Sulfur forms and cycling processes in soil and their relationship to sulfur fertility / Jeff J. Schoenau and Sukhdev S. Malhi -- Sulfur nutrition of crops in the Indo-Gangetic plains of South Asia / M.P.S. Khurana, U.S. Sandana and Bijay-Singh -- Soil sulfur cycling temperate agricultural systems / Jørgen Eriksen -- History of sulfur deficiency in crops / Silvia Haneklaus, Elke Bloem and Ewald Schnug -- Availability of sulfur to crops from soil and other sources / Warren A. Dick, David Kost and Liming Chen -- Sulfur and cysteine metabolism / Rainer Hoefgen and Holger Hesse -- Sulfur response based on crop, source, and landscape position / Dave Franzen and Cynthia A. Grant -- Sulfur management for soybean production / Kiyoko Hitsuda [and others] -- Sulfur in a fertilizer program for corn / George W. Rehm and John G. Clapp -- Sulfur nutrition and wheat quality / Hamid A. Naeem -- Sulfur and marketable yield of potato / Alexander D. Pavlista -- Sulfur, its role in onion production and related alliums / George E. Boyhan -- Sulfur and the production of rice in wetland and dryland ecosystems / Richard W. Bell -- Evaluation of the relative significance of sulfur and other essential mineral elements in oilseed rape, cereals, and sugar beet production / Ewald Schnug and Silvia Haneklaus -- Improving the sulfur-containing amino acids of soybean to enhance its nutritional value in animal feed / Hari B. Krishnan -- Methionine metabolism in plants / Rachel Amir and Yael Hacham -- Plant sulfur compounds and human health / Joseph M. Jez and Naomi K. Fukagawa -- A future crop biotechnology view of sulfur and selenium / Muhammad Sayyar Khan and Rüdiger Hell.

"'Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture."

Degradation of soils continues at a pace that will eventually create a local, regional, or even global crisis when diminished soil resources collide with increasing climate variation. It's not too late to restore our soils to a more productive state by rediscovering the value of soil management, building on our well-established and ever-expanding scientific understanding of soils. Soil management concepts have been in place since the cultivation of crops, but we need to rediscover the principles that are linked together in effective soil management. This book is unique because of its treatment of soil management based on principles—the physical, chemical, and biological processes and how together they form the foundation for soil management processes that range from tillage to nutrient management. Whether new to soil science or needing a concise reference, readers will benefit from this book's ability to integrate the science of soils with management issues and long-term conservation efforts.

Soil Health and Intensification of Agroecosystems examines the climate, environmental, and human effects on agroecosystems and how the existing paradigms must be revised in order to establish sustainable production. The increased demand for food and fuel exerts tremendous stress on all aspects of natural resources and the environment to satisfy an ever increasing world population, which includes the use of agriculture products for energy and other uses in addition to human and animal food. The book presents options for ecological systems that mimic the natural diversity of the ecosystem and can have significant effect as the world faces a rapidly changing and volatile climate. The book explores the introduction of sustainable agroecosystems that promote biodiversity, sustain soil health, and enhance food production as ways to help mitigate some of these adverse effects. New agroecosystems will help define a resilient system that can potentially absorb some of the extreme shifts in climate. Changing the existing cropping system paradigm to utilize natural system attributes by promoting biodiversity within production agricultural systems, such as the integration of polycultures, will also enhance ecological resiliency and will likely increase carbon sequestration. - Focuses on the intensification and integration of agroecosystem and soil resiliency by presenting suggested modifications of the current cropping system paradigm - Examines climate, environment, and human effects on agroecosystems - Explores in depth the wide range of intercalated soil and plant interactions as they influence soil sustainability and, in particular, soil quality - Presents options for ecological systems that mimic the natural diversity of the ecosystem and can have significant effect as the world faces a rapidly changing and volatile climate

Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. You¿ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments for years, since their benefits accumulate over the long term. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. from the 2nd ed., added new results and updated farmer profiles and research data, and added 2 chap. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. about aspects of cover cropping.

Annotation. Successful agroforestry requires an understanding of the complex relationship between trees, crops and soils. This book provides a review of both economic and biophysical aspects of soil use and research in agroforestry, with an emphasis on nutrient-poor forest and savanna soils. Key topics covered include the economics of soil fertility management, cycling of water, nutrients and organic matter, soil structure, and soil biological processes. The book combines synthetic overviews of research results and a review of methods used in research.From the foreword: 2The book is written within a particular context - soil fertility development under agroforestry. At first this may seem very specific and thus limited in appeal and application. But over the last decade or so agroforestry research has been one of the most influential in developing new insights into soil biology and fertility and thus provides a very suitable framework for review of progress. Furthermore the influence of trees on soil is profound and of significance beyond agroforestry systems, so the book is likely to be of interest in the wider spheres of agriculture, forestry and ecological sciences.3 Mike Swift, TSBF, Nairobi, Kenya.

Many agronomic reference books either focus on a single crop, several related crops, or specific soil topics but not on a full range of both crop and soil subjects. This unique handbook covers both major agronomic fields. Containing essential data and information on the culture of the world's major agronomic grain, oil, fiber, and sugar crops grown