Document from the year 2011 in the subject Agrarian Studies, University of Greenwich, language: English, abstract: It is widely recognised that environmental problems such as soil degradation (erosion and desertification) affects many agricultural lands globally. These problems have caused soil quality decline, crop yield reduction, economic crisis, poverty, unemployment, and rural urban migration. Soil management practices are considered as the most vital and sustainable possible solution to control soil erosion and desertification. This management include use of organic manure, crop rotation, use of cover crop, intercropping, planting shelter belt and afforestation, provision of water ways, good surface drainage system, restoration of rangeland, regeneration and secondary forest, and political changes.

The soil is a fundamental constituent of the Earth's system, maintaining a careful state of equilibrium within the biosphere. However, this natural balance is being increasingly disturbed by a variety of anthropogenic and natural processes, leading to the degradation of many soil environments. Soil Management provides a comprehensive and authoritative introduction to the many problems, challenges and potential solutions facing soil management in the twenty-first century. Covering a range of topics, including erosion, desertification, salinization, soil structure, carbon sequestration, acidification and chemical pollution, the book also develops a prognosis for the future of soil management in the face of growing populations and global warming. Written with the needs of students in mind, each chapter provides a broad overview of a problem, analyses approaches to its solution and concludes with references and suggestions for further reading. Soil Management will be of great value to environmental science and geography undergraduates taking soil management courses in their second or third year.

Soils are neither good nor bad, but some have inherent or acquired characteristics that may or may not suit our intended use. Unsuitable characteristics are considered to be soil problems, soil constraints or soil limitations. Only twelve percent of global land is right for agricultural production without much limitation. Some soils have severe limitations for crop production. These soils are so called ‘problem soils’. Many of them do not have enough fertility to be productive; some are arid and saline; some are very sandy and dry; and some are wet and waterlogged for most of the growing season. The global demand for food, wood, fuel, fiber, medicine and other plant products for the 7.2 billion current world population has created such an immense pressure on global soil resources that even the most fertile soils are losing their productive capacity. We are being compelled to bring more and more unsuitable or marginally suitable soils under cultivation. Unless innovative and integrated soil, crop and environmental management practices are adopted for their improvement and sustainable use, further degradation is inevitable. This book, Management of Soil Problems, identifies the problems and discusses management options in a smooth and reader-friendly style. It will be useful for students and professionals of soil science, agriculture, forestry, geography and environmental sciences.

This publication reviews issues related to land degradation, with focus on problems of soil fertility management in sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights some successful experiences in the region, constraints and possible solutions specific to the major agro-ecological zones and the importance of the holistic and participatory approaches for soil productivity improvement. The need for action and collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, within the framework of ongoing initiatives, are emphasized. It is hoped that this document will contribute to increase awareness of senior specialists and policy-makers about the problems and alternative solutions towards enhanced and sustained soil productivity.

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, Environmental Management Handbook, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about environmental problems and their corresponding management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 400 contributors, all experts in their field. The experience, evidence, methods, and models used in studying environmental management are presented here in six stand-alone volumes, arranged along the major environmental systems. Features The first handbook that demonstrates the key processes and provisions for enhancing environmental management Addresses new and cutting-edge topics on ecosystem services, resilience, sustainability, food–energy–water nexus, socio-ecological systems, and more Provides an excellent basic knowledge on environmental systems, explains how these systems function, and offers strategies on how to best manage them Includes the most important problems and solutions facing environmental management today In this third volume, Managing Soils and Terrestrial Systems, the general concepts and processes of the geosphere with its related soil and terrestrial systems are introduced. It explains how these systems function and provides strategies on how to best manage them. It serves as an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on the geosphere systems and includes important problems and solutions that environmental managers face today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.

Master's Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject Agrarian Studies, grade: Merit class, Natural Resources Institute - University of Greenwich at Medway (-), course: Plant Health and Protection, language: English, abstract: Although it is widely recognised that environmental problems such as soil degradation erosion and desertification threaten sustained agricultural production in many States of northern Nigeria including Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara. Very little information is available about the current status of the potential impact of soil degradation and whether the situation is worsening in all the States of northern Nigeria. However, it is now clear that the major factor explaining the severity and spatial distribution of soil degradation such as erosion and desertification in northern Nigeria is associated with human impact such as deforestation and mismanagement of land resources. Other factors includes overgrazing, use of mechanized equipment, deforestation and lack of government concern to protect the environment in the region, but few studies have been made on applied issues related to the physical and chemical processes including erosion, runoff and leaching. These problems are widely considered as a serious problem to agricultural production and its environmental consequences will remain an important issue during the 21st century. Possible solutions such as soil management practices will help to minimise/control soil degradations which caused serious hazards to farmer's land in northern Nigeria. Sustainable soil management practices are vital for enhancing and sustaining the productivity of soil, food, livestock, water quality and other related land resources such as forestry in northern Nigeria. It is more efficient in terms of reduced environmental impact, high risk of soil degradation and soil erosion. These management practices are: (a) applying organic manure regularly, (b) growing cover c

Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for our children. This discipline addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, starvation, obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control and biodiversity depletion. Novel solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, philosophy and social sciences. As actual society issues are now intertwined, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book series analyzes current agricultural issues and proposes alternative solutions, consequently helping all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians wishing to build safe agriculture, energy and food systems for future generations.