A major challenge of the twenty-first century will be to ensure sufficient global food production to cope with the burgeoning world population. Soils, Land and Food is a short text aimed at undergraduates, graduates, agricultural scientists and policy makers which describes how the use of technology in soil management can increase and sustain agricultural production. The book leads the reader through the development of techniques of land management and discusses reasons why some agricultural projects have succeeded while others have failed. It shows how surveying and protecting soils before new land is brought into cultivation, raising soil fertility, increasing inputs and improving economic conditions can all help to increase food production. Particular emphasis is placed on the need for both economic change and technological intervention in developing countries where, in many cases, food production will need to more than double in the next fifty years.

Degradation of soils continues at a pace that will eventually create a local, regional, or even global crisis when diminished soil resources collide with increasing climate variation. It's not too late to restore our soils to a more productive state by rediscovering the value of soil management, building on our well-established and ever-expanding scientific understanding of soils. Soil management concepts have been in place since the cultivation of crops, but we need to rediscover the principles that are linked together in effective soil management. This book is unique because of its treatment of soil management based on principles—the physical, chemical, and biological processes and how together they form the foundation for soil management processes that range from tillage to nutrient management. Whether new to soil science or needing a concise reference, readers will benefit from this book's ability to integrate the science of soils with management issues and long-term conservation efforts.

Just five years ago, it was generally believed that the number of food insecure people in the world was on continuous decline. Unfortunately, widespread soil degradation along with resistance to recommended agronomic practices, and little attempt to restore degraded soils have conspired with significant droughts (in regions that could least tolerat

Soil—The Basis of All Terrestrial Life Ancient civilizations and cultures—Mayan, Aztec, Mesopotamian, Indus, and Yangtze—were built on good soils, surviving only as long as soils had the capacity to support them. In the twenty-first century, productive soil is still the engine of economic development and essential to human well-being. The quality of our soil resources, however, is threatened by human-induced and natural perturbations. World Soil Resources and Food Security takes an in-depth look at the availability and status of soil resources in the context of the growing demands of an increasing world population and rising expectations of living standards. This timely reference presents current information on the soil resources available for food production. Presenting innovative strategies for soil and water management, it discusses how to maintain or improve the world’s soil resources in order to increase food production. With the majority of the world’s 1.02 billion food-insecure people concentrated in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, several chapters focus on soil resources in these regions. Contributions from renowned scientists deal with topics including: Global food situations World soil resources Soil resources of humid Asia and their acidification Soil resources of South Asia Properties and management of Vertisols Use of radioisotopic techniques in soil management The potential of rain-fed agriculture in the semiarid tropics The status of land degradation Nutrient balance in sub-Saharan Africa The book concludes by outlining the need for further research to generate credible data on soil resources and degradation. This volume is a useful resource for those interested in the state of the soils of the world in relation to food security and environmental quality.

Recounts the author's experiences founding a faith-based community garden in rural North Carolina, and emphasizes how growing one's own food can help readers reconnect with the land and divine faith.

Faced with challenges of resource scarcity and environmental degradation, it is important to adopt innovative farming systems that maximize resource efficiency while protecting the environment. Soil-Specific Farming: Precision Agriculture focuses on principles and applications of soil-specific farming, providing information on rapidly evolving agri

This is a newly edited revision of Albert Howard's important text on organic farming and gardening, and the central role of humus in maintaining soil health and fertility. No single generation has the right to exhaust the soil from which humanity must draw its sustenance. Modern agricultural practices, with their emphasis on chemicals, poisons, and toxins, lead to the impoverishment and death of the soil. THE SOIL AND HEALTH is a detailed analysis of the vital role of humus and compost in soil health — and the importance of soil health to the health of crops and the humans who eat them. The author is keenly aware of the dead end which awaits humanity if we insist on growing our food using artificial fertilisers and poisons. Albert Howard (1873-1947) was one of the leaders of the British organics movement in the mid-twentieth century. He was the first westerner to document and publish research on traditional techniques of agriculture, including Indian and Chinese farming and management of the soil. "Agriculture is the fundamental industry of the world and must be allowed to occupy the primary position in the economies of all countries." — Albert Howard CONTENTS 1 - Soil Fertility and Agriculture 1.1 The operations of Nature - The life of the plant - The living soil - The significance of humus - The importance of minerals 1.2 Systems of agriculture - Primitive forms of agriculture - Shifting cultivation - The harnessing of the Nile - Staircase cultivation - The agriculture of China - The agriculture of Greece and Rome - Farming in the Middle Ages 1.3 Soil fertility in Great Britain - The Roman occupation - The Saxon conquest - The open-field system - The depreciation of soil fertility - The low yield of wheat - The Black Death- Enclosure - The Industrial Revolution and soil fertility - The Great Depression of 1879 - The Second World War 1.4 Industrialism and the profit motive - The exploitation of virgin soil - The profit motive - The consequence of soil exploitation - The easy transfer of fertility - The road farming has travelled 1.5 The intrusion of Science - The origin of artificial fertilisers - The advent of the laboratory hermit - The unsoundness of Rothamsted - Artificials during the two world wars - The shortcomings of current agricultural research 2 - Disease in Present-day Farming and Gardening 2.1 Diseases of the soil - Soil erosion - The formation of alkaline land 2.2 The diseases of crops - Sugar Cane - Coffee - Tea - Cacao - Cotton - Rice - Wheat - Vine - Fruit - Tobacco - Leguminous crops - Potato 2.3 Disease and health in livestock - Foot-and-mouth disease - Soil fertility and disease - Concentrates and contagious abortion - Selective feeding by instinct - Herbs and livestock - The maintenance of our breeds of poultry 2.4 Soil fertility and human health 2.5 The nature of disease 3 - The Problem of Manuring 3.1 The origins and scope of the problem - The phosphate problem and its solution - The reform of the manure heap - Sheet-composting and nitrogen fixation - The utilisation of town wastes 3.2 The Indore Process - Some practical points - The New Zealand compost box - Mechanisation - The spread of the Indore Process 3.3 The reception by scientists 4 - Conclusions and Suggestions