At present, the predominant form of agriculture is based on the interventionist approach, in which most aspects of the production system are controlled by technological interventions (such as soil tilling, curative pest and weed control with agrochemicals) and the application of synthetic mineral fertilisers for plant nutrition. However, there are now many production systems with a predominantly ecosystem approach, underpinned by healthy soils, and characterised as "Conservation Agriculture", that are not only effective in producing food and other raw materials economically, but also more sustainable in terms of environmental impacts. Their further development and spread merit deeper support with the development of suitable policies, funding, research, technologies, knowledgediffusion, and institutional arrangements.
Brazil and Nepal-bring research knowledge and field experience to describing the best features of well-managed conservation agriculture (CA) and how to achieve them. Key examples are systems combining no-till seeding, crop-rotations including legumes, plus maintenance of continuous crop-residue cover to the soil. The key to success is the adoption of production methods which cause minimal disturbance to soil which is healthy, biologically active, self-restructuring and appropriately porous. In this form CA increases, conserves and sustains through time the capacity of a landscape to continue yielding vegetation and water year by year. This capacity derives from the dynamic actions of soil-inhabiting organisms interacting with the soil's physical, chemical and hydric components. Such systems are resource-conserving, carbon-storing, productive, uncommonly stable and economic. Designs and comparative performances-judged by seedling-response-of seeding equipment for zerotillage farming are described. An 'inverted-T' design of soil-opener has performed best in a wide range of soil conditions. Illustrated descriptions of manual, animal-drawn and tractor-drawn seeders are included. Controlled-traffic farming is an important complement to zero-tillage for soil management. The book illustrates the principles and type of practices which offer the most secure way forward for stabilizing, raising and sustaining land's capacities to yield water and vegetation, in an era of rising climatic uncertainty and still-expanding human populations. For those serving agriculture, a particular challenge is to assist myriad resource-poor small farmers to benefit from such knowledge. Copious references plus a useful index complete this timely, significant, and well-written book.
late 18 th century-he was not put off by lack of a computer. A section on the non-linear behaviour of some models might have been included: predictions can be affected by the choice of either temporal or spatial time scales over which to average inputs. I nevertheless recommend the book.
This volume advocates long known but often obscured understandings about how land needs to be treated for its productivity to be maintained. Implicit in the title is the need for husbandry of land to be improved beyond those inappropriate levels of use and management which have led to land degradation, evidenced too often in the tropics by soil erosion. Good land husbandry rests on a set of agro-ecological and socioeconomic principles, not in a collection of specific practices. It is an essential concept behind land management, not just an improved alternative approach to soil and water conservation, as suggested by the author. He outlines complexities of the interwoven lives of soils and people on steeplands in tropical America, and discusses reasons why farmers may not adopt what specialists prescribe. There is welcome emphasis on listening to farmers, on soil organisms, organic materials, soil porosity and soil water, and on the benefits achievable from mulch-based zero-tillage systems. From the text can be inferred lines of inter-disciplinary enquiry needed to improve our understanding of the roots of sustainability of agricultural production. This interesting book combines information from fieldwork on steeplands in Honduras (until ended by Hurricane Mitch), a doctoral thesis, other people's writings, the author's interpretations and 41 pages of references. The author's enthusiasm for better land husbandry shines through the wide-ranging but rather jumbled text and the references, among which the persistent reader will discern the urgent, basic, ecological message. Stricter editing, to improve clarity and shorten the book, would have been beneficial.
are written by contributors from around the world (North and South America, Europe and Australia), the emphasis is on Europe. The organic farming movement progressed slowly from its early pioneers of green environmentalists and social reformers. By the 1980s, the market was still less than 0.1%. However, a series of food scares, changes in lifestyles and a greater disposable income initiated a demand for 'healthy' food. Suddenly, organic farming was seen by both growers and retailers as a lucrative market, with consumers willing to pay a premium. Expansion of demand brought problems of availability and sustainability of supply. The chapter Development of Standards highlights the bureaucracy of intervention by governments (a plethora of committees, standards, directives and acronyms) to establish systems to satisfy that demand. The attitude of the agricultural establishment moved from initial rejection, to tolerance and finally integration into the mainstream. Many of the practises encouraged by the early organic growers are actively pursued today-municipal waste recycling, the use of green manures, integrated pest management, minimum tillage and fair trade. The book is a good informative overview of the development of organic farming, including detailed histories of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM), the Soil Association and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL).
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