Soil Management And Conservation For Small Farms

This report is intended for development practitioners This report is intended for development practitioners, extensionists and leaders or pioneers in farming communities, to inform them about the experiences and initiatives of farming communities in conservation agriculture in Santa Catarina State, Brazil, there have been widespread improvements in soil management. This has led to lower costs and improved returns combined with better conservation and soil resources. The main elements of success were minimum tillage, soil cover management and direct seeding practices, together with an effective and creative extension service. While these developments probably cannot be duplicated as such elsewhere, the methods and strategies may well inspire others to adapt and modify them for application in their own environments elsewhere, the methods and strategies may well inspire others to adapt and modify them for application in their own environments.

Are they human, biological, extraterrestrial? The future of our food, our waterways, our climate, and our civilization depend upon soil. How we conserve, or repair damage to this essential re- source is one of the most important commitments of our generation! This author leads us on a 30-year journey of discovery working with those closest to the land as they tackle significant challenges of soil protection, restoration, and sustainability.

In the tropics most of the steepland areas are settled by small-scale farming families where livelihoods may be endangered by land degradation and associated loss of productivity. This bulletin brings concepts and principles of good land husbandry into focus.

This volume complements a report published by Commonwealth Secretariat in 1992 entitled, 'Integrating Soil Conservation into Farming Systems in the Commonwealth Caribbean'. Other reports published by the Commonwealth Secretariat deal with issues of interest to Commonwealth countries in the natural resources field and cover topics in forestry, fisheries, livestock, and various aspects of agriculture in all regions.The research work for this study was assisted by a grant from the Overseas Development Administration (ODA), of the United Kingdom.

In this book manuscripts presented originally at a World Association of Soil and Water Conservation conference held in 1989 are collected. Topics include basic processes (e.g. soil structure, soil erosion, soil compaction); management options (e.g. conservation tillage); policy issues and priorities

Nearly two billion people depend on hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers for food security. Yet, these farmers’ lives also hang in the balance due to their extreme vulnerability to the risks of soil degradation and depletion, soil exhaustion, climate change, and numerous biotic and abiotic stresses. Soil Management of Smallholder Agriculture explores the potential smallholder agriculture hold for advancing global food security and outlines the challenges to achieving this goal. The book addresses the challenges and opportunities that resource-poor and small landholders face and provides recommended management practices to alleviate soil-related constraints, and increase and sustain crop yield and production. It discusses the cultural, economic, social, and technological aspects of sustainable soil management for smallholder farmers. It then examines soil-related and institutional constraints, principles of sustainable agriculture, soil quality improvement, nutrient and soil fertility management, soil carbon sequestration, soil security, efficient use of resources, and agronomic production. Edited by experts, the book makes the case for the adoption of proven technologies of sustainable intensification, producing more from less, both for advancing agronomic production and adapting to changing climate. It outlines a strategy that will usher in a soil-based Green Revolution by increasing the use efficiency of energy-based inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation to restore soil quality, and sequestering carbon in the terrestrial ecosystems. This strategy helps small farms narrow the gap between the actual and attainable crop yield.