SCI Researchers write about alternatives to agriculture in new blog

Broadlears Agroforestry Research Project

In this new blogpost the authors ask ‘Should we abandon agriculture altogether?’, which may sound strange at first. This likely comes from an understanding of agriculture as equivalent to the practice of producing food, and to suggest producing no more food would be absurd. Contrary to this the authors aim to suggest and illustrate the opposite.

This contribution calls upon the exploration of agroforestry systems and the environmental and cultural ecosystem services they can provide against the need to create resilient food provision in a net zero society. This includes the benefits of carbon sequestration, biodiversity restoration, recreational and educational benefits, and, last but not least, food production. Polycultural agroforestry, drawing on woody species, other perennials and plant-fungal symbiosis, has serious potential to replace “agriculture” (as we know it), and it is a form of regenerative agroecology that goes beyond more established alternatives such as organic, yet treeless, growing in monoculture.

In this blog post Steffen Hirth, Ulrike Ehgartner and Ivan Drlicka highlight the combined benefits of agroforestry systems on carbon sequestration, biodiversity restoration, social benefits and food systems.

You can read the full blog post here.