This title includes a number of Open Access chapters.
Agriculture is one of the prime users of water, particularly in arid places with already-limited water resources, and its effects are diverse and far reaching. Providing a nuanced study of agricultural resource management, this informative book takes a four-pronged approach, covering research on:
• The impact of agriculture on water
• The impact of agriculture on soil quality and its ecological health
• Energy and greenhouse gases
• The impact of a growing population on agricultural resources
Topics include the connection between chemical fertilizer use in agriculture and stream water quality; beef and dairy production on livestock, dairy, and crops; livestock and greenhouse gases; energy consumption rates in agriculture; efficient farming techniques, such as precision agriculture, irrigation management, and sustainable water technologies; and more.
This informative and accessible volume offers a comprehensive guide to this vital and necessary field of study.
Introduction
Part I: Water
A Statistical Assessment of the Impact of Agricultural Land Use Intensity on Regional Surface Water Quality at Multiple Scales; Weiwei Zhang, Hong Li, Danfeng Sun, and Liandi Zhou
Discussion on Sustainable Water Technologies for Peri-Urban Areas of Mexico City: Balancing Urbanization and Environmental Conservation; Tiemen A. Nanninga, Iemke Bisschops, Eduardo López, José Luis Martínez-Ruiz, Daniel Murillo, Laura Essl, and Markus Starkl
Part II: Soil and Land
Evaluation of Post-Harvest Organic Carbon Amendments as a Strategy to Minimize Nitrogen Losses in Cole Crop Production; Katelyn A. Congreves, Richard J. Vyn, and Laura L. Van Eerd
Sustainability of US Organic Beef and Dairy Production Systems: Soil, Plant, and Cattle Interactions; Aimee N. Hafla, Jennifer W. MacAdam, and Kathy J. Soder
Changes of Soil Bacterial Diversity as a Consequence of Agricultural Land Use in a Semi-Arid Ecosystem; Guo-Chun Ding, Yvette M. Piceno, Holger Heuer, Nicole Weinert, Anja B. Dohrmann, Angel Carrillo, Gary L. Andersen, Thelma Castellanos, Christoph C. Tebbe, and Kornelia Smalla
Part III: Energy and Greenhouse Gases
A Greenhouse Gas and Soil Carbon Model for Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Livestock Production in Canada; Xavier P.C. Vergé, James A. Dyer, Devon E. Worth, Ward N. Smith, Raymond L. Desjardins, and Brian G. McConkey
Diesel Consumption of Agriculture in China; Nan Li, Hailin Mu, Huanan Li, and Shusen Gui
Energy Savings by Adopting Precision Agriculture in Rural USA; Ganesh C. Bora, John F. Nowatzki, and David C. Roberts
Reducing Carbon Emissions through Improved Irrigation Management: A Case Study from Pakistan; Asad Sarwar Qureshi
Part IV: Impact of Population Growth
Impact of a Growing Population in Agricultural Resource Management: Exploring the Global Situation with a Micro-Level Example; A. H. M. Zehadul Karim
Crop Breeding for Low-Input Agriculture: A Sustainable Response to Feed a Growing World Population; Tiffany L. Fess, James B. Kotcon, and Vagner A. Benedito
Spatial-Temporal Variation of Population Growth and Sustainability of Food Grain Production in West Bengal, India; Sanjit Sarkar and Kasturi Mondal
Index
Biography
Kimberly Etingoff's background includes city and regional planning, farming, food systems programming, sociology, and urban geography. She studied at the University of Rochester and Tufts University and has done extensive field work with food systems and agricultural sociology. She has been writing and editing academic and educational books on topics such as nutrition, farming, and aspects of sociology for more than ten years.