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Language: English
Proverbs are truths that link one generation to another. They have been passed down through millennia to provide advice about how to live life. Every country has a vast archive of proverbs that have been handed down orally from generation to generation. The very name "proverb" indicates that they originated "before" (Latin, pro) the written "word" (Latin, verbum). Ever since our ancestors settled down and started to farm the soil, proverbs have been used to communicate knowledge. Many proverbs about soils are available globally, but no effort has been made within the soil science community to compile and integrate them into a comprehensive book.
Therefore, the International Union of Soil Sciences has published this book on soil proverbs worldwide. The objective of Global Soil Proverbs is to compile such soil proverbs and, through them, share insights about philosophy, culture, and life in each country, as they relate to soils. Global Soil Proverbs features 32 chapters from 29 different countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania.
The authors of the individual chapters provide soil proverbs in both English and their native language. Chapters are illustrated with pictures related to the respective proverbs. Some themes are common, such as the need to sustain the soil to sustain humanity, while other themes are particular to a country due to its geography and climate, such as "The peas may be sown when the first swallows come" (Russia) or "If you want to store wheat, plow lowland areas" (Tunisia). Global Soil Proverbs addresses both soil scientists and the general public. Readers will see the diversity of proverbs from the different countries, but each one is written in its own beautiful language, and that humankind is united by its dependence on soils, the veritable foundation of their existence.
The proverbs will provide soil wisdom from many countries and show how we all are connected through the soil.
Foreword (Rattan Lal) III
Introduction (Jae Yang and M.B. Kirkham) VIII
Acknowledgements X
About the Editors X
Contributors XI
Section I. Soil Proverbs in Africa
Chapter 1 The Role of Soils in Sustaining Society and the Environment Espoused in Setswana Proverbs (Ndiye M. Kebonye and Peter N. Eze) 1
Chapter 2 Soil and Water Proverbs in Egypt (El-Sayed Ewis Omran) 5
Chapter 3 Ecosystem Functions of the Soil Highlighted in Igbo Proverbs (Peter N. Eze, Ikenna Mbakwe and Chukwuebuka C. Okolo) 17
Chapter 4 Soil Proverbs in Tunisia (North Africa) (Amor Mtimet and Ghanem Mtimet) 23
Chapter 5 Soil Proverbs from Uganda (Betty Namutebi Bagire and Daniel Waiswa) 29
Section II. Soil Proverbs in Asia
Chapter 6 Soil Proverbs in China (Nengchang Chen and Ganlin Zhang) 31
Chapter 7 The Language of Soil in Ancient Scriptures and Sayings of India (J.C. Katyal, Prabhakar Tamboli and Rattan Lal) 39
Chapter 8 Soil Proverbs in Iran (A. Shahriari, M. Pahlavan-Rad, H. Khodaverdiloo, K. Bazargan, M. Fazeli Sangani, A. Karimi, A. Fatemi, M. Khajehdad Keshtehgar and E. Shirmohammadi) 51
Chapter 9 Soil Proverbs in Japan (Ichiro Taniyama and Hatano Ryusuke) 61
Chapter 10 Soil Proverbs in Korea (K.R. Kim and Jae E. Yang) 67
Chapter 11 Soil Proverbs in Malay (J.K. Carson and N.M. Jaafar) 75
Chapter 12 Soil Proverbs in Pakistan ( M.A. Ali, N. Ahmed, G.M. Jamro, I. Rajpar, Zia-ul-hassan, A. Rashid, N. Akhta and I.A. Mian) 81
Chapter 13 Taiwanese Soil Proverbs Zueng-Sang Chen 95
Chapter 14 Soil Proverbs / Folklore in Vietnam Pham Quang Ha and Nguyen Tu Siem 103
Section III. Soil Proverbs in Europe
Chapter 15 Soil Proverbs in Austria (Othmar Nestroy) 109
Chapter 16 Soil Proverb in Northern Germany (Dorothe Lütkemöller) 117
Chapter 17 Soil Proverbs in (France N. Romillac) 121
Chapter 18 Soil Proverbs in Hungary (Tibor Tóth) 131
Chapter 19 Soil Proverbs of Ireland (Michael Walsh, Fionnula Carson Williams, James F. Collins, Thomas Cummins and Nicholas M. Holden) 135
Chapter 20 Italian Proverbs on Soil (Gian Franco Capra, Antonio Ganga and Andrea Vacca) 143
Chapter 21 Soil Proverbs in Sardinia (Italy) (Andrea Vacca, Antonio Ganga and Gian Franco Capra) 147
Chapter 22 Soil Proverbs in Lithuania (Rimantas Vaisvalavicius, Dalia Zaikauskiene, Kristina Vaisvalaviciene, Virgilija Gregorauskiene, Ieva Baužiene and Lilija Kudirkiene) 153
Chapter 23 Cultural Language of Soil in Eastern Europe (Boris Boincean) 159
Chapter 24 Soil Proverbs, Soil Expressions and Soil Names from The Netherlands (Alfred E. Hartemink) 167
Chapter 25 Soil Proverbs in Spain (Jesús Betrán, Montserrat Díaz Raviña and Francisco Díaz-Fierros) 179
Chapter 26 Soil Proverbs in Turkey (Ayten Namli, Orhan Sevgi, Erhan Akça, Nurettin Çelmeoglu and Selim Kapur) 193
Section IV. Soil Proverbs in North America
Chapter 27 Soils Proverbs in Mexico (L. Alejandra Irazoque-Reyes and Laura Bertha Reyes-Sánchez) 197
Chapter 28 Soil Proverbs in the United States of America (Alan J. Franzluebbers) 205
Chapter 29 Soil Proverbs in America (Thomas J. Sauer) 209
Chapter 30 21st Century Perspectives on North American Soil Proverbs (D.C. Reicosky, D.L. Karlen, M.A. Liebig and M.J. Levin) 213
Section V. Soil Proverbs in Oceania
Chapter 31 Soil Proverbs in Australia (R.J. MacEwan and B.W. Murphy) 231
Chapter 32 Soil and Proverbs from Aotearoa (New Zealand) (Brett Robinson) 241
Concluding Remarks 247
Lists of Global Soil Proverbs 251
Index 269
