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Michigan Field Crop Ecology: Managing biological processes for productivity and environmental quality
Michigan Field Crop Ecology Managing biological processes for productivity and environmental quality Author:Richard Harwood This volume was assembled by a group of Michigan agricultural scintists, MSU Extension workers and farmers to promote greater understanding of Michigan field crop ecology in order to help Michigan farmers achieve greater sustainability in their farming systems. We touch briefly on the social, political and macroeconomic dimensions that are crit... more »ical aspects of agricultural sustainability, but our primary goal is to build an understanding of the biological basis of sustainability. Our general approach is to describe management (especially field crop biodiversity and crop rotation) in terms of its influence on organisms' habitats and food sources found in the agriculyural landscape. Both agricultural productivity and environmental quality can be significantly enhanced by more effectively mnanaging the biological processes upon which agriculture is based.
Since considerable field crop ecology research in Michigan is being conducted at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station in Kalamazoo County, this book draws heavily on research conducted there. Research results are gleaned from three KBS projects in particular: the Long-Term Ecological Research project in Row Crop Agriculture, the Living Field Laboratory, and the Cover Crop Program.« less