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modern agriculture. Corn, wheat, cot–
ton, soybeans and just about every
commercial crop is grown in this man–
ner. Monocultures promote high
yields, bumper crops and profits. In a
competitive economy, farmers are
.iodeed pressured to cut costs and
increase production beyond the capac–
ity of natural biological systems. This
is especially true wbere farmers have
moved beyond - the subsistence level
and into a market economy. Here,
profits reign and biological laws
usually take a back seat to forced
production.
The system of monoculture certainly
cannot be thrown out of agriculture
overoight. Yet there are ways to lessen
the impact of its side effects.
One such way is discussed by Gor–
don Harrison, Director of Ford Foun–
dation's Resources and Environment
Program.
It involves an agricultura! project at
Cañete Valley, Peru. The story from
his book,
Earthkeeping,
was reprinted
in the November
6,
1971 issue of
Stlt–
ttrday Review.
Cotton has been the basic staple
crop in Cañete since the 1920's, and is
grown by irrigation. For years, arsenic
compounds were used to kill pests.
Later, DDT was substituted. Insect
pests, predictably, built up resistance
to continued pesticide applications.
Cotton production feH off disastrously.
Farmers were forced to look to other
means of pest control if they were to
continue farming in Cañete Valley.
26
Immediately, new measures were
adopted. Crop raising was tailored to
meet the specific biological needs of
Cañete Valley. Better schedules of
planting and watering, spaciog and
weeding began to make a difference.
DDT was banned altogether. Selective
poisons were substituted. Today, pro–
duction has risen to an aH-time high.
Although this example is not per–
fect, it does illustrate a first step in the
right direction. lt recognizes the bio–
logical nature of agriculture and makes
a step toward working with, not
against, biological systems. Even
though the example has to do with
liber production ( cotton), the same
principies hold true for food produc–
tion.
"In pest control the winoing tactic
is to see the pest for what he is, a sign
of an already disturbed system, and
then set about closing out his oppor–
tuoities by restoring stability.... The
object is not a farm free of pests,
but one in which the resident pests are
under control. . . . Bollworms, lygus
bugs, and the rest still eat cotton
plants in Cañete but not enough to
matter. Bugs get sorne; people get
more. That is not necessarily equity;
but it is good sense," writes Harrison
in the above-mentioned book (p.
227).
These principies are not new to stu–
dents of agriculture, even though they
are not widely practiced. Their origins,
however, are seldom discussed because
they are little known. Ironically,
Left: Agrimltllt'al training program in
India teacheJ st11dents plant genetics.
Right: Peasant tuoman winnows her
rice Cl"op by ancient hand and wind
methods.
Ernii Herb - Pldin Tr11th
respect for biological systems has its
roots in a much forgotten book of a
long forgotten age.
Dr. Rene Dubos of Rockefeller Uni–
versity traces respect for biological
laws to Biblical statements recorded
in the book of Genesis.
"The second chapter of Genesis
states that man, after he had been
placed in the Garden of Eden, was
instructed by God to dress it and to
keep it - a statement which has
ecologica/ implictttiom.
To dress and
keep the land means tbat man must be
coocerned with what happens to it"
(A
Theology of lhe Earth,
Smithsoo–
ian Institution, p.
6).
Respect for what happens to land
means respect for the cydical processes
which make it productive. These natu–
ral, cyclical processes are biological
laws. They form a model for man's
agriculture. Continued agricultura!
productivity of any piece of ground
must be firmly rooted in proper care
for the land itself, not merely care for
the production and the profits it may
yield.
Biological laws are indeed thc foun–
dation of lasting agriculture. Through
understanding and implementation of
these laws, a big step toward feeding
the world can be made. Social and eco–
nomic demands must be scaled clown
to fit the biological laws governing
agriculture. Then, land will produce
continually in sustained yield. Only
then can the world be fed and sus–
tained permanently.
Since probably 90 percent of our
readers do not earn a living by agri–
culture, the pages of
The
PLAJN
TRUTH are not the proper medium for
detailing the biological laws of agri–
culture. But you can learn about them
by reading our free booklet,
IY/
or/d
Criús
in Agriclllt11re.
•
PLAIN TRUTH
June
1972