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Forward. A call for integrated soil fertility management in Africa. Introduction. ISFM and the African farmer. Part I. The principles of ISFM: ISFM as a strategic goal, Fertilizer management within ISFM, Agro-minerals in ISFM, Organic resource management, ISFM, soil biota and soil health. Part II. ISFM practices: ISFM products and fields practices, ISFM practice in drylands, ISFM practice in savannas and woodlands, ISFM practice in the humid forest zone, Conservation Agriculture. Part III. The process of implementing ISFM: soil fertility diagnosis, soil fertility management advice, Dissemination of ISFM technologies, Designing an ISFM adoption project, ISFM at farm and landscape scales. Part IV. The social dimensions of ISFM: The role of ISFM in gender empowerment, ISFM and household nutrition, Capacity building in ISFM, ISFM in the policy arena, Marketing support for ISFM, Advancing ISFM in Africa. Appendices: Mineral nutrient contents of some common organic resources.
As an ecosystem service, soil also serves to capture nutrients and sequester carbon, and these issues are discussed in the context of adding value to soil protection. The influence of modern agricultural techniques in enhancing soil productivity is also discussed. Throughout the book case studies support the discussion.
Tropical ecosystems - the regions between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn - play an important role in global processes, economic issues, and political concerns. In their natural state, tropical ecosystems support a large quantity of above- and below-ground biomass, and constitute a major part of the terrestrial carbon pool. Conversion of the natural ecosystem to agriculture and forestry ecosystems disturbs this ecological balance. Global Climate Change and Tropical Ecosystems presents data on carbon pool fluxes from case studies in 12 countries in tropical regions. The chapters cover: Characteristics of tropical ecosystems Soil and biotic carbon pools Impacts of land use and soil management Slash-and-burn practices Crop residue and fertility management This volume adds to the understanding of pedospheric processes in tropical ecosystems and how to better use soils as a sink for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. With Global Climate Change and Tropical Ecosystems you will understand the link between soil productivity, environmental quality and the global carbon cycle, not only in these ecologically sensitive regions but worldwide.
This book, which contains 15 separately authored chapters, discusses both the principles and applications of an integrated approach to natural resource management. Such an approach must embrace the complexity of systems and redirect research towards the greater inclusion of issues such as participatory approaches, multi-scale analysis and an array of tools for system analysis, information management and impact assessment. Case studies, particularly from developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, are included. This book is of interest to a wide range of readers in many disciplines, including forestry, soil and management sciences, agriculture, and development studies.
Caused in part by the slash-and-burn practices of both large- and small-scale farmers, the environmental implications of tropical deforestation remain a worldwide concern. Yet the small-scale farmers who use slash-and-burn agriculture depend on it to produce food and make a living for their families. With contributions from scientists, economists, ecologists, and anthropologists, this book provides an overall analysis of the environmental, economic, and social reasons for why slash and burn is so common and presents alternatives to this destructive practice.
World soils contain about 1500 gigatons of organic carbon. This large carbon reserve can increase atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by soil misuse or mismanagement, or it can reverse the 'greenhouse' effect by judicious land use and proper soil management. Soil Processes and the Carbon Cycle describes soil processes and their effects on the global carbon cycle while relating soil properties to soil quality and potential and actual carbon reserves in the soil. In addition, this book deals with modeling the carbon cycle in soil, and with methods of soil carbon determinations.
Witchweeds (Striga species) decimate agriculture in much of Africa and parts of Asia, attacking the major cereal grains and legumes, and halving the already very low yields of subsistence farmers. Several years of research have provided promising technologies, based on the fundamental biology of the parasite?host associations, for dealing with this scourge. However, there is an apparent realization that these technologies will fail because highly successful weeds such as Striga evolve resistance to all types of controls unless proven methods are integrated with each other for a more sustainable solution.Integration is often an anathema to basic scientists who typically deal with single varia...
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.
Since carbon sequestration in soils reduces the amount of carbon available to the atmosphere, the Kyoto Protocols have heightened interest in soil carbon pools and their effect on carbon fluxes. Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon addresses many of the questions related to the measurement, monitoring, and verification of organic and inorganic carbon in soils. The major topics covered are: carbon pools; soil sampling and preparation, analytical techniques for soil carbon; soil erosion and sedimentation; remote sensing, GIS and modeling; procedures for scaling carbon data from point and local measurements to regional and even national scales; and economic and policy issues. In Assessment Method...
Incidence and intensity of drought and low N stresss in the tropics; Case studies strategies for crop production under drought and low n stresses in the tropics; Stress physology and identification of secondary traits; Physiology of low nitrogen stress; Breeding for tolerance to drought and low n stresses; General breeding strategies for stress tolerance; Progress in breeding drought tolerance; Progress in breeding low nitrogen tolerance; Experimental design and software.