Review of 'Conservation Agriculture in Subsistence Farming: Case Studies from South Asia and Beyond': Catherine Chan and Jean Fantle-Lepczyk (eds.). CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK, 2015, xiv + 264 pages, AUD$160.00, 9781780644233

Abstract

This volume of work is quite an accomplishment for a four-year research programme - SMARTS, Sustainable Management of Agroecological Resources for Tribal Societies - and it will leave a lasting legacy for researchers working in similar contexts with tribal communities. The researchers were from University of Hawaii, along with colleagues at Orissa University in India and Tribhuvan University in Nepal. The focus of the research was primarily to promote conservation agriculture to tribal villagers in Nepal and India. This rich perspective combines traditional agricultural research, on-farm research and socio-economic studies to track changing attitudes and perceptions of conservation agriculture and its impacts on soil, agricultural production, economics and social circumstances in an area where there is little experience of it. Hence, the book will prove to be an extremely useful baseline of current understanding of conservation agriculture, and the socio-economic and biophysical conditions in the area for academics and students in this field of research and study.