Sustainable Dryland Farming by Lynne Chatterton Brian Chatterton

ISBN: 9780521337410

Publisher: Cambridge University, November 2005

Paperback, 339 pages

Sheep and wheat are the staples of dryland farms in the Mediterranean zone of the Northern hemisphere. The commonly used dryland farming system introduced in the 1950s is proving unsustainable. Erosion has reached a critical level and pastures have all but disappeared. Experts advise more cropping (forage crops for instance) and more fertiliser. Yet intensification of the present system will only hasten erosion. Is there an alternative system that is both environmentally sustainable and within the means of most farmers in the region? Innovative farmers in a similar climate in Australia discovered a sustainable rotation using annual medics as both fertiliser and pasture. Attempts to transfer their knowledge have often foundered. Why is this so? How much do the experts know about this system? This book pulls apart the warp and weft of development on dryland farms to try to find some answers to these questions.

Describes an environmentally acceptable way of increasing the yield of farmers in dryland zones
A unique account of the problems encountered in transferring knowledge from one group of farmers to another
Written by leading authorities on the medic system of dryland farming