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Full Description
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.
Contents
Preface
CHAPTER 1
Introduction: soil health, soil biology, sustainable agriculture and evidence-based information
CHAPTER 2
Soil physical, chemical and biological properties and the key role of organic matter in promoting soil and plant health
CHAPTER 3
Organisms in the soil food web and their functions
CHAPTER 4
Soilborne diseases: a major impediment to crop production
CHAPTER 5
Impact of natural enemies on soilborne pathogens
CHAPTER 6
A practical guide to improving soil health and reducing losses from soilborne diseases
CHAPTER 7
Grain farming systems to improve soil health and enhance biological suppression of soilborne diseases
CHAPTER 8
Annual and perennial pastures to improve soil health in grain-cropping systems
CHAPTER 9
Yield decline of sugarcane: a soil health problem overcome by modifying the farming system
CHAPTER 10
Vegetable farming systems: the challenge of improving soil health and sustainability in an industry that demands high levels of productivity
CHAPTER 11
Options for improving soil health and minimising losses from soilborne diseases in perennial horticultural crops
CHAPTER 12
Key soil health messages, and practices that should be included in holistic soil improvement programs
CHAPTER 13
Further reading
Index
