An Ecosystem Approach to Sustainable Agriculture Energy Use Efficiency in the American South

Modern industrial agriculture is not sustainable because of its heavy reliance on petroleum, a non-renewable source of the energy used in farming, and because of pollution caused by petroleum products such as fertilizers and pesticides. A systems analysis of farming suggests that agriculture will be more sustainable when services of nature, such as nutrient recycling by soil micro-organisms and natural controls of insects, replace the services now provided by energy from petroleum. Examples are drawn from the Southeastern USA, but lessons learned can be applied worldwide.

Summary

Modern industrial agriculture is not sustainable because of its heavy reliance on petroleum, a non-renewable source of the energy used in farming, and because of pollution caused by petroleum products such as fertilizers and pesticides. A systems analysis of farming suggests that agriculture will be more sustainable when services of nature, such as nutrient recycling by soil micro-organisms and natural controls of insects, replace the services now provided by energy from petroleum. Examples are drawn from the Southeastern USA, but lessons learned can be applied worldwide.      
  

Product details

• Authors: Carl F. Jordan, Carl F Jordan
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Content: Book
• Product form: Paperback / Softback
• Publication date: 01.01.2015
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Development theory and development policy; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences
• EAN: 9789400797178
• ISBN: 978-94-0-079717-8
• Pages: 247
• Illustrations: XVI, 247 p.
• Dimensions (packing): 15.5 x 1.4 x 23.5 cm
• Weight (packing): 406 g
• Series: Environmental Challenges and Solutions > 01; Environmental Challenges and Solutions
• Subjects: Umweltschutz, B, Sustainable Development, Ecology, Applied ecology, Agriculture, Environmental Social Sciences, Earth and Environmental Science, Conservation Biology, Conservation Biology/Ecology, Environmental Management, Conservation of the environment, Ecological science, the Biosphere, Environmental management,, Ecosystems, Agricultural science