Seeds of Sustainability: Lessons from the Birthplace of the Green Revolution in Agriculture

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. 

This collection of sixteen essays on research into sustainable agriculture examines the development of the Yaqui Valley on the coast of the Gulf of California in Sonora, Mexico. The collection discusses the environmental, economic, and cultural trends in the region, and the implementation of sustainability projects designed to foster responsible use and long term stability. The volume is divided into sections covering the history of the Yaqui Valley, interdisciplinary perspectives on sustainability, and structural element of the Yaqui valley system. Chapters discuss topics such as win-win methodologies in intensive agriculture, agricultural connections to the Gulf of California, and agricultural research and management at the field scale. Articles include relevant technical and statistical data. The contributors are academics in environmental sciences and related fields; most are affiliated with Stanford University, the sponsor of this research project. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)