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Agroecology and Strategies for Climate Change. Edited by E. Lichtfouse. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer (2012), pp. 335, £135.00. ISBN 978-94-007-1904-0.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2012

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Abstract

Type
Book Review
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Don't be misled by the title – the book is no more about climate change than any volume about agricultural systems. It is an eclectic mixture of contributions from fascinating chapters such as that on a novel land–energy use indicator for energy crops through to a chapter that largely catalogues plant parasitic nematode diversity in pome stone and nut fruits, hardly central to either agroecology or climate change adaptation strategies. There are the usual introductory and historical chapters and a number of good individual contributions such as that on the rhizosphere. The term ‘sustainably-competitive agriculture’ is used in one chapter, causing some confusion with current common use of the term sustainable intensification. Issues of pollution from animal waste are addressed, as are biotechnology contributions such as transgenic crops. When it came to chapters comparing organic with conservation farming, or looking at water use efficiency, I was hoping for data to support the comparisons but there was very little. Surely, reviews are the opportunity to compare such data side-by-side and look for overall trends? Having said that, the chapter on water use efficiency was also another otherwise good resource chapter. Overall, however, there is no coherence to this book – it is an assembly of quite separate contributions from very different perspectives that happen to all be about some aspect of agriculture, not strictly even agroecology. You might buy this book for some individual chapters, but otherwise it is just one in a library series.