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This Special Issue "Innovative Conservation Cropping Systems and Practices" is focused on the development and assessment of innovative conservation cropping systems and practices in determining system productivity and enhancing crop production and soil quality. It covers applied engineering for achieving a sustainable balance between productivity, environmental, and profitability factors, presenting a collection of research articles that cover a broad range of cropping systems and practices from the farmland ecosystem.

Alternative agriculture. --- Cropping systems. --- Agricultural systems --- Soil management --- Agriculture --- Agriculture, Alternative --- Alternative agricultural systems --- Alternative farming systems --- Appropriate technology --- Sustainable agriculture

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Public pressure and societal changes induce interventions and policies, which aim to transform agriculture and food provision. This book shows that for upscaling novel practices and organizational models it is important to include meso-level regime aspects in analysis and practice. The argument presented is that our understanding of the human and social dimensions of transformation processes can be enriched by anchoring practice and policy in social theory. A focus on transitions offers a clear view on the direction and velocity of change. This publication aims to complement this by highlighting theoretical insights in the social or institutional mechanisms enabling or hindering change. Essays on a selection of theorists, varying from idealist or materialist accounts, to actor or system approaches, examine what the presented explanatory framework on social change offers in terms of guidance for intervention and action. The value of these theoretical insights is further explored in a selection of case studies in agriculture and food: rural reconstruction in horticulture and livestock, seed supply systems, and pest control. Each case study systematically applies six theoretical frameworks with the purpose of investigating what novel insights arise from looking at the change process from a particular perspective. Through this exercise the often implicit assumptions of hands-on change processes surface. This book is of interest to practitioners engaged in changing current practices in agriculture and food provision, policy makers interested in grasping why transitions are challenging, applied researchers who like to move beyond individual case studies and social and natural scientists involved in integrative studies of complex change processes.

Agriculture --- Biology --- Health & Biological Sciences --- Earth & Environmental Sciences --- Biology - General --- Agriculture - General --- Life sciences. --- Life Sciences. --- Life Sciences, general. --- Biosciences --- Sciences, Life --- Science --- Alternative agriculture. --- Sustainable agriculture --- Sustainable agriculture. --- Social aspects. --- Low-input agriculture --- Low-input sustainable agriculture --- Lower input agriculture --- Resource-efficient agriculture --- Sustainable farming --- Alternative agriculture --- Agriculture, Alternative --- Alternative agricultural systems --- Alternative farming systems --- Agricultural systems --- Appropriate technology

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Sustainable agriculture --- Agriculture --- Alternative agriculture --- Agriculture durable --- Alternative agriculture. --- Sustainable agriculture. --- Environmental aspects --- Aspect de l'environnement --- Technologie appropriée --- Environmental aspects. --- Low-input agriculture --- Low-input sustainable agriculture --- Lower input agriculture --- Resource-efficient agriculture --- Sustainable farming --- Agriculture, Alternative --- Alternative agricultural systems --- Alternative farming systems --- Agricultural systems --- Appropriate technology --- Environmental protection --- Farming --- Husbandry --- Industrial arts --- Life sciences --- Food supply --- Land use, Rural --- Agricultura sostenible --- Agricultura --- Aspectos ambientales

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This book provides case studies on cultivating alternative crops and presents new cropping systems in many regions of the world. It focusses on new emerging research topics aiming to study all aspects of adaptation under several stresses including agricultural, environmental, biological and socioeconomic issues. The book also provides operational and practical solutions for scientists, producers, technology developers and managers to succeed the cultivation of new alternative crops and, consequently, to achieve food security. Many regions in the world are suffering from water scarcity, soil and water salinization and climate change. These conditions make it difficult to achieve food security by cultivating conventional crops. A renaissance of interest for producing alternative crops under water scarcity and water salinization has been, therefore, implemented primarily among small-scale producers, researchers and academics. The use of alternative crops (quinoa, amaranth, legume crops, halophytes, …etc.) may provide some environmental benefits such as valorization of salt-affected soils, reduced pesticide application, enhanced soil and water quality and promotion of wildlife diversity. This also may provide some economic benefits such as providing the opportunity for producers to take advantage of new markets and premium prices, spreading the economic risk and strengthening local economies and communities. Furthermore, alternative crops are often rich in proteins and minerals, and even some of them are Gluten free (quinoa). This reflects their importance to achieve food security in quantity and quality scale. The year 2013 was exceptional for alternative crops as it was the international year of quinoa celebrated by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This reflects the importance of research conducted on quinoa and other alternative crops in many regions of the world.

Engineering. --- Agriculture. --- Plant physiology. --- Soil science. --- Soil conservation. --- Climate change. --- Environmental management. --- Engineering, general. --- Plant Physiology. --- Soil Science & Conservation. --- Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts. --- Water Policy/Water Governance/Water Management. --- Environmental stewardship --- Stewardship, Environmental --- Environmental sciences --- Management --- Changes, Climatic --- Changes in climate --- Climate change --- Climate change science --- Climate changes --- Climate variations --- Climatic change --- Climatic changes --- Climatic fluctuations --- Climatic variations --- Global climate changes --- Global climatic changes --- Climatology --- Climate change mitigation --- Teleconnections (Climatology) --- Conservation of soil --- Erosion control, Soil --- Soil erosion --- Soil erosion control --- Soils --- Agricultural conservation --- Soil management --- Pedology (Soil science) --- Agriculture --- Earth sciences --- Botany --- Plants --- Physiology --- Farming --- Husbandry --- Industrial arts --- Life sciences --- Food supply --- Land use, Rural --- Construction --- Technology --- Environmental aspects --- Control --- Prevention --- Conservation --- New crops. --- Alternative agriculture. --- Cropping systems. --- Agriculture, Alternative --- Alternative agricultural systems --- Alternative farming systems --- Agricultural systems --- Appropriate technology --- Sustainable agriculture --- Crops

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Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Sustainable agriculture is a discipline that addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control, and biodiversity depletion. Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from sciences as diverse as agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, and social sciences. Indeed, sustainable agriculture decipher mechanisms of processes that occur from the molecular level to the farming system to the global level at time scales ranging from seconds to centuries. For that, scientists use the system approach that involves studying components and interactions of a whole system to address scientific, economic and social issues. In that respect, sustainable agriculture is not a classical, narrow science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that treats only negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats problem sources. Because most actual society issues are now intertwined, global, and fast-developing, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book series gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy and food system for future generations.

Agriculture. --- Alternative agriculture. --- Ecological fertilizer. --- Sustainable agriculture. --- Agriculture --- Earth & Environmental Sciences --- Agriculture - General --- Agricultural biotechnology. --- Agro-biotechnology --- Agriculture, Alternative --- Alternative agricultural systems --- Alternative farming systems --- Appropriate technology --- Life sciences. --- Ecosystems. --- Entomology. --- Climate change. --- Soil science. --- Soil conservation. --- Sustainable development. --- Life Sciences. --- Sustainable Development. --- Climate Change. --- Soil Science & Conservation. --- Agricultural systems --- Sustainable agriculture --- Biotechnology --- Climatic changes. --- Endangered ecosystems. --- Insects --- Zoology --- Development, Sustainable --- Ecologically sustainable development --- Economic development, Sustainable --- Economic sustainability --- ESD (Ecologically sustainable development) --- Smart growth --- Sustainable development --- Sustainable economic development --- Economic development --- Farming --- Husbandry --- Industrial arts --- Life sciences --- Food supply --- Land use, Rural --- Changes, Climatic --- Changes in climate --- Climate change --- Climate change science --- Climate changes --- Climate variations --- Climatic change --- Climatic changes --- Climatic fluctuations --- Climatic variations --- Global climate changes --- Global climatic changes --- Climatology --- Climate change mitigation --- Teleconnections (Climatology) --- Conservation of soil --- Erosion control, Soil --- Soil erosion --- Soil erosion control --- Soils --- Agricultural conservation --- Soil management --- Threatened ecosystems --- Biotic communities --- Nature conservation --- Environmental aspects --- Control --- Prevention --- Conservation --- Pedology (Soil science) --- Earth sciences --- Biocenoses --- Biocoenoses --- Biogeoecology --- Biological communities --- Biomes --- Biotic community ecology --- Communities, Biotic --- Community ecology, Biotic --- Ecological communities --- Ecosystems --- Natural communities --- Ecology --- Population biology --- Global environmental change