Alternative Farming Methods

Five years ago, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Olivier De Schutter, presented a report highlighting how agroecology holds promise for alleviating hunger, reducing poverty, preserving the environment, and fighting climate change.
Today, we present five ways in which different agroecological methods are being practiced to varying degrees around the world.

1. Duck attack: Asian farmers cultivating organic rice have adapted an ingenious way to cut out pesticide and herbicide use_ ducks. Two or three weeks after rice seedlings have been planted, ducks patrol paddy waters and happily feed on unwanted pests, such as the golden snail and a host of insect species that feed on the rice plants. The ducks’ faeces enhance the soil, which they stir up with their beaks and feet, a process that also helps enrich the paddies with the oxygen that plants need to thrive. The feathered army also feeds on weeds, which eliminates the need for pesticides and for the manual labor associated with manual weeding. The ducks also provide an additional means of income, for farmers can sell them at harvest time. The method, which originated in Japan, has now spread to South Korea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and even as far as Iran.

2. Bushes and bees: Bees are vital to agriculture and natural biodiversity_ 76 percent of the world’s most widely used food crops require pollination to be productive. A new Canadian initiative is looking to put bees to work to help conserve a fragile area.
Trees are needed to protect watersheds—delicate areas of land that form the drainage systems for streams and rivers in which many plant and animal species thrive. Trees and shrubs help filter pollutants from storm water runoff and anchor the soil with their roots, which reduces erosion. The system blends apiculture (bee keeping) with integrated agroforestry (agriculture that incorporates the cultivation and conservation of trees). In this system, the bees pollinate the shrubs, and the shrubs and the plethora of small private woodlands and streams found in an area, in turn, provide the surface water and natural windbreak protection required by the bees.

3. Aquaponics: Part of the solution to the global search for greener fish and crop production that does not use chemical fertilisers or pesticides can be found in aquaponics _ a combination of aquaculture (the cultivation of aquatic animals and plants for food) and soilless plant agriculture known as hydroponics. The combined technique, where crops are grown in a body of water that contains fish, has been used by ancient Aztecs and the ancestors of Far East countries like China. It is increasingly being used all over the world today. The process renders needless the use of chemicals since, in a seamless aquatic dance, the fish-waste fertilises the plants, which, in turn, cleanse the water of toxins that would be dangerous for the fish.

4. Microorganisms: In Thailand, over 20,000 farmers have adopted an integrated farming system known as “do nothing farming” _ they cultivate crops with minimal interference in nature _ “namely no ploughing, no weeding, no chemical pesticides, no chemical fertilisers, and no pruning.” They do, however, use effective microorganisms (EMs), which are a combination of microorganisms that readily exist in nature and have not been interfered with in any way, merely added to the fields. By enriching the soil and stimulating plant growth, EMs increase crop yields whilst allowing the farmer to maintain the balance of the ecosystem.

5. Grass farming: Polyface Farms in Virginia is a hilly homestead set on 100 acres of grass, surrounded by 400 acres of woodland. It is a polyculture—an agricultural system that tries to imitate the diversity of a natural ecosystem by using multiple crop and animal species in the same space. It includes chickens, cows, turkeys, rabbits, and pigs.

The farm carefully orchestrates all the elements in an intricate symbiosis—every being follows its natural instincts to contribute an ecosystem service that maintains the overall health of the pasture. For example, the large herd of cows feeds on a different quarter acre of grass every day and contributes manure. Three days later, 300 laying hens_ the ‘sanitation crew’_ are let loose to gorge on the fat fly larvae that have grown in the cowpats. This gives the chickens an important source of rich protein, while helping to spread manure and further fertilise the paddock with their own very rich nitrogen-laden excrement.
The farm’s closed loop, natural system is highly successful, producing 40,000 pounds of beef, 30,000 pounds of pork, 10,000 broilers, 1,200 turkeys, 1,000 rabbits, and 35,000 dozen eggs on just 100 acres.  
 
Source: Nourishing the Planet.

Alternative Farming Methods

Five years ago, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Olivier De Schutter, presented a report highlighting how agroecology holds promise for alleviating hunger, reducing poverty, preserving the environment, and fighting climate change. Today, we present five ways in which different agroecological methods are being practiced to varying degrees around the world. 1. Duck attack: Asian farmers cultivating organic rice have adapted an ingenious way to cut out pesticide and herbicide use_ ducks. Two or three weeks after rice seedlings have been planted, ducks patrol paddy waters and happily feed on unwanted pests, such as the golden snail and a host of insect species that feed on the rice plants. The ducks faeces enhance the soil, which they stir up with their beaks and feet, a process that also helps enrich the paddies with the oxygen that plants need to thrive. The feathered army also feeds on weeds, which eliminates the need for pesticides and for the manual labor associated with manual weeding. The ducks also provide an additional means of income, for farmers can sell them at harvest time. The method, which originated in Japan, has now spread to South Korea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and even as far as Iran. 2. Bushes and bees: Bees are vital to agriculture and natural biodiversity_ 76 percent of the worlds most widely used food crops require pollination to be productive. A new Canadian initiative is looking to put bees to work to help conserve a fragile area. Trees are needed to protect watershedsdelicate areas of land that form the drainage systems for streams and rivers in which many plant and animal species thrive. Trees and shrubs help filter pollutants from storm water runoff and anchor the soil with their roots, which reduces erosion. The system blends apiculture (bee keeping) with integrated agroforestry (agriculture that incorporates the cultivation and conservation of trees). In this system, the bees pollinate the shrubs, and the shrubs and the plethora of small private woodlands and streams found in an area, in turn, provide the surface water and natural windbreak protection required by the bees. 3. Aquaponics: Part of the solution to the global search for greener fish and crop production that does not use chemical fertilisers or pesticides can be found in aquaponics _ a combination of aquaculture (the cultivation of aquatic animals and plants for food) and soilless plant agriculture known as hydroponics. The combined technique, where crops are grown in a body of water that contains fish, has been used by ancient Aztecs and the ancestors of Far East countries like China. It is increasingly being used all over the world today. The process renders needless the use of chemicals since, in a seamless aquatic dance, the fish-waste fertilises the plants, which, in turn, cleanse the water of toxins that would be dangerous for the fish. 4. Microorganisms: In Thailand, over 20,000 farmers have adopted an integrated farming system known as do nothing farming _ they cultivate crops with minimal interference in nature _ namely no ploughing, no weeding, no chemical pesticides, no chemical fertilisers, and no pruning. They do, however, use effective microorganisms (EMs), which are a combination of microorganisms that readily exist in nature and have not been interfered with in any way, merely added to the fields. By enriching the soil and stimulating plant growth, EMs increase crop yields whilst allowing the farmer to maintain the balance of the ecosystem. 5. Grass farming: Polyface Farms in Virginia is a hilly homestead set on 100 acres of grass, surrounded by 400 acres of woodland. It is a polyculturean agricultural system that tries to imitate the diversity of a natural ecosystem by using multiple crop and animal species in the same space. It includes chickens, cows, turkeys, rabbits, and pigs. The farm carefully orchestrates all the elements in an intricate symbiosisevery being follows its natural instincts to contribute an ecosystem service that maintains the overall health of the pasture. For example, the large herd of cows feeds on a different quarter acre of grass every day and contributes manure. Three days later, 300 laying hens_ the sanitation crew_ are let loose to gorge on the fat fly larvae that have grown in the cowpats. This gives the chickens an important source of rich protein, while helping to spread manure and further fertilise the paddock with their own very rich nitrogen-laden excrement. The farms closed loop, natural system is highly successful, producing 40,000 pounds of beef, 30,000 pounds of pork, 10,000 broilers, 1,200 turkeys, 1,000 rabbits, and 35,000 dozen eggs on just 100 acres. Source: Nourishing the Planet.