Overview
- Authors:
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David Dent
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Chestnut Tree Farmhouse, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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Boris P. Boincean
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Balti, Moldova
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Igori Arcadie Krupenikov
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Chisinau, Moldova
- State-of-the-art review of soil science and management Comprehensive analysis of current problems with soil Thorough discussion of projected problems in the near future Recommendations for achieving sustainability
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Table of contents (19 chapters)
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Front Matter
Pages i-xxvi
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The State of the Land and Its Management
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 3-8
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The Anatomy of the Black Earth
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 11-18
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 19-25
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 27-32
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P Boincean, David Dent
Pages 33-35
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P Boincean, David Dent
Pages 37-38
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 39-50
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P Boincean, David Dent
Pages 51-56
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 57-61
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 63-67
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 69-75
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 77-88
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 89-92
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 93-95
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Principles of Ecological Agriculture
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 99-103
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- Igori Arcadie Krupenikov, Boris P. Boincean, David Dent
Pages 105-107
About this book
Soil is the Earth’s living skin. It provides anchorage for roots, holds water long enough for plants to make use of it and the nutrients that sustain life – otherwise the Earth would be as barren as Mars. It is home to myriad micro-organisms and armies of microscopic animals as well as the familiar earthworm that accomplish biochemical transformations from fixing atmospheric nitrogen to recycling wastes; it receives and process all fresh water, provides the foundations for our built environment; and comprises the biggest global carbon store that we know how to manage. This book is about the best soil in the world - the black earth or chernozem: how it is being degraded by farming and how it may be farmed sustainably. Industrialisation of farming has laid bare contradictions between the unforgiving laws of ecology and economics. Soil organic matter is the fuel that powers soil systems and the cement that holds the soil together – and in place – but agriculture is burning it up faster than it is being formed: even the chernozem cannot long survive this treatment. Here is the evidence for this trend and, based on long-term field experiments, ecological principles for sustainable agriculture that can reverse the trend and, at the same time, feed the world. Unlike other volumes in the series, this is not an edited collection of scientific papers. The authors have chosen the classical monograph to be near to the reader from beginning to end - to convey their anxiety about the state of the land and their optimism about the possibility of retrieving the situation by changing the social and political approach to the land so as to provide the necessary incentives for sustainable land use and management.
Authors and Affiliations
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Chestnut Tree Farmhouse, Norfolk, United Kingdom
David Dent
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Balti, Moldova
Boris P. Boincean
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Chisinau, Moldova
Igori Arcadie Krupenikov
About the authors
Igori Krupenikov is soil scientist, Emeritus Professor, honoured member of the Moldovan Academy of Sciences and State Laureate, working at the Nicolai Dimo Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry in Chisinau. Boris Boincean is agronomist, long-time Director and continuing Head of the Department of Sustainable Farming Systems of the Selectia Research Institute for Field Crops and also Professor at the Aleco Russo State University at Balti, in Moldova. David Dent is former Director of ISRIC - World Soil Information in Wageningen, awarded the Australian Centenary Medallion for scientific leadership of the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, and long-time teacher and researcher at the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia.
