About this book
While a good grasp of the many separate aspects of agriculture is important, it is equally essential for all those involved in agriculture to understand the functioning of the farming system as a whole and how it can be best managed. It is necessary to re-assess and understand rain-fed farming systems around the world and to find ways to improve the selection, design and operation of such systems for long term productivity, profitability and sustainability. The components of the system must operate together efficiently; yet many of the relationships and interactions are not clearly understood. Appreciation of these matters and how they are affected by external influences or inputs are important for decision making and for achieving desirable outcomes for the farm as a whole. This book analyses common rain-fed farming systems and defines the principles and practices important to their effective functioning and management.
Contents
Preface; Foreword PART I Chapter 1. Principles of a Systems Approach to Agriculture; Philip Tow, Ian Cooper, Ian Partridge, Colin Birch and Larry Harrington. Chapter 2. Types of Rainfed Farming Systems Around the World; Larry Harrington and Philip Tow. Chapter 3. A Systems Approach to Climate Risk in Rainfed Farming Systems; Peter Hayman, Jason Crean and Canesio Predo. Chapter 4. Water Availability and Use in Rainfed Farming Systems; G.J. O'Leary, S. Walker, N.L. Joshi and J.W. White. Chapter 5. Plant Nutrient Management in Rainfed Farming Systems; John Ryan. Chapter 6. Principles and Management of Soil Biological Factors for Sustainable Rainfed Farming Systems; V.V.S.R. Gupta, A.D. Rovira and D.K. Roget. Chapter 7. Technological Change in Rainfed Farming Systems; Colin Birch and Ian Cooper. Chapter 8. Weed Management in Rainfed Agricultural Systems; Colin Birch, Ian Cooper, Gurjeet Gill, Stephen Adkins and Madan Gupta. Chapter 9. Principles and Methods for Sustainable Disease Management in Rainfed Agricultural Systems; David Backhouse and Thinlay. Chapter 10. Sustainable Pest Management in Rainfed Farming Systems; T.J. Ridsdill-Smith, H.C. Sharma and H. Spafford.Chapter 11. Interactions Between Crop and Livestock Activities in Rainfed Farming Systems; E.C. Wolfe. Chapter 12. Economic and Social Influences on the Nature, Functioning and Sustainability of Rainfed Farming Systems; Ian Cooper. Chapter 13. Farming Systems Design; Craig Pearson. Chapter 14. Soil Organic Carbon -- Role in Rainfed Farming Systems; F.C. Hoyle, J.A. Baldock and D.V. Murphy. PART II Chapter 15. Rainfed Farming Systems in the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Region; John Ryan. Chapter 16. Rainfed Farming Systems in South Africa; Mark Hardy, Luthando Dziba, Willem Kilian and John Tolmay. Chapter 17. Farming Systems, Emerging Farmers and Land Reform in the Limpopo Province of South Africa; Anthony Whitbread, Neil MacLeod, Cam McDonald, Bruce Pengelly, Kingsley Ayisi and Jeffery Mkhari. Chapter 18. Modernisation of Eritrean Rainfed Farming Systems Through a Conservation Farming Systems Approach; Jay Cummins and David Coventry. Chapter 19. Rainfed Farming Systems on the Canadian Prairies; Guy P. Lafond, Stewart A. Brandt, George W. Clayton, R. Byron Irvine and William E. May. Chapter 20. Rainfed Farming Systems in the USA; Alan Franzluebbers, Jean Steiner, Doug Karlen, Tim Griffin, Jeremy Singer and Don Tanaka. Chapter 21. Rainfed Agroecosystems in South America; Gloria Rotolo, Charles Francis and Sergio Ulgiati. Chapter 22. Important Rainfed Farming Systems of South Asia; Peter R. Hobbs and Mahmood Osmanzai. Chapter 23. Rainfed Farming Systems in the Loess Plateau of China; Gaobao Huang, Wen Chen and Fengrui Li. Chapter 24. Farming Systems in the Valleys of Central Tibet; Nicholas Paltridge, Jin Tao, John Wilkins, Nyima Tashi and David Coventry. Chapter 25. Rainfed Farming Systems of North-Eastern Australia; C.J. Birth and L.W. Bell. Chapter 26. Diversity and Evolution of Rainfed Farming Systems in southern Australia; J.A. Kirkegaard, M.B. Peoples, J.F. Angus and M.J. Unkovich. PART III Chapter 27. Using Monitoring and Evaluation for Continuous Improvement of Rainfed Farming Sytems; Eloise Seymour and Roger Wickes. Chapter 28. More from Less -- Improvements in Precipitation Use Efficiency in Western Australian Wheat Production; Neil C. Turner. Chapter 29. Expanding the Production of Soybeans in Ontario; David J. Hume and Craig J. Pearson. Chapter 30. The Social Dimensions of Mixed Farming Systems; Nigel McGuckian and Lauren Rickards. Chapter 31. A Study in the Development of a Farm System on the Canadian Prairies; Scott Day. Chapter 32. Improving Traditional Crop-Pasture Farming Systems with Lucerne South Eastern Australia; Kieran Ransom and Lindsay Trapnell. Chapter 33. Use of Conservation Agriculture to Improve Farming Systems in Developing Countries; Kan Sayre and Bram Govaerts. Chapter 34. Using Conservation Agriculture and Precision Agriculture to Improve a Farming System; Mark Branson. Chapter 35. Risk Management Strategies and Decision Support Systems in Agriculture; Nam Cao Nguyen, Malcolm Wegener and Iean Russell. PART IV Chapter 36. The Emergence of 'Farming Systems' Approaches to Grains Research, Development and Extension; David Lawrence. Chapter 37. Farmer Decision-Making in Rainfed Farming Systems; Bill Long and Ian Cooper. Chapter 38. When Culture and Science Meet, the Tension Can Mount; Brian Polkinghorne. Chapter 39. Advances in No-Till Farming Technologies and Soil Compaction Management in Rainfed Farming Systems; Rohan Rainbow and Rolf Derpsch. Chapter 40. No-Tillage Agriculture in West Asia & North Africa; Rachid Mrabet. PART V Chapter 41. A Comparison of Three Farms in South Australia; Mike Krause and Ian Cooper. Chapter 42. Ruradene, South Australia; Ian and John Rohde. Chapter 43. Lindene; Dean Wormald. Chapter 44. Developments in a Mixed Farming System in Southern New South Wales, Australia; Derek Ingold. Chapter 45. The Development and Operation of No-Till Farming in Northern New South Wales (NSW), Australia; Jeff Esdaile. Chapter 46. Farming System Development in North-Central Victoria; Kieran Ransom. Chapter 47. The Jochinke Farm; David Jochinke. Chapter 48. The Halford Farm; Jim Halford. Chapter 49. Four Farms in the USA; Alan Franzluebbers. Chapter 50. Summing Up; Philip Tow, Ian Cooper and Ian Partridge. Glossary, Index
Customer Reviews
