Alternative Land Management Strategies and Their Impact on Soil Conservation

Tiziano Gomiero
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Tiziano Gomiero: ICTA, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Valles, Spain

Agriculture, 2013, vol. 3, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: Soil conservation is threatened by a number of factors, namely the effects of intensive agricultural practices, the increasing pressure for food production linked to the increasing human population, the consumption patterns in developed and emerging economies, and the conversion of agriculture from the production of commodities (which is itself a goal in need of discussion) to the production of biofuels. The extent of human pressure and the effects of conflicting land use systems need to be addressed. Alternative and conservative agricultural practices need to be explored and widely adopted in order to preserve the soil fertility, assessing their pros and cons. In this paper, the main potential alternative practices are reviewed, focusing in particular on organic farming. It is also argued that in order to better plan to preserve soil health a strategy considering the whole food system is required.

Keywords: soil conservation practices; organic farming; low-input farming; land use change; farming system analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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