Soil Fertility : A Guide to Organic and Inorganic Soil Amendments

📚 Book Details:

• Author: Robert Parnes

• Publisher: United Book Prints

• Language: English

• Edition: 1st Edition (2023)

• ISBN: 9788193698587

• Binding: Hard Bound

• Pages: 450

• Book Type: Textbook

📘 Book Description (English):

This comprehensive textbook is divided into four distinct parts, each delving deep into key aspects of organic residues and fertilizers in agriculture.

• Part One discusses the importance of organic residues to soil fertility, presenting a novel energy index to compare organic and inorganic fertilizers. It also explores the controversy surrounding the effects of organic vs. inorganic fertilizers on food quality and provides various options for fertilizer applications.

• Part Two focuses on the range of organic fertilizers, including unprocessed locally available residues, compost, cover crops, processed wastes, and commercial organic fertilizers.

• Part Three contains chapters dedicated to each soil nutrient, except for trace elements, detailing the importance of each nutrient to plants, their behavior in the soil, and fertilizer options and application rates for each.

• Part Four consists of four appendices that include detailed chemical and mathematical calculations:

  • Appendix A provides useful conversion factors.

  • Appendix B presents the energy credit proposed for organic matter.

  • Appendix C includes calculations on liming value and acidity of various fertilizers.

  • Appendix D explains graphs depicting organic matter loss during composting under various conditions.