Look Inside

Sustainable Agriculture eBook - Substantially updated and improved

This book explains concepts and long-term benefits of sustainability on farms. It covers systems such as

• permaculture
• biodynamics
• organic farming
• agroforestry
• conservation tillage
• integrated hydroculture

It examines important issues such as monoculture versus polyculture, and problems such as land degradation and climatic change, acid rain, salinity and chemical waste. The author looks at the everything from socio economic considerations, robotics, drones and other technologies, to utilisation of hybrids and selection criteria for plants and stock and preparing a farm for droughts and floods.

The second edition of this eBook was rated 4.08 out of 5 on Good Reads in August 2019. After that great feedback, we decided to improve it even further. This is the third edition of this successful and comprehensive eBook on Sustainable Agriculture.

Contents

Credits

Introduction

Why be sustainable?

Chapter 1   DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE

• What to do
• Know your land
• A) Evaluating a site
• B) Land carrying capacity
• C) Assessing land capability
• An indication of sustainability

Chapter 2  SUSTAINABLE CONCEPTS

• Natural farming
• Organic farming
• Whole farm planning
• Systems thinking in sustainable agriculture
• Permaculture
• Minimal cultivation
• No dig techniques
• Biodynamics
• Crop rotation
• Seed saving
• Urban farming
• Hydroponics
• Aquaponics
• Vertical farming
• Environmentally friendly farming
• Checklist of sustainability elements
• Sustainable agriculture around the globe
• Case study: target 10, a model for sustainable agricultural development

Chapter 3  SOILS

• Introduction
• Growing media
• Soils
• Problems with soils
• Major types of soil problems
• 1) Loss of soil fertility
• 2) Erosion
• 3) Salinity
• 4) Soil sodicity
• 5) Soil structural decline
• 6) Soil acidification
• 7) Build-up of dangerous chemicals
• Improving soils
• Adding organic matter
• Cultivation techniques
• Conservation tillage
• Plant nutrition
• Soil ph
• Choosing the right fertiliser
• Nutrient deficiencies
• Natural fertilisers
• Types of natural fertilisers to use
• A look at organic fertilisers
• Soil life
• Earthworms
• Mycorrhiza
• Nitrogen fixing
• Composting
• The composting process
• Guidelines for using compost
• Mulches
• General rules for mulching

Chapter 4  WATER MANAGEMENT

• Water usage
• Methods of water storage
• Rainwater collection & storage
• Water tanks
• Bore water
• Farm dams
• Livestock water requirement
• Water quality
• Problems with water
• Mosquitoes
• Willows and waterways
• Algal blooms
• Livestock contamination
• Flood
• Water quality
• Salinity
• Testing water salinity
• Treating saline water
• Management options
• Long-term strategies
• Tastes and odours
• Reed beds
• Water saving measures
• Recycling household water
• Using farm/waste water
• Water wastage
• Evaporation
• Seepage
• Runoff
• Overspray
• Scheduling
• Recycling waste water
• Swales and keylines
• Swales
• Keyline design
• Irrigation systems
• Irrigation system design
• Steps in the design process
• Maintenance procedures and scheduling
• Periodic inspections
• Routine upkeep
• Contingent work
• Scheduling work
• Surface or flood irrigation
• Border check system
• Hillside flooding
• Furrow irrigation
• Sprinkler irrigation
• A) wind velocity and wetting pattern
• B) drop size
• C) rotational speed
• D) evaporation
• Innovations in water management and precision agriculture procedures and scheduling

Chapter 5   PEST AND DISEASE CONTROL

• Use of pesticides
• Pest management and systems thinking
• Integrated pest management
• Biointensive integrated pest management
• Pesticides: a vicious cycle
• Controlling pests and diseases in plants
• Cultural controls
• Physical controls
• Sprays and dusts
• Pesticides
• Fungicides
• Chemical control of pests and diseases in plants
• Insecticides
• Fungicides
• Chemical application techniques
• Biological control
• Antagonistic organisms
• Advantages of bio-control methods
• Disadvantages of biocontrol methods
• Predators
• Attracting parasites
• Beneficial plants
• Trap or decoy plants
• Companion planting
• Plants which affect the soil
• Pest control plants
• Legislation
• Chemical use
• Quarantine
• Genetic engineering
• Pest and disease control in animals

Chapter 6   SUSTAINABLE WEED CONTROL AND CULTIVATION

• What is a weed?
• Controlling weeds
• Ways to control weeds without chemicals
• Check soil condition
• Minimise sources of weed seeds
• Cultivation
• Mulching
• Biological weed control
• Grazing
• Goats
• Other grazing animals
• Chemical control of weeds
• Herbicides
• Contact herbicides
• Woody weed herbicides
• Residual herbicides
• Pre-emergent herbicides
• Selective herbicides
• Herbicide additives
• Plants which take over
• Environmental weeds
• Some plants to avoid
• Noxious weeds

Chapter 7   FARM MANAGEMENT

• Changing an existing farm to a sustainable property
• The rodale institute conversion experiment
• New farm products
• Pre-planning
• Considerations
• Monitoring and reviewing the farm system
• Socioeconomic considerations
• Profitability
• Social aspects
• Production planning
• Economy of scale
• Materials
• Equipment
• Value adding
• Organic certification schemes
• Contingencies and seasonal variations
• The expected
• The unexpected
• Types of problems
• Planning for drought
• Excessive water
• What other planning do I need?

Chapter 8  GROWING AND HARVESTING PLANTS

• Selection criteria for plants
• Grain and other broad acre crops
• Monoculture
• Crop rotation
• Row crops
• Cover crops
• Cover crop guidelines/principles
• Legume cover crops
• Types of cover crops
• Ways of using a cover crop
• Hay and silage
• Silage production
• Silage timing
• Quality control
• Hay
• Hydroponic fodder

Chapter 9    TREES, FODDER AND OTHER PLANTS

• Important reasons for having trees on farms
• Agroforestry
• Profitability
• Design
• Pruning/thinning
• Harvesting
• Timber trees
• Paulownia
• Pine plantations
• Eucalyptus
• Acacia
• Fodder trees
• Types of trees
• Windbreaks
• Windbreak design considerations
• Windbreak plants
• Firebreaks
• Fire-prone areas
• How to arrange plants
• Maintenance of firebreak species
• Habitat corridors for wildlife
• Why create a wildlife corridor?
• Benefits of wildlife corridors
• Where to establish wildlife corridors
• Types of wildlife corridors
• Wildlife corridor design
• Edge effects
• Tree planting methods
• Preparing the site
• Planting seedlings
• Direct seeding

Chapter 10   SUSTAINABLE ANIMAL MANAGEMENT

• Possible problems of livestock production
• Breed selection
• Stocking rates
• Fencing
• Production systems
• Land care practices
• Pastures
• Sustainable pasture varieties
• Saltbush
• How much grazing?
• How long to graze?
• Grazing methods
• Other areas for grazing
• Guidelines for raising different livestock
• Alpacas
• Aquaculture (freshwater)
• Cattle
• Emus
• Goats
• Horses
• Ostriches and emus
• Poultry (chickens)
• Pigs
• Sheep

Chapter 11  TECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS

• Introduction
• Precision agriculture
• Machines and tools
• Tractors
• Drones
• Wearable technology
• Robotics
• Computer technology
• Fertilisers and soil conditioners
• Seaweed extracts
• Fish fertilisers
• Rock dusts
• Chemical pesticides and herbicides
• Soil microbes
• New plants & animals
• Biotechnology & sustainable agriculture
• Modifying organisms genetically
• Cloning
• Problems for biotechnology
• Nuclear and isotopic techniques

FURTHER READING AND STUDY

• More ebooks available
• Courses available

This eBook is the one for you, if you want to know more about -

• Farming in a sustainable way
• Protecting our planet
• Learning more about the multidisciplinary aspects of sustainable agriculture

Save our planet, farm sustainably!