Organic farming is a progressive method of farming and food production it does not mean going back to traditional (old) methods of farming. Many of the traditional farming methods used in the past are still useful today. Organic farming takes the best of these and combines them with modern scientific knowledge. Authors' task was to write a book where many different existing studies could be presented in a single volume, making it easy for the reader to compare methods, results and conclusions. As a result, studies from different countries have been compiled into one book. I believe that the opportunity to compare results and conclusions from different authors will create a new perspective in organic farming and food production. I hope that our book will help researchers and students from all over the world to attain new and interesting results in the field of organic farming and food production.

In this meditation, respected Ugandan academic Dani Wadada Nabudere traces the roots of the global economic crisis and warns of the threat that the decline of Western nations poses to the African continent—the final frontier for those in search of new lands and resources to exploit. As a deterrent to what he sees as the encroachment of super-profiteers looking to Africa for the land to increase their profits in industrial agriculture, Nabudere advocates for what he terms “community sites of knowledge,” that is, the use of indigenous tools and knowledge to revitalize the lives of Africa’s people. The book puts forth the belief that any dependence on imported knowledge and material instruments will only lead to the entrenchment of colonial stereotypes, and that indigenous knowledge is imbued with the roots of “complex ecosystems” that require the inputs of a diversity of expertise and experiences and that are capable of producing the knowledge necessary for the residents of the African continent to reclaim the future.

Since colonial times, the sense of encountering an unseen, transcendental Presence within the natural world has been a characteristic motif in American literature and culture. American writers have repeatedly perceived in nature something beyond itself-and beyond themselves. In this book, John Gatta argues that the religious import of American environmental literature has yet to be fully recognized or understood. Whatever their theology, American writers have perennially construed the nonhuman world to be a source, in Rachel Carson's words, of "something that takes us out of ourselves." Making Nature Sacred explores how the quest for "natural revelation" has been pursued through successive phases of American literary and intellectual history. And it shows how the imaginative challenge of "reading" landscapes has been influenced by biblical hermeneutics. Though focused on adaptations of Judeo-Christian religious traditions, it also samples Native American, African American, and Buddhist forms of ecospirituality. It begins with Colonial New England writers such Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, re-examines pivotal figures such as Henry Thoreau and John Muir, and takes account of writings by Mary Austin, Rachel Carson, and many others along the way. The book concludes with an assessment of the "spiritual renaissance" underway in current environmental writing, as represented by five noteworthy poets and by authors such as Wendell Berry, Annie Dillard, Marilynne Robinson, Peter Matthiessen, and Barry Lopez. This engaging study should appeal not only to students of literature, but also to those interested in ethics and environmental studies, religious studies, and American cultural history.

Modern industrial agriculture is not sustainable because of its heavy reliance on petroleum, a non-renewable source of the energy used in farming, and because of pollution caused by petroleum products such as fertilizers and pesticides. A systems analysis of farming suggests that agriculture will be more sustainable when services of nature, such as nutrient recycling by soil micro-organisms and natural controls of insects, replace the services now provided by energy from petroleum. Examples are drawn from the Southeastern USA, but lessons learned can be applied worldwide.

This user-friendly book introduces biochar to potential users in the professional sphere. It de-mystifies the scientific, engineering and managerial issues surrounding biochar for the benefit of audiences including policy makers, landowners and farmers, land use, agricultural and environmental managers and consultants, industry and lobby groups and NGOs. The book reviews state-of-the-art knowledge in an approachable way for the non-scientist, covering all aspects of biochar production, soil science, agriculture, environmental impacts, economics, law and regulation and climate change policy. Chapters provide ‘hands-on’ practical information, including how to evaluate biochar and understand what it is doing when added to the soil, how to combine biochar with other soil amendments (such as manure and composts) to achieve desired outcomes, and how to ensure safe and effective use. The authors also present research findings from the first coordinated European biochar field trial and summarize European field trial data. Explanatory boxes, infographics and concise summaries of key concepts are included throughout to make the subject more understandable and approachable.

One of the main problems and aims of nature conservation in Europe is to protect semi-open landscapes. The development during the past decades is characterized by an ongoing intensivation of land use on the one hand, and an increasing number of former meadows and pastures lying fallow caused by changing economic conditions on the other hand. In several countries the estabishment of larger "pasture landscapes" with a mixed character of open grassland combined with shrubs and forests has been recognized as one solution to this problem. The book gives an overview of the European projects concerning to this topic - nature conservation policy and strategies, scientific results and practical experiences creating large scale grazing systems.