Sustainable Soils: The Place of Organic Matter in Sustaining Soils and Their Productivity

Find the right balance of organic matter, tillage, and chemical additives to increase the quality and quantity of crops!

This book shows the importance of organic matter in maintaining crop production. The addition of organic matter to soil is covered in great detail. This book is unique in that it draws on practical farming operations to illustrate many of the points discussed. The senior author has had almost 60 years of experience in solving production problems—many of which have been related to insufficient organic matter.

In addition, Sustainable Soils: The Place of Organic Matter in Sustaining Soils and Their Productivity stresses the necessity of combining the addition of organic matter with reduced tillage and added chemicals. Photographs, tables, and figures, as well as appendixes containing common and botanical names of plants, symbols and abbreviations found in the text, and useful conversion factors and data help bring the information into focus quickly and efficiently. An extensive bibliography points the way to other useful material on this subject.

Sustainable Soils discusses:

• what materials can be added
• techniques for proper handling of organic matter
• how much is enough (and how much is too much!)
• the nutritive value of various forms of organic matter
• the benefits that can be expected from properly handling and adding organic matter to soil

From the Editors: “Sustainable agriculture is not possible without a sustainable soil science, which in turn is largely dependent on organic matter. It is necessary to return large amounts of organic matter to the soil in order to maintain satisfactory crop production. It can be derived from crop residues, cover crops, sods, or various wastes, such as manures, sludges, and composts. This book details the benefits of various forms, and how each should be handled for maximum returns.”