist, educator, and farmer whose work explores the community-enhancing potential of agriculture and food systems. She directs the academic program in sustainable agriculture at Warren Wilson College and was a lead author of the report Climate Change and Agriculture in the United States: Effects and Adaptation.
