IPM in the Field

Soil Quality

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• Discovery of herbicide in compost in 3 states alarms recycling industry, Associated Press, December 28, 2001 -- posted on the Environmental News Network

• Soil and Health Library
  This is a free public library of alternative agriculture, holistic health, self-sufficient living, and personal development. It offers accurate, full-texts of carefully-selected older books whose importance and contemporary relevance has not diminished. Most books in this library are out of print and can be very hard to find; many are old enough to be public domain. The Soil and Health Library has four major sections:
         Radical Agriculture
         The Restoration and Maintence of Health
         Achieving Personal Sovereignty
         Achieving Spiritual Freedom

• Post to SANET from, Joel Gruver, Center for Agriculture, Food and Environment, Tufts University -- quote relevant to today's biotech issues (from 1855)

• No Disease Without Deficiency, "Vruchtbare Aarde" (Fertile Soil)The Netherlands, Bart Hommersen (Editor), Summer 1999

• Here are some fascinating "factoids" from the National Soil Survey Center that show why soil is such an important resource. Be sure to share them!

• Plant Research News - PNAS 95:6531-6536
  Regulatory Gene Confers Resistance to Multiple Diseases. A single gene serving to increase a plant's defensive response to a number of fungal and bacterial pathogens.

• SANET discussion: "Cation balancing in organic farming" related to the building of soil quality
  • M. Sean Clark -- Research Manager, Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems Project, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis, CA 95616
  • Raymond R. Weil -- Professor of Agronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
  • Steve Groff -- Cedar Meadow Farm, 679 Hilldale Rd, Holtwood PA 17532

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• EMAP - Agricultural Lands:    A beginner's Guide to Soil Quality

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• Soil Health Menu at the Sustainable Farming Connection that may be of value in training or as references.

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• In building soil quality, the benefits of rock dust arise from physical, chemical, and biological processes, according to Chris Alenson, an Australian based consultant.

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• USDA: Natural Resources Conservation Service
  • Natural Resources Conservation Service has established a Soil Quality Institute at Iowa State University

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• Microbiological Activity in Native Soils, from an article by Maria Filimonova, Soil & Plant Analysis Laboratory Manager, published on the Internet by the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture in its July/August 1997 Newsletter -- Vol. 23, No. 4. The article was adapted by Maria from an article originally written for the Missouri Prairie Journal.

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• Ethylene Biosynthesis Triggers Plant Defense Mechanisms
  • First Direct Evidence Ethylene Biosynthesis Triggers Plant Defense Mechanisms Science Magazine, January 24, 1997
  • Commentary on Science article by Charles Benbrook
  • Early research on ethylene biosynthesis by soil microorganisms by Dr. James Cook, WSU
  • References on Ethylene by Dr. Robert Kluson, University of South Florida
  • A.W. Smith Abstract provided by David Granatstein, Washington State University

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• The Soil Foodweb: Its Importance in Ecosystem Health
  by Dr. Elaine Ingham

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• SANET Discussions on Soil Quality
  (Check back occasionally, as this page is updated as more discussion occurs) [The newest posts are listed first]

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• Soil Erosion Article from Science Magazine Vol. 267

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Last Updated on 1/4/02
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