The increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in crop production has adversely affected both the environment and the agricultural economy. Not only has it led to environmental pollution, but also the increasing costs of chemical inputs and the low prices received for agricultural products have contributed to economic unprofitability and instability.The International Symposium on Agricultural Ecology and Environment was organised in order to discuss ways of achieving the goals of economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture. It is apparent that a truly multidisciplinary effort is required and for this reason the meeting was attended by authors from many different disciplines and geographical locations. Although their papers reflect a wide diversity of agroecosystem types and examples, several common themes emerge: the increased importance of biotic control of ecosystem processes in lower input systems; the key role of soil organic matter in stabilizing nutrient cycling; the importance of agricultural landscape diversity and complexity; the importance of studying ecological processes in natural and agricultural ecosystems; the critical need to integrate socio-economic and ecological approaches.

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

Rooted firmly in the principles of econology, the agricultural enterprise, even though having been exposed to the impact of environmental problems arising from land degradation, soil erosion, groundwater depletion and pollution and loss of biological diversity, has so far stood firm and survived to meet the food requirements of the growing population, so much so that there have been some striking instances of food glut in several countires, including some that used to sufer famiens only half a century ago.

This book analyses the nature of the relationships between crops, livestock and the bio-physical environment, and the extent to which man has managed and modified the products and environment to suit his/her own particular needs.

This is the first English book talking about the Three Gorges Project Eco-Environmental Monitoring System (TGPEEMS). It presents lessons learned in construction of large dam projects at home and abroad in this field, identifies existing problems before suggesting a scientific improvement plan. and, most importantly, it studies modification of the TGPEEMS to adapt it to the changing situation after the impoundment of the reservoir, and provides an essential overview of measures and progress in the ecological and environmental protection for the ongoing project. As such, it offers a valuable reference guide for both researchers and environmental decision-makers.Prof. Zhenli Huang works at the National Research Center for Sustainable Hydropower Research, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research. Prof. Bingfang Wu works at the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Despite the development of environmental initiatives, healthcare, and cultural assimilation in today’s global market, significant problems in these areas remain throughout various regions of the world. As countries continue to transition into the modern age, areas across Asia and Africa have begun implementing modern solutions in order to benefit their individual societies and keep pace with the surrounding world. Significant research is needed in order to understand current issues that persist across the globe and what is being done to solve them. Global Issues and Innovative Solutions in Healthcare, Culture, and the Environment is an essential reference source that discusses worldwide conflicts within healthcare and environmental development as well as modern resolutions that are being implemented. Featuring research on topics such as health insurance reform, sanitation development, and cultural freedom, this book is ideally designed for researchers, policymakers, physicians, government officials, sociologists, environmentalists, anthropologists, academicians, practitioners, and students seeking coverage on global societal challenges in the modern age.

Agriculture has been an enduring human tradition key to survival and civilization. However, after the advent of industrialization and agricultural growth, the industry has been met with several challenges including pollution, land use, and food insecurity. With the agricultural industry contributing to pollution and emissions, many have found it imperative to investigate the causes and seek out solutions. The Research Anthology on Strategies for Achieving Agricultural Sustainability discusses the issues that the agricultural industry currently faces and the technological opportunities that can be explored to help protect and predict crop growth and achieve more resilient agricultural processes. It analyzes the impact of agricultural pollution and food insecurity on a global scale, but also proposes solutions to promote agricultural sustainability. Covering topics such as bio-farming, smart farming, and population growth, this book is an indispensable resource for government officials, agricultural scientists, farmers, students and professors of higher education, activist groups, researchers, and academicians.

Digital agriculture is an emerging concept of modern farming that refers to managing farms using modern Engineering, Information and Communication Technologies (EICT) aiming at increasing the overall efficiency of agricultural production, improving the quantity and quality of products, and optimizing the human labor required and natural resource consumption in operations. This encyclopedia is designed to collect the summaries of knowledge on as many as subjects or aspects relevant to ECIT for digital agriculture, present such knowledge in entries, and arrange them alphabetically by articles titles. Springer Major Reference Works platform offers Live Update capability. Our reference work takes full advantage of this feature, which allows for continuous improvement or revision of published content electronically. The Editorial Board Dr. Irwin R. Donis-Gonzalez, University of California Davis, Dept. Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Davis, USA (Section: Postharvest Technologies) Prof. Paul Heinemann, Pennsylvania State University, Department Head of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, PA, USA (Section: Technologies for Crop Production) Prof. Manoj Karkee, Washington State University, Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems, Washington, USA (Section: Robotics and Automation Technologies) Prof. Minzan Li, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China (Section: Precision Agricultural Technologies) Prof. Dikai Liu, University of Technology Sydney (UTS),Faculty of Engineering & Information Technologies, Broadway NSW, Australia (Section: AI, Information and Communication Technologies) Prof. Tomas Norton, University of Leuven, Dept. of Biosystems, Heverlee Leuven, Belgium (Section: Technologies for Animal and Aquatic Production) Dr. Manuela Zude-Sasse, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Precision Horticulture, Potsdam, Germany (Section: Engineering and Mechanization Technologies)

The book illustrates theories of sustainable development from physical, chemical and biological aspects, and then introduces technologies to prevent pollution of water, air, solid waste and noise, finally concludes with ecological environmental protection and restoration techniques. With interdisciplinary features and abundant case studies, it is an essential reference for researchers and industrial engineers.

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is a comprehensive system that requires thorough consideration of local climate, natural environment, market demand, economic and cultural environment. FAO introduced CSA at the Hague Conference on Agricultural, Food Security and Climate Change in 2010 and has been strongly supporting it since then. The development of CSA in China contributes to reaching its carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality in China by 2060. This publication introduces China's CSA development and provides policy proposals. It contains four sections: the background and development status of China's CSA; practices and achievements of China's CSA, including analysing case studies such as the China Climate-Smart Staple Crop Production project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF); opportunities and challenges facing China's CSA; and national policy proposals and investments that include local schemes and smallholders for China's CSA.It is critical for China to strengthen its cooperation with international organizations to explore innovative, efficient, resilient, and sustainable climate-adaption technologies for the transformation of agrifood systems.This publication is part of the Country Investment Highlights series under the FAO Investment Centre's Knowledge for Investment (K4I) programme.