The author is a professor of plant, soil and insect sciences and a retired farmer who regularly teaches organic farming and gardening. The book is the response to his belief that one of the limiting factors of organic farming is the failure to provide adequate plant nutrition. He therefore devotes a substantial part to an introduction to soil and crop science. Plant nutrition covers ‘organic’ fertilizers, defined as those derived from biological or mineral materials. This section is a comprehensive summary of the functions of 14 essential elements, including crop requirements and deficiency symptoms. However, in my view it does not adequately address some of the specific challenges of organic farming. How can a book about soil fertility and crop nutrition in organic farming not extensively cover legumes and in particular clover grass leys? N-fixation through legumes is after all, the main alternative to synthetic N-fixation and clover-grass leys have many other beneficial properties. Also, animals that are important on many organic farms and present their specific challenges feature only in the chapter about farmyard manure. In both areas, the science of organic farming has clearly moved on.

However, the book presents a basic introduction to crop science that is clearly relevant and provides some useful specific insights into crop nutrition. A narrower title such as ‘Aspects of Crop Nutrition in Organic Farming Systems’ would have allowed the reader to know better what to expect.