Farming the Black Earth

This book deals with the sustainability of agriculture on the Black Earth by drawing on data from long-term field experiments. It emphasises the opportunities for greater food and water security at local and regional levels.The Black Earth, Chernozem in Russian, is the best arable soil in the world and the breadbasket of Europe and North America. It was the focus of scientific study at the very beginnings of soil science in the late 19th century—as a world in itself, created by the roots of the steppe grasses building a water-stable granular structure that holds plentiful water, allows rapid infiltration of rain and snow melt, and free drainage of any surplus.Under the onslaught of industrial farming, Chernozem have undergone profound but largely unnoticed changes with far-reaching consequences—to the point that agriculture on Chernozem is no longer sustainable. The effects of agricultural practices on global warming, the diversion of rainfall away from replenishment of water resources to destructive runoff, and the pollution of streams and groundwater are all pressing issues. Sustainability absolutely requires that these consequences be arrested.

​Boris Boincean knows the black earth. As a son of the steppe, he has spent his professional life cheek by jowl with chernozem. He holds the degree of Dr Hab. agricultural sciences from Moscow Timireazev Akademy (University) and, for many years, has directed the long-term field experiments at the Selectia Research Institute for Field Crops on the Bălţi Steppe, in Moldova  - the very soil described by Dokuchaev in 1887 as 'first class'. He also holds the Chair of Natural Resources and Agro-ecology at Alecu Russo Bălţi State University.Rattan Lal, originally from Haryana, cut his teeth as a soil physicist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture at Ibadan, Nigeria, before taking the position of Professor of Soil Science, later Distinguished Professor, at Ohio State University in the heart of America's black earth belt. Surely the world's most prolific and respected soil scientist, he is currently Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State University and President of the International Union of Soil Sciences.David Dent is an independent scientist. He has worked in soil survey, land evaluation and land use planning on every continent - in the public service as a researcher and university teacher, and as a consultant to governments, international organisations and the private sector. Most recently, he was Director of ISRIC World Soil Information in Wageningen, The Netherlands, and he now works from his farmhouse in Norfolk.