Agriculture

Politicians have a complicated relationship with science. When they think the evidence comports with their political goals, they love scientists and the work that they do. However, when their ideology clashes with the data, our representatives twist themselves in knots to avoid conforming their views to the facts. Case in point, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted the following comments about regenerative agriculture...

The post ‘Regenerative’ Farming: AOC’s

Researchers have just begun to show recently that soils managed according to the principles of regenerative agriculture—minimal tillage, crop rotation, and the use of cover crops—yield more nutritious harvests.

Some of the largest companies in the U.S. have pledged to adopt climate-friendly agricultural techniques. But some farmers say they haven’t provided enough incentive.

The manufacture of synthetic fertiliser is highly energy intensive. One kg of nitrogen fertiliser requires the energy equivalent of 2 litres of diesel. Energy used during fertiliser manufacture was equivalent to 191 billion litres of diesel in 2000 and is projected to rise to 277 billion in 2030. This is a major contributor to climate change, yet largely ignored.

Carlos Osorio emplea solo el 40% de los 12.000 metros cuadrados de su finca para cultivo, otro 40% son potreros y el 20% restante cercas vivas para el beneficio de otras especies, demostrando que la acumulación de tierra para producir es un absurdo.

Indigenous Mixe farmers in Mexico’s Sierra Norte highlands are testing dozens of coffee varieties and developing agroforestry systems in order to combat coffee leaf rust, a fungal disease that spread to the region and devastated coffee production.