Background
The following background to the launch of the debate insights is take from John Steinbeck’s novel, ‘East of Eden’ (1952).
“I don’t know how it will be in the years to come. There are monstrous changes taking place in the world, forces shaping a future whose face we do not know. Some of these forces seem evil to us, perhaps not in themselves but because their tendency is to eliminate other things we hold good…In our time mass or collective production has entered our economics, our politics, and even our religion, so that some nations have substituted the idea collective for the idea God. This in my time is the danger. There is great tension in the world, tension toward a breaking point, and men are unhappy and confused. At such a time it seems natural and good to me to ask myself these questions. What do I believe in? What must I fight for and what must I fight against?”
As relevant as these words and sentiments were 50 years ago, how much more so are they today? The foregoing dilemmas are directly applicable to the discussions and debates on how food demands posed by an ever increasing population raise fundamental questions regarding the use of world resources to satisfy such demands. Attempts to answer those questions have resulted in divergent opinions regarding strategies for food production, international development, poverty alleviation, and the reduction of population growth. One key issue is the consideration of the economic, social and environmental costs of supplying agricultural products to satisfy food and fiber demands into the indefinite future. Analysis of this issue has led to criticism of the ability of conventional agriculture to sustain food production without economic, social and environmental costs that could compromise global equity today and the welfare of generations to come. Thus, alternatives to conventional agriculture were proposed seeking to improve the sustainability of agriculture. These different options are collectively termed alternative agriculture. Many people, however, view the intensification of agriculture through increased technology as the only viable way to feed a global growing population.
The Debate
As the world braces for the implications and the consequences of contemporary sweeping global phenomena such as globalisation, population growth and global warming the raging debates surrounds the matter of which food production concepts and techniques will be feasible for the production of food supplies, which will suffice to sustain the ballooning population. The paper presets an arguments around the matter of food production alternatives as spurred by the novelist John Steinbeck who echoed in his novel ‘East Eden’(1952) the profound sentiments of dilemma in which he captured the on the confusion surrounding feasible means that will suffice for contemporary global challenges.
Berry, Wendell. (1985) presents that that the antagonism in the agriculture world is characterised by the schisms between developing agriculture; between the conventional paradigms of large scale agriculture which make up the highly industrialized forms of agriculture which are being challenged by the emergent and increasingly popular alternative methods agriculture. The fundamental shift in contents is the pro-ecological balance thrust of the alternative agriculture methods which are in direct contrast to the traditional (Conventional) methods. Carter, C et al (2008) notes that the beam of debate can be dissected into finer categories of debate which enlist the following; 1; Centralization versus decentralisation, 2; Dependence versus independence; 3; Competition versus community; 4;domination of nature versus harmony with nature ; 5;Specialisation versus diversity and lastly exploitation versus restraint.
The developing contentions on the matter of low input, sustainable agriculture (LISA) approaches demonstrate the paradigmatic chasm between alternative and conventional agriculture methods. The foregoing also presents the kind of challenges that alternative agriculture methods proponent’s face in the aim of replacing conventional (traditional) methods with the emergent approaches.
Temple, S. Ferris (2002) mentions that alternatives methods have a lot f to offer in meeting challenges on eradicating poverty in contemporary global community. The author cites a case scenario of a farmer in Eastern Turkey who has mobilised the community to adopting organza agriculture forms to grow crops like wheat and beans, etc. These tap in et added advantage that temperature soft e area a so low that there is no need for the pesticides and that community has been largely benefited from the approaches as the farmers can not afford fertilizers and thus tap in the merits of the more productive and less input intensive emergent agriculture methods.
Cassman, K et al (2003) argues is that crop divesirty reduction which comes as part of the intensification process his ecologically feasible and environment friendly as opposed to the emergent alternatives which press for monoculture intensification agricultural forms. Cites traditional polycultural agricultural forms which include crop diversifying for instance the collage of maize, beans and squash in some farming zones in Mexico is a clear example of one feasible traditional farming methods with formidable ecological merits. This is used by traditional farming methods proponents against typical monoculture agriculture forms where in expanse area is dedicated to one special crop. “This has adverse impact on the ecological system”.
The debate on which farming method has to be adopted to cope with rising food prices, rising food demand and various global phenomena which have put pressure on the food resource, the matter pulls in the debate on the best farming approach between low-input and high input methods. Low input farming methods have proved to less productive as farmers have obtain too little from a bigger surface area as against what they would normally obtain in high input farming method of the same area. Low input agriculture has thus been viewed as a formidable farming approach which is ecological and based on long term goals and not just set on mere short term farming practice objectives. Low input agriculture comes with a significant reduction of purchased inputs in favor of managing on-farm resources. In low input agriculture farmers would for instance focus on depending on naturally fixed nitrogen resource from legume crops instead of relying nitrogen fertilizers as would be the case in high input agriculture. As such low input agriculture has been viewed as one of feasible alternatives to farming approaches which has methods that are adaptable and germane for sustainable agriculture.
The low input system runs in tandem with the mainstream alternative farming systems which have two salient dimensions on fertility and pest control. One such method is organic farming approach which is widely recognised alternative farming method. The alternative farming method developed as an alternative to the common high input farming practices in the 1940s. The method is hailed for its ecological merits on eth aspects of replacing environmentally unfriendly high input farming practices that make use of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides as well as elements such as growth regulators and various forms of feed additives. Organic farming relies on methods such as crop rotation and crop residues animal manure and various means of controlling pests and soil fertility.
Conclusion
In summation, it is mentionable that the feasible way forward must prioritise the need to harmonise sustainable agriculture approaches with the realities of soaring global food need catapulted by the ballooning global population aggravated by phenomena of drought and low productivity especially in developing or third world countries. The focus must on finding out the working ways of producing more food without damaging the environment talking into cognisance that high input and conventional agriculture approaches may seem to suffice for the progression towards global food resource target yet the approaches are not sustainable over a long term time frame as their detrimental to the environment.
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