Overcoming the dogma of uniformity in the field requires social, economic, technical and cultural change that will have winners and losers. There is no time to waste.

I happened upon an article by The Sciences of 1987 entitled “The Monoculture,” which states that crop uniformity and monocultures (the succession of the same species, year after year, in the same field) are one of the effects of agricultural modernization that has enabled productivity growth, thanks to the support of synthetic chemistry. Crop specialization has allowed the increase of farm areas and permanently disconnected livestock and agriculture. In fact, this link, which is essential to ensure soil fertility, is no longer necessary precisely because of fertilizers. Among the causes identified in the spread of monocultures, the authors mention mechanization and economies of scale.

of Riccardo Bocci – from Altreconomia 263 – October 2023