Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture

Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture

Author: Charles A. Francis

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2006-10-23

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 9781560223320

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Get the latest sustainable agriculture practices and keep an eye on the future Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract explores the challenges faced by today’s farmers and ranchers to provide practical strategies to develop a twenty-first century system of sustainable agriculture that is economically sound, environmentally compatible, and socially acceptable. This comprehensive look at the current state of farming and ranching presents leading authorities discussing concepts and approaches in sustainable agriculture such as crop rotations, integrated pest management, alternative sources of nutrients to maintain productivity, and rotational grazing systems. Presently there is a trend toward a more industrial agriculture and a global food system that will bring long-term negative impacts. If farmers look thoughtfully toward the future, alternatives are now available to help solve these problems to provide agricultural sustainability for generations to come. Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract provides a model for integrated research and outreach to everyone interested in sustainable development. A sensible framework of practical short-term strategies are combined with visionary long-term plans to provide viable approaches to sustain agriculture, secure our food system, and develop a more equitable society for the future. The text includes several tables and figures, extensive references, and comprehensive bibliographies. Topics in Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract include: the evolution of the concept of equitable and sustainable development on-farm research farmer to farmer education IPM (integrated pest management) soil management managed grazing whole-farm planning, including economic analysis training for sustainable agriculture motivation theory and research to foster positive sustainable development organic farming productivity the future of sustainable agriculture much, much more Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract is enlightening, horizon-expanding reading perfect for educators, students, government decision makers, cooperative extension educators, specialists, administrators, citizen members of county extension boards, and administrators in land grant universities.


Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture

Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture

Author: Charles A. Francis

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2024-11-01

Total Pages: 405

ISBN-13: 1040281699

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Get the latest sustainable agriculture practices and keep an eye on the future Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract explores the challenges faced by today’s farmers and ranchers to provide practical strategies to develop a twenty-first century system of sustainable agriculture that is economically sound, environmentally compatible, and socially acceptable. This comprehensive look at the current state of farming and ranching presents leading authorities discussing concepts and approaches in sustainable agriculture such as crop rotations, integrated pest management, alternative sources of nutrients to maintain productivity, and rotational grazing systems. Presently there is a trend toward a more industrial agriculture and a global food system that will bring long-term negative impacts. If farmers look thoughtfully toward the future, alternatives are now available to help solve these problems to provide agricultural sustainability for generations to come. Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract provides a model for integrated research and outreach to everyone interested in sustainable development. A sensible framework of practical short-term strategies are combined with visionary long-term plans to provide viable approaches to sustain agriculture, secure our food system, and develop a more equitable society for the future. The text includes several tables and figures, extensive references, and comprehensive bibliographies. Topics in Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract include: the evolution of the concept of equitable and sustainable development on-farm research farmer to farmer education IPM (integrated pest management) soil management managed grazing whole-farm planning, including economic analysis training for sustainable agriculture motivation theory and research to foster positive sustainable development organic farming productivity the future of sustainable agriculture much, much more Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract is enlightening, horizon-expanding reading perfect for educators, students, government decision makers, cooperative extension educators, specialists, administrators, citizen members of county extension boards, and administrators in land grant universities.


Building a Sustainable Business

Building a Sustainable Business

Author:

Publisher: Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13:

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"Brings the business planning process alive to help today's agriculture entrepreneurs transform farm-grown inspiration into profitable enterprises. Sample worksheets illustrate how real farm families set goals, research processing alternatives, determine potential markets, and evaluate financing options. Blank worksheets offer readers the opportunity to develop their own detailed, lender-ready business plan and map out strategies" --back cover.


In Defense of Farmers

In Defense of Farmers

Author: Jane Gibson

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2019-07-01

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 1496206738

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Industrial agriculture is generally characterized as either the salvation of a growing, hungry, global population or as socially and environmentally irresponsible. Despite elements of truth in this polarization, it fails to focus on the particular vulnerabilities and potentials of industrial agriculture. Both representations obscure individual farmers, their families, their communities, and the risks they face from unpredictable local, national, and global conditions: fluctuating and often volatile production costs and crop prices; extreme weather exacerbated by climate change; complicated and changing farm policies; new production technologies and practices; water availability; inflation and debt; and rural community decline. Yet the future of industrial agriculture depends fundamentally on farmers’ decisions. In Defense of Farmers illuminates anew the critical role that farmers play in the future of agriculture and examines the social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities of industrial agriculture, as well as its adaptations and evolution. Contextualizing the conversations about agriculture and rural societies within the disciplines of sociology, geography, economics, and anthropology, this volume addresses specific challenges farmers face in four countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, and the United States. By concentrating on countries with the most sophisticated production technologies capable of producing the largest quantities of grains, soybeans, and animal proteins in the world, this volume focuses attention on the farmers whose labors, decision-making, and risk-taking throw into relief the implications and limitations of our global industrial food system. The case studies here acknowledge the agency of farmers and offer ways forward in the direction of sustainable agriculture.


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.


The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture

The Rise of Women Farmers and Sustainable Agriculture

Author: Carolyn Sachs

Publisher: University of Iowa Press

Published: 2016-05-15

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1609384156

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A profound shift is occurring among women working in agriculture - they are increasingly seeing themselves as farmers, not only as the wives or daughters of farmers. In this book, farm women in the northeastern United States describe how they got into farming and became successful entrepreneurs despite the barriers they encountered in agricultural institutions, farming communities, and even their own families. The authors' feminist agrifood systems theory (FAST) values women's ways of knowing and working in agriculture and has the potential to shift how farmers, agricultural professionals, and anyone else interested in farming think about gender and sustainability, as well as to change how feminist scholars and theorists think about agriculture.--COVER.


Agricultural Development and Sustainable Intensification

Agricultural Development and Sustainable Intensification

Author: Udaya Sekhar Nagothu

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-08-14

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 9780367590932

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Sustainable Intensification (SI) has recently emerged as a key concept for agricultural development, recognising that yields must increase to feed a growing world population, but it must be achieved without damage to the environment, on finite land resources and while preserving social and natural capital. It also recognises that all initiatives must cope with the challenges of climate change to agricultural production, food security and livelihoods. This multidisciplinary book presents state-of-the-art reviews of current SI approaches to promote major food crops, challenges and advances made in technology, and the institutional and policy measures necessary to overcome the constraints faced by smallholder farmers. Adressing the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 2, the various chapters based on evidence and experiences of reputed researchers show how these innovations, if properly nurtured and implemented, can make a difference to food and nutrition security outcomes. Case studies from around the world are included, with a particular emphasis on Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is not only on scientific aspects such as climate-smart agriculture, agroecology and improving input use efficiency and management, but also on institutional and policy challenges that must be met to increase the net societal benefits of sustainable agricultural intensification. The book is aimed at advanced students and researchers in sustainable agriculture and policy, development practitioners, policy makers and non-governmental and farmer organisations.


Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture

Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Subcommittee on Agricultural Research and General Legislation

Publisher:

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13:

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Methods and Procedures for Building Sustainable Farming Systems

Methods and Procedures for Building Sustainable Farming Systems

Author: Ana Alexandra Marta-Costa

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-10-17

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 9400750021

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Showing how the method of sustainability assessment plays a key role in choosing the best agricultural productive mode, this book guides the reader through the process of selecting, from among the various approaches for building farming systems, the method of decision-making that will result in the most appropriate outcome, given the context. Case studies hail from polities as diverse as Portugal and Canada, Argentina and Lebanon. The work thus offers a valuable critical survey of the assessment methods that account for sustainability and economics, and which have developed considerably in the last two decades. The heterogeneous approaches covered here make this volume appropriate for consultation in a wide variety of social, political and geographical contexts.