Agroecology focuses on sustainably managing agricultural systems by applying ecological principles. The goal is to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment.
A four-year study by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology found that incorporating nature-friendly practices within farming increases biodiversity, pollination by bees, natural pest control, and the numbers of earthworms.
The study compared three agricultural systems: typical intensive agriculture, enhanced ecological farming, and maximized ecological farming. Enhanced ecological farming involves planting wildflower field margins to provide habitat for bees, beetles, and spiders, and sowing overwinter cover crops to capture carbon and retain soil nutrients. Optimized ecological farming adds planting in-field strips of wildflowers to attract beneficial insects and adding organic matter such as farmyard manure to improve soil health.
The ecological systems had increased populations of earthworms and pollinators, as well as natural predators of crop pests.
The study concluded that while there are multiple benefits in terms of biodiversity, soil carbon, and crop yield when ecological farming systems are used, many farmers will be deterred from adopting agroecological farming practices and system because of the reduced profitability. They argue that financial incentives such as subsidies are needed and are well worth it for the long-term sustainability of agriculture.
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Nature-friendly farming boosts biodiversity and yields but may require new subsidies
Photo, posted July 27, 2023, courtesy of Judy Dean via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio
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