Long embraced by corporations who are driven only by the desire for profit, industrial agriculture wastes precious resources and spews millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year, exacerbating climate change and threatening the very earth and water on which we depend. However, this dominant system, from which Americans obtain most of their food, is being slowly supplanted by a new paradigm.
The Emergent Agriculture is a collection of fourteen thematic essays on sustainability viewed through the lens of farming. Arguing that industrial food production is incompatible with the realities of nature, science, and ethics, this lyrical narrative makes the case for a locally based food system which is:
Stable in the face of economic uncertainty
Resilient in the face of environmental variability
Grounded in stewardship of the land, on attaching value to food and the craft involved in producing it, and on respecting the dignity of farmers, consumer,s and livestock
A revolution in food production is underway. Written from the vantage point of an ecologist who is also a farmer, The Emergent Agriculture is essential reading for anyone interested in food security and the potential for growing local economies. Food for thought about the future of food.
Gary Kleppel is a professor of biology at the SUNY Albany, where he focuses on sustainable agriculture, conservation-based grazing, and the ecology of human-dominated landscapes. He and his wife Pam are owners of Longfield Farm, where they produce grass-fed lamb, wool, free range chickens and eggs, and artisanal breads.
This new book, Sustainable Practices in Surface and Subsurface Micro Irrigation, offers a vast amount of knowledge and techniques necessary to develop and manage a drip/trickle or micro irrigation system. The information covered has worldwide applicability to irrigation management in agriculture.
Focusing on both subsurface and surface micro irrigation, chapters in the book cover a variety of new research and information on:
• Irrigation water requirements for tanier, vegetables, bananas, plantains, beans, and papaya
• Irrigating different types of soils, including sandy soils, wet soils, and mollisols
• New applications for micro irrigation using existing technology, such as meteorological instruments and MicroCAD
This volume is a comprehensive treatment of how the principles of ecology and conservation biology can be used to maximize biological control. Conservation Biological Control presents various means to modify or manipulate the environment to enhance the activities of natural enemies of pests. It establishes a conceptual link between ecology and the agricultural use of agents for biological control, and discusses both theoretical issues as well as practical management concerns. Certain to be interesting to ecologists and entomologists, this volume will also appeal to scientists, faculty, researchers and students interested in pest management, horticulture, plant sciences, and agriculture.
Key Features * Contains chapters by an international team of leading authorities * Establishes a conceptual link between ecology and the agricultural use of agents for biological control * Discusses both theoretical issues as well as practical management concerns * Provides specific examples of how conservation principles are used to maximize the biological control of pests
This is an original 1807 black and white copper engraving of an illustration that depicts techniques used in watering farmland in early 19th century England.
