Permaculture: A New Way of Growing
Permaculture is a term created in 1978 by Bill Mollison and one of his students, David Holmgren. Bill Mollison is an Australian ecologist who combined the words "permanent" and "agriculture." Holmgren and he defined permaculture as: "An integrated, evolving system of perennial or self-perpetuating plant and animal species useful to man." (Holmgren xix).A newer definition of permaculture that Holmgren mentions in his book is "Consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fiber, and energy for the provision of local needs." (Holmgren xix).Both definitions leave room for the evolution of the agricultural system. Conventional methods of agriculture deplete the land and its productivity over a period of time and remove beneficial interactions by excessive chemical dependence for pest control and fertilization. Employment of permacultural techniques, however, allows the farmer to not only grow healthy food, but also serve many other purposes at the same time: reduced chemical dependence as well as soil erosion while actually contributing to maintain productive, healthy soil to name only a few.
Permaculture is about growing plants using the environment, and encouraging the restoration of balance in the environment. It is a technique that co-operates with the land and the environment, nurtures it to grow healthy food instead of abusing or forcing it to be productive. It aims to create an ecological system that is efficient, self-sustaining and productive, at the same time also in harmony with the environment. It can be used with either commercial agriculture or domestic agriculture.
While the benefits of per...
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...t to produce higher yields and using less chemical pesticides and herbicides, thus creating an increased profitability. The system is more stable due to the higher biodiversity, thus it is less susceptible to diseases. Permaculture is an economical concept because of increased profitability and productivity, and minimization of costs by reduction of chemical usage.
Works Cited
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Holmgren, David. Permaculture: Principals and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. Holmgren Design Services: Hepburn, Australia, 2002.
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Morgan, Sally. Chapter 6.1: Feeding the World. The New Encyclopedia of Science: Ecology and Environment. 2003. 21 Feb 2008.
Biello, David. "Genetically Modified Crop on the Loose and Evolving in U.S. Midwest." Scientific American Global RSS. Scientific American, 06 Aug. 2010. Web. 08 May 2014. .
Lyman (1998) explained that organic farmers in the past had to pay attention to details. Such details are: what plant they were growing so that the soil would get the nitrogen naturally, leaving the field fallow once every few years so that moisture can be restored to the soil, ways to raise the animal so that they do not overgraze the land, and work with nature and not against it (p. 85). The work of traditional organic farming is very labor intensive and the product is not always profitable. Lyman explained that the uses of chemicals made farming easier because he can buy fertilizer in bulk and put it into the soil. The fertilizer helps increase grass growth, which also increases the size of the cows, providing the farmer with greater profit.
Reducing how often fields are tilled, reduces erosion and soil compaction , builds soil organic matter, and reduces runoff. Sustainable agriculture is the production of food, fiber, or other plant or animal products using farming techniques that protect the environment, public health, human communities, and animal health. If we change from normal agriculture to sustainable agriculture we can reduce many impacts that are caused by farmers using bad methods to produce food. If we change our way of farming from industrialized to sustainable agriculture the environment will improve and we will not have to worry too much about the things that were caused by industrialized
When Pennsylvania was first settled in the 1600’s by William Penn, abundant plants covered about 90% of the state (IConserve 2007). All of these plants are considered to be natives because they existed in the area before human settlement. Unfortunately, due to human interactions with nature, the landscape has changed significantly over time. Many plants that once defined Pennsylvania have been lost; however, this problem can be reversed to some extent. By 2000, five percent of Pennsylvania’s native plant species had been lost and another twenty-five percent were in danger o...
Heckman , J. (2006). A history of organic farming: Transitions from sir albert howard's war in the soil to usda national organic program. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 21(03), 143-150. Retrieved from http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=693124
Companion gardening and is the planting of different plants in proximity for pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial creatures, maximizing use of space, and to otherwise increase productivity and life . In scientific terms it is called “Polyculture”. It’s history dates back to1970s where this technique was widely promoted as part of the organic gardening movement. It was encouraged for pragmatic reasons, but mainly with the idea that different species of plant may thrive more when close together. It’s helpful to think of building good plant communities when planning your garden. This is the most important concept behind companion gardening. Time-tested garden secrets say that certain plants grown close together and become the best friends for life.However, relationships between plants are varied...
Mike Clark is a PhD student in the Forest Resources Graduate Seminar with an agriculture emphasis. Before beginning his graduate studies, he majored in biology. Mike did not go in depth on his credentials or background on agriculture. From his presentation, I concluded that he was attempting to persuade this audience, but I will go more in depth on this later.
Schiffman, R. In defense of organic farming: Less Than a Cure-all, More Than a Fad.
Roberts, Paul. "Spoiled: Organic and Local Is So 2008." Mother Jones 1 (2009). https://blackboard.syr.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3188122-dt-content-rid-8212178_1/courses/33750.1142/Spoiled.pdf (accessed March 25, 2014).
Pomeroy, Ross. "The Biggest Myth About Organic Farming." Real Clear Science. N.p., 06 June 2014. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.
This is more economical because better use can be made of equipment and organizations such as supermarkets have fewer farmers to negotiate purchases with. Also transport is much easier so produce can be easily moved to more distant markets. Monocultures are produced from this, which are large areas of the same crop grown on the same land year after year. To improve efficiency hedges have been removed and this has reduced the amount of habitat available for wildlife. It has also increased soil erosion.
They indeed promote biodiversity, avoiding the use of any chemicals, while producing year-round yields. Agroecology recognizes the successfulness, proven over centuries, of community-based local agriculture, and thus serves as a bridge between modern scientific agricultural knowledge and local ones. The local management of resources and knowledge systems is elaborated upon social institutions. It is then of primal importance to identify and assess this local knowledge framework through agroecological and ethno ecological methodologies. This will help determine the factors upon which the famers perceive and modify their environment to finally translate into practical management schemes promoting the dynamic conservation of local agroecosystems. The combination of western science and ethno science provides then the principles to design and manage sustainable farming systems. Participation of farmers in testing, evaluating and disseminating the best agroecological practices is needed to ensure that the specific technologies put into places are really relevant to their needs and situation (Altieri,
Wilcox, Christie. “Mythbusting 101: Organic Farming > Conventional Agriculture.” Scientific American. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
Mulching- It is basically treating the soil with plants that were grown on it. The cut plants are put back on the soil to prevent the soil from blowing away by wind. The edible plants are used and the non- edible parts of the plant are spread on the ground. Mulch helps in reducing the velocity of runoff which helps in reducing the soil