Organic Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics – Current Status and Perspectives
Hülsebusch, Christian / Wichern, Florian / Hemann, Hans / Wolf, Peter (Editor)
Mit Beiträgen von Abele, Steffen / Coulibaly, Ousmane / Dubois, Thomas / Engels, J.M.M. / Freyer, Bernhard / Grenz, Jan H. / Hemann, Hans / Hülsebusch, Christian / Kilcher, Lukas / Lammerts van Bueren, E.T. / Luedeling, Eike / Østergård, H. / Sauerborn, Joachim / Sonder, Kai / Twine, Edgar / Wichern, Florian / Wilbois, K.P. / Wolf, Peter
kassel university press, ISBN: 978-3-89958-263-5, 2007, 176 Pages
(Journal of Agriculture Beiheft 89)
URN: urn:nbn:de:0002-2636


Content: The demand for organically grown agricultural produce is rising fast, leaving empty shelves in the major markets in North America, Europe and Japan. The world wide
agricultural area under organic cultivation has tripled between 2000 and 2006 in response to this development. Organic agriculture is particularly expanding in
tropical and subtropical regions, where today about 75% of the total agricultural area under certified organic production is found.
Agricultural research and development is responding to this trend and an increasing amount of scientific literature on organic agriculture, processing and
marketing of organically produced agricultural commodities has been published during the past decade. However, although organic farming currently experiences its major growth in tropical and subtropical regions, the published monographs have their main focus on organic farming in Europe and North America, where organic agriculture initially evolved.
Environmental conditions in tropical and subtropical regions differ considerably from those in Europe and most parts of the United States. It is therefore to be
expected that problems arising in tropical organic agricultural systems differ largely from those in temperate zones. The history of organic farming and associated research in tropical regions is relatively young, hence predictions of yield developments, ecosystem stability, and even more so of economic viability at different scales after “converting to organic” under tropical conditions still lack a solid scientific basis.
The seven contributions contained therein address crucial questions, which must be critically considered when attempting to predict whether or not organic agriculture can significantly contribute to food security and poverty alleviation at a global scale.
Table of Content
Hülsebusch, Christian / Wichern, Florian / Hemann, Hans / Wolf, Peter: | Preface |
Freyer, Bernhard: | Traditional and ecological farming systems in (sub) tropical countries - history, interactions and future perspectives |
Kilcher, Lukas: | How organic agriculture contributes to sustainable development |
Grenz, Jan H. / Sauerborn, Joachim: | The potential of organic agriculture to contribute to sustainably crop production and food security in SubSaharan Africa |
Engels, J.M.M.: | Organic agriculture and plant genetic resources management |
Lammerts van Bueren, E.T. / Wilbois, K.P. / Østergård, H.: | European perspectives of organic plant breeding and seed production in a genomics era |
Luedeling, Eike / Wichern, Florian: | The need for sitespecific adaption of organic standards: The example of dryland salinity in Australia |
Abele, Steffen / Dubois, Thomas / Twine, Edgar / Sonder, Kai / Coulibaly, Ousmane: | Organic agriculture in Africa: A critical review from a multidisciplinary perspective |
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