Sustainable Ecology
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8 Billion by 2030
Sustainable Agriculture takes many forms, but at its core is a rejection of the Industrial Approach to food production developed during the 20th Century.
This system, with it's reliance on monoculture , Mechanization , chemical pesticides and fertilizers , biotechnology, and government subsidies, has made food abundant and affordable.
However, the ecological and social price has been steep : erosion,depletion and contaminated soils and water resources;loss of biodiversity;
deforestation;labor abuses and the decline of the family farm.
The concepts of Sustainable Agriculture embraces a wide range of Techniques, including Organic, free range, low input, Holistic, and Biodynamic.
The comon thread among these methods is an embrace of Farming Practices that mimic Natural Ecological Processes. Farmers minimize tilling and water use; encourage healthly soil by planting fields with different Crops year after year and integrating Crop Lands with livestock Grazing.; and avoid Pesticide use by nurturing the presence of organisms that control crop-destroying pests.
Critics of Sustainable Agriculture claim,among other things, that its method results in Lower Crop Yields and Higher Land use. They add that a Wholesale commitment to its practices will mean Inevitable Food Shortages for a World Population expected to exceed 8 Billion people by 2030.
Losing large amounts of a Biodiverse Ecology may have serious implications in Genetic variation - The driving force of Earth's Sustainable and Rejuvenating Biosphere.