3 ms·
Interesting! Thank you for the links. I was thinking of intercropping; hadn't properly considered hydroponics. It does seem like hydroponics is drastically sup
by YellOh 4y ago
Interesting! Thank you for the links. I was thinking of intercropping; hadn't properly considered hydroponics.
It does seem like hydroponics is drastically superior for space and water efficiency, though the comparison study I'm looking at claims it takes 82x the electricity[0] (though it's from a different climate).
No disagreements on birds. Industrial farming may be efficient, but it's extraordinarily destructive to the local system.
In a reclaimed farm I volunteered at, the heavy machinery compacted the soil so thoroughly that "regular" plants couldn't grow there until after years of dedicated soil-rejuvenation projects (and therefore it was difficult to get local flora/fauna to return, even when making an active effort). A lot of the effects of industrial agriculture last longer than I naively expected.
[0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4483736/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4483736/
- jwestbury 4y ago> In a reclaimed farm I volunteered at, the heavy machinery compacted the soil so thoroughly that "regular" plants couldn't grow there until after years of dedicated soil-rejuvenation projects The effect you may be referring to here is the "plough pan," and it's not just a result of heavy machinery, but also specifically of plough design which features a mouldboard, which drags along the ground creating a layer of heavily compacted soil. Heavy machinery can cause this, too, but ploughing is much more effective at ruining land! This is being somewhat mitigated recently by the increasing use of chisel ploughs, fortunately!