Managing Soil Health for Maximising Crop Productivity

Contents: 1. Soil health and soil fertility. 2. Evaluating soil fertility. 3. Water management. 4. Approaches to soil fertility management. 5. The concept of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). 6. Organic fertilizer and ISFM. 7. Inorganic fertilizer and liming. 8. Participatory approach to ISFM practice. 9. Economic analysis of ISFM technology. 10. Sharing ISFM information.

Soil is the natural medium for the growth of plants and it is doubtful that soilless agriculture will ever be a cost effective alternative for the production of the bulk of the food and fiber needed. For at least the foreseeable future the world will continue to rely on soil for agriculture. It is therefore essential that the soil is kept healthy. The present book “Managing Soil Health for Maximising Crop Productivity” has 10 chapters with a bibliography. There is an outline of the role of cover crops, mulching and conservation tillage as forms of agriculture that can help reduce soil erosion. This compilation would be a ready reference and perfect guide to all those in the profession of teaching soil science, agronomy, environ-mentalists, policy planners, students and the farmers in general.