Green Manuring : For Sustainable Agriculture
Contents: Preamble. 1. Historical perspective. 2. Factors affecting the maintenance and accumulation of organic matter in soil. 3. Does green manuring improve S.O.M. 4. Green manuring practices. 5. Effect of green manuring on soil properties. 6. Agrotechnology of green manuring. 7. Biofertilizers to enhance soil fertility Rhizobium. 8. Potential green manuring crops. 9. Decomposition of green manures. 10. Factors affecting decomposition of G.M. 11. Green manuring in different cropping systems. 12. Crop responses to green manuring. 13. Scope of green manuring in I.P.N.M. 14. Economics of green manuring. 15. Difficulties associated with widespread use of green manuring. 16. Summary and conclusions. 17. Future research needs. References. Appendices. Subject index.
"Green manuring is the practice of ploughing or turning into the soil un-decomposed green plant tissues for the purpose of improving the soil. It is an age old practice adopted to improve the productivity of soil. Green manuring has received little attention during past few decades, mainly because of the fertilizers have become the most commonly used source of supplying nutrients to crop plants. The low cost and ready availability of chemical fertilizers has pushed back the use of green manuring all over the world. However, in the face of continuing energy crisis, increasing fertilizer prices and increasing concern for environmental degradation, green manuring is increasingly appealing as a means to reduce losses of soil organic matter, compaction, and soil erosion and still maintain economic returns. The importance of nitrogen and manuring in improving soil productivity is an established fact all over the world. The use of green-manure crops will aid in intensive production which can not be sustained with cattle dung manure alone.
An effort has been made in this book to collate information on various facets of green manuring, ease of decomposition, the relative utility of legumes and nonlegumes as green manure, the effect of green manuring on soil physical and chemical properties in addition to that on nutrient availability and crop responses have been elucidated based on existing information." (jacket)
