Principles of Agronomy for Sustainable Agriculture

Principles of Agronomy for Sustainable Agriculture

Author: Francisco J. Villalobos

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-01-25

Total Pages: 543

ISBN-13: 3319461168

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This textbook explains the various aspects of sustainable agricultures to undergraduate and graduate students. The book first quantifies the components of the crop energy balance, i.e. the partitioning of net radiation, and their effect on the thermal environment of the canopy. The soil water balance and the quantification of its main component (evapotranspiration) are studied to determine the availability of water to rain fed crops and to calculate crop water requirements. Then it sets the limitations of crop production in relation to crop phenology, radiation interception and resource availability (e.g. nutrients). With that in mind the different agricultural techniques (sowing, tillage, irrigation, fertilization, harvest, application of pesticides, etc.) are analyzed with special emphasis in quantifying the inputs (sowing rates, fertilizer amounts, irrigation schedules, tillage plans) required for a given target yield under specific environmental conditions (soil & climate). For all techniques strategies are provided for improving the ratio productivity/resource use while ensuring sustainability. The book comes with online practical focusing on the key aspects of management in a crop rotation (collecting weather data, calculating productivity, sowing rates, irrigation programs, fertilizers rates etc).


Land Surface Remote Sensing in Agriculture and Forest

Land Surface Remote Sensing in Agriculture and Forest

Author: Nicolas Baghdadi

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2016-09-15

Total Pages: 498

ISBN-13: 0081011830

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The environmental and economic importance of monitoring forests and agricultural resources has allowed remote sensing to be increasingly in the development of products and services responding to user needs.This volume presents the main applications in remote sensing for agriculture and forestry, including the primary soil properties, the estimation of the vegetation's biophysical variables, methods for mapping land cover, the contribution of remote sensing for crop and water monitoring, and the estimation of the forest cover properties (cover dynamic, height, biomass).This book, part of a set of six volumes, has been produced by scientists who are internationally renowned in their fields. It is addressed to students (engineers, Masters, PhD), engineers and scientists, specialists in remote sensing applied to agriculture and forestry.Through this pedagogical work, the authors contribute to breaking down the barriers that hinder the use of radar imaging techniques. - Provides clear and concise descriptions of modern remote sensing methods - Explores the most current remote sensing techniques with physical aspects of the measurement (theory) and their applications - Provides chapters on physical principles, measurement, and data processing for each technique described - Describes optical remote sensing technology, including a description of acquisition systems and measurement corrections to be made


Sustainable Intensification

Sustainable Intensification

Author: Jules N. Pretty

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-06-25

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1136529276

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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.


Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems

Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems

Author: Rattan Lal

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2013-06-10

Total Pages: 571

ISBN-13: 1466513470

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This book describes the laws of sustainable soil management to enhance ecosystem services while restoring degraded soils and promoting sustainable use. With chapters contributed by world-class soil scientists, ecologists, and social scientists, the book outlines critical changes in management of agricultural soils necessary to address global issues of food security, climate change, water security, and energy needs. Topics covered include organic farming, soil fertility, crop-symbiotic soil microbiota, human-driven soil degradation, soil degradation and restoration, carbon sink capacity of soils, and soil renewal and sustainability.


Improving Water Management Recent OECD Experience

Improving Water Management Recent OECD Experience

Author: OECD

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 2003-02-21

Total Pages: 119

ISBN-13: 9264099506

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This publication brings together the recent work of the OECD on water management issues. It identifies the main policy challenges addressed by that work for sustainable water management.


Save and Grow

Save and Grow

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2018-06-22

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 9251068712

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The book offers a rich toolkit of relevant, adoptable ecosystem-based practices that can help the world's 500 million smallholder farm families achieve higher productivity, profitability and resource-use efficiency while enhancing natural capital.


Good Agricultural Practices for Greenhouse Vegetable Crops

Good Agricultural Practices for Greenhouse Vegetable Crops

Author:

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 640

ISBN-13:

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This publication capitalizes on the experience of scientists from the North Africa and Near East countries, in collaboration with experts from around the world, specialized in the different aspects of greenhouse crop production. It provides a comprehensive description and assessment of the greenhouse production practices in use in Mediterranean climate areas that have helped diversify vegetable production and increase productivity. The publication is also meant to be used as a reference and tool for trainers and growers as well as other actors in the greenhouse vegetables value chain in this region.