Foreword: Management of soil under adverse conditions

In the industrialised countries of the world, a continuing pattern of increasing crop yields portends crop surpluses and the withdrawal from cultivation of ‘difficult’ soils. Paradoxically, the lesser developed countries will need to make increasing use of less promising soils if they are to move toward economic independence. The development of environmentally-acceptable systems of agriculture appropriate to their widely-differing circumstances is, however, a common goal.