Farm mechanization is a crucial input for agricultural production. Without farm power and the appropriate complementary tools, implements and machines, farmers would struggle to emerge from subsistence production. With demands being exerted on the planet’s natural capital by ever intensifying population pressure, the need for sustainable mechanization becomes increasingly urgent.
This book gives a wide-ranging perspective on the present state of mechanization in the developing world and, as such, constitutes a solid platform on which to build strategies for a sustainable future. Farm mechanization forms an integral plank in the implementation of sustainable crop production intensification methodologies and sustainable intensification necessarily means that the protection of natural resources and the production of ecosystem services go hand-in-hand with intensified production practices. This requires specific mechanization measures to allow crops to be established with minimum soil disturbance, to allow the soil to be protected under organic cover for as long as possible, and to establish crop rotations and associations to feed the soil and to exploit crop nutrients from various soil horizons.
The book is the starting point to help the reader understand the complexities and requirements of the task ahead.