Global agriculture is now at the corssroads. The Green Revolution of the last century, which helped developing countries meet their food needs for several decades, is now losing momentum. Rates of growth in food production are now declining, with land and water resources becoming scarcer, while world population continues to grow. We need to continue to identify and share the knowledge that will support sucessful and sustainable agriculture systems in this new century. These depend crucially on soil. Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems brings together 102 experts from multiple disciplines and 28 countries to report on the science and the innovation going on for sustainable soil-system management. While accepting some continuing role for chemical and other external inputs in 21st-century agriculture, this book presents a great variety of ways in which crops can be produced more abundantly and more cheaply with lessened dependence on the exogenous resources that have driven the expansion of agriculture in the past. Including the work of both practitioners and researchers around the world, Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems - Explores problems and solutions for soil systems in a variety of climate conditions, - Discusses the importance of symbiotic relationships between plants and soil organisms, looking at crops as integral and interdependent participants in ecosystems, - Seeks to reduce the distance between scientific research and technical practice, - Examines related considerations such as pest and disease control, climate change, methods for fertility restoration, and measurement, monitoring and modeling to improve soil-system management. With 50 lucid, self-contained chapters, this original work provides researchers, practitioners, planners and policy makers with a comprehensive understanding of the science and steps needed to utilize soil systems for the long-term benefit of humankind and the environment.
