 | Changes in Paddy Soil Fertility in Tropical Asia under Green Revolution This book investigates the effect of the Green Revolution (GR) on long-term changes in the fertility status of paddy soils in tropical Asia. While information on long-term changes in soil fertility status are rather limited due to difficulties in obtaining past data or samples for comparison, this investigation on temporal changes in soil fertility is possible by comparing fertility status in the 2010s, which the authors examined recently, with those from the 1960s, when GR was initiated, which was reported by Kawaguchi & Kyuma (1977). More than 220 paddy soils collected from Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Indonesia were analyzed for their physicochemical properties as well as total and available fractions of plant macro- and micro- essential elements, and their temporal changes were examined in addition to their spatial variation in each country. The most significant change was a drastic increase of available phosphorus in soils, possibly due to fertilizationafter the GR. Changes in organic matter, pH, and other nutrients were relatively small. A considerable decrease in the content of some micronutrients was also observed. Long-term studies on soil fertility status in the past and present will be useful to establish soil/fertilizer management for sustainable rice production in the future. This book is an essential reading for soil scientists, agricultural scientists, environmental scientists, as well as policymakers and nongovernmental officers such as FAO. Junta Yanai is a professor in the Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences at Kyoto Prefectural University, Japan. His research interests include evaluation and management of soil fertility in the temperate and tropical regions, spatiotemporal analysis of soil properties, and rehabilitation of agricultural soils contaminated with radiocesium or heavy metals. He is a council member of the Japanese Society of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, a board member of the Japanese Society of Pedology, and vice chair of Commission 3.5 of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) (2018-2022). Sota Tanaka is a professor in the Faculty of Agriculture and Marine Sciences, Kochi University, Japan. His research interests include evaluation of the changes in soil fertility in Southeast Asian countries with special reference to alternating socioeconomic circumstances and appropriate soil management systems ofagricultural fields in mountainous regions in Japan. He is a board member of the Japanese Society of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, and also a board member of the Japanese Society of Pedology. Shin Abe is a junior associate professor at the Experimental Farm, Kindai University, Japan, and an associate fellow at the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Pelis Branch, Malaysia. His major research interest is soil management for sustainable crop productivity enhancement and biodiversity conservation in tropical agroecosystems. Atsushi Nakao is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences of Kyoto Prefectural University, Japan. His research interests include pedogesis related to soil functions, mineralogical control on radionuclide dynamics in soils, and serpentine soil diversities in humid Asia. He is a board member of the Japanese Society ofSoil Science and Plant Nutrition, and also a board member of the Japanese Society of Pedology. |
