Soil Management of Smallholder Agriculture

Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, The Ohio State University, and an Adjucnct Professor of University of Iceland. With completion of education from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (B.Sc, 1963), Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi (M.Sc, 1965),and the Ohio State University ,Columbus( Ph.D,1968), he served as Sr. Research Fellow with the University of Sydney, Australia (1968-69), Soil Physicist at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria (1969-87), and Professor of Soil Science at OSU (1987-to date).His current research focus is on climate-resilient agriculture, soil carbon sequestration, sustainable intensification , enhancing use efficiency of agroecosystems ,and sustainable management of soil resources of the tropics. He is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), Third World Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS), Indian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Rothamsted (U.K.). He received the Hugh Hammond Bennett Award of the SWCS, 2005 Borlaug Award, and Liebig Award (2006) of the International Union of Soil Science, M.S. Swaminathan Award (India) of 2009, and COMLAND Award (Germany) of 2009. He received honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Punjab Agricultural University (2001), the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas(2005),and Alecu Russo Balti State University, Moldova (2010). He was president of the World Association of the Soil and Water Conservation (1987-1990), the International Soil Tillage Research Organization (1988-91), and the SSSA (2005-2007). He was a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on National Assessment of Climate Change-NCADAC (2010-2013), member of the SERDP Scientific Advisory Board of the DOE (2011-), Senior Science Advisor to the Global Soil Forum of IASS, Potsdam, Germany (2010-), memb

"This book puts forth a management program for small farmers to ease soil-related constraints. The contributing authors consider cultural, economic, social, and technological issues associated with sustainable management of the soil."—Ringgold, Inc. Book News, February 2015

• Soil-related constraints to smallholder agriculture. Smallholder agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Subsistence farming in India. Resource-poor farmers of Central America and the Caribbeans. Technological options for alleviating soil-related constraints of resource-poor farmers. Nutrient management in soils of the tropics. Improving soil quality. Principles of sustainable agriculture. Managing soil fertility in dry region. Soil C sequestration and the human dimensions. Organic vs. inorganic soil nutrients. Sustainable soil management as an engine of economic development. Competing uses of crop residues. Soil security for resource-poor farmers. Soil biology and ecology. The human dimensions. Economics of crop production. Enhancing resource-use efficiency. Institutional constraints. Towards improving agronomic production. Research and development priorities.