About the Book
Nutrient imbalances have a substantial impact on the productivity and sustainability of agroecosystems worldwide. Fertilizer and manure use, atmospheric deposition, international transportation of produce, solute and gas emissions and soil erosion have all contributed to deficits and surpluses, which in some areas have reached alarming proportions. This book describes and explores:the latest concepts of the causes of nutrient imbalances, including the importance of different spatial scales and examines ways to quantify and manage nutrient stocks the increasing amount of legislation and the urgent need for the development of integrated nutrient management technologies case studies, from fish farms in eastern Asia to nutrient flow monitoring in Kenyan tea/maize farms, the dairy sector in New Zealand and ecological farming in Switzerland the future for global-level research in soil fertility management and nutrient flow analysis. This title should enhance research and the adoption of (inter)national policies on soil fertility maintenance with its global, multi-scale, multi-disciplinary approach.
Table of Contents:
1: Nutrient Cycling in Ecosystems versus Nutrient Budgets of Agricultural Systems, M van Noordwijk, International Center for Research in Agroforestry – South East Asia, Indonesia 2: Basics of Budgets, Buffers and Balances of Nutrients in Relation to Sustainability of Agroecosystems, B H Janssen, Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands 3: Upscaling of Nutrient Budgets from Agroecological Niche to Global Scale, K W van der Hoek and A F Bouwman, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), The Netherlands 4: Uncertainties in Nutrient Budgets due to Biases and Errors, O Oenema and M Heinen, Wageningen University and Research Center, Research Institute for Agrobiology and Soil Fertility, The Netherlands 5: Technologies to Manage Soil Fertility Dynamics, J J Stoorvogel, Wageningen University and Research Center, Laboratory of Soil Science and Geology, Wageningen, The Netherlands 6: Economic Policy in Support of Soil Fertility: Which Interventions after Structural Adjustment? A Kuyvenhoven et al., Department of Economics and Management, Wageningen Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands 7: Integrated Smallholder Agriculture-Aquaculture in Asia: Optimizing Trophic Flows, J P T Dalsgaard, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Denmark and M Prein, International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management, Philippines 8: Improving Nutrient Management for Sustainable Development of Agriculture in China, Jin Jiyun, et al., Soil and Fertilizer Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China 9: Nutrient Imbalances following Conversion of Grasslands to Plantation Forests in South Africa, R J Scholes, Division of Water, Environment and Forest Technology, CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa and M C Scholes, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa 10: Nutrient Balances at Field Level of Mixed Cropping Systems in Various Agroecological Zones in Mozambique, P M H Geurts et al, The Netherlands 11: Nutrient and Cash Flow Monitoring in Farming Systems on the Eastern Slopes of Mount Kenya, J N Gitari, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Embu, Kenya 12: Nitrogen Flows through Fisheries in Relation to the Anthropogenic N cycle: a Study from Norway, M Azzaroli Bleken, Department of Crop Sciences, Agricultural University of Norway 13: Agricultural and Ecological Performance of Cropping Systems Compared in a Long-term Field Trial, P Mader et al, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Frick, Switzerland 14: Comparative Nutrient Budgets of Temperate Grazed Pastoral Systems, K M Goh, Soil, Plant and Ecological Sciences Division, New Zealand and P H Williams, New Zealand Institute of Crop & Food Research"
Review :
"Agriculture scientists from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific began with conceptual treatments of the flow of carbon and nutrients through the planet's terrestrial and marine environments. They look at differences between flows in agriculture and natural systems, the degree of plant-nutrient availability as a function of total nutrients and what processes influence the ratio, scale differences such as between individual animals or herds and a country's entire livestock sector, technologies and policies for better nutrient management, and other aspects. Then they cite case studies in such contexts as China, South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Norwegian fisheries, and temperate grazed pastoral systems."--SciTech Book News
