3 ms·
Two anecdotes: 1) There was an area of marshland close to where I live. A small part of it was drained for agriculture. Immediately after this, the insect popu
by discreteevent 7y ago
Two anecdotes:
1) There was an area of marshland close to where I live. A small part of it was drained for agriculture. Immediately after this, the insect population in the area went way down. You didn't have to measure it. We were swamped with insects, then there were virtually none. Habitat seems to be a big thing but I'm not sure how it compares with pesticides.
2) I saw a documentary once about a guy in India growing roses on an industrial scale. But he didn't use pesticides or herbicides. His roses were the best and he could command a high price. It took a lot of work, but more importantly, he emphasized, it took a lot of knowledge. Just listening to him your had no trouble appreciating his intelligence. Unfortunately this may not scale up that well as there are not enough people of his calibre in agriculture. It's just not as sexy as tech or finance or law or whatever.
- legitster 7y agoThere was a Planet Money where they interviewed people about the Dicamba murder, and one of the farmers said something along the lines of "yeah, we can farm without pesticides. But it's a lot of work!" The future may be in de-automating farming. Food is already a negligible cost in the US (compared to housing and healthcare). Create job programs for the heartlands! How is this a not a huge political opportunity! Do farm owners have that much rent-seeking influence?
- ddebernardy 7y ago> there are not enough people of his calibre in agriculture. It's just not as sexy as tech or finance or law or whatever. You might be surprised by how much is going on in Ag tech.