In the 1950s and 60s, one of the prominent goals of the US government was for everyone to have access to food (a politic move for Americans to feel more secure as wars were being fought over seas). This revolution changed the forms of agriculture from more traditional methods, to ones involving heavy machinery such as tractors and combines, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and the use of a lot of water. Great success was seen in places such as India with rice and in the states with wheat. At first, everything seemed to be working efficiently, until the practice of monocultures (large farms growing only one type of plant) resulted in soil depletion, water loss, increased pests and toxic runoff from the farms.
Soil contains a large amount of life: animal, fungal and microbial life are al vital to the health of soil. When the soil is not disturbed, biotic factors of the soil are able to maintain the quality of the soil such as nutrient, disease resistance and water conservation. In modern practices derived from the green revolution, the soil gets tilled every season and planted with a monoculture. This results in the soil getting nutrient depleted and causes a lot more water to be used as it easily evaporates from the tilled soil.
Since the soil lacks a lot of nutrients, chemical fertilizers must be used in order for the plants to produce a profitable amount. This issue is further worsened as farms only tend to grow one crop, therefore the soil is unable to recover and nutrients are further washed away. Monocultures also result in the need of many pesticides as pest infection can spread rapidly to each plant. This combined with the fertilizers results in chemical ridden runoff when it rains which wreaks havoc to local ecosystems.
One of the main reasons why this method of farming is so prevalent is because it is the only way to achieve a yield large enough to profit off of, but at what cost? Speaking to your grandparents, they would tell you that the fruits and vegetables tasted better when they were younger. Plant products today have also been found to be less nutritious than they had in the past. This is why a new method of agriculture must be adopted.
Systems such a permaculture and no-till farming have proved to be an effective way of producing large amounts of food, with less fertilizers and less water. By mimicking nature and creating a biodiverse farm, plants are able to grow with less risk of pests and less soil depletion. Soil can be protected by cover crops or heavy mulching as well which increases the soils qualities and therefore makes a more fitting environment for plants. Permaculture, heavy mulching and crop rotation are great ways of creating a farming practice that is sustainable and can produce an adequate amount of food.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 