Agriculture & Allied Sciences

Agricultural Prairies
Natural Resources and Crop Productivity

K. R. Krishna, PhD

Agricultural Prairies

Published. Available now.
Pub Date: January 2015
Hardback Price: see ordering info
Hard ISBN: 9781771880503
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-77463-363-2
E-Book ISBN: 9781482258066
Pages: 514pp with index
Binding Type: hardbound / ebook / paperback

Now Available in Paperback


Agricultural prairies are among the most conspicuous modifications to the global landscape and environment imparted by human endeavors. Today they play a vital role in food grain and forage generating systems and are well distributed on all four agriculturally important continents.

This valuable new book is a comprehensive volume that brings together vast knowledge about agricultural prairies in one place, providing concise information and providing thorough descriptions of natural resources and their influence on crop productivity. It provides detailed descriptions and lucid discussions on soil fertility and crop production trends for various agricultural prairies.

Chapters provide detailed descriptions on geologic aspects; physiography and agroclimate; natural vegetation and cropping history; human population, migration and development of settlements; natural resources such as soils, water, and crops; and environmental concerns. In particular, the first chapters cover the prairies of North and South America, namely, the Great Plains of North America, the Cerrado of South America, and the Pampas of South America. Chapters also deal with the steppes of Southern and Central Europe and the savannahs of West Africa, the Indo-Gangetic and Deccan plains, and the prairies of Northeast China.

The book also provides a comparative view of all agricultural prairies and compares the contrasting natural features, soil fertility, irrigation, and crop productivity. Agricultural prairies exist at various levels of intensification. A few show subsistence or low input trends. Discussions pertaining to the extent of intensification are included. The coverage also includes discussions on the interdependence of man and prairies and way prairies and crops have influenced and driven human activities.

CONTENTS:
Preface
Chapter 1. The Great Plains of North America: Natural Resources, Prairie Crops, and Agricultural Productivity
Chapter 2. Cerrados of Brazil: Natural Resources of Semi-Arid Prairies, Crops, and Productivity
Chapter 3. The Pampas of South America: Natural Resources, Environment, and Crop Production
Chapter 4. European Plains and Russian Steppes: Natural Resources, Environment, and Crop Productivity
Chapter 5. Savannahs of West Africa: Natural Resources, Environment, and Crop Production
Chapter 6. Prairies of South Asia: Natural Resources, Environment, and Crop Production
Chapter 7. Steppes of Northeast China: Natural Resources, Environment, Crops, and Productivity
Chapter 8. Agricultural Prairies and Man—Wither Bound?
Index


About the Authors / Editors:
K. R. Krishna, PhD
Formerly Visiting Professor and Research Scholar at the Soil and Water Science Department at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA; Independent Researcher and Author

K. R. Krishna received his PhD in Agriculture from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India. Retired from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India, he has been a cereals scientist in India and a visiting professor and research scholar at the Soil and Water Science Department at the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA. Dr. Krishna is a member of several professional organizations, including the International Society for Precision Agriculture, the American Society of Agronomy, the Soil Science Society of America, the Ecological Society of America, and the Indian Society of Agronomy.




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