Download or read book New Roots for Agriculture written by Wes Jackson and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 1980-01-01 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The plowshare may well have destroyed more options for future generations than the sword," writes Wes Jackson in a review of practices that have brought U.S. agriculture to the edge of disaster. Tillage has hastened the erosion of irreplaceable topsoil everywhere and a technology based on fossil fuels has increased yields for short-term profits, leaving crops ever more vulnerable to diseases, pests, and droughts. Such, says Jackson, is "the failure of success." As high-technology agriculture becomes more wasteful and expensive, more farmers are being forced off the land or into bankruptcy. ø Jackson's major solution calls for the development of plant combinations that yield food while holding the soil and re-newing its nutrients without plowing or applying fossil-fuel-based fertilizers or pesticides. His new way of raising crops, by working with the soil's natural systems, would keep the world's bread-basket producing perpetually.
Download or read book Growing Roots written by Katherine Leiner and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enhanced by recipes, a cross-country tour introduces people growing and cooking healthy, natural foods from grass-fed beef, vegetables, and grains to cheese-making and wild edibles.
Download or read book The Urban Farmer written by Curtis Allen Stone and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2015-12-14 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are twenty million acres of lawns in North America. In their current form, these unproductive expanses of grass represent a significant financial and environmental cost. However, viewed through a different lens, they can also be seen as a tremendous source of opportunity. Access to land is a major barrier for many people who want to enter the agricultural sector, and urban and suburban yards have huge potential for would-be farmers wanting to become part of this growing movement. The Urban Farmer is a comprehensive, hands-on, practical manual to help you learn the techniques and business strategies you need to make a good living growing high-yield, high-value crops right in your own backyard (or someone else's). Major benefits include: Low capital investment and overhead costs Reduced need for expensive infrastructure Easy access to markets Growing food in the city means that fresh crops may travel only a few blocks from field to table, making this innovative approach the next logical step in the local food movement. Based on a scalable, easily reproduced business model, The Urban Farmer is your complete guide to minimizing risk and maximizing profit by using intensive production in small leased or borrowed spaces. Curtis Stone is the owner/operator of Green City Acres, a commercial urban farm growing vegetables for farmers markets, restaurants, and retail outlets. During his slower months, Curtis works as a public speaker, teacher, and consultant, sharing his story to inspire a new generation of farmers.
Download or read book Ancient Agriculture written by Gabriel Alonso de Herrera and published by Gibbs Smith. This book was released on 2006 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Art of Agriculture is the first English edition of Obra de Agricultura by Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, an agriculture instruction manual originally written in Granada, Spain, in 1513 and published there in 1539. Herrera, widely considered the Father of Modern Spanish Agriculture, wrote this treatise nearly five centuries ago, thoughtfully recounting traditional farming techniques of the Moors before their expulsion from Spain, the Spanish colonizers in the early 1600s, and the rural Indo-Hispano bioregion spanning northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Today, farmers, gardeners, and ecological horticulturists are striving to work in harmony with nature, using traditional irrigation methods (involving acequias, sangras, and arroyos) to transform barren high-desert landscapes into fields supporting crop growth. This book speaks to today's farmers, no matter their size or output, in drought-ridden areas with land patterns characterized by natural ditches (acequias) and community water distribution systems (suertes). This type of agriculture exists not only in the American Southwest but from the Philippines to India to the Middle East. With global warming, water usage, and increased populations today, this book is more pertinent now than ever. Practical as well as philosophical, The Art of Agriculture will fascinate anyone interested in organic farming, sustainable agriculture, and permaculture worldwide.
Download or read book Consulting the Genius of the Place written by Wes Jackson and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Locavore leaders such as Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and Barbara Kingsolver all speak of the need for sweeping changes in how we get our food. A longtime leader of this movement is Wes Jackson, who for decades has taken it upon himself to speak for the land, to speak for the soil itself. Here, he offers a manifesto toward a conceptual revolution: Jackson asks us to look to natural ecosystems—or, if one prefers, nature in general—as the measure against which we judge all of our agricultural practices. Jackson believes the time is right to do away with annual monoculture grains, which are vulnerable to national security threats and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs. Soil erosion and the poisons polluting our water and air—all associated with agriculture from its beginnings—foretell a population with its natural fertility greatly destroyed. In this eloquent and timely volume, Jackson argues we must look to nature itself to lead us out of the mess we've made. The natural ecosystems will tell us, if we listen, what should happen to the future of food.
Download or read book The Role of Plant Roots in Crop Production written by Nand Kumar Fageria and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2012-07-23 with total page 471 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Role of Plant Roots in Crop Production presents the state of knowledge on environmental factors in root growth and development and their effect on the improvement of the yield of annual crops. This book addresses the role of roots in crop production and includes references to numerous annual crops. In addition, it brings together the issues and the state-of-the-art technologies that affect root growth, with comprehensive reviews to facilitate efficient, sustainable, economical, and environmentally responsible crop production. Written for plant scientists, crop scientists, horticulturalists, and soil scientists, plant physiologists, breeders, environmental scientists, agronomists, and undergraduate and graduate students in different disciplines of agricultural science, The Role of Plant Roots in Crop Production: Addresses root architecture and development dynamics to help users improve crop productivity Emphasizes crop production, plant nutrition, and soil chemistry relative to root growth and functions Covers root morphology, root functions, nutrient and water uptake by roots, root-soil interactions, root-environment interactions, root-microbe interactions, physiology of root crops, and management practices to improve root growth Supports content with experimental results, and additional data is presented with pictures Increasing food production worldwide has become a major issue in the 21st century. Stagnation in grain yield of important food crops in recent years in developed, as well as developing, countries has contributed to a sharp increase in food prices. Furthermore, higher grain yield will be needed in the future to feed a burgeoning world population with a rising standard of living that requires more grain per capita. Technologies that enhance productivity, ensure environmental safety, and conserve natural resources are required to meet this challenge.
Download or read book Healing Grounds written by Liz Carlisle and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2022-03-10 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A powerful movement is happening in farming today—farmers are reconnecting with their roots to fight climate change. For one woman, that’s meant learning her tribe’s history to help bring back the buffalo. For another, it’s meant preserving forest purchased by her great-great-uncle, among the first wave of African Americans to buy land. Others are rejecting monoculture to grow corn, beans, and squash the way farmers in Mexico have done for centuries. Still others are rotating crops for the native cuisines of those who fled the “American wars” in Southeast Asia. In Healing Grounds, Liz Carlisle tells the stories of Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and Asian American farmers who are reviving their ancestors’ methods of growing food—techniques long suppressed by the industrial food system. These farmers are restoring native prairies, nurturing beneficial fungi, and enriching soil health. While feeding their communities and revitalizing cultural ties to land, they are steadily stitching ecosystems back together and repairing the natural carbon cycle. This, Carlisle shows, is the true regenerative agriculture – not merely a set of technical tricks for storing CO2 in the ground, but a holistic approach that values diversity in both plants and people. Cultivating this kind of regenerative farming will require reckoning with our nation’s agricultural history—a history marked by discrimination and displacement. And it will ultimately require dismantling power structures that have blocked many farmers of color from owning land or building wealth. The task is great, but so is its promise. By coming together to restore these farmlands, we can not only heal our planet, we can heal our communities and ourselves.
Download or read book Back to the Roots written by Sara Shostak and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2021-05-14 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, urban farmers and gardeners are reclaiming cultural traditions linked to food, farming, and health; challenging systemic racism and injustice in the food system; demanding greater community control of resources in marginalized neighborhoods; and moving towards their visions of more equitable urban futures. As part of this urgent work, urban farmers and gardeners encounter and reckon with both the cultural meanings and material legacies of the past. Drawing on their narratives, Back to the Roots demonstrates that urban agriculture is a critical domain for explorations of, and challenges to, the long standing inequalities that shape both the materiality of cities and the bodies of their inhabitants.
Download or read book Becoming Native to This Place written by Wes Jackson and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2015-05-15 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In six compelling essays, Wes Jackson lays the foundation for a new farming economy grounded in nature's principles and located in dying small towns and rural communities. Exploding the tenets of industrial agriculture, Jackson seeks to integrate food production with nature in a way that sustains both. His writing is anchored in his work with The Land Institute, lending authenticity to topics that—in the hands of other writers—too often fail to escape the realm of the conceptual.
Download or read book Roots of Change written by Mary Ridder and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do accomplished writers (and grown-ups) like Ron Carlson, Rick Bass, and Michael Chabon (to name but a few of those represented here) still obsess over their baseball days? What is it about this green game of suspense that not only moves us but can also move us to flights of lyrical writing? In Scoring from Second: Writers on Baseball some of the literary lights of our day answer these questions with essays, reminiscences, and meditations on the sport that is America's game but also a deeply personal experience for player, observer, and fan alike.
Download or read book New Roots for American Agriculture written by Amanda Mary Cather and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A New System of Agriculture and Horticulture Founded on the Laws of Nature written by Darius Pierce and published by . This book was released on 1872 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Living Soil Handbook written by Jesse Frost and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Principles and farm-tested practices for no-till market gardening--for healthier, more productive soil! From the host of the popular The No-Till Market Garden Podcast—heard around the world with nearly one million downloads! Discovering how to meet the soil’s needs is the key task for every market gardener. In this comprehensive guide, Farmer Jesse Frost shares all he has learned through experience and experimentation with no-till practices on his home farm in Kentucky and from interviews and visits with highly successful market gardeners in his role as host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. The Living Soil Handbook is centered around the three basic principles of no-till market gardening: Disturb the soil as little as possible Keep it covered as much as possible Keep it planted as much as possible. Farmer Jesse then guides readers in applying those principles to their own garden environment, with their own materials, to meet their own goals. Beginning with an exploration of the importance of photosynthesis to living soil, Jesse provides in-depth information on: Turning over beds Using compost and mulch Path management Incorporating biology, maintaining fertility Cover cropping Diversifying plantings through intercropping Production methods for seven major crops Throughout, the book emphasizes practical information on all the best tools and practices for growers who want to build their livelihood around maximizing the health of their soil. Farmer Jesse reminds growers that “as possible” is the mantra for protecting the living soil: disturb the soil as little as you possibly can in your context. He does not believe that growers should anguish over what does and does not qualify as “no-till.” If you are using a tool to promote soil life and biology, that’s the goal. Jesse’s goal with The Living Soil Handbook is to provide a comprehensive set of options, materials, and field-tested practices to inspire growers to design a soil-nurturing no-till system in their unique garden or farm ecosystem. "[A] practical, informative debut. . . .Gardeners interested in sustainable agriculture will find this a great place to start."—Publishers Weekly "Frost offers a comprehensive, science-based, sympathetic, wholly practical guide to soil building, that most critical factor in vegetable gardening for market growers and home gardeners alike. A gift to any vegetable plot that will keep on giving."—Booklist (starred review)
Download or read book Farming While Black written by Leah Penniman and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2018 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Farming While Black is the first comprehensive "how to" guide for aspiring African-heritage growers to reclaim their dignity as agriculturists and for all farmers to understand the distinct, technical contributions of African-heritage people to sustainable agriculture. At Soul Fire Farm, author Leah Penniman co-created the Black and Latino Farmers Immersion (BLFI) program as a container for new farmers to share growing skills in a culturally relevant and supportive environment led by people of color. Farming While Black organizes and expands upon the curriculum of the BLFI to provide readers with a concise guide to all aspects of small-scale farming, from business planning to preserving the harvest. Throughout the chapters Penniman uplifts the wisdom of the African diasporic farmers and activists whose work informs the techniques described--from whole farm planning, soil fertility, seed selection, and agroecology, to using whole foods in culturally appropriate recipes, sharing stories of ancestors, and tools for healing from the trauma associated with slavery and economic exploitation on the land. Woven throughout the book is the story of Soul Fire Farm, a national leader in the food justice movement." --
Download or read book Texas Roots written by C. Allan Jones and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The uniquely Texan system that arose from the state's agricultural heritage, a mixture of practices and traditions from New Spain, Mexico, Europe, and the South, was the foundation for Texas' economic strength after the Civil War. In "Texas Roots," Jones brings alive this aspect of the state's history that contributed immeasurably to its identity and prosperity.
Download or read book Sustainable Market Farming written by Pam Dawling and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growing for 100 - the complete year-round guide for the small-scale market grower. Across North America, an agricultural renaissance is unfolding. A growing number of market gardeners are emerging to feed our appetite for organic, regional produce. But most of the available resources on food production are aimed at the backyard or hobby gardener who wants to supplement their family's diet with a few homegrown fruits and vegetables. Targeted at serious growers in every climate zone, Sustainable Market Farming is a comprehensive manual for small-scale farmers raising organic crops sustainably on a few acres. Informed by the author's extensive experience growing a wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to feed the approximately one hundred members of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia, this practical guide provides: Detailed profiles of a full range of crops, addressing sowing, cultivation, rotation, succession, common pests and diseases, and harvest and storage Information about new, efficient techniques, season extension, and disease resistant varieties Farm-specific business skills to help ensure a successful, profitable enterprise Whether you are a beginning market grower or an established enterprise seeking to improve your skills, Sustainable Market Farming is an invaluable resource and a timely book for the maturing local agriculture movement.
Download or read book Economics of Research and Innovation in Agriculture written by Petra Moser and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2021-10-08 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The challenges facing agriculture are plenty. Along with the world's growing population and diminishing amounts of water and arable land, the gradual increase in severe weather presents new challenges and imperatives for producing new, more resilient crops to feed a more crowded planet in the twenty-first century. Innovation has historically helped agriculture keep pace with earth's social, population, and ecological changes. In the last 50 years, mechanical, biological, and chemical innovations have more than doubled agricultural output while barely changing input quantities. The ample investment behind these innovations was available because of a high rate of return: a 2007 paper found that the median ROI in agriculture was 45 percent between 1965 and 2005. This landscape has changed. Today many of the world's wealthier countries have scaled back their share of GDP devoted to agricultural R&D amid evidence of diminishing returns. Universities, which have historically been a major source of agricultural innovation, increasingly depend on funding from industry rather than government to fund their research. As Upton Sinclair wrote of the effects industry influences, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." In this volume of the NBER Conference Report series, editor Petra Moser offers an empirical, applied-economic framework to the different elements of agricultural R&D, particularly as they relate to the shift from public to private funding. Individual chapters examine the sources of agricultural knowledge and investigate challenges for measuring the returns to the adoption of new agricultural technologies, examine knowledge spillovers from universities to agricultural innovation, and explore interactions between university engagement and scientific productivity. Additional analysis of agricultural venture capital point to it as an emerging and future source of resource in this essential domain"--
