3 ms·

Doesn't that mean we should stop growing crops in such regions?

• looofooo0 3y ago
  Permaculture maybe possible
• _heimdall 3y ago
  It means that method of farming is a bad fit for that climate, yes. Its a much more complex problem though. Most farms in the US depend on debt and subsidies to get by. That money comes with strings attached, from the yield required to cover expenses to subsidies that require mono-cropped fields that basically sit idle in the off season or when a crop fails. There are different techniques that could be used, but none of them will match the sheer tonnage of yield from a mono-crop drenched in fertilizer, herbicides, and laid out in a way that allows for massive tractors and combines to be used. All of these methods cause huge damage to the land, but again I'd argue we've left those farmers with little to no choice in the matter given how our food system is designed.
• blendo 3y ago
  No, groundwater is renewable in a lot of places, like in much if the Sacramento Valley, where it rain 20-30” a year. But in the Fresno/Bakersfield area of California, with only 5-10” if rain per year, over pumping is making farming uneconomic. See SGMA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Groundwater_Management_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Groundwater_Manage...