Find an interdiscliplinary view of sustainable agriculture that emphasizes the potential contributions of ecology to agricultural sustainability in this groundbreaking book. Integrating Sustainable Agriculture, Ecology, and Environmental Policy explores how ecological knowledge, applied as part of a multidisciplinary effort, can be used to design a sustainable and environmentally sound agriculture. A more ecologically based agriculture can increase production efficiency and decrease environmental impacts, but hard choices regarding population control, energy conservation, and land use must still be made. This interdisciplinary approach ensures that the results are beneficial to all components, for example, an ecologically based management scheme which bankrupts the farmer is not considered a viable option for sustainable agriculture. These thought-provoking chapters are an excellent introduction to the contributions of ecological principles to an environmentally sound sustainable agriculture. This multidisciplinary examination provides readers interested in agriculture with a valuable introduction to related work in other fields including ecology and economics. Agronomists, ecologists, educators, and policymakers will find essential information on diverse topics including: the definition and measurement of ecological sustainability in agriculture landscape ecology and the design of sustainable agricultural landscapes soil ecology as a foundation for sustainable agriculture Federal agricultural policies as incentives or deterrent to sustainable agriculture applying farming systems research and extension to sustainable agriculture population growth and other threats to sustainable agriculture environmental policies and their effects on sustainable agriculture the role of precollege education in developing sustainable agriculture

This reissue, first published in 1995, focuses on philosophy and social science in human ecology, and includes case studies dealing with the problems of political implementation of development plans and schemes. Part One deals with theory, including a comprehensive introduction to the field and an overview of the conceptual modelling typical in human ecology. Part Two moves towards questions of human behaviour and action, exploring the relationship between environmental ethics and policy in terms of the justification and implementation of human interactions with nature and the environment on an ecologically sustainable basis. In Part Three, the author focuses on environmental policy in China since 1949 and on a regional case study in India. The final part of the book discusses the prospects for sustainable development more broadly, in terms of favouring ecological and cultural variety in agriculture and of viewing the relationship between human beings and the natural environment as a matter of overexploitation rather than crisis.

Issues In Agroecology – Present Status and Future Prospectus not only reviews aspects of ecology, but the ecology of sustainable food production systems, and related societal and cultural values. To provide effective communication regarding status and advances in this field, this series connects with many disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, environmental sciences, ethics, agriculture, economics, ecology, rural development, sustainability, policy and education, and integrations of these general themes so as to provide integrated points of view that will help lead to a more sustainable construction of values than conventional economics alone. Such designs are inherently complex and dynamic, and go beyond the individual farm to include landscapes, communities, and biogeographic regions by emphasizing their unique agricultural and ecological values, and their biological, societal, and cultural components and processes.

Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.

Sustainable Agroecosystem Management: Integrating Ecology, Economics, and Society examines the challenges for developing integrated approaches to the management of agricultural ecosystems. Providing historical background of attempts to bridge the ecological and agricultural sciences, this book highlights recent efforts to integrate natural and social science perspectives. Through various case studies with global applications, the text explores practical innovative strategies, policies, and research needs for emphasizing whole system productivity, diversification of agricultural operations, and management of agricultural systems that sustain multiple functions including ecological integrity.

Sustainable intensification has recently been developed and adopted as a key concept and driver for research and policy in sustainable agriculture. It includes ecological, economic and social dimensions, where food and nutrition security, gender and equity are crucial components. This book describes different aspects of systems research in agriculture in its broadest sense, where the focus is moved from farming systems to livelihoods systems and institutional innovation. Much of the work represents outputs of the three CGIAR Research Programs on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics, Aquatic Agricultural Systems and Dryland Systems. The chapters are based around four themes: the conceptual underpinnings of systems research; sustainable intensification in practice; integrating nutrition, gender and equity in research for improved livelihoods; and systems and institutional innovation. While most of the case studies are from countries and agro-ecological zones in Africa, there are also some from Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.