Healthy Crops: A New Agricultural Revolution
Francis Chaboussou was an agronomist at the French National Institute of Agricultural Research. He introduced the term trophobiosis to describe the symbiotic association between organisms where food is to be obtained or provided. The provider of the food is referred to as a trophobiont. The term is also used for a theory of pest resurgence on crops to which pesticides have been applied causing an increasing dependence upon pesticides. This book is a translation from the French edition of 1985.
Although it is difficult to find any information about Francis Chaboussou, he left a legacy that can transform the way we think about insects and agriculture. In the commentary with which the book begins, Dr. Ulrich E. Loening says that Charboussou's thesis is quite simple: "most pest and disease organisms depend for their growth on free amino acids and reducing sugars in solution in the plant's cell sap." Charoussou's studies range over fifty years, and his conclusions as to the how and why the free amino acids and reducing sugars are produced in the sap are the subject of this book.