1st Edition

Agroecology in China Science, Practice, and Sustainable Management

Edited By Luo Shiming, Stephen R. Gliessman Copyright 2016
    472 Pages 157 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    472 Pages 157 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Key features:

  • Reviews the development of agroecology in China, including research, practice, management, and education regarding challenges for rural and agricultural progress
  • Presents information from sources not readily available in the West about agricultural development in China during the last several decades
  • Provides models and indicates starting points for future research and practice
  • Addresses how to meet future challenges of agroecosystems from the field to the table in China from scientific, technological, and management perspectives
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    During the past 30 years, industrialization has fundamentally changed traditional rural life and agricultural practices in China. While the incomes of farmers have increased, serious issues have been raised concerning the environment, resource depletion, and food safety. In response, the Chinese government and Chinese scientists encouraged eco-agriculture, the practice of agroecology principles and philosophy, as a way to reduce the negative consequences of large-scale industrialized systems of farming.

    Agroecology in China: Science, Practice, and Sustainable Management represents the work of experts and leaders who have taught, researched, and expanded Chinese agroecology and eco-agriculture for more than 30 years. It reviews decades of agricultural change to provide an integrated analysis of the progress of research and development in agroecological farming practices.

    The book contains research on traditional and newly developed agricultural systems in China, including intercropping systems, rainfall harvest systems, and rice–duck, rice–fish, and rice–frog co-culture systems. It covers current eco-agriculture practices in the major regions of China according to climate conditions. The book closes with a discussion of the major technical approaches, necessary policy support, and possible major development stages that must occur to allow broader agroecological implementations toward the sustainability of future food systems in China.

    Presenting eco-agriculture systems that are somewhat unique in comparison to those of the United States, Latin America, and Europe, Agroecology in China gives insight on how Chinese agroecologists, under the political and cultural systems specific to China, have created a strong foundation for ecologically sound agroecosystem design and management that can be applied and adapted to food systems elsewhere in the world. By using selected regional examinations of agroecological efforts in China as examples, this book provides models of how to conduct research on a broad range of agroecosystems found worldwide.

    AN OVERVIEW

    Agroecology Development in China
    Luo Shiming

    AGROECOLOGY RESEARCH AND PRACTICE ON A CROP–FIELD SCALE

    How Above- and Below-Ground Interspecific Interactions between Intercropped Species Contribute to Overyielding and Efficient Resource Utilization: A Review of Research in China
    Li Long, Zhang Wei-Ping, and Zhang Li-Zhen

    Effects of Reduced Nitrogen Application Rates and Soybean Intercropping on Sugarcane Fields in Southern China
    Wang Jianwu

    Integrated Rice–Fish Agroecosystems in China
    Chen Xin

    Rice–Duck Co-Culture in China and Its Ecological Relationships and Functions
    Zhang Jiaen, Quan Guoming, Zhao Benliang, Liang Laiming, and Qin Zhong

    Study of Non-Point-Source Pollution Control in Integrated Rice–Frog Agroecosystems
    Cao Linkui and Zhang Hanlin

    Research on and Application of Rice Allelopathy and Crop Allelopathic Autotoxicity in China
    Lin Wenxiong, Fang Changxun, Wu Linkun, and Lin Sheng

    Structure and Function of Grass-Covered Orchards in Fujian Province, China
    Weng Boqi and Wang Yixiang

    Ecological Effects of No-Tillage Rice in Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River
    Li Chengfang and Cao Cougui

    Framework for Conversion: Ecological Mechanisms and Regulation of Greenhouse Organic Vegetable Production in North China
    Li Ji, Xu Ting, Han Hui, Ding Guochun, Li Yufei, Wang Xi, Yang Hefa, and Li Shengnan

    REGIONAL ECO-AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE AND MANAGEMENT

    Status quo and Development Policies of Organic Agriculture in China
    Wu Wenliang, Qiao Yuhui, Meng Fanqiao, Li Ji, Guo Yanbin, and Li Huafen

    Highly Efficient Utilization of Rainfall Promotes Dryland Agroecosystem Sustainable Development on the Loess Plateau
    Li Fengmin and Guan Yu

    Agroecology Research and Practice in the Oasis Region, Northwest China
    Su Peixi and Xie Tingting

    Ecological Agriculture on Arid, Sloped Land in Dry–Hot Yunnan Valley
    Ji Zhonghua and Tan Fengxiao

    Eco-Agricultural Practices of State Farms in Heilongjiang Province
    Wang Hongyan, Wang Daqing, Dai Lin, Ying Nie, An Menglong, Xu Maomao, and Cao Can

    Developing Agroecology Practice in Baiquan County
    Wang Shuqing

    PERSPECTIVE

    Development and Prospect of China’s Eco-Agriculture—Agroecology Practice
    Wu Wenliang, Li Ji, Wang Jian, Zhao Guishen, Du Zhangliu, and Liang Long

    Biography

    Luo Shiming completed his undergraduate and graduate study at the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, where he later served as president for 11 years. He also studied agroecology at the Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, United States. His textbook Agroecology has had great influence in agricultural universities in China since its first publication in 1987, and it is now approaching its fourth edition. His research has included the use of biodiversity in agriculture, energy flow and material circulation in agroecosystems, allelopathy, practical eco-agriculture systems in South China, and computer simulation of rice field systems and artificial wetland systems for wastewater treatment in agriculture. His work has earned several national and provincial awards in China, including China National Outstanding Professor, and an honorary doctoral degree from Pennsylvania State University. He has also been the executive vice president of the World Allelopathy Society, the first president of the Asian Allelopathy Society, president of the Agroecology Committee under the China Ecological Society, vice president of the China Ecology Society, and vice president of the China Agricultural Society.

    Stephen R. Gliessman holds graduate degrees in botany, biology, and plant ecology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has more than 40 years of teaching, research, and production experience in the field of agroecology. He was the founding director of the agroecology program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, one of the first formal agroecology programs in the world. He is also the cofounder of the nonprofit Community Agroecology Network, Santa Cruz, California, and currently serves as president of its board of directors. His textbook Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems is in its third edition and has been translated into many languages, and he is the editor of the international journal Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.