Organic farming aims to produce a number of crops, without the use of synthetic chemicals (pesticides) or fertilizers, while enhancing soil composition and promoting biodiversity. This is a traditional, more permanent type of farming that relies on ecosystem services to maintain the integrity of the landscape while still producing sufficient yields. In addition, conventional farming uses pestic…
Sustainable agriculture aims to achieve the goal of food security, also maximizing the socio-economic benefits, and minimizing environmental drawbacks. Farming systems mostly relying on ecological processes and the reduced application of external inputs (fertilizers and pesticides), such as organic farming and integrated farming, can even contribute to the mitigation of global warming and of th…
This book is an up-to-date and comprehensive reference covering pest management in organic farming in major crops of the world. General introductory chapters explore the management of crops to prevent pest outbreaks, plant protection tools in organic farming, and natural enemies and pest control. The remaining chapters are crop-based and discuss geographic distribution, economic importance and …
In Crop Rotation and Cover Cropping, you can learn some of the thinking behind—and the actual nuts and bolts of—laying out a rotation for your farm. This volume, part of the NOFA guides, covers: Historical roots of cover-crop techniques, Thinking beyond this season's cash crop (disease and pest reduction, weed suppression, cash vs. cover crops), What is a good rotation? (mapping the farm, g…
Les Jardins de la Grelinette is a micro-farm located in eastern Quebec, just north of the American border. Growing on just 1.5 acres, owners Jean-Martin and Maude-Helène feed more than two hundred families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands and supply their signature mesclun salad mix to dozens of local establishments. The secret of their success is the low-tech, high-yield …
With The Winter Harvest Handbook, everyone can have access to organic farming pioneer Elliot Coleman’s hard-won experience. Gardeners and farmers can use the innovative, highly successful methods Coleman describes in this comprehensive handbook to raise crops throughout the coldest of winters. Building on the techniques that hundreds of thousands of farmers and gardeners adopted from Coleman…