Soil Specific Farming

Faced with challenges of resource scarcity and environmental degradation, it is important to adopt innovative farming systems that maximize resource efficiency while protecting the environment. Soil-Specific Farming: Precision Agriculture focuses on principles and applications of soil-specific farming, providing information on rapidly evolving agricultural technologies. It addresses assessments of soil variability and application of modern innovations to enhance use efficiency of fertilizers, irrigation, tillage, and pesticides through targeted management of soils and crops. This book provides the technological basis of adopting and promoting precision agriculture (PA) for addressing the issues of resource scarcity, environmental pollution, and climate change. It focuses specifically on PA technologies and discusses historical evolution, soil variability at different scales, soil fertility and nutrient management, water quality, land leveling techniques, and special ecosystems involving small landholders and coastal regions. Highlighting the scale-related issues and concerns of small landholders, the text details the efficient use of resources on the basis of soil/field variability and site-specific conditions. It examines how PA technology can increase productivity, enhance profitability, and minimize environmental degradation. Woven throughout is the theme of sustainable use of resources.

Faced with challenges of resource scarcity and environmental degradation, it is important to adopt innovative farming systems that maximize resource efficiency while protecting the environment. This volume focuses on principles and applications of soil-specific farming, providing information on rapidly evolving agricultural technologies. The book specifically addresses assessments of soil variability and application of modern innovations to enhance use efficiency of fertilizers, irrigation, tillage and pesticides through targeted management of soils and crops. Support tools are utilized to target site-specific constraints.

Precision farming involves soil fertility and crop growth monitoring, electronic equipment, remote sensing, global information and positioning systems, computer models, decision support systems, variable-rate technology, and accurate recordkeeping. This book on precision techniques provides valuable information on instrumentation and methodology. It discusses the impact of precision techniques on soil fertility, nutrient dynamics, and crop productivity and highlights the application of GPS techniques to regulate fertilizer supply based on soil nutrient distribution and yield goals set by farmers. The book considers advances and examples from different agroecosystems from all continents.

Principles and farm-tested practices for no-till market gardening--for healthier, more productive soil! From the host of the popular The No-Till Market Garden Podcast—heard around the world with nearly one million downloads! Discovering how to meet the soil’s needs is the key task for every market gardener. In this comprehensive guide, Farmer Jesse Frost shares all he has learned through experience and experimentation with no-till practices on his home farm in Kentucky and from interviews and visits with highly successful market gardeners in his role as host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. The Living Soil Handbook is centered around the three basic principles of no-till market gardening: Disturb the soil as little as possible Keep it covered as much as possible Keep it planted as much as possible. Farmer Jesse then guides readers in applying those principles to their own garden environment, with their own materials, to meet their own goals. Beginning with an exploration of the importance of photosynthesis to living soil, Jesse provides in-depth information on: Turning over beds Using compost and mulch Path management Incorporating biology, maintaining fertility Cover cropping Diversifying plantings through intercropping Production methods for seven major crops Throughout, the book emphasizes practical information on all the best tools and practices for growers who want to build their livelihood around maximizing the health of their soil. Farmer Jesse reminds growers that “as possible” is the mantra for protecting the living soil: disturb the soil as little as you possibly can in your context. He does not believe that growers should anguish over what does and does not qualify as “no-till.” If you are using a tool to promote soil life and biology, that’s the goal. Jesse’s goal with The Living Soil Handbook is to provide a comprehensive set of options, materials, and field-tested practices to inspire growers to design a soil-nurturing no-till system in their unique garden or farm ecosystem. "[A] practical, informative debut. . . .Gardeners interested in sustainable agriculture will find this a great place to start."—Publishers Weekly "Frost offers a comprehensive, science-based, sympathetic, wholly practical guide to soil building, that most critical factor in vegetable gardening for market growers and home gardeners alike. A gift to any vegetable plot that will keep on giving."—Booklist (starred review)

Our capacity to maintain world food production depends heavily on the thin layer of soil covering the Earth's surface. The health of this soil determines whether crops can grow successfully, whether a farm business is profitable and whether an enterprise is sustainable in the long term. Farmers are generally aware of the physical and chemical factors that limit the productivity of their soils but often do not recognise that soil microbes and the soil fauna play a major role in achieving healthy soils and healthy crops. Soil Health, Soil Biology, Soilborne Diseases and Sustainable Agriculture provides readily understandable information about the bacteria, fungi, nematodes and other soil organisms that not only harm food crops but also help them take up water and nutrients and protect them from root diseases. Complete with illustrations and practical case studies, it provides growers and their consultants with holistic solutions for building an active and diverse soil biological community capable of improving soil structure, enhancing plant nutrient uptake and suppressing root pests and pathogens. The book is written by scientists with many years' experience developing sustainable crop production practices in the grains, vegetable, sugarcane, grazing and horticultural industries. This book will be useful for: growers, consultants, agronomists and soil chemists, extension personnel working in the grains, livestock, sugarcane and horticultural industries, professionals running courses in soil health/biological farming, and students taking university courses in soil science, ecology, microbiology, plant pathology and other biological sciences.

Unbiased in approach, this book discusses the physical and chemical land and soil requirements needed to produce food and how economic, social, and political environments influence agricultural productivity. Presenting an array of soil and land properties and farming methods-ranging from slash and burn to highly technical practices-the author draws on his 40 years of worldwide experience to give readers a glimpse at the historical developments, natural resource concerns, and farming practices impacting human food production today.Presents the basics of how soils and land function and examines the impact of water, temperature and chemical elements on food production using minimal scientific terminology. Moves beyond explaining the physical and chemical requirements of human food production to encompass the economic, social and political factors that impact farming practices and overall productivity. Covers current farming methods being used in other countries, from the recent advances in farming on the poorest soils to the slash and burn farming in tropical jungles. Presents historical data to show how modern practices have reduced the cost of food and the amount of land needed to feed a growing population. Provides a strong foundation and makes later chapters on leaching, ground water contamination, floods and erosion easier to understand. Emphasizes the delicate balance of essential elements from the air and in the soil and presents the basic physical and chemical dynamics of the human food chain.Those looking for an easy to understand introduction to how and why various types of soil and land are used for human food production.