Executive Director at Rise Against Hunger India leading CSR initiatives
Climate proofing crops - what scientists say based on evidence-based research (and what actually indigenous traditional farmers for generations have practiced for thousands of years.) The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) "warns that more than 90% of Earth’s soils are at risk of becoming degraded by 2050; this could lead to a rise in famine." The primary driver of this is industrial agriculture which "usually relies on fertilizers, pesticides and mechanical equipment to produce high-yielding monocultures — single crops such as maize (corn) or wheat." The situation is getting worse due to climate change related issues... Scientists say things can be improved by boosting the "soil microbiome" — that is, its microbial community present in the soil. By improving soil health "crops can be made more resilient to drought and extreme weather." Adapting #regenerativeagriculture practices is showing positive results. The general goal of regenerative agriculture is to rebuild healthy soil. That starts with increasing the proportion of organic matter — including living roots and manure — to feed the soil microbiome and recycle nutrients for plants. Some methods used by farmers that are showing significant positive results are: #covercropping - One practice that is considered regenerative is cover cropping: planting species that typically won’t be harvested. "Researchers polled roughly 700 farmers, and found an average 9.6% greater maize yield and 11.6% greater soya bean yield during the drought on fields in which cover crops had been grown." #croprotation is generally understoid as "rotating different crops, including cover crops, on the same field over time, or by planting several crops on the same field at the same time"..."Swapping out crops, rather than growing the same monoculture on the same field for years on end, can improve soil health without sacrificing productivity," Rich Smith, an agricultural ecologist at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. "A review of 20 studies that analysed the effects of crop rotation on soil life found that rotating various species increased the amount of microorganisms in soil by about 15% compared with monoculture fields, and boosted microbial diversity by more than 3%." The conclusion: soil health is important to enrich biodiversity in our #foodsystems and biodiverse farms are a critical to improve #foodsecurity. #whatiamreading #foodforthought #learningfocus #farmimprovement #climatechange #climateresilience #climateresilientagriculture
