Fertility of Soils
A Future for Farming in the West African Savannah
Published on 30. December 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
XVIII, 348 pages
978-3-642-84322-8 (ISBN)
Description
Can a continuous growth of agriculture be achieved in the sub-Sahara region without inducing irreversible damage to the ecosystem? Until now, doubts have been expressed as to the actual capacity of the soils to sustain a desirable increase of production which can match the requirements of a fast-growing population. Thirty years of investigation and a renewed comprehensive interpretation of research data on soil fertility show that a sustainable agriculture growth could be a practical possibility in a savannah region.
More details
Series
Edition
Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1992
Language
English
Place of publication
Berlin
Germany
Publishing group
Springer Berlin
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Research
Illustrations
XVIII, 348 p.
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
563 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-642-84322-8 (9783642843228)
DOI
10.1007/978-3-642-84320-4
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2012
Springer
€96.29
Available for download
Book
05/1992
Springer
€85.55
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Persons
Content
General Introduction.- 1 Scope of the Study.- I Fertility and Agricultural Development.- 2 Definition of Fertility.- 3 The Farming Environment.- 4 Population and Migration.- 5 Agricultural Policy.- II Present Fertility Status.- IIA Crop Yields in Recent Times.- 6 National Yield Trends.- 7 Yields in Project Areas.- 8 Summary: Moderate Yields Giving Concern for the Future.- IIB The Development of Soils Under Cropping in Practical Farming.- 9 Soil Development Under Traditional Farming.- 10 The Effect of Population Growth on the Soil.- 11 Agricultural Intensification and Its Consequences for the Management of Soil Fertility.- 12 Summary of Part II.- III Experimental Bases of Sustainability.- 13 Sustainable Yields.- IIIA The Ecological Approach.- 14 Farming and Physical Degradation of the Soil.- 15 Root Development of Crops and Biological Imbalance in Soils.- IIIB Soil Development and Crop Yield in Permanent Rain-Fed Farming - Long-Term Experiments.- 16 Introduction - The Interpretation of Long-Term Experiments.- 17 Year-to-Year Variation in Yield: The Effect of Rainfall and Its Distribution.- 18 Low Intensity Systems - Hand Cultivation.- 19 Hand Cultivation with Intensification.- 20 Systems Using Animal Traction.- 21 Summary of Part III: Indications from Long-Term Experiments.- IV Major Processes in the Development of Soil Fertility.- IVA Items in the Organic Matter Balance in the Soil.- 22 Introduction - Soil as a System.- 23 Items in the Organic Matter Balance of Cultivated Soils and Their Evolution.- 24 Tillage and the Organic Matter Balance of Cultivated Soils.- 25 Additions of Plant Nutrients and the Organic Matter Balance in the Soil.- 26 Establishing the Organic Matter Balance in Cultivated Soils.- IVB Items in the Nutrient Balance of the Soil and TheirEvolution.- 27 Forms of Mineral Material in the Soil and Their Distribution.- 28 Measurement of the Items in the Nutrient Balance of the Soil.- 29 Calculated Nutrient Balance for Several Systems.- 30 Establishing Nutrient Balance Sheets for Cultivated Soil.- 31 Summary of Part IV.- General Conclusions.- 32 Evolution of Soil Fertility in the Savannah Area to the South of the Sahara.- 33 Requirements for the Establishment of Sustainable Agriculture in the Savannah Zone.- References.