Organic vs Monocropping: Age-old questions answered by study
An age-old argument between supporters of organic farming and those who prefer the monocropping methods of modern agriculture may have been resolved.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Michael Fields Agricultural Institute have found that traditional organic farming techniques of planting a variety of plants to ward off pest infestation, is more profitable than monocropping.
"In our study we found that diversified systems were more profitable than monocropping," said Joshua Posner, of the University of Wisconsin, in a statement.
The study of species-diverse pasture and organic systems was carried out at two sites in southern Wisconsin between 1993 to 2006 and examined a variety of test cases.
Follow below the fold for all the news I found worthy of passing on.
I know a lot of agribusinesses that are not going to be too happy to hear about this study. Michael Pollan makes the case that monocropping is a dangerous process. It REQUIRES fertilizers to be brought in, while multicrops could provide those essentials in house. The other danger is if everyone plants the same crop, like corn. When that happens the price goes down, causing farmers to plant more corn, and it's a self defeating cycle. This study backs up the theme of Pollan's it-book Omnivore's Dilemma.
Politics makes strange bedfellows. And even though these conspiracy theorists get the info on HR 875 wrong, their heart is in the right place. (I think) Either way it's worth a good laugh whenever you delve into an article that talks about Bilderbergers.
The eugenics of Hitler were financed to a major extent by the same Rockefeller Foundation which today is building a doomsday seed vault to preserve samples of every seed on our planet," writes Engdahl. "In reality, as it years later emerged, the Green Revolution was a brilliant Rockefeller family scheme to develop a globalized agribusiness which they then could monopolize just as they had done in the world oil industry beginning a half century before. As Henry Kissinger declared in the 1970’s, ‘If you control the oil you control the country; if you control food, you control the population’... Agribusiness and the Rockefeller Green Revolution went hand-in-hand."...
Now the Bilderbergers and the Rockefellers have a minion heading up the HHS and twin bills in Congress essentially eliminating the FDA and proposing a draconian "food protection plan" of bureaucratic rules and regulations that will drive small farmers and food producers — most notably organic food producers — out of business under the guise of protecting the public from salmonella and E. coli.
lol.. minion at HHS! These guys really think anyone who ever attended a Bilderburg meeting, or was part of the Council of Foreign Relations is in on the cabal.
Moving on... This is great news for those of us that need gardening help on the West Coast.
'Western Garden Book' goes digital
The "Sunset Western Garden Book" has a prominent place on most gardeners' bookshelves, and for good reason: It's the respected, go-to handbook for information on plants that grow well in California's microclimates.
Now, the gardening bible is available online as a searchable guide to more than 2,500 plants (www.sunset.com/plantfinder).
Robots With A Green Thumb – The Future Of Gardening?
Agriculture, one of the oldest tasks known to mankind and a hallmark of every civilized society, may be standing on the brink of a yet another revolution. First there was irrigation. Much later came the cotton gin and the tractor. Now there is the robot.
As part of a two-semester course on robotics, a group of undergraduates students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was charged with developing a set of robots capable of watering, pollinating and even harvesting cherry tomato plants.
Normally I'd be willing to consider this research. But right now we need all the jobs we can get for humans. Actually there could be some good results from it.
The successful development of similar robots could potentially bring a two-fold advantage to modern agricultural techniques. Firstly, the specificity with which robots work – the ability to deliver nutrients directly to the plant on an as-need basis – could greatly reduce the amount of resources and money spent on crop maintenance. Second, the ability to harvest specialty crops could significantly lower the amount of time and back-breaking labor associated with picking fruits and vegetables
Grow 100 lbs. of Potatoes in 4 Square Feet
Potatoes seem like the kind of plant you'd need a substantial garden for—the kind your grandparents had, right? Actually, tubers aren't all that picky, and you can harvest a whole lot from almost any yard.
We're big fans of growing delicious food in little spaces. We've shown you how to grow tomatoes in a self watering planter, turn your fence into a vegetable trellis, and start a container garden. Now we've got a great tip to share, courtesy of The Seattle Times, on how to grow a lot of potatoes in a rather small space.
This seems really cool. I'm gonna try it.
The Phillipines seems organic happy. I keep seeing articles from there about organics.
MANILA, April 10 — A total of 508 farmers have so far been trained in the production of non-chemical based fertilizers while another 718 benefited from the establishment of techno-demo organic farms under joint initiatives between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and non-government organizations (NGOs) to promote organic agriculture and other related environment-friendly farming practices.
The founder of the Chico Farmers' Markets, David Grau is offering organic gardening classes. That's an amazing farmers' market, it really is part of the community there. I wish I lived closer to attend the classes. Never fear, it looks like he's going to be putting a lot of this content online. Nice, thanks!
When David first started developing the class series, he knew there was an audience for it. But the 180 people who signed up for the first series surprised him.
"It has been an amazing turn out," he told me, shaking his head almost in disbelief.
The LA Times has a good piece called Putting pork in its nutritional place
any Americans have come to think of pork as "the other white meat," thanks to a long-running pork industry campaign. But a recent study linking red meat consumption to an overall increased risk of death lumped pork in with red meat. So what is pork -- red meat or white? Does it matter?
Since 1934, the unabridged version of Webster's dictionary includes under "white meat" the phrase, "a meat (as veal or pork), light in color, esp. when cooked," says Peter Sokolovsky, an editor at Merriam-Webster Inc. in Springfield, Mass.
Many scientists today, however, use a different definition, says Susan Brewer, professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In general, she says, they define as "red" any meat product derived from mammals and "white" any meat from fowl.
Did y'all see this one?
Dog overboard found four months later
SYDNEY (AFP) – A pet dog that fell overboard in rough seas off Australia has been reunited with its owners after surviving alone on an island for four months, reports said.
Sophie Tucker, apparently named after a late US entertainer, fell overboard as Jan Griffith and her family sailed through choppy waters off the northeast Queensland coast in November.
The dog was believed to have drowned and Griffith said the family was devastated.
But out of sight of the family, Sophie Tucker was swimming doggedly and finally made it to St Bees Island, five nautical miles away, and began the sort of life popularised by the TV reality show "Survivor."
She was returned to her family last week when Griffith contacted rangers who had captured a dog that had been living off feral goats on the largely uninhabited island, in the faint hope it might be their long-lost pet.
Crossposted at LaVidaLocavore