Sustainable Soil Management Is More than What and How Crops Are Grown - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 337

14 Sustainable Soil

Management Is More
than What and How
Crops Are Grown

Amir Kassam, Gottlieb Basch, Theodor Friedrich,
Francis Shaxson, Tom Goddard,
Telmo J. C. Amado, Bill Crabtree, Li Hongwen,
Ivo Mello, Michele Pisante, and Saidi Mkomwa

CONTENTS
14.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 338
14.2 Agricultural Soil Degradation: Definitions and Extent ................................ 339
14.3 Causes of Degradation of Agricultural Soils ................................................ 341
14.3.1 Soil Degradation from an Ecological Perspective ............................ 343
14.3.2 Agricultural Intensification Based on the “Interventionist” Paradigm ...343
14.3.3 Examples of Large-Scale Agricultural Soil Degradation ................. 346
14.3.3.1 Brazil .................................................................................. 346
14.3.3.2 Australia ............................................................................. 349
14.3.3.3 China .................................................................................. 350
14.4 Nurturing Soils and Landscapes as Living Biological Systems ................... 352
14.5 Sustainable Soil Management Based upon Agroecological Principles ........ 354
14.5.1 Conservation Agriculture as a Base for Sustainable Soil
Management and Production Intensification .................................... 355
14.5.2 Linkage with Landscape Health ....................................................... 360
14.5.3 Restoring Degraded Agricultural Soils and Landscapes ................. 362
14.5.3.1 Brazil .................................................................................. 363
14.5.3.2 Australia ............................................................................. 367
14.5.3.3 China .................................................................................. 370
14.6 Integrating Sustainable Soil Management Principles into Farming Systems ....371
14.6.1 Crop Management Practices and Sustainable Soil Management ..... 372
14.6.2 Sustainable Soil Management with Intercropping as an
Alternative in Permanent No-Till Systems ....................................... 373
14.6.3 Crop-Livestock Integration for Sustainable Soil Management ........ 374
14.6.4 Farm Power and Mechanization for Sustainable Soil Management ... 375

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