Alternative Land Management Strategies and Their Impact on Soil Conservation
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Soil in Context: Socioeconomic Pressure and Impact of Current Agricultural Practices
Energy input | Kcal | % On total |
---|---|---|
Production | 450 | 15 |
Processing | 316 | 10 |
Packaging | 1006 | 33 |
Transport | 158 | 5 |
Distribution | 340 | 11 |
Shopping | 311 | 10 |
Home | 457 | 15 |
Total | 3038 | 100 |
3. Alternative Management Practices
3.1. Low Input, No-Tillage Agriculture
3.2. Perennial Crops
3.3. Organic Farming
4. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Smil, V. Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century; The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2000. [Google Scholar]
- Tilman, D.; Cassman, K.G.; Matson, P.A.; Naylor, R.; Polasky, S. Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices. Nature 2002, 418, 671–677. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pimentel, D.; Pimentel, M. Food, Energy, and Society, 3rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2008. [Google Scholar]
- Hazell, H.; Wood, S. Drivers of change in global agriculture. Phil. Trans. B 2008, 363, 495–515. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Smil, V. Energy at the Crossroads; The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2003. [Google Scholar]
- Tilman, D.; Fargione, J.; Wolff, B.; D’Antonio, C.; Dobson, A.; Howarth, R.; Schindler, D.; Schlesinger, W.H.; Simberloff, D.; Swackhamer, D. Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change. Science 2001, 292, 281–284. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Millenium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Biodiversity Synthesis. World Resources Institute: Washington, DC, USA, 2005. Available online: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf (accessed on 20 July 2009).
- Molden, D. (Ed.) Water for Food, Water for Life. A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture; Earthscan: London, UK, 2007. Available online: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment/Publications/books.htm (accessed on 10 May 2013).
- Montgomery, D.R. Soil erosion and agricultural sustainability. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2007, 104, 13268–13272. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Quinton, J.N.; Govers, G.; van Oost, C.; Bardgett, R.D. The impact of agricultural soil erosion on biogeochemical cycling. Nat. Geosci. 2010, 3, 311–314. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Pimentel, D.; Harvey, C.; Resosudarmo, P.; Sinclair, K.; Kurz, D.; McNair, M.; Crist, S.; Sphpritz, L.; Fitton, L.; Saffouri, R.; et al. Environmental and economic costs of soil erosion and conservation benefits. Science 1995, 267, 1117–1123. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rasmussen, P.E.; Goulding, K.W.T.; Brown, J.R.; Grace, P.R.; Janzen, H.H.; Körschens, M. Long-term agroecosystem experiments: Assessing agricultural sustainability and global change. Science 1998, 282, 893–896. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sullivan, P. Drought Resistant Soil; ATTRA, National Center for Appropriate Technology USDA: Washington, DC, USA, 2002. Available online: http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/drought.pdf (accessed on 24 November 2009).
- Lal, R. Soil carbon sequestration impact on global climate and food security. Science 2004, 304, 1623–1627. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lal, R. Enhancing eco-efficiency in agro-ecosystems through soil carbon sequestration. Crop Science 2010, 50, 120–131. [Google Scholar]
- NRC (National Research Council). Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century; National Academies Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2010. Available online: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12832.html (accessed on 3 March 2012).
- Wood, R.; Lenzen, M.; Dey, C.; Lundie, S. A comparative study of some environmental impacts of conventional and organic farming in Australia. Agric. Syst. 2006, 89, 324–348. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Reynolds, J.F.; Stafford Smith, D.M.; Lambin, E.F.; Turner, B.L., II; Mortimore, M.; Batterbury, S.P.J.; Downing, T.E.; Dowlatabadi, H.; Fernández, R.J.; Herrick, J.E.; et al. Global desertification: Building a science for dryland development. Science 2007, 316, 847–851. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Vitousek, P.M.; Naylor, R.; Crews, T.; David, M.B.; Drinkwater, L.E.; Holland, E.; Johnes, P.J.; Katzenberger, J.; Martinelli, L.A.; Matson, P.A.; et al. Nutrient imbalances in agricultural development. Science 2009, 324, 1519–1520. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Berhe, A.; Harte, J.; Harden, J.; Torn, M. The significance of the erosion-induced terrestrial carbon sink. BioScience 2007, 57, 337–346. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Allison, F.E. Soil Organic Matter and Its Role in Crop Production; Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1973. [Google Scholar]
- Altieri, M.A. Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture; Westview Press: Boulder, CO, USA, 1987. [Google Scholar]
- Pimentel, D.; Kounang, N. Ecology of soil erosion in ecosystems. Ecosystems 1998, 1, 416–426. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bot, A. The Importance of Soil Organic Matter: Key to Drought-Resistant Soil and Sustained Food Production; FAO: Rome, Italy, 2005. Available online: http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0100e/a0100e00.htm#Contents (accessed on 20 June 2009).
- Russell, E.W. The role of organic matter in soil fertility. Phil. Trans. B 1977, 281, 209–219. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Barrows, H.L.; Kilmer, V.J. Plant nutrient losses from soils by water erosion. Adv. Agron. 1963, 15, 303–315. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Liebert, B. The Environmental Heritage of Soviet Agriculture; CABI: Oxon, UK, 1995. [Google Scholar]
- Lal, R. Evolution of the plow over 10,000 years and the rationale for no-till farming. Soil Tillage Res. 2007, 93, 1–12. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gomiero, T.; Pimentel, D.; Paoletti, M.G. Is there a need for a more sustainable agriculture? Crit. Rev. Plant. Sci. 2011, 30, 6–23. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gomiero, T.; Pimentel, D.; Paoletti, M.G. Environmental impact of different agricultural management practices: Conventional vs. organic agriculture. Crit. Rev. Plant. Sci. 2011, 30, 95–124. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Carr, P.M.; Gramig, G.G.; Liebig, M.A. Impact of organic zero tillage systems on crops, weeds and soil quality. Sustainability 2013, 5, 3172–3201. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Klaus, V.H.; Kleinebeckera, T.; Prati, D.; Gossner, M.M.; Alt, F.; Boch, S.; Gockel, S.; Hemp, A.; Lange, M.; Müller, J.; et al. Does organic grassland farming benefit plant and arthropod diversity at the expense of yield and soil fertility? Agric. Ecosys. Env. 2013, 177, 1–9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- World Food Summit 1996. Declaration on World Food Security; FAO: Rome, Italy. Available online: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3613e/w3613e00.htm (accessed on 4 August 2013).
- Wezel, A.; Soldat, V. A quantitative and qualitative historical analysis of the scientific discipline of agroecology. Int. J. Agric. Sust. 2009, 7, 3–18. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wezel, A.; Bellon, S.; Doré, T.; Francis, C.; Vallod, D.; David, C. Agroecology as a science, a movement and a practice. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2009, 29, 503–515. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Altieri, M.A. Agroecology: The science of natural resource management for poor farmers in marginal environments. Agric. Ecosys. Environ. 2002, 93, 1–24. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Giampietro, M. Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Agroecosystems: A Complex System Approach; CRC press: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2003. [Google Scholar]
- Gomiero, T.; Giampietro, M.; Mayumi, K. Facing complexity on agro-ecosystems: A new approach to farming system analysis. Int. J. Agric. Res. Gov. Ecol. 2006, 5, 116–144. [Google Scholar]
- Foley, J.A.; DeFries, R.; Asner, G.P.; Barford, C.; Bonan, G.; Carpenter, S.R.; Chapin, F.S.; Coe, M.T.; Daily, G.C.; Gibbs, H.K.; et al. Global consequences of land use. Science 2005, 309, 570–574. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Giampietro, M. Socioeconomic pressure, demographic pressure, environmental loading, and technological changes in agriculture. Agric. Ecosys. Environ. 1997, 65, 201–229. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gomiero, T.; Giampietro, M.; Bukkens, S.M.; Paoletti, G.M. Biodiversity use and technical performance of freshwater fish culture in different socio-economic context: China and Italy. Agric. Ecosys. Environ. 1997, 62, 169–185. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gomiero, T.; Giampietro, M. Multiple-scale integrated analysis of farming systems: The Thuong Lo commune (Vietnamese uplands) case study. Pop. Environ. 2001, 22, 315–352. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- FAO. Organic Agriculture, Environment and Food Security; Environment and Natural Resources Service Sustainable Development Department, FAO: Rome, Italy, 2002. Available online: http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/Y4137E/y4137e00.htm#TopOfPage (accessed on 12 January 2009).
- UN (United Nations). Population Newsletter. Number 83. 2007. Available online: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/popnews/Newsltr_83.pdf (accessed on 2 July 2009).
- Alexandratos, N.; Bruinsma, J. World Agriculture towards 2030/2050; The 2012 Revision, ESA Working Paper No. 12-03. FAO: Rome, Italy, 2012. Available online: http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap106e/ap106e.pdf (accessed on 24 June 2013).
- Trostle, R. Global Agricultural Supply and Demand: Factors Contributing to the Recent Increase in Food Commodity Prices; United States Department of Agriculture: Washington, DC, USA, 2008. Available online: http://www.ers.usda.gov/PUBLICATIONS/WRS0801/WRS0801. PDF (accessed on 20 May 2009).
- UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme). The Environmental Food Crisis the Environment’s Role in Averting Future Food Crises a UNEP Rapid Response Assessment; UNEP, GRID-Arendal: Arendal, Norway, 2009. Available online: http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/food-crisis/ (accessed on 12 May 2010).
- FAO. The State of Food Insecurity in the Developing World. FAO: Rome, Italy, 2012. Available online: http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3027e/i3027e.pdf (accessed on 24 June 2010).
- Vitousek, P.M.; Mooney, H.A.; Lubchenco, J.; Melillo, J.M. Human domination of earth’s ecosystems. Science 1997, 277, 494–499. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Haberl, H.; Krausmann, F.; Erb, K.H.; Schulz, N.B.; Rojstaczer, S.; Sterling, S.M.; Moore, N. Human appropriation of net primary production. Science 2002, 14, 1968–1969. [Google Scholar]
- Imhoff, M.L.; Bounoua, L.; Ricketts, T.; Loucks, C.; Harriss, R.; Lawrence, W.T. Global patterns in human consumption of net primary production. Nature 2004, 429, 870–873. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- FAO. The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW)—Managing Systems at Risk. FAO: Rome, Italy, 2011. Available online: http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i1688e/i1688e.pdf (accessed on 9 August 2013).
- FAO. World Agriculture: Towards 2015/2030; FAO: Rome, Italy, 2003. Available online: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/004/y3557e/y3557e.pdf (accessed on 20 January 2009).
- Borlaug, N. Feeding a hungry world. Science 2007, 318, 359. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Godfray, H.C.J.; Crute, I.R.; Haddad, L.; Lawrence, D.; Muir, J.F.; Nisbett, N.; Pretty, J.; Robinson, S.; Toulmin, C.; Whiteley, R. The future of the global food system. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 2010, 365, 2769–2777. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Giampietro, M.; Mayumi, K. The Biofuel Delusion: The Fallacy of Large Scale Agro-Biofuels Production; Earthscan: London, UK, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Gomiero, T.; Paoletti, M.G.; Pimentel, D. Biofuels: Ethics and concern for the limits of human appropriation of ecosystem services. J. Agric. Env. Ethics 2010, 23, 403–434. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- MacKay, D.J.C. Sustainable Energy—Without the Hot Air. 2009. Available online: http://www.withouthotair.com/download.html (accessed on 20 August 2009).
- Giampietro, M.; Ulgiati, S.; Pimentel, D. Feasibility of large-scale biofuel production. BioScience 1997, 47, 587–600. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rockstrom, J.; Lannerstad, M.; Falkenmark, M. Assessing the water challenge of a new green revolution in developing countries. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2007, 104, 6253–6260. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Smil, V. Water news: Bad, good and virtual. Am. Sci. 2008, 96, 339–407. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Krebs, J.R.; Wilson, J.D.; Bradbury, R.B.; Siriwardena, G.M. The second silent spring? Nature 1999, 400, 611–612. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Jarvis, D.I.; Hodgkin, T.; Sthapit, B.R.; Fadda, C.; Lopez-Noriega, I. An heuristic framework for identifying multiple ways of supporting the conservation and use of traditional crop varieties within the agricultural production system. Crit. Rev. Plant. Sci. 2011, 30, 125–176. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhu, Y.Y.; Chen, H.; Fan, J.; Wang, Y.; Li, Y.; Chen, J.; Fan, J.; Yang, S.; Hu, L.; Leung, H.; et al. Genetic diversity and disease control in rice. Nature 2000, 406, 718–722. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Green, R.E.; Cornell, S.J.; Scharlemann, J.P.W.; Balmford, A. Farming and the fate of wild nature. Science 2005, 307, 550–555. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sachs, J.D.; Baillie, J.E.M.; Sutherland, W.J.; Armsworth, P.R.; Ash, N.; Beddington, J.; Blackburn, T.M.; Collen, B.; Gardiner, B.; Gaston, K.J.; et al. Biodiversity conservation and the Millennium Development Goals. Science 2009, 325, 1502–1503. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fowler, C.; Hodgkin, T. Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture: Assessing global availability. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 2005, 29, 143–179. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cassman, K.G.; Dobermann, A.; Walters, D.T. Agroecosystems, nitrogen-use efficiency, and nitrogen management. Ambio 2002, 31, 132–140. [Google Scholar]
- Erisman, J.W.; Sutton, M.A.; Galloway, J.; Klimont, Z.; Winiwarter, W. How a century of ammonia synthesis changed the world. Nat. Geosci. 2008, 1, 636–639. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Robertson, G.P.; Vitousek, P.M. Nitrogen in agriculture: Balancing the cost of an essential resource. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 2009, 34, 97–125. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Birkhofer, K.; Schöning, I.; Alt, F.; Herold, N.; Klarner, B.; Maraun, M.; Marhan, S.; Oelmann, Y.; Wubet, T.; Yurkov, A.; et al. Gneral relationships between abiotic soil properties and soil biota across spatial scales and different Land-Use types. PLoS One 2012, 7, e43292. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Winston, M.K. Nature Wars: People vs. Pests; Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 1997. [Google Scholar]
- Altieri, M.A.; Nicholls, C.I. Biodiversity and Pest. Management in Agroecosystems, 2nd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2004. [Google Scholar]
- The Pesticide Detox; Pretty, J. (Ed.) Earthscan: London, UK, 2005.
- Pimentel, D. Technique for Reducing Pesticides Use. Economic and Environmental Benefits; John Wiley & Sons: New York, NY, USA, 1997. [Google Scholar]
- Richter, E.D. Acute Human Pesticide Poisonings. In Encyclopedia of Pest. Management; Pimentel, D., Ed.; Taylor & Francis: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2002; pp. 3–6. [Google Scholar]
- Colborn, T.; Dumanoski, D.; Meyers, J.P. Our Stolen Future: How We Are Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival. A Scientific Detective Story; Penguin Books: New York, NY, USA, 1997. [Google Scholar]
- Lyons, G. Effects of pollutants on the reproductive health of male vertebrate wildlife—Males under threat. CHEM Trust (Chemicals, Health and Environment Monitoring). 2009. Available online: http://www.chemtrust.org.uk/documents/Male%20Wildlife%20Under%20Threat%202008%20full%20report.pdf (accessed on 10 May 2010).
- Stuart, T. Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal; Penguin Books: London, UK, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Cuéllar, A.D.; Webber, M.E. Wasted Food, Wasted Energy: The embedded energy in Food waste in the United States. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2010, 44, 6464–6469. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- FAO. Global Food Loses and Food Waste: Extent, Causes and Prevention. Study Conducted for the International Congress SAVE FOOD! at Interpack, Düsseldorf, Germany 2011. FAO: Rome, Italy, 2011. Available online: http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/mb060e/mb060e00.pdf (accessed on 4 April 2013).
- Pelletier, N.; Audsley, E.; Brodt, S.; Garnett, T.; Henriksson, P.; Kendall, A.; Kramer, K.J.; Murphy, D.; Nemecek, T.; Troell, M. Energy intensity of agriculture and food systems. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 2011, 36, 223–246. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Smil, V. Eating meat: Evolution, patterns, and consequences. Pop. Dev. Review 2002, 28, 599–639. [Google Scholar]
- Pimentel, D. Food for thought: A review of the role of energy in current and evolving agriculture. Crit. Rev. Plant. Sci. 2011, 30, 35–44. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pimentel, D.; Williamson, S.; Alexander, S.E.; Gonzalez-Pagan, O.; Kontak, C.; Mulkey, S.E. Reducing Energy Inputs in the US Food System. Hum. Ecol. 2008, 36, 459–471. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- USDA (United State Development Agency), Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (FACTA), Public Law 101-624, Title XVI, Subtitle A, Section 1603. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, USA, 1990.
- Jackson, W. Natural systems agriculture: A truly radical alternative. Agric. Ecosys. Environ. 2002, 88, 111–117. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Soule, J.; Piper, J. Farming in Nature’s Image: An Ecological Approach to Agriculture; Island Press: Washington, DC, USA, 1991. [Google Scholar]
- Odum, E.P. Ecology and Our Endangered Life-Support. Systems; Sinauer Publishers: Sunderland, MA, USA, 1993. [Google Scholar]
- Sustainable Agricultural Systems; Edwards, C.A.; Lal, R.; Madden, P.; Miller, R.H.; House, G. (Eds.) Soil and Water Conservation Society: Ankeny, LA, USA, 1990.
- Pretty, J. Agri.-Culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature; Earthscan: London, UK, 2002. [Google Scholar]
- Pretty, J. Agricultural sustainability: Concepts, principles and evidence. Phil. Trans. B 2008, 363, 447–465. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pretty, J.N.; Noble, A.D.; Bossio, D.; Dixon, J.; Hine, R.E.; Penning derVires, F.V.T.; Morrison, J.I.L. Resource-conserving agriculture increases yields in developing countries. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2006, 40, 1114–1119. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Francis, C.; Lieblein, G.; Gliessman, S.; Breland, T.A.; Creamer, N.; Harwood, R.; Salomonsson, L.; Helenius, J.; Rickerl, D.; Salvador, R.; et al. Agroecology: The ecology of food systems. J. Sust. Agric. 2003, 22, 99–118. [Google Scholar]
- Francis, C.A.; Porter, P. Ecology in sustainable agriculture practices and systems. Crit. Rev. Plant. Sci. 2011, 30, 64–73. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gliessman, S.R. Agroecology: Ecological Processes in Sustainable Agriculture, 2nd ed.; Lewis Publisher: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2007. [Google Scholar]
- IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 2007. Available online: http://www.ipcc.ch/ (accessed on 20 May 2010).
- U.S. EPA. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2008; United States Environmental Protection Agency: Washington, DC, USA, 2010. Available online: http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads10/US-GHG-Inventory-2010_ExecutiveSummary.pdf (accessed on 14 May 2010).
- Drinkwater, L.E.; Wagoner, P.; Sarrantonio, M. Legume-based cropping systems have reduced carbon and nitrogen losses. Nature 1998, 396, 262–265. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Schlesinger, W.H. Carbon and agriculture: Carbon sequestration in soils. Science 1999, 284, 2095. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Grandy, S.A.; Robertson, G.P. Land-use intensity effects on soil. Ecosystems 2007, 10, 58–73. [Google Scholar]
- Smith, P.; Martino, D.; Cai, Z.; Gwary, D.; Janzen, H.; Kumar, P.; McCarl, B.; Ogle, S.; O’Mara, F.; Rice, C.; et al. Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 2008, 363, 789–813. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cox, T.S.; Glover, J.D.; van Tassel, D.L.; Cox, C.M.; Dehaan, L.R. Prospects for developing perennial grain crops. Bioscience 2005, 59, 649–659. [Google Scholar]
- Glover, J.D.; Reganold, J.P.; Bell, L.W.; Borevitz, J.; Brummer, E.C.; Buckler, E.S.; Cox, C.M.; Cox, T.S.; Crews, T.E.; Culman, S.W.; et al. Increased food and ecosystem security via perennial grains. Science 2010, 328, 1638–1639. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Codex Alimentarius. Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods (GL 32–1999, Rev. 1–2001). 2004. Available online: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/standard_list.do?lang=en (accessed on 24 November 2007).
- Courville, S. Organic Standards and Certification. In Organic Agriculture. A global Perspective; Kristiansen, P., Taji, A., Reganold, J., Eds.; CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood, Australia, 2006; pp. 201–220. [Google Scholar]
- EC (European Commission). Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092. 2007. Available online: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2007/l_189/l_18920070720en00010023.pdf (accessed on 25 November 2009).
- USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), Agricultural Statistics; U.S. Department of Agriculture: Washington, DC, USA, 2007.
- IFOAM (International Movement of Organic Agriculture Movements), The World of Organic Agriculture—Statistics and Emerging Trends 2008; International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements—IFOAM: Bonn, Germany, 2008.
- IFOAM (International Movement of Organic Agriculture Movements). Definition of Organic Agriculture. IFOAM: Bon, Germany, 2010. Available online: http://www.ifoam.org (accessed on 10 March 2010).
- Conford, P. The Origins of the Organic Movement; Floris Books: Glasgow, UK, 2001. [Google Scholar]
- Lotter, D.W. Organic agriculture. J. Sust. Agric. 2003, 21, 59–128. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Heckman, J. A history of organic farming: Transitions from Sir Albert Howard’s war in the soil to USDA National Organic Program. Renew. Agr. Food Syst. 2006, 21, 143–150. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Organic Farming: An International History, 2nd ed.; Lockeretz, W. (Ed.) CABI: Wallingford, UK, 2007.
- Organic Agriculture. A Global Perspective; Kristiansen, P.; Taji, A.; Reganold, J. (Eds.) CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood, Australia, 2006.
- Reganold, J.; Elliott, L.; Unger, Y. Long-term effects of organic and conventional farming on soil erosion. Nature 1987, 330, 370–372. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lampkin, N. Organic Farming; Old Pond Publishing: Suffolk, UK, 2002. [Google Scholar]
- Clark, M.S.; Horwath, W.R.; Shennan, C.; Scow, K.M. Changes in soil chemical properties resulting from organic and low-input farming practices. Agron. J. 1998, 90, 662–671. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Siegrist, S.; Staub, D.; Pfiffner, L.; Mäder, P. Does organic agriculture reduce soil erodibility? The results of a long-term field study on loess in Switzerland. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 1998, 69, 253–264. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Stockdale, E.A.; Lampkin, N.H.; Hovi, M.; Keatinge, R.; Lennartsson, E.K.M.; Macdonald, D.W.; Padel, S.; Tattersall, F.H.; Wolfe, M.S.; Watson, C.A. Agronomic and environmental implications for organic farming systems. Adv. Agron 2001, 70, 261–327. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Mäder, P.; Flieβbach, A.; Dubois, D.; Gunst, L.; Fried, P.; Niggli, U. Soil fertility and biodiversity in organic farming. Science 2002, 296, 1694–1697. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lotter, D.W.; Seidel, R.; Liebhart, W. The performance of organic and conventional cropping systems in an extreme climate year. Am. J. Altern. Agr. 2003, 18, 146–154. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bengtsson, J.; Ahnstrom, J.; Weibull, A.C. The effects of organic agriculture on biodiversity and abundance: A meta-analysis. J. Appl. Ecol. 2005, 42, 261–269. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pimentel, D.; Hepperly, P.; Hanson, J.; Douds, D.; Seidel, R. Environmental, energetic, and economic comparisons of organic and conventional farming systems. Bioscience 2005, 55, 573–582. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Birkhofer, K.; Bezemer, T.M.; Bloem, J.; Bonkowski, M.; Christensen, S.; Dubois, D.; Ekelund, F.; Flieβbach, A.; Gunst, L.; Hedlund, K.; et al. Long-term organic farming fosters below and aboveground biota: Implications for soil quality, biological control and productivity. Soil Biol. Biochem. 2008, 40, 2297–2308. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Briar, S.S.; Grewal, P.S.; Somasekhar, N.; Stinner, D.; Miller, S.A. Soil nematode community, organic matter, microbial biomass and nitrogen dynamics in field plots transitioning from conventional to organic management. Appl. Soil. Ecol. 2007, 37, 256–266. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Flieβbach, A.; Oberholzer, H.R.; Gunst, L.; Mäder, P. Soil organic matter and biological soil quality indicators after 21 years of organic and conventional farming. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 2007, 118, 273–284. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Liu, B.; Tu, C.; Hu, S.; Gumpertz, M.; Ristaino, J.B. Effect of organic, sustainable, and conventional management strategies in grower fields on soil physical, chemical, and biological factors and the incidence of Southern blight. Appl. Soil Ecol. 2007, 37, 202–214. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Teasdale, J.R.; Coffman, C.B.; Mangum, R.W. Potential long-term benefits of no-tillage and organic cropping systems for grain production and soil improvement. Agron. J. 2007, 99, 1297–1305. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gattinger, A.; Muller, A.; Haeni, M.; Skinner, C.; Fliessbach, A.; Buchmann, N.; Mäder, P.; Stolze, M.; Smith, P.; El-Hage Scialabbad, N.; et al. Enhanced top soil carbon stocks under organic farming. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2012, 109, 18226–18231. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chivenge, P.; Vanlauwe, B.; Six, J. Does the combined application of organic and mineralnutrient sources influence maize productivity? A meta-analysis. Plant Soil 2011, 342, 1–30. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kramer, S.B.; Reganold, J.P.; Glover, J.D.; Bohannan, B.J.M.; Mooney, H.A. Reduced nitrate leaching and enhanced denitrifier activity and efficiency in organically fertilized soils. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2006, 103, 4522–4527. [Google Scholar]
- Küstermann, B.; Christen, O.; Hülsbergen, K.J. Modelling nitrogen cycles of farming systems as basis of site- and farm-specific nitrogen management. Agric. Ecosys. Environ. 2010, 135, 70–80. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sieling, K.; Kage, H. N balance as an indicator of N leaching in an oilseed rape-winter wheat winter barley rotation. Agric. Ecosys. Environ. 2006, 115, 261–269. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kirchmann, H.; Bergström, L.; Kätterer, T.; Mattsson, L.; Gesslein, S. Comparison of long-term organic and conventional crop–livestock systems on a previously nutrient-depleted soil in Sweden. Agron. J. 2007, 99, 960–972. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wu, J.Y.; Sardo, V. Sustainable versus Organic Agriculture. In Sociology, Organic Farming, Climate Change and Soil Science; Lichtfouse, E., Ed.; Springler: Dordrecht, Germany, 2010; pp. 41–76. [Google Scholar]
- Stanhill, G. The comparative productivity of organic agriculture. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 1990, 30, 1–26. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Smolik, J.D.; Dobbs, T.L.; Rickerl, D.H. The relative sustainability of alternative, conventional and reduced-till farming system. Am. J. Altern. Agr. 1995, 10, 25–35. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Teasdale, J.R.; Rosecrance, R.C.; Coffman, C.B.; Starr, J.L.; Paltineanu, I.C.; Lu, Y.C.; Watkins, B.K. Performance of reduced-tillage cropping systems for sustainable grain production in Maryland. Am. J. Altern. Agr. 2000, 15, 79–87. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fuller, R.J.; Norton, L.R.; Feber, R.E.; Johnson, P.J.; Chamberlain, D.E.; Joys, A.C.; Mathews, F.; Stuart, R.C.; Townsend, M.C.; Manley, W.J.; et al. Benefits of organic farming to biodiversity vary among taxa. Biol. Lett. 2005, 1, 431–434. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hole, D.G.; Perkins, A.J.; Wilson, J.D.; Alexander, I.H.; Grice, P.V.; Evans, A.D. Does organic farming benefit biodiversity? Biol. Conserv. 2005, 122, 113–130. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Phelan, P.L.; Mason, J.F.; Stinner, B.R. Soil-fertility management and host preference by European corn borer, Ostrinia. nubilalis (Hübner), on Zea. mays L.: A comparison of organic and conventional chemical farming. Agric. Ecosys. Environ. 1995, 56, 1–8. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Phelan, P.L.; Norris, K.H.; Mason, J.F. Soil-management history and host preference by Ostrinia nuhilalis: Evidence for plant mineral balance mediating insect-plant interactions. Environ. Entomol. 1996, 25, 1329–1336. [Google Scholar]
- Alyokhin, A.; Porter, G.; Groden, E.; Drummond, F. Colorado potato beetle response to soil amendments: A case in support of the mineral balance hypothesis? Agric. Ecosys. Environ. 2005, 109, 234–244. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hsu, Y.T.; Shen, T.C.; Hwang, S.Y. Soil fertility management and pest responses: A comparison of organic and synthetic fertilization. J. Econ. Entomol. 2009, 102, 160–169. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Staley, J.T.; Stewart-Jones, A.; Pope, T.W.; Wright, D.J.; Leather, R.S.; Hadley, P.; Rossiter, J.T.; van Emden, H.F.; Poppy, G.M. Varying responses of insect herbivores to altered plant chemistry under organic and conventional treatments. Proc. R. Soc. B 2010, 277, 779–786. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Butler, J.; Garratt, M.P.D.; Leather, S.R. Fertilisers and insect herbivores: A meta-analysis. Ann. Appl. Biol. 2012, 161, 223–233. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Garratt, M.P.D.; Wright, D.J.; Lather, S.R. The effects of farming system and fertilisers on pests and natural enemies: A synthesis of current research. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 2011, 141, 261–270. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Reganold, J.P. The fruits of organic farming. Nature 2012, 485, 176. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fierer, N.; Grandy, A.S.; Six, J.K.; Paul, E.A. Searching for unifying principles in soil ecology. Soil Biol. Biochem. 2009, 41, 2249–2256. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Young, A. Land Resources: Now and for the Future; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 1998. [Google Scholar]
- Perfecto, I.; Vandermeer, J.; Wright, A. Nature’s Matrix. Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty; Earthscan: London, UK, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Vandermeer, J.; Perfecto, I.; Philpott, S. Ecological complexity and pest control in organic coffee production: Uncovering an autonomous ecosystem service. BioScience 2010, 60, 527–537. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tscharntke, T.; Clough, Y.; Wanger, T.C.; Jackson, L.; Motzke, I.; Perfecto, I.; Vandermeer, J.; Whitbread, A. Global food security, biodiversity conservation and the future of agricultural intensification. Biol. Conserv. 2012, 151, 53–59. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- De Ponti, T.; Rijk, B.; van Ittersum, M.K. The crop yield gap between organic and conventional agriculture. Agric. Syst. 2012, 108, 1–9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Seufert, V.; Ramankutty, N.; Foley, J.A. Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture. Nature 2012, 485, 229–232. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Beets, W.C. Raising and Sustaining Productivity of Smallholder Farming System in the Tropics; AgBe Publishing: Alkmaar, The Netherlands, 1990. [Google Scholar]
- Leopold, A. A Sand County Almanac; Oxford University Press: New York, NY, USA, 1949. [Google Scholar]
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Share and Cite
Gomiero, T. Alternative Land Management Strategies and Their Impact on Soil Conservation. Agriculture 2013, 3, 464-483. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture3030464
Gomiero T. Alternative Land Management Strategies and Their Impact on Soil Conservation. Agriculture. 2013; 3(3):464-483. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture3030464
Chicago/Turabian StyleGomiero, Tiziano. 2013. "Alternative Land Management Strategies and Their Impact on Soil Conservation" Agriculture 3, no. 3: 464-483. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture3030464