A Review: Organic Farming, Pest Control and Remediation of Soil Pollutants

ISBN 978-1-4020-9653-2

Sustainable Agriculture Reviews: Organic Farming, Pest Control and Remediation of Soil Pollutants (2009) edited by Eric Lichtfouse is one of a series of books that gathers review articles that analyse current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. 

Chapter one, looks at sustainable agriculture as a central science to solve serious global issues such as poverty, illness, food prices, climate changes, global market, pollution, pest adaptation and resistance, soil degradation, decreasing biodiversity and desertification can be explained by the increasing artificial attitude of human society.

Chapter two, deals with the soil, enhancement of the soil and organic carbon as well as the soil structure. It also covers creating a positive nutrient budget and soil restoration, adapting agriculture to climate change and land saving technologies.

Chapter three, deals with the misuse of the technology of the modern farmers, overuse of pesticides, over fertilisation excessive application and use of poor quality of water. As well as poor and excessive plowing of fragile soils on sloping terrains, land forming with bulldozers and bad farm practices that create negative nutrient balance. 

Chapter four, looks at transgenic cotton for sustainable pest management, what is a transgenic     plant, conventional and transgenic plant breeding methods in insect-resistant cotton and how transgenic cottons were developed.

Chapter five, deals with agronomic and environmental aspects of conservation agriculture looking at soil protection, water protection, air protection and the biodiversity. It also looks at the conservation agriculture adoption in annual crops and orchards and the diffusion of conservation agriculture.

In later chapters the subject materials covered are the rice seed invigoration and soil management for sustainable crop, disease control soil protection through organic farming. Mineral nutrition for legume-rhizobia symbiosis: Uncommon heavy metals, metalloids and their plant toxicity, as well as the role of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in the remediation of metal contaminated soils. Phosphates for Pb immobilisation in soils and cadmium phytotoxicity responses, mechanisms and mitigation strategies. 

This book is one in a series of books that review current articles, on the subject of sustainable agriculture and I believe it will be an important and helpful resource to scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians as well as a good starting point for students who are keenly interested in making agriculture sustainable and ecologically viable for the future.