Agroecology in China : Science, Practice, and Sustainable Management

Key features:

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.

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.