Soil and water quality : an agenda for agriculture / / Committee on Long-Range Soil and Water Conservation, Board on Agriculture, National Research Council

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910973711003321
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Washington, D.C., : National Academy Press, 1993
• ISBN: 9786610196111; 9781280196119; 1280196114; 9780309585712; 0309585716; 9780585037806; 0585037809
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (540 p.)
• Disciplina: 333.76/0973
• Soggetti: Soil management - United States; Soils - United States - Quality; Water quality management - United States; Sediment control - United States; Agricultural ecology - United States
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 449-487) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: SOIL AND WATER QUALITY -- Copyright -- PREFACE -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Executive Summary -- BASIC CONCEPTS -- Soil Quality -- Pollution Prevention -- Profitability and Productivity -- THE AGENDA -- Enhancing Soil Quality -- Efficient Use of Inputs -- Resisting Erosion and Runoff -- Field and Landscape Buffer Zones -- IMPLEMENTING THE AGENDA -- Problem Areas, Problem Farms -- Problem Areas -- Problem Farms -- Farming Systems -- Better Tools and Information -- Better Management Tools -- Better Information -- New Cropping Systems -- Criteria and Standards -- INFLUENCING PRODUCERS' DECISIONS -- Barriers Imposed by Price and Supply Control -- Soil and Water Quality as Policy Objectives -- Policy ; Instruments -- Research Applications -- Technical Assistance -- Long-Term Easements -- Nonvoluntary Change -- Rights and Responsibilities -- PART ONE -- 1 Soil and Water Quality: New Problems, New Solutions -- SOIL AND WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS -- Soil Quality -- Water Quality -- Surface Water Quality -- Groundwater Quality -- Environmental Risks -- SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS -- Factors Influencing Solutions -- State and Local Government Policies -- Characteristics of the Agricultural Sector -- TIME TO MOVE AHEAD -- 2 Opportunities to Improve Soil and Water Quality -- CONSERVING AND ENHANCING SOIL QUALITY -- Defining Soil Quality -- Importance of Soil Quality -- Agricultural Productivity -- Water Quality -- Global Climate -- Soil Policy Goals -- Erosion Control Alone is Not Sufficient -- Soil Degradation as an Environmental Problem -- Measurement of Soil Quality -- National-Level Assessments of Soil Quality -- Assess Currently Available Data -- Soil Management at the Farm Level -- Soil Quality Thresholds -- Soil-Specific Management -- Promise of New Technology -- Better Use of Available Information -- INCREASING INPUT USE EFFICIENCIES.; Mass Balance between Inputs and Outputs -- Increased Input Efficiency -- Improving Nitrogen Management -- Reduction of Residual Nitrogen in the Farming System -- Nitrogen Mass Balances -- Refining Fertilizer Recommendations -- Realistic Yield Goals -- Accounting for All Sources of Nitrogen -- Synchronizing Fertilizer Applications with Crop Needs -- New and Improved Tools -- Improving Phosphorus Management -- Phosphorus Cycle -- Transport Processes -- Phosphorus Mass Balance -- Control Phosphorus Buildup in Soil -- Thresholds for Phosphorus Levels in Soil -- Improving Manure Management -- Nutrient Value of Manures -- Manure Is an Important Source of Water Pollution -- Obstacles to Improving Manure Management -- Livestock Concentration -- Nitrogen and Phosphorus Buildup after Repeated Applications -- High Capital Costs -- Special Emphasis on Manure Management -- Improving Pesticide Management -- Constraints to Making General Recommendations -- Reducing the Total Mass of Pesticides Used -- Pesticide Mass Balance -- Improved Pesticide Use Efficiency -- Integrated Pest Management -- Design Better Pesticides -- Improve Pesticide Application Practices -- Match the Pesticide to Site Conditions -- Alternative Pest Control Technologies -- Improving Irrigation Management -- Disposal of Drainage Water -- Reduction of the Volume of Drainage Water -- New Cropping Systems -- Technical Constraints to Input Management -- Economic Constraints to Input Management -- Managing Cropping Systems -- INCREASING RESISTANCE TO EROSION AND RUNOFF -- Time Lag of Sediment Load Reductions -- Protecting Stream Channels -- Resistance to Episodic Damage -- Conservation Tillage and Residue Management -- Develop New Cropping Systems -- Probability Analysis -- CREATING FIELD AND LANDSCAPE BUFFER ZONES -- Creating Managed Buffer Zones -- Protection of Existing Natural Vegetation.; Balance Needed -- 3 A Systems Approach to Soil and Water Quality Management -- LINKAGES AMONG OBJECTIVES -- LINKAGES AMONG PROGRAMS -- ADVANTAGES OF FARMING SYSTEMS APPROACH -- Variability -- Targeting -- Integration -- Win-Win Opportunities -- Adaptability -- FARMING SYSTEM AS UNIT OF ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT -- Integrated Farming System Plans -- Rigorous Planning Standards -- Soil Quality -- Input Use Efficiency -- Resistance to Erosion and Runoff -- Buffer Zones -- Need for Performance Standards -- Use of Models -- Purposes, Advantages, and Limitations of Modeling -- Models of Nonpoint Source Pollution -- On-Farm Record Keeping -- Developing Capacity at the Local Level -- Public-; Sector -- Private-Sector -- TARGETING PROBLEM AREAS AND FARMS -- Soil and Water Quality Monitoring -- Soil Quality -- Water Quality -- Monitoring Production Practices -- Problem Farms -- Monitoring Progress -- Refine Strategies to Change Producer Behavior -- Regional and National Data Collection -- IMPLEMENTING A SYSTEMS APPROACH -- Limited Funding -- New Sources of Funds -- 4 Policies to Protect Soil and Water Quality -- ENVIRONMENTAL AND AGRICULTURAL POLICY -- A Brief History -- Incremental Redesigning of Agricultural Policy -- Incentives are Perverse -- Incremental Reform -- Increasing Planting Flexibility -- Nonincremental Reform of Agricultural Policy -- Limitations of Commodity Program Reform -- Effects of Program Elimination -- Environmental Policies for Environmental Goals -- FACTORS AFFECTING PRODUCERS' DECISIONS -- CONTINUUM OF POLICIES -- Research and Development -- Understanding Producers -- Technical Innovation -- Technical and Financial Assistance -- New Approaches -- Potential for Change -- Market-Based Incentives -- Facilitating Changes in Land Use -- Long-Term Easement Program -- Advantages of Easements -- Implementing an Easement Program.; Need for Nonvoluntary Approaches -- State and Local Legislation -- Evaluating the Role for Regulation -- Implications of the Structure of Agriculture for Regulation -- Clarifying Landowner Responsibilities and Rights -- Advantages of Defining Rights and Responsibilities -- Implementation -- PART TWO -- INTRODUCTION Soil, Water, and Farming Systems -- 5 Monitoring and Managing Soil Quality -- DEFINING SOIL QUALITY -- IMPORTANCE OF SOIL QUALITY -- Soil Quality and Agricultural Productivity -- Effect of Soil Degradation on Productivity -- Effect of Soil Degradation on Costs of Production -- Sustaining Soil Quality Is Essential to Improving Agricultural Productivity -- Soil Management -- Soil Quality and Water Quality -- Direct Effects -- Indirect Effects -- Soil Quality and Water Quality Are Linked -- Soil Quality and the Global Climate -- Soil Quality as a Long-Term Goal of Soil Management -- National Assessments of Soil Resources -- Soil Quality and Soil Conservation -- Soil Quality and Sustainability -- IMPORTANCE OF MONITORING CHANGES IN SOIL QUALITY -- Indicators of Soil Quality -- Minimum Data Set -- Nutrient Availability -- Organic Carbon -- Labile Carbon -- Texture -- Water-Holding Capacity -- Structure -- Rooting Depth -- Acidity and Alkalinity -- Pedotransfer Functions -- Quantifying Soil Quality -- Indicators of Productivity -- Indicators of Water Regulation -- Indicators of Buffering Capacity -- Temporal and Spatial Variabilities -- Temporal Variability -- Spatial Variability -- EXTENT OF DEGRADATION OF U.S. SOILS -- Physical Degradation -- Erosion -- Erosion Estimates -- Effect of Erosion on Soil Quality -- Compaction -- Surface Soil Compaction -- Subsoil Compaction -- Alleviation of Subsoil Compaction -- Corn Yield Response to Subsoil Compaction -- Chemical Degradation -- Salinization -- Acidification -- Biological Degradation.; Organic Matter Content -- Carbon from Biomass -- Soil Fauna Activity and Diversity -- Effects of Biological Degradation -- 6 Nitrogen in the Soil-Crop System -- THE NITROGEN CYCLE -- Mineralization -- Nitrification -- Immobilization -- Denitrification -- Interactive Processes -- NITROGEN MASS BALANCE -- Nitrogen Inputs -- Nitrogen in Fertilizers -- Nitrogen Fixed by Legumes -- Nitrogen in Animal Manure -- Nitrogen in Crop Residue -- Other Nitrogen Inputs -- Nitrogen in Rainfall -- Nitrogen in Irrigation Water -- Soil Nitrogen and Mineralization -- Nitrogen Outputs -- Nitrogen in Crops and Residues -- Nitrogen Balance -- Losses to the Environment -- Losses to the Atmosphere -- Losses to Surface Water and Groundwater -- ; OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE NITROGEN LOSSES -- Accounting for Nitrogen from All Sources -- Regional Nutrient Balances -- Farm Nitrogen Balances -- Improving Nitrogen Management -- Soil Testing -- Improving Estimates of Crop Nitrogen Needs -- Economically Optimum Rate of Nitrogen Application -- More Refined Models Needed -- Determining Realistic Yield Goals -- Synchronizing Applications with Crop Needs -- New Tools for Nitrogen Management -- Obstacles to Better Nitrogen Management -- Economic Obstacles -- Seasonal Obstacles -- Cropping Systems as a Nitrogen Management Tool -- 7 Phosphorus in the Soil-Crop System -- THE PROBLEM OF PHOSPHORUS DELIVERY TO SURFACE WATERS -- SOURCES OF PHOSPHORUS -- Point Sources -- Agricultural Sources of Phosphorus -- Forms and Bioavailability of Phosphorus -- Soluble Phosphorus -- Particulate Phosphorus -- Total Phosphorus -- PHOSPHORUS IN THE SOIL-CROP SYSTEM -- The Phosphorus Cycle -- Mass Balance -- Phosphorus Inputs -- Phosphorus Outputs -- Phosphorus Buildup in Soils -- TRANSPORT PROCESSES -- Leaching and Subsurface Flow -- Surface Flow -- Soluble Phosphorus Losses.; Sediment and Sediment-Bound Phosphorus Losses.
• Sommario/riassunto: The report of a committee convened by the Board of Agriculture of the National Research Council to assess the science, technical tools, and policies needed to protect soil and water quality while maintaining US agricultural productivity and competitiveness. Advocating a systems approach, the committee recommends specific farm practices and new approaches to prevention of soil degradation and water pollution for environmental agencies. The volume details methods of evaluating soil management systems and offers information on improved management of nitrogen, phosphorus, manure, pesticides, sediments, salt, and trace elements. Landscape analysis of nonpoint source pollution is also detailed. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR