Seeds of Sustainability is a groundbreaking analysis of agricultural development and transitions toward more sustainable management in one region. An invaluable resource for researchers, policymakers, and students alike, it examines new approaches to make agricultural landscapes healthier for both the environment and people.
The Yaqui Valley is the birthplace of the Green Revolution and one of the most intensive agricultural regions of the world, using irrigation, fertilizers, and other technologies to produce some of the highest yields of wheat anywhere. It also faces resource limitations, threats to human health, and rapidly changing economic conditions. In short, the Yaqui Valley represents the challenge of modern agriculture: how to maintain livelihoods and increase food production while protecting the environment.
Renowned scientist Pamela Matson and colleagues from leading institutions in the U.S. and Mexico spent fifteen years in the Yaqui Valley in Sonora, Mexico addressing this challenge. Seeds of Sustainability represents the culmination of their research, providing unparalleled information about the causes and consequences of current agricultural methods. Even more importantly, it shows how knowledge can translate into better practices, not just in the Yaqui Valley, but throughout the world.
Timeline for the Yaqui Valley, 18902000 Acronyms Preface
PART I. The Birthplace of the Green Revolution Chapter 1. Why the Yaqui Valley? An Introduction Chapter 2. A Brief History of the Yaqui Valley
PART II. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Sustainability Chapter 3. Looking for Win-Wins in Intensive Agriculture Chapter 4. Ecosystems and Land-Use Change in the Yaqui Valley: Does Agricultural Intensification ""Spare Land for Nature""? Chapter 5. Linking Knowledge with Action for Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Change and Effectiveness Chapter 6. Exploring Vulnerability in the Yaqui Valley Human-Environment System Chapter 7. From Wheat to Waves and Back Again: Connections between the Yaqui Valley and the Gulf of California
PART III. Elements of the Yaqui Valley System Chapter 8. The Yaqui Valley's Agricultural Transition to a More Open Economy Chapter 9. Agricultural Research and Management at the Field Scale Chapter 10. Nitrogen in the Yaqui Valley: Sources, Transfers, and Consequences Chapter 11. Water Resources Management in the Yaqui Valley
PART IV. Conclusions Chapter 12. Lessons Learned
References Index
"Seeds of Sustainability would make a great book for introducing the ideals and complexity of sustainability to young scientists and curious citizens."
