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Re: John Hagelin: Old vs New Approach in Agriculture




In article <326C63E6.51E7@sk.sympatico.ca>, "B. McClinton" writes:

> 
> Joe Toth wrote:
> > 
> > Current agricultural practices produce food that is
> > increasingly hazardous to our health and, at the
> > same time, damages the soil and water supply.
> > Incredibly, government policies actually penalize
> > farmers who attempt to use healthier practices.
> > Is this what you want?
> > 
> > Natural Law Party's John Hagelin
> > http://www.natural-law.org
> > would promote natural
> > sustainable agricultural practices proven to produce
> > healthy, high quality food grown without chemical
> > fertilizers and pesticides. At the same time, these
> > practices preserve the environment for future generations.
> 
> These are pretty bold statements without any supporting evidence. 
These low yield 
> production practices result in more land being needed for 
agricultural production 
> to meet even current needs let alone future needs. Yields from 
organic farming in 
> the United States and Europe are only about half as high because 
organic farmers 
> suffer more pest losses and need extra land for pasture, green 
manure and fallow. 

This is not quite the experience down here in New Zealand. A major 
food processor is exporting both organic and chemically grown produce. 
Yields are not less from organic processes - organic yields are at 
least equal to conventional chemical yields and in fact organic corn 
production outdid conventional yields this year. The question of green 
cropping and fallow periods ca be managed within a sustainable system 
that is wholly integrated - not just mono-cropping on a low or nil 
input basis.

> Historically, the plow has caused far more land degradation than 
fertilizers and 
> pesticides. Afterall, how fertile is the "fertile crescent," now? 
The negative 
> effects of soil erosion have been documented throughout history.
> 
Topsoil loss under conventional monocultural'industrial agriculture' 
is equally as deleterious. Don't confuse 'organic' or 'sustainable' 
with low or no input. Just going cold turkey off the chemical dripfeed 
is not the answer if it means minimum input and no sustainable 
strategy.


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