Soil Health, Soil Biology, Soilborne Diseases and Sustainable Agriculture : A Guide

Our capacity to maintain world food production depends heavily on the thin layer of soil covering the Earth's surface. The health of this soil determines whether crops can grow successfully, whether a farm business is profitable and whether an enterprise is sustainable in the long term. Farmers are generally aware of the physical and chemical factors that limit the productivity of their soils but often do not recognise that soil microbes and the soil fauna play a major role in achieving healthy soils and healthy crops. Soil Health, Soil Biology, Soilborne Diseases and Sustainable Agriculture provides readily understandable information about the bacteria, fungi, nematodes and other soil organisms that not only harm food crops but also help them take up water and nutrients and protect them from root diseases. Complete with illustrations and practical case studies, it provides growers and their consultants with holistic solutions for building an active and diverse soil biological community capable of improving soil structure, enhancing plant nutrient uptake and suppressing root pests and pathogens. The book is written by scientists with many years' experience developing sustainable crop production practices in the grains, vegetable, sugarcane, grazing and horticultural industries. This book will be useful for: growers, consultants, agronomists and soil chemists, extension personnel working in the grains, livestock, sugarcane and horticultural industries, professionals running courses in soil health/biological farming, and students taking university courses in soil science, ecology, microbiology, plant pathology and other biological sciences. Our capacity to maintain world food production depends on the thin layer of soil covering the Earths surface. The health of this soil determines whether crops can be grown successfully, whether a farm business is profitable and whether an enterprise is sustainable in the long term. This book provides information about the bacteria, fungi, nematodes and other soil organisms that not only harm food crops but also help them take up water and nutrients and protect them from root diseases. With illustrations and case studies, it provides growers with holistic solutions for building an active and diverse soil biological community capable of improving soil structure, enhancing plant nutrient uptake and suppressing root pests and pathogens. An essential resource for anyone who works with soil, including growers, consultants, agronomists and soil chemists and for extension personnel working in the grains, livestock and horticulture. * A comprehensive and readable coverage of the causes and effects of soilborne diseases * Discusses the fundamentals of soil biota and the key pathogens in Australian agriculture * Gives a step-by-step guide to biological processes to minimizing losses to diseases Helps growers make the transition to an ecologically based form of agriculture by providing holistic solutions to soilborne diseases