2013 01 Creative Things Thursday

Throughout the years of practice and science, there have been a number of vital sustainable farming practices that have been discovered. These practices are exactly what we would be discussing in this article.

Diversity and Crop Rotation

Planting different types of crops offer so many benefits which include improved pest control and healthier soil. Crop diversity practices do include intercropping which is basically growing combination of crops in same area as well as complex multi-year crop rotations.

Planting Cover Crops

Cover crops similar to hairy vetch or clover are also planted throughout the off-season when the soil may be left bare.

These crops are also protecting and building soil health by means of replenishing soil nutrients, preventing soil erosion and keeping the growth of weeds while reducing the requirement for using herbicides.

Eliminating or Reducing Tillage

Conventional plowing or also known as Tillage is preparing fields for planting and prevention of weed problems. At the same time, it may cause soil loss. Reduced till or no-till methods involve the insertion of seeds straight to the undisturbed soil and may reduce erosion while improving health of the soil.

Integration of Crops and Livestock

Industrial agriculture has a tendency of keeping animal and plant production separate with animals that are living far from areas where their food is produced and crops away from areas where there’s abundance in manure fertilizer.