3 ms·
By growing a lot more of it (which prevents the birth of whatever would have grown in its place, but that's an invisible effect and technically not killing). A
by mcbits 9y ago
By growing a lot more of it (which prevents the birth of whatever would have grown in its place, but that's an invisible effect and technically not killing).
Also, grow mixtures of plants together that naturally crowd out weeds, inhibit the spread of pests, and replenish certain nutrients like nitrogen. IMHO this is grossly under-studied but could become more relevant with smarter robotics.
- masklinn 9y agoAlso by growing hardier (but usually less productive) varieties, and growing multiple varieties of the same base vegetable rather than a single one, while I don't think that's the case for macro-scale parasites (insects) it's common for e.g. fungi to only attack some varieties of a specific vegetable.
- Houshalter 9y agoHow do you even establish an initial batch of the crop large enough to crowd out all weeds, without killing the existing weeds to start with? Plants are hypercompetitive and constantly fighting for space and resources. The only reason modern agriculture works is we are so effective at killing weeds with machines and herbicide. Otherwise crop fields would quickly be taken over by whatever grows the fastest.
- mcbits 9y agoI don't know how they do their farming in practice, but I'm pretty confident that it involves more land use and lower yields. They may also adapt their diet to whatever is the most edible among the weeds. This year a grape vine mysteriously sprouted in my garden and started taking over before I realized what it was and murdered it to save the zucchinis. A Jain would probably be happy enough with the grapes. I had even considered adopting it.