Kategoria BISAC: Technology & Engineering >> Agriculture - Agronomy - Soil Science

An evolving, living organic/inorganic covering, soil is in dynamic equilibrium with the atmosphere above, the biosphere within, and the geology below. It acts as an anchor for roots, a purveyor of water and nutrients, a residence for a vast community of microorganisms and animals, a sanitizer of the environment, and a source of raw materials for construction and manufacturing. To develop lasting solutions to the challenges of balanced use and stewardship of the Earth, we require a fundamental understanding of soil from its elastic, porous three-phase system to its components, processes,...

Part 1 looks at monitoring techniques, including proximal soil and crop sensors and remote sensing technologies. The book then goes on to discuss how this information is processed to identify management zones and input...

An evolving, living organic/inorganic covering, soil is in dynamic equilibrium with the atmosphere above, the biosphere within, and the geology below. It acts as an anchor for roots, a purveyor of water and nutrients, a residence for a vast community of microorganisms and animals, a sanitizer of the environment, and a source of raw materials for construction and manufacturing. To develop lasting solutions to the challenges of balanced use and stewardship of the Earth, we require a fundamental understanding of soil from its elastic, porous three-phase system to its components, processes,...

Many species of the phylum Nematoda, the nonsegmented worms, play an important role as animal or plant parasites; most species are active contributors to the decomposition cycle in soil ecosystems, but the details of that contribution are just beginning to be understood.

Agricultural nematologists, vitally involved in the study of the methodology, taxonomy, and biology of the species due to the direct relationship between crop yield and the size of plant-parasitic nematode populations, have provided much information about the nematodes. More recently, ecologists have contributed...

This compilation of techniques, methodologies and scientific data arises from a four-year Italian research project, which took place at university research stations in Turin, Piacenza, Naples and Potenza. Soil Organic Matter (SOM) represents an active and essential pool of the total organic carbon on the planet. Consequently, even small changes in this SOM carbon pool may have a significant impact on the concentration of atmospheric CO₂. Recent new understanding of the chemical nature of SOM indicates that innovative and sustainable technologies may be applied to...

There is an urgent need to increase agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa in a sustainable and economically-viable manner. Transforming risk-averse smallholders into business-oriented producers that invest in producing surplus food for sale provides a formidable challenge, both from a technological and socio-political perspective.

This book addresses the issue of agricultural intensification in the humid highland areas of Africa regions with relatively good agricultural potential, but where the scarce land resources are increasingly under pressure from the growing population...

Mexico is an extensive country with anextremely complex mosaic of landscapes. The soils of Mexico have still not beencompletely studied, and there are few publications available on this subject. This book provides a state-of-the-art view on Mexican soils, their geographical distribution, their use and degradation. This is a first attempt to give a systematized characteristic of the soil resources of Mexico. Land resources of the second-biggest economy in Latin America are critical for its sustainable development, and a demand for adequate soil information is high. The information contained...