Managing Energy Nutrients And Pests In Organic Field Crops

The use of organic management practices in field cropping continues to rise globally, and these methods have proven to be a viable way to produce food with reduced resource use and environmental damage. Managing Energy, Nutrients, and Pests in Organic Field Crops challenges the popular misconception that organic systems are weak at managing energy, nutrients, and pests and shows how innovative farm designs can enhance organic performance. It provides information for assessing the current state of knowledge on organic field cropping and for making the systems more viable. Each chapter summarizes the latest data from a wide range of sources, creating a comprehensive and coherent picture of the issues and integrating agronomic, economic, and policy aspects. Many chapters also include recent research from the authors. Section I, Soil Health, examines the importance of phosphorus balance, soil fertility, and tillage reduction. Section II, Pest Management, focuses on integrated weed management and long-term approaches to insect management. Section III, Integrating Approaches, addresses multiple field cropping challenges. Chapters cover the oldest organic rotational trials in Canada, the issue of using cereals bred for conventional systems and more targeted organic cereal breeding strategies, and case studies of a broad spectrum of farming experiences that explore the broader social and ecological landscape. The final section, Economics, Energy, and Policy, examines environmental issues not previously addressed in the text as well as consumer, economic, and rural community matters. It also presents a reprint of an article that describes policies and programs (and their costs) needed to advance adoption of organic farming in Ontario. The text wraps up with key conclusions and a discussion of overarching themes for the book, summarizing the strengths of the available tool box for organic producers and the challenges that remain.

The use of organic management practices in field cropping continues to rise globally, and these methods have proven to be a viable way to produce food with reduced resource use and environmental damage. Managing Energy, Nutrients, and Pests in Organic Field Crops challenges the popular misconception that organic systems are weak at managing energy,

Part I Fertilizers: Fertilizer and energy use; Energy requirements, technology, and resources in the fertilizer sector; Legume nitrogen: symbiotic fixation and recovery by subsquent crops; Organic materials as alternative nutrient sources; Conservation of nutrients; Energy Efficiency, economics, and policy in the fertilizer sector; Part II. Pesticides: Energy in pesticide manufacture, distribution and use; Pesticide use in world agriculture; Alternative pest management practices; Maximizing pesticide use efficiency; Effects of application methods on energy use; The policy and economic issues of pest control and energy use.

Organic Crop Breeding provides readers with a thorough review of the latest efforts by crop breeders and geneticists to develop improved varieties for organic production. The book opens with chapters looking at breeding efforts that focus on specific valuable traits such as quality, pest and disease resistance as well as the impacts improved breeding efforts can have on organic production. The second part of the book is a series of crop specific case studies that look at breeding efforts currently underway from around the world in crops ranging from carrots to corn. Organic Crop Breeding includes chapters from leading researchers in the field and is carefully edited by two pioneers in the field. Organic Crop Breeding provides valuable insight for crop breeders, geneticist, crop science professionals, researchers, and advanced students in this quickly emerging field.

Abstract: A comprehensive USDA study of organic farming inthe U.S., Japan, and Europe is focused on the rationales for choosing this method, the sociopolitical influences,technology and management systems, economic factors andsuccess, research and educational needs, and implementationmethods. Interest in organic farming is increasing as theadverse effects of intensive chemical farming become betterknown, such as costs and availability of energy and chemical fertilizer, decline of soil productivity, environmentalpollution, health hazards, and the decline of the familyfarm and local marketing. A few of the findings of the study are that the organic farming movement covers a widespectrum of practice and is not limited by size; ismotivated by concerns for conservation, health, and costcontrol; uses modern techniques, equipment, and managementpractices; is suited to crop-livestock interdependence; andis more labor intensive, less energy consuming, and lessprofitable than conventional farming.

The production of this manual is a joint activity between the Climate, Energy and Tenure Division (NRC) and the Technologies and practices for smallholder farmers (TECA) Team from the Research and Extension Division (DDNR) of FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. The realization of this manual has been possible thanks to the hard review, compilation and edition work of Nadia Scialabba, Natural Resources officer (NRC) and Ilka Gomez and Lisa Thivant, members of the TECA Team. Special thanks are due to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) for their valuable documents and publications on organic farming for smallholder farmers.