Sustainable Agriculture

How do we approach the farming crisis? According to the "Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program" at UC Davis, "A systems perspective is essential to understanding sustainability. The system is envisioned in its broadest sense, from the individual farm, to the local ecosystem, and to communities affected by this farming system both locally and globally."

http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/concept.htm

Natural Systems Agriculture

Natural Systems Agriculture is a new paradigm for food production, where nature is mimicked rather than subdued and ignored. See also Biomimicry.

The University of Manitoba maintains an extensive website describing Natural Systems Agriculture: http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/naturalagriculture/index.html

they note:

"Two critical elements of an agricultural system based on natural processes are perenniality and diversity.

Perenniality

Agricultural systems that attempt to mimic natural systems should also include a high degree of perenniality. Perenniality can be included by including perennial plants in the rotation, using only perennial plants or "perennializing" the annual grain cropping system through the use of cover crops.

Diversity

Crop rotation is a simple form of diversity that has been recognized by agronomists for at least 2,000 years."