Agroecology could double agricultural production

[Obamot]

... should be seen not to underestimate the role of man.

The study of the composition of soils and the repercussions of intensive agriculture are true sciences studied at uni, in technical and agronomic schools of high-flight, by chemists ... etc.

This is not just a vision of eclair ahuri sixty-six and children's torcheurs (even if we find them very nice, not necessarily bewildered, and even poets ^^) ...

The fact is known that once a soil is exhausted, only the fallow can not do anything ... it is necessary to count its rehabilitation in decades!

As for the hope of doubling the prod with new and respectful methods? Why not ... But to double compared to what? An agriculture that would not exhaust the soil? Yes, but then productivity would fall de facto? So doubled compared to a "secular agriculture", what else? I say that, I do not know ... So much the better if there is hope but you will have to follow the thing under a microscope!

Since we think of the decrease ... We can also try to better regulate births ...? Not like China where it is an obligation, a quota of one baby per family, by incentive?

[Alain G]

Bah!

Not so bad!

I saw a report here on TV or with the rotation of cultures it was produced without fertilizer and without pesticide with a yield as good as what one has today!

[Did67]

... should be seen not to underestimate the role of man. : Mrgreen:

The study of the composition of soils and the repercussions of intensive agriculture are true sciences studied at uni, in technical and agronomic schools of high-flight, by chemists ... etc.

It's not just an eclectic green-eyed sixtieshookard and kids torch

Thank you for explaining all this to me ...

Just by the way, an agronomist by training, I became interested in ecology and organic farming in the 70 years before putting all this to the test in different African countries for 12 years ...

I just reacted against the "a little peremptory" "agro-ecology allows to double the world production" ... I have, on the contrary, never said that it was necessary to continue in the current path which is a dead end ... An old mistrust of solutions that I call "yaca falcon" (there is only ... we have to ...)

[Christophe]

Another (?) Study that demonstrates the advantage of organic farming over conventional agriculture!

http://www.fnab.org/index.php?option=co ... &Itemid=43



The lobbies have hard skin !!

[Did67]

There is I do not know which American university (that of Maine ??) that a very long experiment (like 20 or 390 years), with measurements and accurate readings!

The graph looks like this.

1) We are far from the announced "doubling" (yield - yields)

2) Why "lobbies" ???

[Did67]

I found: it's the Rodale Institute

http://rodaleinstitute.org/

Something like 37 years of research on organic farming.

A report here:

http://rodaleinstitute.org/our-work/far ... ar-report/

[Christophe]

2) Why "lobbies" ???

Bin to continue conventional knowing this ...

[Did67]

Well no !

a) equivalent yields [which saps the main argument of "pro-chemistry" therefore "anti-organic": with organic, yields will drop and there will be famine ...
b) better income (for the farmer)
c) better energy balance (nitrogen fertilizers are an "energy chasm" - I worked on this in connection with anaerobic digestion)
d) better "GHG emissions" balance

[but indeed, no miraculous "doubling" of yields as we can read in the title and idiotically put forward I find by proagroecology; NB: I am not saying that in such a particular case this is not possible; I too am thinking of exploding my yields in my garden with my new practices; but this is not sufficient to announce a generalized doubling]

[Gwenved]

In the good surprise style, I discovered the Bec Hellouin farm in Normandy.

They use Parisian market gardening techniques from the 19th century and permaculture. They do their best by hand.
They would arrive at a yield 10 times higher than other organic market gardeners. And with their techniques, it would be possible to live with 1000m² according to a study they are conducting with INRA ( http://www.fermedubec.com/ecocentre/Etude%20mara%C3%AEchage%20permaculturel%20-%20Rapport%20interm%C3%A9diaire%202013.pdf ).

[Ahmed]

Without going into a purely technical debate, the first remark of good sense makes it necessary to say that this presentation is inadequate.
Indeed, while there are obvious problems of undernourishment and malnutrition on a large scale, they do not result from an overall shortfall in production, but from a distribution that is too unequal and from a high quality. inappropriate (because of its focus on Value alone).
The question is therefore primarily political.

The big advantage of organic farming is that it encourages independent food production, the basis of food independence.