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Lodestar

(2,388 posts)
Tue May 19, 2015, 05:42 AM May 2015

Can Agroecology Save Us From "Scorched-Earth" Agriculture?

Excerpt:

The facts are stark. Biodiversity has plummeted in recent decades as increasing numbers of farmers around the world have embraced the monocultural 'Green Revolution' farming practices pioneered in Europe and America in the last century.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that, since 1900, 75% of plant genetic diversity has been lost as farmers worldwide have abandoned their multiple local varieties for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties.

Meanwhile, 30% of livestock breeds are at risk of extinction, with six breeds being lost each month.

Human life has become dependent on a tiny fraction of the total number of edible plants and animals available to us: in fact, just three crops - rice, maize and wheat - contribute nearly 60% of calories and proteins obtained by humans from plants.

At the same time, mankind's ever-expanding population has caused us to resort to agricultural practices which can be successful in increasing yields in the short term, but come at great cost to the soil and livestock.

We have become ever more reliant on the cocktails of fertilisers, pesticides and antibiotics needed to sustain conventional farming methods in the so-called developed world.

..//..

The solution gaining more and more acceptance internationally is agroecology.

Defined as "the integrative study of the ecology of the entire food system, encompassing ecological, economic and social dimensions" by one leading academic source, agroecology is rooted in the idea that farmers should be directly involved in developing new practices by engaging and co-creating with one another, with support from cooperatives, NGOs, research bodies and government institutions.

Agroecological farming approaches include agroforestry (interplanting trees and crops on the same parcel), biological control (controlling pests and diseases with natural predators), water harvesting methods, intercropping and many other practices which are often rooted in traditional farming techniques.

MORE
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/30777-can-agroecology-save-us-from-scorched-earth-agriculture

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Can Agroecology Save Us From "Scorched-Earth" Agriculture? (Original Post) Lodestar May 2015 OP
kick, kick, kick..... daleanime May 2015 #1
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