Overview

Global agriculture is now at the crossroads. The Green Revolution of the last century is losing momentum. Rates of growth in food production are now declining, with land and water resources becoming scarcer, while world population continues to grow. We need to continue to identify and share the knowledge that will support successful and sustainable agriculture systems. These depend crucially on soil. Gaining international attention, Dr. Uphoff's efforts to promote and develop sustainable agriculture was recently featured in the N.Y. Times Led by Norman Uphoff, internationally renowned for his proactive approach to world hunger, this volume brings together 102 experts representing 28 nations and multiple disciplines to report on achievements in sustainable soil-system management. While accepting some continuing role for chemical and other external inputs, this book presents ways in which crops can be produced cost effectively in greater abundance with lessened dependence on the exogenous resources that have driven the expansion of agriculture in the past. Including the work of both researchers and practitioners, this important volume -- * Explores soil systems in a variety of climate conditions * Discusses the importance of symbiotic relationships between plants and soil organisms, looking at crops as integral and interdependent participants in ecosystems * Seeks to reduce the distance between scientific research and technical practice * Examines related considerations such as pest and disease control, climate change, fertility restoration, and uses of monitoring and modeling With 50 self-contained chapters, this work provides researchers, practitioners, and policy makers with a comprehensive understanding of the science and steps needed to utilize soil systems for the long-term benefit of humankind. For information on the SRI, System of Rice Intensification being developed by Uphoff and others, go to http://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/

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9781574445831

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This book includes the work of both researchers and practitioners from around the world. It explores problems and solutions for sustainable soli-system management in a variety of climatic conditions. The text is thorough and detailed, and discusses the importance of symbiotic relationships between plants and soil organisms, looking at crops as integral and interdependent participants in ecosystems. ... The different chapters look at innovation in soil system strategies in tropical and temperate regions, and present a variety of ways to produce more crops with less dependence on external inputs. - In LEISA Magazine, Pages 32 & 33, December 2006 For an ever-green revolution, we need, first and foremost, to have sustainable soil systems. ... It is in this context that Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems is an extremely timely and valuable contribution to a wider understanding of what needs to be done for the sake of a truly modern agriculture and for the sake of future generations. ...The book provides the scientific basis for low external-input agriculture. Soil health is treated in a holistic manner involving attention to the physics, chemistry, and microbiology of soil systems. The various chapters could help scientists chart out and embark on a program of soil breeding for high productivity. Such initiatives for sustainable agriculture should receive as much attention as crop breeding has been given if we are to promote advances in productivity in perpetuity without adverse ecological consequences. - From the foreword by M.S. Swaminathan, World Food Prize Laureate, Co-chair, UN's Millenium Task Force on Poverty and Hunger ... The complexity of soil systems leads to discussions from different disciplines reminiscent of the tale of the three blind men describing an elephant: radically different views limited to observations of a small piece of the whole. ... moves toward integrating these often disparate perspectives on soils with a distinctly practical social aim: to modify agricultural practices to reduce environmental degradation and increase food security, based on improved scientific understanding of soil systems. ...a cross between a general soil ecoagriculture textbook and a compendium of applied research, coupled with take-home messages for the practitioner... chapters are written for the non-expert, and are well cross-referenced, which illustrates the tight coupling among the subjects, and points the reader to additional references. ... presents a myriad of applications and syntheses on biological soil management from around the world. ...This book introduces the broad range of topics and advancements that will form the foundation for biological soil management in the future. ...appropriate as a primer and general reference for the agricultural benefits of biological soil management for non-experts across a variety of disciplines, from policy to enlightened practitioners to academics. Graduate students and researchers with an interest in social impacts of science will benefit from the succinct background chapters linked with international field-based experimental research, and will find plenty of potential research directions highlighted as gaps in the current knowledge base. -Karen W. Holmes, in Landscape Ecology, 2008

This book includes the work of both researchers and practitioners from around the world. It explores problems and solutions for sustainable soli-system management in a variety of climatic conditions. The text is thorough and detailed, and discusses the importance of symbiotic relationships between plants and soil organisms, looking at crops as integral and interdependent participants in ecosystems. ... The different chapters look at innovation in soil system strategies in tropical and temperate regions, and present a variety of ways to produce more crops with less dependence on external inputs. - In LEISA Magazine, Pages 32 & 33, December 2006 For an ever-green revolution, we need, first and foremost, to have sustainable soil systems. ... It is in this context that Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems is an extremely timely and valuable contribution to a wider understanding of what needs to be done for the sake of a truly modern agriculture and for the sake of future generations. ...The book provides the scientific basis for low external-input agriculture. Soil health is treated in a holistic manner involving attention to the physics, chemistry, and microbiology of soil systems. The various chapters could help scientists chart out and embark on a program of soil breeding for high productivity. Such initiatives for sustainable agriculture should receive as much attention as crop breeding has been given if we are to promote advances in productivity in perpetuity without adverse ecological consequences. - From the foreword by M.S. Swaminathan, World Food Prize Laureate, Co-chair, UN's Millenium Task Force on Poverty and Hunger ... The complexity of soil systems leads to discussions from different disciplines reminiscent of the tale of the three blind men describing an elephant: radically different views limited to observations of a small piece of the whole. ... moves toward integrating these often disparate perspectives on soils with a distinctly practical social aim: to modify agricultural practices to reduce environmental degradation and increase food security, based on improved scientific understanding of soil systems. ...a cross between a general soil ecoagriculture textbook and a compendium of applied research, coupled with take-home messages for the practitioner... chapters are written for the non-expert, and are well cross-referenced, which illustrates the tight coupling among the subjects, and points the reader to additional references. ... presents a myriad of applications and syntheses on biological soil management from around the world. ...This book introduces the broad range of topics and advancements that will form the foundation for biological soil management in the future. ...appropriate as a primer and general reference for the agricultural benefits of biological soil management for non-experts across a variety of disciplines, from policy to enlightened practitioners to academics. Graduate students and researchers with an interest in social impacts of science will benefit from the succinct background chapters linked with international field-based experimental research, and will find plenty of potential research directions highlighted as gaps in the current knowledge base. -Karen W. Holmes, in Landscape Ecology, 2008

Author Information

Norman Uphoff, Andrew S. Ball, Erick Fernandes, Hans Herren, Olivier Husson, Mark Laing, Cheryl Palm, Jules Pretty, Pedro Sanchez, Nteranya Sanginga, Janice Thies

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