Organic Agriculture

Modern agriculture and food systems, including organic agriculture, are undergoing a technological and structural modernization and are faced with a growing globalization. Organic agriculture (OA) can be seen as pionering efforts to create sustainable development based on other principles than mainstream agriculture. There are however large differences between the challenges connected to, on the one hand, modern farming and consumption in high-income countries and, on the other hand, smallholder farmers and resource-poor consumers in low-income countries.

The point of departure is the increasing globalization and the production and trade of food and fodder and how this influences the role of OA. The main aim of this book is to provide an overview of the potential role and challenges of organic agriculture in this global perspective, as seen from different perspectives such as sustainability, food security and fair trade.

Initially, the book provides an overall status of global trends in agriculture followed by discussions of sustainability, globalisation and the relative new concepts of 'ecological justice' and 'political ecology'. Different views on economy and trade are furthermore discussed with a focus on ecological economics. Then, the status and possibilities of organic agriculture in developing countries are discussed, including problems of nutrient cycles and soil depletion plus issues on veterinary medicine. Furthermore, organic farming is related to the world food supply.

The possibilities of knowledge exchange in organic agriculture are also evaluated and it is assessed how a large scale conversion to OA would impact on food security.

Finally, prospects and challenges of organic farming in a globalized world are discussed in a synthesis chapter. Readers who seek first an overview and summary across the different chapters are recommended to start by reading the synthesis.

"Organic Agriculture" book is contributed by authors from the entire gamut of agricultural disciplines who are distributed throughout the globe, particularly developing countries, which is the region impacted the most by climate change and excessive use of chemical farming. Organic farming practices are resilient and becoming increasingly important due to pressing needs to protect the air, soils, and water; to improve socioeconomic conditions of farmers, farm workers, and rural communities; and to provide healthy, safe, and nutritious hor¬ticultural products to a rapidly increasing world population.

This book gathers review articles that analyze current organic agriculture prac-tices, principles, knowledge, and proposed solutions. This book is the most up-to-date and comprehensive review of our knowledge on the use of innovative technologies and issues in organic farming systems with case studies from various regions of the world. It contains fifteen reviews on the production, practices, urban agriculture and integrated pest management, breeding for organic farming, safety issues, organic meat, organic certification, and health and nutrition.

The book is designed to cater to the needs of undergraduates and postgraduates studying organic agriculture, horticulture, sustainable crop production, crop pro-tection, agricultural sciences, integrated pest management, and plant sciences. Research scientists in such fields as horticulture, vegetables, agriculture, and crop protection will also find this book as a useful compilation of review articles. Libraries in all universities and research establishments where agricultural and horticultural sciences are studied and taught should have multiple copies of this valuable book on their shelves.