Blog: Sustainable Agriculture
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION? Let us know in the comment section below.
It is widely acknowledged that large-scale monocultural farming is detrimental to the ecology. After the initial hunter-gatherer phase of civilization, farming has initially been the basic human occupation. With the agricultural revolution and later the industrial revolution, technology was integrated into the agricultural production system. In most of the developed regions of the world, agriculture is ever increasingly being based on modern technology. Unfortunately, modern farming has led to significant soil degradation due to excessive tillage by ultra-heavy machinery compacting soil. Monocropping reduces soil fertility and intensive agriculture has contributed to loss of biodiversity. Dependence on chemical inputs has also led to the development of pesticide-resistant crops and negatively impacted human health through exposure to harmful chemicals. These techniques led to the increase in production but generated soil degradation, a large percentage of air pollution and waste. The heavy use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has also polluted waterways and harmed aquatic ecosystems. Increased greenhouse gas emissions has exacerbated climate change. These factors collectively threaten long-term agricultural sustainability and environmental health. In the process the natural fertility of soils (micro-organisms, organic matter) is being depleted and must be artificially restored. Poorer production leads to even more fertilizers needed, etc. – a downward positive feedback system results.
Photo: Monocropping reduces soil fertility and dependence and chemical inputs has also led to the development of pesticide-resistant crops.
Crops and grazing are still regarded as separate specialized agricultural systems. As said in the concept of Linear economy this has been very detrimental to the environment as farmers have tended to work against Nature, rather than with it. As a result of such environmental practices widespread degradation has occurred. There is thus a strong movement globally to move away from large scale intensive techno-farming practices to local scale environmentally friendly approaches, based on restoration of the quality of the natural resource base. Several farming endeavours, each having its special characteristics and farming techniques developed over the past decades. The terminology used for the enviro-friendly initiatives varies. Terms to describe them include eco-friendly farming, conservation farming, permaculture, organic farming, integrated organic farming, regenerative farming, sustainable farming, holistic farming, and more. The definition of each differs but all of them have more or less the following in mind: “(it).. conserves land, water, plant and animal genetic resources, is environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable, and socially acceptable” (FAO, 1989, p. 65).
Photo: The term ‘sustainable agriculture’ is used to describe various kinds of farming ptractices
Permaculture tries to encourage full ecosystem interaction in the household and immediate productive environment for a sustainable livelihood. It encourages an integrated system of household and agriculture, simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems. Permaculture, if practiced correctly, provides the maximum yield for the minimum effort and input cost. A formal definition describes permaculture as “design of the environment based on ecological principles” (Mollison, 1992). Such a system is productive, attempts to turn all inputs into products without waste (e.g., recycle leaves, bird droppings, utilize sewerage, etc.), has a low maintenance cost, and usually succeeds in integrating plants, animals, people, and buildings into a productive system.
It strives to produce food and habitat for people and native animals and birds. It strives towards diversity of produce. Plants are allowed to set seed and are species inter-planted for pest control. Maximum use is made of natural sustainable energy (sun, wind, biogas, generated on site from dung, etc.) and local natural products.
It makes use of inexpensive, natural, and durable materials and techniques appropriate for poorer communities. Permaculture thus integrates households, gardening, animal husbandry, soil and water management, community development and economics into a sustainable system. By using common sense, local knowledge, maximum observation, and rediscovering old farming methods, it is assumed possible to live in perfect balance with the environment. It is near-perfect example of the circular economy. If well-designed, the system can run relatively independent of the “outside world”.
Integrated Organic Farming refers to the integration of the larger farming concept into the total environment around it. By studying the picture it can be appreciated how all elements of the resource base are included into an integrated system. F
Photo: Permaculture inegrates households, gardening, animal husbandry, soil and water management.
(Source: BioMed Research International;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
It shows how a self-sustainable landuse system could (and should) operate according to natural processes of biodiversity and sustainability. It is a negative feedback natural ecosystem model; working as an Open system. Energy is being circulated from the sun via solar/wind power back into the production system. Little or no fossils are used. Matter is being circulated with no pollution due to recycling. Waste and all organic matter are fed back into the production system. It uses no pesticides or herbicides, thereby encouraging the natural goodness of food products and avoiding the negative side effects of chemical interference and genetic modification.
A basic concept applied in integrated organic farming are biodynamics whereby cow dung, fermented together with the extract from a few herbs, is used as fertilizer. It also is incorporating certain astrological and spiritual principles and practices such as planting according to the cycle of the moon. Equally fundamental in this approach is that of intercropping which is the companion planting method of growing one crop alongside another. The purpose behind intercropping is to increase yields by doubling up on available growing space. It alsocreates biodiversity, which attracts a variety of beneficial and predatory insects.
Holistic farming is an attempt to stop degradation. The current grazing strategy is to take cattle off the land as soon as overgrazing starts to develop. A radical variation of the current approach is proposed by Allan Savoryin the revolutionary video, “Can sheep save the planet? Yes!” This is a departure from the normal methods of grazing land management by reducing cattle the moment overgrazing starts to appear, by reverting to the ancient ecological way in which Nature operated. Herds of game used to graze an area intensively and then moved on, letting the grass recover. Instead of reducing or removing cattle from an area of heavy grazing, the process requires to more intensive grazing, and then afterwards letting the land restoration go its natural cyclic path of regrowth, before it is again grazed intensively, is a deviation of the current philosophy.
Natural Farming. Since the mid-1990s, a grassroots movement of farmers in India has adopted a set of agroecological approaches in response to farmer debt, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss. Natural Farming is today defined by the Government of Andhra Pradesh as having nine universal principles that can work in different contexts:
1. Soil to be covered with crops for all 365 days in a year
2. Minimal disturbance of soil
3. Bio-stimulants as necessary catalysts
4. Use of indigenous seed
5. Diverse crops and trees (15-20 crops)
6. Integrate animals into farming
7. Increase organic residues on the soil
8. Pest and disease management through botanical extracts
9. No synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides.
Regenerative farming is anover-arching term; a concept integrating thepreceding ecofriendly principles. In the video “From the Ground Up: Regenerative Agriculture” it is illustrated how regenerative farming emphasises managing the land instead of manging crops or animals. Soil is the basis of food production. The basic aim of regenerative farming is the conservation of life-giving soil. In the process it integrates crop production and grazing and thus functions in a circular open system – the one supplementing the other. The land feeds the animals without depleting resources. In return grazing feeds the plants as the animals’ excretions redistributes nutrients to the land. It is a good example of negative feedback – retaining equilibrium to ensure a sustainable system.
Here one of the principles is (as has been describe in the Holistic practice) that a variety of animals are moved around in pens to ensure that they forage all food and then are moved to another area. It is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. Regenerative agriculture aims to capture carbon from the atmosphere and in soil and above-ground biomass, reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation.
It tries to revert to ancient farming methods where animals roamed the land, foraging and depositing manure, thus building up the soil. Retaining all water flow, thus preventing erosion, and increasing ground water supply; and keeping all vegetation matter for use as mulching.
Regenerative agriculture is about working with nature’s natural cycles to provide nutritious food with a low environmental footprint. The ‘regenerative’ concept places the focus on replacing nutrients lost to inevitable offtake (as food, fibre, or fuel) from natural, ‘biogenic’ sources. Retaining the flow of water by various means such as ditches, retaining walls, dams, mulching, etc. (re-hydrating landscapes), is a crucial element by which groundwater is enhanced and soil loss minimized. Many desert environments have been turned into productive land in this way.
Photo: South Africa holds promise to introduce regenerative agriculture.
To apply regenerative agriculture, there are 10 principles involved:
- 1) Use limited chemicals, fertilizers, and insecticides. Reducing cost of production.
- 2) Avoid soil disturbance through tillage and thus keeps organic ingredients of the soil in a healthy state. Leaving the soil undisturbed enhances biodiversity.
- 3) Farm by following environmental directives of diversification – combining grazing and various types of crops.
- 4) Select farming practices according to climatic and topographic conditions.
- 5) Minimizing input of added irrigation and contouring.
- 6) Intensive grazing by rotating grazing plots.
Photo: Much of the land can be better utilized as seen in the picture above .
- 7) “Use and keep, what you have” by retaining rainwater, keeping vegetation cover, and avoid erosion.
- 8) Prohibit soils exposure by keeping soil covered with growing crops/grass.
- 9) Make use of “cover crops” (plants grown between the main cash crops) after commercial crops have been harvested; thus, increasing water infiltration.
- 10) Growing crops extract CO2 emitted into the atmosphere and act as bio-sequestration of CO2 thus minimize pollution.
Photo: The mindset of regenerative agriculture is already embedded in societies.
On the negative side regenerative agriculture requires:
- More personal time required due to minimizing machinery.
- Careful planning. Managing crop rotation, recirculation, etc. takes much organization.
- The switch over from commercial to regenerative systems can take a lengthy period of time before producing full results.
- For crop farming it is most productive on small scale enterprises.
- Rotating grazers requires more land to be effective.