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Alternative Farming Practices

There are a variety of different methods of farming without fertilizers. One of those methods is called mixed farming where a combination of rural farming practices are combined to support agricultural growth. Since nature farming is trying to use nature as the guide instead of using artificial chemicals more than one method is needed in order to support the whole process of farming. The interactions between livestock, crops, and natural resources in MFS are recognized as multiple and complex (Gonzalez Garcia et.al). According to Ingram Mrill, since the 1920s, arguments have been made that the use of industrially produced agricultural chemicals destroys soil life and structure. So there are concerns that artificial chemicals will make the soil less useful for the plants but it may be possible that the soil life is able to become more resilient through this destruction process. If this was possible then certain types of microorganisms may dominate the soil ecosystem under a certain crop areas and that may cause a loss of biodiversity. Composts from plant materials or industrial processing waste is recommended to be used as fertilizer for nature farming (Wirth). But if composts from plant material is used it may be best to use the crop’s local resources. By doing so the native microorganisms may be able to thrive and may support the crop’s pre-set ecosystem.

Integrated Pest Management

Judith D. Soule and Jon K. Piper, authors of Farming in Nature’s Image: An Ecological Approach, describe integrated pest management or IPM to be based off of an understanding of predator-prey and host-parasite interactions and insect life-history patterns in nature. “Classical biological controls of IPM may employ predators, parasites, pathogens, and nematodes and may involve foreign exploration to find natural enemies…” (Soule, Piper). By using the natural predators to capture prey such as pests there may be development of a stronger interaction with the environment’s system. That interaction may be likened to pesticide in the way that it has both the potential to kill pests and the potential to harm the ecosystem’s health. According to Soule and Piper, IPM may seem like a complex system compared to using chemical biocides but it is much simpler than the actual integrative pest-management processes within the natural ecosystems. This may be because the system itself can be simplified the areas it is implemented on are sort of cut off from areas where the ecosystem is as controlled. It is like a mini system in a bigger system. So it seems that with a complex system an understanding of its complexity is needed but a complex solution may not always be needed.

Intercropping

Intercropping is the practice of raising two or more crops in the same field at the same time (Soule, Piper). Intercropping enhances the efficiency of land by taking advantage of the complementary aspects of species’ niches (Soule, Piper). This is similar to mixed farming where different agricultural related systems try to support each other. Multispecies fields typically yield more per unit area than do equivalent areas planted to monoculture (Soule, Piper). With more species more resources may be needed. But most intercrops systems are annual crops and these crops require high energy input (Soule, Piper). Timing may be important for intercrops systems to work. If intercropping is going to be implemented it seems that it would be beneficial for the different crop species to match in certain timings of their growth process. Also if annual crops are the mainly used type of crops in intercrop systems then there are limitations to what kind of plants we can grow. Depending on whether or not the lack of diversity in crop choice for intercropping this method may or may not be subject to change.

Concerns with Fertilizer Fertilizer can be useful for increasing crop yields and making crops grow faster but it can also lose effectiveness in that process. There is a concern for the potential health hazards that fertilizer may cause because fertilizer contains a certain amount of heavy metals. So if fertilizer has contaminated the water source there is a potential problem. According to the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials, “… the metals in fertilizer generally do not pose harm to human health or the environment.” (“AAPFCO”). This may be due to regulation of the amount of certain metals in fertilizer that allows the fertilizer to be less potentially impactful.

References "AAPFCO." AAPFCO's Statement of Uniform Interpretation and Policy (SUIP) #25 "The Heavy Metal Rule" AAPFCO, n.d. Web. 10 June 2015.

Mrill, Ingram. "Biology and Beyond: The Science of "Back to Nature" Farming in the United States." Annals of the Association of American Geographers 97.2 (2007): 298-312. Wiley Online Library. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.

González-García, E., J. L. Gourdine, G. Alexandre, H. Archimède, and M. Vaarst. "The Complex Nature of Mixed Farming Systems Requires Multidimensional Actions Supported by Integrative Research and Development Efforts." Publication Title Animal: An International Journal of Animal Bioscience 6.5 (2012): 763-75. Proquest. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.

Piper, Jon K. "Examples of Ecological Processes Incorporated into Agriculture." Farming in Nature's Image: An Ecological Approach to Agriculture. By Judith D. Soule. Washington, D.C.: Island, 1992. 128-32. Print.

Wirth, Stephan. "Nature Farming and Microbial Applications." Journal of Environmental Quality 30.5 (2001): 1857. Proquest. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.