Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract / Edition 1

by Charles A. Francis, George Bird, Raymond Poincelot

Overview

Get the latest sustainable agriculture practices and keep an eye on the future

Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract explores the challenges faced by today’s farmers and ranchers to provide practical strategies to develop a twenty-first century system of sustainable agriculture that is economically sound, environmentally compatible, and socially acceptable. This comprehensive look at the current state of farming and ranching presents leading authorities discussing concepts and approaches in sustainable agriculture such as crop rotations, integrated pest management, alternative sources of nutrients to maintain productivity, and rotational grazing systems.

Presently there is a trend toward a more industrial agriculture and a global food system that will bring long-term negative impacts. If farmers look thoughtfully toward the future, alternatives are now available to help solve these problems to provide agricultural sustainability for generations to come. Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract provides a model for integrated research and outreach to everyone interested in sustainable development. A sensible framework of practical short-term strategies are combined with visionary long-term plans to provide viable approaches to sustain agriculture, secure our food system, and develop a more equitable society for the future. The text includes several tables and figures, extensive references, and comprehensive bibliographies.

Topics in Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract include:

• the evolution of the concept of equitable and sustainable development
  
• on-farm research
  
• farmer to farmer education
  
• IPM (integrated pest management)
  
• soil management
  
• managed grazing
  
• whole-farm planning, including economic analysis
  
• training for sustainable agriculture
  
• motivation theory and research to foster positive sustainable development
  
• organic farming productivity
  
• the future of sustainable agriculture
  
• much, much more
  
  

Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract is enlightening, horizon-expanding reading perfect for educators, students, government decision makers, cooperative extension educators, specialists, administrators, citizen members of county extension boards, and administrators in land grant universities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781560223313
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/01/2006
Series:	Sustainable Food, Fiber, and Forestry Systems Series
Pages:	396
Product dimensions:	5.81(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Charles A. Francis, George Bird, Raymond Poincelot

Table of Contents

About the Editors,, Contributors,, Foreword (James Ian Gray and Fred L. Poston),, Preface,, Chapter 1. Overview of the Educational Social Contract: Building a Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (Ray P. Poincelot, Charles A. Francis, and George W. Bird),, Introduction,, Evolving Role of Extension,, Industrial Agriculture and Family Farming,, Building an Appropriate Information Foundation,, Mainstream Activities in Sustainable Agriculture,, Closing the Loop: Educating the Consumer,, Renewing the Contract,, Chapter 2. Integrated Pest Management, Ecoliteracy, and Unexpected Consequences (George W. Bird and Michael J. Brewer),, Introduction,, Nature of IPM,, Monitoring and Evaluation,, State IPM Program Coordinator Observations,, Management Strategies and Tactics,, IPM Program Implementation,, IPM Program Resiliency,, IPM Tactics for Resiliency,, Multiple Benefits of IPM Tactics,, Economics of IPM,, Ecoliteracy,, Law of Unexpected Consequences,, Chapter 3. Soil Management in Sustainable Production Systems (Kent McVay),, Soil Development in Modern History,, Reasons and Goals,, Use of Cover Crops,, Cropping Systems That Mimic a Natural Environment,, Maintaining a Living Soil,, Earthworms,, Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae,, Soil Management and Soil Quality,, Enhancing Environmental Quality and Productivity,, Chapter 4. Managed Grazing in Sustainable Farming Systems (Terry Gompert),, Introduction,, Why Promote Managed Grazing?,, What Do We Graze?,, What Ec