Ecological farming is recognised as the high-end
objective among the proponents of sustainable agriculture. Ecological farming
is not same as organic farming, however there are many
similarities and they are not necessarily incompatable. Ecological farming
includes all methods, including but not limited to organic, which regenerate ecosystem services like: prevention of soil
erosion, water infiltration and retention, carbon sequestration in the form of
humus, increased biodiversity etc... Many techniques are used including no till, multispecies
cover crops, strip cropping, terrace cultivation, shelter belts, pasture
cropping etc.
Benefits
Ecological farming involves the introduction of symbiotic
species, where possible, to support the ecological sustainability of the farm.
Associated benefits include a reduction in ecological
debt and elimination of dead zones.
Ecological farming is a pioneering, practical development
which aims to create globally sustainable land management systems, and
encourages review of the importance of maintaining biodiversity in food
production and farming end products.
One foreseeable option is to develop specialized automata to
scan and respond to soil and plant situations relative to intensive care for
the soil and the plants. Accordingly, conversion to ecological farming may best
utilize the information age, and become recognised as a primary user of
robotics and expert systems.
Challenges
The challenge for ecological farming science, is to be able
to achieve a mainstream productive food system that is sustainable or even
regenerative. To enter the field of ecological farming, location relative to
the consumer, can reduce the food miles factor to help minimise damage to the
biosphere by combustion engine emissions involved in current food
transportation.
Design of the ecological farm is initially constrained by
the same limitations as conventional farming: local climate, the soil's
physical properties, budget for beneficial soil supplements, manpower and
available automatons; however long-term water management by ecological farming
methods is likely to conserve and increase water availability for the location,
and require far fewer inputs to maintain fertility.
Principles
Certain principles unique to ecological farming need to be
considered.
- Food production should be ecological in both origin and destiny
- Integration of species that maintain ecosystem services whilst providing a selection of alternative products
- Minimise food miles, packaging, energy consumption and waste.
- Define a new ecosystem to suit human needs using lessons from existing ecosystems from around the world
- Apply the value of a knowledge-base (advanced data base) about soil microorganisms so that discoveries of the ecological benefits of having various kinds of microorganisms encouraged in productive systems such as Forest Gardens can be assessed and optimised; for example in the case of naturally occurring microorganisms called denitrifiers
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