Show pageOld revisionsBacklinksBack to top You've loaded an old revision of the document! If you save it, you will create a new version with this data. Media Files=== Excerpts from "An Agriculture Testament" by Sir Albert Howard published in 1940 === These notes form a part of [[sanjeev shankar]]'s research, which is summarised in his [[research_report_sanjeev-shankar|research report]] //Agricultural methods of the Orient_ China/India/Japan// * System of peasant farming for centuries. Agricultural practices are as permanent as those of the primeval forest * Comparable to systems found in Costarica, Guatemala and other parts of Latin America Chief characteristics include: * minute holdings * dominance of food and forage crops * mixed crops are the rule with cereals being the main constituent * a balance between livestock and crops * use of animal waste (especially in china, even the human waste found its way back to the land), Nothing is waste * leguminous plants are common(indo gangetic plains have pigeon pea which is also a sub soil cultivator) * absence of soil inversion ploughs( soil inversion for the destruction of weeds in hot climate is unnecessary in hot climate since the same work is done by the sun! Also preserving the level of fields is essential for surface drainage and to prevent water logging ) * adequate suppply of labour * regional variables a common feature //Agricultural methods of the Occident// * Satisfy three hungers: hunger of local rural population with the livestock, hunger of urban population and that of machines which need raw materials * Holding tends to increase in size (from small family units of france and switzerland to collective farms of russia and ranches of US and Argentina) * monoculture is the rule, even rotations are unknown and no attempt is made to create natural humus or manure or waste recycling * dominance of the machine * artificial manure used widely * diseases and hence pesticides on the rise * food processing is a norm * science a dominant force to help production * loss of soil fertility highlighted by the growing menace of soil erosionPlease fill all the letters into the box to prove you're human. Please keep this field empty: SavePreviewCancel Edit summary Note: By editing this page you agree to license your content under the following license: CC Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International traditional_farming_notes.1208447064.txt.gz Last modified: 2008-04-17 15:44by sanjeev