"Billy Rose" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"George.com" wrote:
"Billy Rose" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"George.com" wrote:
"Billy Rose" wrote in message
"debnchas" wrote:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/070710.htm
Hang on there pardner. You don't haver the only horse in the race.
From the Aug. '07 Scienticic American, "A Return to the Roots".
Today most of humanity's food comes directly or indirectly (as
animal
feed) from cereal grains, legumes and oilseed crops. These staples
are
appealing to producers and consumers because they are easy to
transport and store, relatively imperishable, and fairly high in
protein
and calories. As a result such crops occupy about 80 percent of
global
agricultural land. But they are all annual plants, must be grown
anew
from seeds every year, typically using resource-intensive
cultivation
methods. More troubling, the environmental degradation caused by
agriculture will likely worsen as the hungry human population
grows to
eight billion or 10 billion in the coming decades. That is why a
number
of plant breeders, agronomists and ecologists are working to
develop
grain-cropping systems that will function much more like the
natural
ecosystems displaced by agriculture. The key to our collective
success
is transforming the major grain crops into perennials, which can
live
for many years. The idea, actually decades old, may take decades
more
to realize, but significant advances in plant-breeding science are
bringing this goal within sight at last.
Roots of the Problem
Most of the farmers, inventors and scientists who have walked farm
fields imagining how to overcome difficulties in cultivation
probably
saw agriculture through the lens or' its contemporary successes
and
failures. But in the 1970s Kansas plant geneticist Wes Jackson
took a
10,00 year step into the past to agriculture with the natural
systems
that preceded it. Before humans boosted the abundance of annuals
through
domestication and Farming, mixtures of perennial plains dominated
nearly
all the planet's landscapes-as they still do in uncultivated areas
today.
More than 85 percent of North America's native plant species, for
example, are perennials. Jackson observed that the perennial
grasses
and
flowers of Kansas' tall-grass prairies were highly productive year
after
year, even as they built and maintained rich soils. They needed no
fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides to thrive while fending off
pests
and disease. Water running off or through the prairie soils was
clear,
and wildlife was abundant.
the approach used by people such as Masanobu Fukuoka priveliges both
organic
and no till techniques. A no till approach can be very organic,
organic
farming can be absolutely no till. He always claimed his yeilds
matched
that
of any contemporary farm in Japan. No till & organic are not
necessarily
opposing regimes.
rob
Wasn't my intent to claim exclusivity. I am just fascinated by
Jackson's
change of paradigm from annual to perennial. Additionally, the
following
paragraph must resonate with anyone who read Gun, Germs, and Steel by
Jerod Diamond. From the number of months it was number one the NY
Times
best seller list, not too many people could have escaped it.
yes, I realise you were not necessarily talking about opposing
paradigms. If
anything it was probably the original source article that differentiated
between organic & no-till, with the latter denoted as chemical spray &
synthetic fertiliser dependant. Fukuoka absolutely practised organic
based
no-till. In his view the ultimate way to grow, 'natural farming' or 'do
nothing' farming.
The matter of crop selection is also interested, and makes some sense as
to
how our forebears selectively bred crops. Perennials are still chosen by
backyard gardeners though. Asparagus for example.
rob
George, as you may have guess, you are preaching to the choir.
indeed, just thought I could significantly enrich the discussion by pointing
out the bleedin obvious. In addition I wanted to announce to everyone that I
have read Fukuokas work, being the know all that I am. Of a more serious
note mind, those who haven't read his stuff may be interested & can have a
look at
http://www.fukuokafarmingol.info/
and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fukuoka_farming/files/
The yahoo group has a downloadable copy of his book One Straw Revolution
which is worth a read. There is also some stuff by Jared Diamond that looks
worthwhile. Diamond wrote "Collapse-How societeies choose to succeed or
fail". I read that earlier this year & found it a good read.
rob