Download or read book Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture written by Charles A. Francis and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2006-10-23 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Adding Value for Sustainability written by Kristen Markley and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2000-10 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed to provide Cooperative Extension agents & other agriculture professionals a background on small-scale processing enterprise development in order to educate producers, processors, & communities. Discusses the concept of value-adding & how it contributes to sustainable agriculture. Introduces four enterprise owners who share their experiences with small- scale processing, & presents a description of issues involved in the start-up of a small-scale processing business, including the technical aspects of small-scale processing enterprises. Discusses efforts where processors & community members collaborate to develop or support a local small-scale processing industry.
Download or read book Developing Sustainable Agriculture and Community written by Lionel J. "Bo" Beaulieu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-21 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book illustrates the ways in which communities can strengthen the links and set the stage for long-term partnerships between sustainable agriculture and sustainable rural community development initiatives. It provides lessons learned, first, from the community development literature that can help shape sustainable agriculture strategies, and second, from the sustainable agriculture literature that can prove useful in moulding sound and effective community development strategies. The threads that weave the chapters together is the commitment to a building and expanding the community capital resources that have important bearing on the sustainability of agriculture and the broader community of which it is a part. Certainly, the success of the agriculture/community partnerships is rooted in one critical ingredient – "social capital." To be effective over the long-term, sustainable development depends on a network of people, drawn from a wide array of interests, who have a strong trusting relationship with one another, and who are willing to work together in responding to the economic, environmental, and social challenges facing agriculture and community alike. At the same time, strategies that work to strengthen the stock of all seven types of community capitals are important to pursue. It is balanced investments in all seven types of community capitals that will contribute to the emergence of "community agency" -- the ability of local people to act in a proactive manner in managing, utilizing, and enhancing local resources. With the emergence of "community agency," an important step in the pursuit of a sustainable future for both agriculture and community is possible. This book was published as a special issue of Community Development.
Download or read book Innovative markets for sustainable agriculture written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2018-07-20 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 2013 and 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) undertook a survey of innovative approaches that enable markets to act as incentives in the transition towards sustainable agriculture in developing countries. Through a competitive selection process, 15 cases from around the world provide insights into how small-scale initiatives that use sustainable production practices are supported by market demand, and create innovations in the institutions that govern sustainable practices and market exchanges. These cases respond to both local and distant consumers’ concerns about the quality of the food that they eat. The book evidences that the initiatives rely upon social values (e.g. trustworthiness, health [nutrition and food safety], food sovereignty, promotion of youth and rural development, farmer and community livelihoods) to adapt sustainable practices to local contexts, while creating new market outlets for food products. Specifically, private sector and civil society actors are leading partnerships with the public sector to build market infrastructure, integrate sustainable agriculture into private and public education and extension programmes, and ensure the exchange of transparent information about market opportunities. The results are: (i) system innovations that allow new rules for marketing and assuring the sustainable qualities of products; (ii) new forms of organization that permit actors to play multiple roles in the food system (e.g. farmer and auditor, farmer and researcher, consumer and auditor, consumer and intermediary); (iii) new forms of market exchange, such as box schemes, university kiosks, public procurement or systems of seed exchanges; and (iv) new technologies for sustainable agriculture (e.g. effective micro-organisms, biopesticides and soil analysis techniques). The public sector plays a key role in providing legitimate political and physical spaces for multiple actors to jointly create and share sustainable agricultural knowledge, practices and products.
Download or read book Agricultural development New perspectives in a changing world written by Otsuka, Keijiro, ed. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-01-14 with total page 798 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural Development: New Perspectives in a Changing World is the first comprehensive exploration of key emerging issues facing developing-country agriculture today, from rapid urbanization to rural transformation to climate change. In this four-part volume, top experts offer the latest research in the field of agricultural development. Using new lenses to examine today’s biggest challenges, contributors address topics such as nutrition and health, gender and household decision-making, agrifood value chains, natural resource management, and political economy. The book also covers most developing regions, providing a critical global perspective at a time when many pressing challenges extend beyond national borders. Tying all this together, Agricultural Development explores policy options and strategies for developing sustainable agriculture and reducing food insecurity and malnutrition. The changing global landscape combined with new and better data, technologies, and understanding means that agriculture can and must contribute to a wider range of development outcomes than ever before, including reducing poverty, ensuring adequate nutrition, creating strong food value chains, improving environmental sustainability, and promoting gender equity and equality. Agricultural Development: New Perspectives in a Changing World, with its unprecedented breadth and scope, will be an indispensable resource for the next generation of policymakers, researchers, and students dedicated to improving agriculture for global wellbeing.
Download or read book Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management written by Julian F. Gonsalves and published by IDRC. This book was released on 2005 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intended for aspiring and new practitioners of Participatory Research and Development (PR&D) as well as field-based researchers in developing countries. Highlights that agricultural research and development has become a joint approach to deal with diverse biophysical environments, multiple livelihood goals, rapid changes in local and global economies, and an expanded range for stakeholders over agriculture and natural resources.
Download or read book Sustainable Agriculture written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Marketing Sustainable Agriculture written by James I. Grieshop and published by University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources. This book was released on 1996 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This practical publication gives farmers, Extension advisors, agents, teachers, farm suppliers, and community and environmental activists a way to teach real-world sustainable farming techniques and to encourage a broad information exchange among those involved in sustainable agriculture research.
Download or read book Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education in the Field written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1991-02-01 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interest is growing in sustainable agriculture, which involves the use of productive and profitable farming practices that take advantage of natural biological processes to conserve resources, reduce inputs, protect the environment, and enhance public health. Continuing research is helping to demonstrate the ways that many factorsâ€"economics, biology, policy, and traditionâ€"interact in sustainable agriculture systems. This book contains the proceedings of a workshop on the findings of a broad range of research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The areas of study, such as integrated pest management, alternative cropping and tillage systems, and comparisons with more conventional approaches, are essential to developing and adopting profitable and sustainable farming systems.
Download or read book Participatory Research and Development for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management written by Julian F. Gonsalves and published by IDRC. This book was released on 2005 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intended for aspiring and new practitioners of Participatory Research and Development (PR&D) as well as field-based researchers in developing countries. Highlights that agricultural research and development has become a joint approach to deal with diverse biophysical environments, multiple livelihood goals, rapid changes in local and global economies, and an expanded range for stakeholders over agriculture and natural resources.
Download or read book Integrating Sustainable Agriculture Ecology and Environmental Policy written by Richard Olson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-05-02 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Find an interdiscliplinary view of sustainable agriculture that emphasizes the potential contributions of ecology to agricultural sustainability in this groundbreaking book. Integrating Sustainable Agriculture, Ecology, and Environmental Policy explores how ecological knowledge, applied as part of a multidisciplinary effort, can be used to design a sustainable and environmentally sound agriculture. A more ecologically based agriculture can increase production efficiency and decrease environmental impacts, but hard choices regarding population control, energy conservation, and land use must still be made. This interdisciplinary approach ensures that the results are beneficial to all components, for example, an ecologically based management scheme which bankrupts the farmer is not considered a viable option for sustainable agriculture. These thought-provoking chapters are an excellent introduction to the contributions of ecological principles to an environmentally sound sustainable agriculture. This multidisciplinary examination provides readers interested in agriculture with a valuable introduction to related work in other fields including ecology and economics. Agronomists, ecologists, educators, and policymakers will find essential information on diverse topics including: the definition and measurement of ecological sustainability in agriculture landscape ecology and the design of sustainable agricultural landscapes soil ecology as a foundation for sustainable agriculture Federal agricultural policies as incentives or deterrent to sustainable agriculture applying farming systems research and extension to sustainable agriculture population growth and other threats to sustainable agriculture environmental policies and their effects on sustainable agriculture the role of precollege education in developing sustainable agriculture
Download or read book Agricultural Extension written by Gershon Feder and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: May 1999 - The agriculture sector must nearly double biological yields on existing farmland to meet food needs, which will double in the next quarter century. A sustainable approach to providing agricultural extension services in developing countries-minimal external inputs, a systems orientation, pluralism, and arrangements that take advantage of the best incentives for farmers and extension service providers-will release the local knowledge, resources, common sense, and organizing ability of rural people. Is agricultural extension in developing countries up to the task of providing the information, ideas, and organization needed to meet food needs? What role should governments play in implementing or facilitating extension services? Roughly 80 percent of the world's extension is publicly funded and delivered by civil servants, providing a range of services to the farming population, commercial producers, and disadvantaged target groups. Budgetary constraints and concerns about performance create pressure to show the payoff on investment in extension and to explore alternatives to publicly providing it. Feder, Willett, and Zijp analyze the challenges facing policymakers who must decide what role governments should play in implementing or facilitating extension services. Focusing on developing country experience, they identify generic challenges that make it difficult to organize extension: The magnitude of the task; Dependence on wider policy and other agency functions; Problems in identifying the cause and effect needed to enable accountability and to get political support and funding; Liability for public service functions beyond the transfer of agricultural knowledge and information; Fiscal sustainability; Inadequate interaction with knowledge generators. Feder, Willett, and Zijp show how various extension approaches were developed in attempts to overcome the challenges of extension: Improving extension management; Decentralizing; Focusing on single commodities; Providing fee-for-service public extension services; Establishing institutional pluralism; Empowering people by using participatory approaches; Using appropriate media. Each of the approaches has weaknesses and strengths, and in their analysis the authors identify the ingredients that show promise. Rural people know when something is relevant and effective. The aspects of agricultural extension services that tend to be inherently low cost and build reciprocal, mutually trusting relationships are those most likely to produce commitment, accountability, political support, fiscal sustainability, and the kinds of effective interaction that generate knowledge. This paper-a joint product of Rural Development, Development Research Group, and the Rural Development Department-is part of a larger effort in the Bank to identify institutional and policy reforms needed to promote sustainable and equitable rural development. The authors may be contacted at [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].
Download or read book Building a Sustainable Business written by and published by Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture. This book was released on 2003 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Brings the business planning process alive to help today's agriculture entrepreneurs transform farm-grown inspiration into profitable enterprises. Sample worksheets illustrate how real farm families set goals, research processing alternatives, determine potential markets, and evaluate financing options. Blank worksheets offer readers the opportunity to develop their own detailed, lender-ready business plan and map out strategies" --back cover.
Download or read book Gaining Ground written by Forrest Pritchard and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013-05-21 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With humor and pathos, Forrest Pritchard recounts his ambitious and often hilarious endeavors to save his family’s seventh-generation farm in the Shenandoah Valley. Through many a trial and error, he not only saves Smith Meadows from insolvency but turns it into a leading light in the sustainable, grass-fed, organic farm-to-market community. There is nothing young Farmer Pritchard won’t try. Whether he’s selling firewood and straw, raising free-range chickens and hogs, or acquiring a flock of Barbados Blackbelly sheep, his learning curve is steep and always entertaining. Pritchard’s world crackles with colorful local characters—farm hands, butchers, market managers, customers, fellow vendors, pet goats, policemen—bringing the story to warm, communal life. His most important ally, however, is his renegade father, who initially questions his son's career choice and eschews organic foods for the generic kinds that wreak havoc on his health. Soon after his father’s death, the farm becomes a recognized success and Pritchard must make a vital decision: to continue serving the local community or answer the exploding demand for his wares with lucrative Internet sales and shipping deals. More than a charming story of honest food cultivation and farmers’ markets, Gaining Ground tugs on the heartstrings, reconnecting us to the land and the many lives that feed us.
Download or read book Guidelines for Developing University Sustainable Agriculture Programs written by Tom Lamm and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Agricultural Development and Sustainable Intensification written by Udaya Sekhar Nagothu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-08-14 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustainable Intensification (SI) has recently emerged as a key concept for agricultural development, recognising that yields must increase to feed a growing world population, but it must be achieved without damage to the environment, on finite land resources and while preserving social and natural capital. It also recognises that all initiatives must cope with the challenges of climate change to agricultural production, food security and livelihoods. This multidisciplinary book presents state-of-the-art reviews of current SI approaches to promote major food crops, challenges and advances made in technology, and the institutional and policy measures necessary to overcome the constraints faced by smallholder farmers. Adressing the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 2, the various chapters based on evidence and experiences of reputed researchers show how these innovations, if properly nurtured and implemented, can make a difference to food and nutrition security outcomes. Case studies from around the world are included, with a particular emphasis on Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is not only on scientific aspects such as climate-smart agriculture, agroecology and improving input use efficiency and management, but also on institutional and policy challenges that must be met to increase the net societal benefits of sustainable agricultural intensification. The book is aimed at advanced students and researchers in sustainable agriculture and policy, development practitioners, policy makers and non-governmental and farmer organisations.
Download or read book Resilient Agriculture Expanded Updated Second Edition written by Laura Lengnick and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2022-06-14 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Real world stories from the frontlines of climate change, resilience, and the future of food Practical insights and plenty of examples of how we can reshape our food system to one that is resilient and regenerative. — Mathis Wackernagel, Ph.D., founder and president, Global Footprint Network, co-author Ecological Footprint Inspiring and practical at a time when we desperately need both. — Dr. Anne Waple, founder and CEO, Earth's Next Chapter Brilliantly argues that it isn't some vague notion of "technology" that will show us the way forward but people working together and carefully stewarding the land. — Mark Bittman, author, Animal, Vegetable, Junk and How to Cook Everything CLIMATE CHANGE PRESENTS an unprecedented challenge to food and farming in the U.S. and beyond. Damaging weather variability and extremes capture the headlines, but more subtle changes caused by hotter summer nights, warmer winters, and a longer growing season have far-reaching effects on the land, people, and communities that feed us. This expanded and updated edition of Resilient Agriculture takes you beyond the headlines and the hype to shine a light on agricultural climate solutions with the power to cultivate new American foodways that are just, sustainable, regenerative, and resilient. Updated content includes: Current and expected changes in regional weather patterns that disrupt food and farming New adaptation stories from sustainable, climate-smart, organic, and regenerative farmers and updates on the producers featured in the first edition Real-world applications of resilience thinking that connect the dots between food justice, sustainable development, regenerative economy, and planetary health A companion website with stories, videos, issue briefs, reading guides, and more. Whether you are working in food and farming or are simply an interested eater, Resilient Agriculture will take you on a journey into real-world resilience solutions with the power to regenerate the well-being of land, people, and community no matter the challenges ahead. What would a more resilient food system look like? Lengnick answers that question with this path-breaking, delightfully informative book. — Richard Heinberg, senior fellow, Post Carbon Institute, author, Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival A guidepost for building a better and more resilient food system. — Dr. Gabrielle Roesch-McNally, director, Women for the Land, American Farmland Trust
