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Stakeholders show a growing interest for organic food and farming (OF&F), which becomes a societal component. Rather than questioning whether OF&F outperforms conventional agriculture or not, the main question addressed in this book is how, and in what conditions, OF&F may be considered as a prototype towards sustainable agricultures. The book gathers 25 papers introduced in a first chapter. The first section investigates OF&F production processes and its capacity to benefit from the systems functioning to achieve higher self-sufficiency. The second one proposes an overview of organic performances providing commodities and public goods. The third one focuses on organics development pathways within agri-food systems and territories. As well as a strong theoretical component, this book provides an overview of the new challenges for research and development. It questions the benefits as well as knowledge gaps with a particular emphasis on bottlenecks and lock-in effects at various levels.
Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Sustainable agriculture is a discipline that addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control, and biodiversity depletion. Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from sciences as diverse as agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, and social sciences. Indeed, sustainable agriculture decipher mechanisms of processes that occur from t...
In this volume the potential of organic agriculture (OA) for rural development and the improvement of livelihoods in analysed and assessed in detail. With socio-economic, environmental and agro-ecological perspectives, it includes an overview of the state of research and proposed strategies for harnessing the potential of OA.
Medicinal Agroecology: Reviews, Case Studies, and Research Methodologies presents information on applications of ‘green therapies’ in restoration towards global sustainability. These practices connect the world of medicinal plants with ecologic farming practice, creating a compassionate socio-political worldview and heartfelt scientific research towards food sovereignty and a healthier future on planet Earth. The book communicates benefits of using plant-based solutions to manage the challenges of unsustainable practices in human healthcare, veterinary medicine, agriculture, forestry, and water management. The contributions introduce advances around plants and their active components to ...
This book gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy and food system for future generations.
This publication reveals that organic agriculture is disadvantaged by current agricultural support policies, and the proliferation of standards and labels has sometimes confused consumers and impeded trade.
Farming Systems Research has three core characteristics: it builds on systems thinking, it depends on the close collaboration between social and biophysical sciences, and it relies on participation to build co-learning processes. Farming Systems Research posits that to contribute towards sustainable rural development, both interdisciplinary collaborations and local actor engagement are needed. Together, they allow for changes in understanding and changes in practices. This book gives an overview of the insights generated in 20 years of Farming Systems Research. It retraces the emergence and development of Farming Systems Research in Europe, summarises the state-of-the-art for key areas, and provides an outlook on new explorations, especially those tackling the dynamic nature of farming systems and their interaction with the natural environment and the context of action.
"Farmers like Charles and Perrine Hervé-Gruyer [are] beacons of light. Their work allows the rest of the world to see that there is another life, there is another way."—Eliot Coleman What began as a simple dream has turned into one of the world’s most radical, innovative experiments in small-scale farming—using the Bec Hellouin model for growing food, sequestering carbon, creating jobs, and increasing biodiversity without using fossil fuels When Charles and Perrine Hervé-Gruyer set out to create their farm in a historic Normandy village, they had no idea just how much their lives would change. Neither one had ever farmed before. Charles had been traveling the globe teaching students ...
Biological Husbandry: A Scientific Approach to Organic Farming covers a proceeding of a symposium organized by International Institute of Biological Husbandry on August 26-30, 1980 at Wye College in London, United Kingdom. Said symposium aims to promote the scientific development of biological or organic agriculture. The text covers topics such as the assessment of conventional, biological, and integrated agriculture; soil use in temperate climates, organic matter cycles in tropical soils, and plant-microbial interactions; biological pest control, the importance of chemical agents and biotechnology in biological husbandry, and allelochemicals in the future of agriculture. The book is recommended for biologists and agriculturists who would like to know more about the studies in biological husbandry and its implications in the field.
Forty Years of the Landless Workers Movement: Landless Perspectives presents ethnographic insights into Latin America’s largest social movement as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. The Landless Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra - MST), with over 1.5 million members, has been fighting for agrarian reform since 1984. In its 40-year struggle, the movement has secured land for over 350,000 families and become a worldwide beacon for progressive politics. Its enduring presence is a remarkable feat; while other movements have come and gone, the MST continues to be a steadfast force in the pursuit of social justice and environmental sustainability. How has the MST ma...