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U.S. farm bills are home to the nation's primary policies for agriculture, land use, and conservation. Although often outside the public spotlight, many of these policies are crucial to how land and food are managed in this country--from food stamp programs for low-income households to environmental conservation for natural resources to the often controversial commodity subsidy programs to support farmers.Examining the gains and misses for conservation in the 2008 farm bill also sheds light on agricultural sustainability prospects embedded in farm policy. In this case, the emphasis on biofuels during farm bill debates both threatened conservation with the prospect of large-scale corn ethanol production, and also shifted public focus away from reforms that might have improved agriculture's environmental and social footprint. At the same time, the 2008 farm bill did introduce some new prospects for environmentally- and socially-sustainable agricultural policies in the longer term. In examining the reasons for the 2008 farm bill's approach to and then retreat from rapid policy change, Nadine Lehrer guides us through ideological conflicts over world trade, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture as embedded in U.S. farm policy debates. This book locates these debates within the historical context of farm bills over time, providing a concise history of agricultural policy dynamics as they relate to current issues. The book also integrates complementary theoretical perspectives from the policy change and social movement literatures, and in particular makes a case for incorporating discourse analysis into studies of policy change and policy stability. Integrating theory and history with a multidisciplinary perspective on changing situational drivers, interest group struggles, and Congressional politics, Lehrer uses the farm bill as an illustrative case for illuminating U.S. political processes and implications. This is an important work for students and scholars of the U.S. political system, especially those focused on agricultural policy, sustainability and environmental conservation, theory and methods of policy analysis, and the intersections of policy and culture. ... Read more

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Agroforestry and silvopastoralism are ancient ways of managing forestland that should be encouraged as they increase productivity in the short, medium and long terms (in comparison with forestland), biodiversity (in comparison with farmland) and the sustainability of land (multi-product system). This book addresses important problems that need to be solved by indicating adequate means of managing forestry and grasslands. These problems are related to issues such as the multiple benefits of forests, fire and erosion risk reduction and countryside conservation. This book is based on papers resentedat a conference held in Spain in April 2004. ... Read more

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This text presents a case study based in north-eastern India that serves as an in-depth analysis of the integration of conservation and sustainable development. By illustrating the contribution that scientists can make in assisting people in the tropics adapt to changing social and economic circumstances, the approaches and concepts set out in this volume will be of interest to those concerned with the ecological systems and cultures of the tropics. ... Read more

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• Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA)
• East and South Asia and the Pacific (ESAP)
• Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
• North America and Europe (NAE)
• Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

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Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Sustainable agriculture is a discipline that addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control, and biodiversity depletion. Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from sciences as diverse as agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, and social sciences. Indeed, sustainable agriculture decipher mechanisms of processes that occur from the molecular level to the farming system to the global level at time scales ranging from seconds to centuries. For that, scientists use the system approach that involves studying components and interactions of a whole system to address scientific, economic and social issues. In that respect, sustainable agriculture is not a classical, narrow science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that treats only negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats problem sources. Because most actual society issues are now intertwined, global, and fast-developing, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book series gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy and food system for future generations.

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In recent years, the blue orchard bee (BOB) has become established as an alternative orchard pollinator in North America. With a strong preference for fruit trees, BOBs are highly efficient pollinators; in fact, just 250-300 females will pollinate an entire acre of apples or almonds. BOBs forage and pollinate under cloudy skies and at lower temperatures than most other bees. They are easy to manage and rarely sting.

To learn how to manage BOBs for successful orchard pollination, consult this guide from the USDA-ARS Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory. Learn about: BOB natural history

Building nesting materialsRearing and wintering populationsField management for maximum pollination Deterring parasites and predators ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

brief, but comprehensive coverage
This book is directed at the home gardener or orchardist who is interested in learning about managing native bees on a larger scale, and covers pretty much all the aspects of their cultivation, from tube selection to predators. In between it covers multiple other issues, such as how temperature will affect the maturation predictably, and could be used quite effectively as a "how-to" book for an orchard manager. Although brief and a fairly quick read, it is surprisingly comprehensive, with information into web resources as well.

If you're not sure you even want to start rearing native bees, I'd suggest reading Brian Griffin's book on The Orchard Mason Bee (if you can find a copy), which I think is a much better introduction to the topic. But if you've been "bitten by the bug" already, this book is an excellent manual on the management of a small population of bees into a sustainable larger population for the purposes of pollination on a widely local scale. ... Read more

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This book deals with the most widespread of root symbiosis, arbuscular mycorrhizas, an essential component of soil/plant systems occurring in the majority of plant species in natural agro-ecosystems. It is intended to aid the environmental researcher in finding relevant methods quickly, and as a general reference work it will well serve field ecologists, laboratory biologists and other workers in plant biology and soil microbiology. The volume contains the most recent advances in (I) the field of the development of biomolecular methods adapted to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; (II) the promotion of innovative ecological research which considers biodiversity, in order to better understand the impact of arbuscular mycorrhizas in sustainable agriculture and natural ecosystems; (III) elucidating the role of arbuscular mycorrhizas in plant development and root morphology; and (IV) defining the cellular and molecular basis of plant-fungus exchanges. An article concerning The European Bank of Glomales, an essential tool for efficient international and interdisciplinary collaboration, is also included. ... Read more

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Sustainability is defined as the use of natural resources without risking their exploitation by future generations. Agriculture can only be considered as sustainable if it includes a suitable system of plant genetic resources conservation. In this book, the modern concepts of agricultural sustainability and the economics of agricultural sustainability are discussed. A new framework for analysis and improvement of the governance of agrarian sustainability is presented. In addition, specific modes for environmental governance in Bulgarian agriculture are identified and the efficiency of market, private and public modes are assessed. Furthermore, the regulation measures through nutrient solution regulation and environmental control on nitrate accumulation in vegetables are summarised, highlighting the control strategy. Arguments for and against government strategies to promote large-scale agricultural units in emerging economies are also analysed and an economic theory that models agricultural supply in emerging economies is presented.Other chapters in this book describe the role of fluorescent pseudomonads in soil fertility, biodegradation of agricultural pollutants, plant growth-promotion, biocontrol of weeds, phytopathogens and nematodes. Information about the global relevance of China's and Australia's cotton industries are also given, and the structure and other significant features of their cotton industries are compared. The main characteristics and importance of plant growth-promoting bacteria in sustainable agriculture in tropical agriculture are looked at as well. Developing alternative ways to control plant disease, with good agronomic and horticultural practices is becoming the focus of many researchers. This book also includes information on ways to control plant diseases in order to maintain the quality and abundance of food produced by growers around the world. ... Read more

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This report complements the forthcoming OTA assessment on water and agriculture in U.S. arid/semiarid lands. The full assessment focuses on U.S. experience. Foreign experience is also important, however, particularly as U.S. agricultural, economic, and foreign aid interests are increasingly linked with those of other countries. The global significance of agricultural research and development on arid/semiarid lands is underscored by the fact that as much as 20 percent of the Earth’s surface is arid and semiarid, containing nearly 16 percent of the world’s population.

Described are selected foreign experiences using technology to develop and sustain agriculture in arid lands. The selection of examples was based on three broad considerations: 1) availability of current reliable information, 2) variety of examples both in land use and technology type, and 3) projects of potential interest and relevance to the United States. The examples include breeding crops for drought resistance, game ranching, improving irrigation management, developing rubber production from arid/semiarid plants, and adopting technology-intensive water programs and policies. U.S. cooperative efforts with some of these experiments and technology transfer considerations for U.S. arid/semiarid agriculture are also discussed.

This paper was prepared by OTA Project Director Barbara Lausche based on extensive contractor research and with the assistance of OTA Food and Renewable Resources Program staff listed in this paper. OTA wishes to thank and acknowledge the Water and Arid/Semiarid Agriculture Advisory Panel and other contributors noted in the footnotes to this document who provided helpful materials and reviews to the OTA staff. ... Read more

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With special reference to India. ... Read more

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This volume highlights aspects and approaches to questions on the development and findings of biotic indicator (systems), considering the complex problems of conversion into practice. Biotic indication in relation to sustainable land use and biodiversity is discussed from many angles.

Covered in this volume are the following topics:

• Political requirements and statements on biotic agri-environmental indicators;


• Requirements regarding agri-environmental indicators from a scientific as well as an applied point of view;


• Scientific reviews and critical discussions of "state of the art" knowledge regarding several kinds of agri-environmental indicators for biodiversity and/or sustainable agriculture;


• Original experiments on certain aspects regarding indication of biodiversity in agroecosystems;


• Practical experience with the application and suitability of agri-environmental indicators (as far as they are already established);


• Conceptions and models to show the economic effects and possibilities of practical application of such indicators.
  

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An examination of one the most critical, current issues in agriculture - how to sustain agricultural production without continuing the current rate of environmental degradation. ... Read more