This text offers a definitive and positive contribution to the significance, responsibilities and accountabilities of Australian agriculture and highlights the underpinning role of science in environmental issues.

The role of agriculture and its impact on Australia's relatively fragile environment is a contribuing source of concern. In the past agricultural producers and the environmental movement have adopted polarized views on how the Australian landscape should be managed. Some environmentalists have perceived primary producers as exploiters of Australian natural resources, while some farmers have viewed environmental groups as achieving legislative changes without regard to the need to earn a living from the land. In recent times, however, considerable progress has been made. Research has provided and understanding of environmental capability and it is no longer seen as acceptable for land managers to continue with practices that exacerbate land degradation. Most farmers desire reclamation and ultimate sustainability. This book offers a definitive and positive contribution to the significance, responsibilities and accountabilities of agriculture and highlights the underpinning role of science in environmental issues.

Foreword. Professor John Stocker, Chief Scientist - 1. The Australian Ecostystem. Timothy Flannery - 2. Integrating Conservation and Agricultural Production: Fantasy or Imperative? David Goldney and Johannes Bauer - 3. Water - Quality and Quantity. Kathleen Bowner - 4. Salt-Affected Soils: Their Cause, Management and Cost. Philip Eberbach - 5. Soil Acidification - An Agricultural and Environmental Problem. Peter Cregan and Brendan Scott - Soil Structure Decline - Can the Trend be Reversed? Yin Chan and Jim Pratley - 7. Pesticides - Friends or Foe? Jim Pratley, Deirdre Lemerle, Lyn Fragar and John Kent - 8. Natural Resource Policy for Rural Australia. Allan Curtis and Michael Lockwood - 9. From Farm Management to Ecosystem Management. Alistar Robertson, Jim Pratley