Mongabay.com
02-20-07
Farms modeled on biological systems may better cope with global warming
mongabay.com
Complex farming systems could be less energy intensive, reduce risk from
climate change, and out-produce industrial monocultures says a noted
researcher from Iowa State University.
Writing in Agronomy Journal Fred Kirschenmann of the Leopold Center for
Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, argues that the industrial
farming faces several challenges in coming years, including higher energy prices,
depleted water resources, impaired ecosystem services, and unstable climates.
He says that mimicking biological systems, which are characterized by multiple
species, may offer cost and production benefits to farmers.
"Volatile weather conditions predicted to be part of emerging climate change will
make it difficult to sustain highly specialized cropping systems which require
relatively stable climates," states a release from the American Society of
Agronomy. "To keep agriculture productive, farmers likely will need to adjust
quickly. If we can design farming systems that are less energy intensive, more
resilient in the face of unstable climates, and that begin to out-produce
monocultures by virtue of their multi-species output, the economic advantages of
such complex farming operations might be an incentive to change."
Kirschenmann's paper comes two months after a study -- appearing in the journal
Science -- found that diverse mixtures of plants are a better source of biofuels
than corn grain ethanol or soybean biodiesel.
Citation: Kirschenmann, F.L. (2007). Potential for a New Generation of
Biodiversity in Agroecosystems of the Future. Agronomy Journal 99:373-376
(2007) DOI: 10.2134/agronj2006.0104