Conventional Farming
Farmers and gardeners hail agroecology as the future of agriculture
What will the agriculture of tomorrow appear like? Some agree that it's going to take the shape of what is known as agroecology, an agricultural exercise that makes a specialty of the soil.agridvsservices
Rather than persevering with plowing it, farmers instead feed the soil so it then, in flip, feeds the vegetables and cereals that grow there, which means that agroecology does not need any pesticides or chemical substances.
Marie is a young marketplace gardener in an area, located in Anderlecht. She has been experimenting with agroecology and has loved some fulfillment. "Previously, we saw the soil as a substrate where we deposited veggies or in which we cultivated,” she told RTBF. “The plant changed into then fed at once. Now we feed the soil instead so that the soil feeds the plant."agridvsservices
The soil, formerly exploited and abused with the aid of traditional agriculture, is now pampered using Marie. "We attempt no longer to paint the soil too much, in particular at intensity, in order now not to deconstruct it. We avoid packing it too much with vegetables so that there can still be some oxygen in the soil for microorganisms. We also ensure that the ground is constantly protected. So right here, for example, we can use straw as a cover to each protect the soil, and preserve its moisture, which could be very treasured in instances of drought." Straw and decomposing leaves also nourish the soil. And the consequences are almost immediate.
Agroecology is an answer for farmers, too
Doing agroecology on a small plot of land is one component, but is it possible on a big farm? In Anhée, it's been almost five years since Stany changed to this approach. For 30 years, this farmer sprayed his fields with pesticides.agridvsservices
"I swear to you that within the beyond, to locate an earthworm, I had to make ten holes with my pitchfork," he told RTBF. "Here and now, in a hollow, you locate ten. The life of the soil, in five years, has lower back to its most."
To reap any such result, Stany no longer plows his subject. Instead, whilst ready to plant cereals, he sowed distinctive inexperienced flowers. "There is a variety of six or seven specific flowers that have been planted here to enrich the soil with the organic count," he defined.
One component is certain now: Stany will no longer go back to standard farming. The technique of switching to agroecology in his fields has now not continually been smooth, but he is convinced with the aid of its advantages: "I changed into warned that I might suffer for two, 3, even 4 years. Because when you chop off the food to the plant life you supply them each year, the soil isn't always right now ready to take over. So, the primary or three years, the meager yields nearly make you need to forestall. It's been five years on account that I made the trade. And now, it's miles clear we've got made the right decision."agridvsservices
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