Quality soil management or soil quality management: Performance versus semantics

In the past 200 years, soil science has used reductionist research to develop agricultural technologies that have unlocked the hidden potential of earth's natural systems to feed, clothe, and provide raw materials to the human population of over six billion. The soil quality paradigm seeks to change that scientific approach, the nomenclature of soil science, and institutional priorities for soil management and research. The definition of soil quality is elusive and value-laden. Concerns exist for the paradigm's policy overtones, regional and taxonomic biases, failure to reconcile conceptual contradictions, as well as its ambiguous definitions that are confounded by countless circumstance-specific, function-dependent scenarios. The paradigm does not recognize or offer practical means to manage conflicting, and often contradictory soil management requirements for the multiple functions of soil that occur simultaneously. Implementation of the concept has delivered low index ratings for many of the most economically productive and least subsidized US soils and agricultural sectors, and high ratings for soils and regions with some of the lowest economic return and greatest subsidization. The paradigm's focus on arbitrarily selected function assessment has diverted research and management resources from efforts aimed directly at developing improved management capable of solving existing identified and prioritized problems. We attempt to articulate the dangers of shifting soil science away from the value-neutral tradition of edaphology and specific problem solving to a paradigm based on variable, and often subjective, societal perceptions of environmental holism. We submit that over-arching, philosophically driven indexing of soil status, as opposed to focused, specific soil status and property characterization, carries risks to the scientific assessment process, and to the scientist's role as a data interpreter and science mediator. Value intrusion in umbrella-style indices erodes the individual manager's access to objective data to make decisions. We suggest emphasizing quality soil management rather than soil quality management as a professional and scientific goal

Prospects for world agriculture in the 21st century

1 ilus. 10 tab.Durante los ?ltimos 40 a?os, la producci?n de alimentos se ha mantenido al ritmo del crecimiento demogr?fico del mundo. Con el aumento de los rendimientos en las tierras m?s aptas para la agricultura, los agricultores del mundo han podido reservar grandes ?reas de tierra para otros prop?sitos. La agricultura en las regiones asi?ticas en desarrollo ha logrado grandes avances econ?micos desde la crisis alimentaria de los a?os 60, aunque cientos de millones de personas todav?a viven en la pobreza, sobre todo en el sur de ese continente. La producci?n de alimentos en la regi?n del Sub-Sahara, en Africa, permanece en crisis. Los agricultores necesitan urgentemente aumentar el uso de fertilizantes, semillas mejoradas y pr?cticas agron?micas sostenibles. El mejoramiento de la infraestructura rural y de los sistemas de transporte tambi?n es esencial. El crecimiento y desarrollo de la agricultura en Am?rica Latina y el Caribe se caracterizan por grandes contrastes. Los grandes ganadores incluyen a aquellos agricultores que producen para los mercados de exportaci?n. Durante los pr?ximos 20 a?os, es probable que la demanda mundial de cereales aumentar? en 40 -50 por ciento, impulsada fuertemente por el creciente uso de cereales como alimento para animales. Con excepci?n de las ?reas con suelos ?cidos en Am?rica del Sur y Africa, el potencial por expandir el ?rea de tierra cultivable a nivel mundial es limitado. Los futuros aumentos en la producci?n de alimentos deber?n provenir principalmente de tierras que ya est?n en uso. En el Siglo XXI se deber? concretar una "Revoluci?n azul," en la cual la productividad asociada con el uso del agua deber? estar acorde con la productividad del uso de la tierra. El mejoramiento gen?tico continuo de los cultivos alimenticios, tanto mediante herramientas convencionales como biotecnol?gicas, es necesaria para incrementar los rendimientos, as? como su estabilidad. El mundo ya tiene la tecnolog?a para alimentar una poblaci?n de 10 mil millones de personas sobre una base productiva sostenible

Quality soil management or soil quality management: Performance versus semantics

In the past 200 years, soil science has used reductionist research to develop agricultural technologies that have unlocked the hidden potential of earth's natural systems to feed, clothe, and provide raw materials to the human population of over six billion. The soil quality paradigm seeks to change that scientific approach, the nomenclature of soil science, and institutional priorities for soil management and research. The definition of soil quality is elusive and value-laden. Concerns exist for the paradigm's policy overtones, regional and taxonomic biases, failure to reconcile conceptual contradictions, as well as its ambiguous definitions that are confounded by countless circumstance-specific, function-dependent scenarios. The paradigm does not recognize or offer practical means to manage conflicting, and often contradictory soil management requirements for the multiple functions of soil that occur simultaneously. Implementation of the concept has delivered low index ratings for many of the most economically productive and least subsidized US soils and agricultural sectors, and high ratings for soils and regions with some of the lowest economic return and greatest subsidization. The paradigm's focus on arbitrarily selected function assessment has diverted research and management resources from efforts aimed directly at developing improved management capable of solving existing identified and prioritized problems. We attempt to articulate the dangers of shifting soil science away from the value-neutral tradition of edaphology and specific problem solving to a paradigm based on variable, and often subjective, societal perceptions of environmental holism. We submit that over-arching, philosophically driven indexing of soil status, as opposed to focused, specific soil status and property characterization, carries risks to the scientific assessment process, and to the scientist's role as a data interpreter and science mediator. Value intrusion in umbrella-style indices erodes the individual manager's access to objective data to make decisions. We suggest emphasizing quality soil management rather than soil quality management as a professional and scientific goal

Germes d'abondance, germes de chagrin : Inde

Producteur de la série: P. FirstbrookHôte: N.E. BorlaugVersion anglaise disponible dans la Bibliothèque numérique du CRDI : Seeds of plenty, seeds of sorrowUne production Media Workshop pour BBC Television en association avec Television Trust for the Environment et tous les diffuseurs de "Un Seul Monde" (One World)Une enquête sur les aspects moins reluisants de la Révolution verte

Seeds of plenty, seeds of sorrow : India

Series producer: P. FirstbrookHost: N.E. BorlaugFrench version available in IDRC Digital Library: Germes d'abondance, germes de chagrinA Media Workshop production for BBC Television in association with Television Trust for the Environment and the One World Group of BroadcastersAnother version of this video available in IDRC Digital Library: Seeds of plenty, seeds of despair (North South series, no. 112)An investigation of the darker side of the Green Revolution (subtitled)