There is no alternative to getting information on agruculture,why?
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Answer:
Alternatives include using animal and green manure rather than chemical fertilizers, integrated pest management instead of chemical pesticides, reduced tillage, crop rotation (especially with legumes to add nitrogen), alternative crops, or diversification of the farm enterprise.
The historic basis of ‘alternative’ farming practices lies in ‘organic farming’. This movement had a start in the 1930s, with pioneers such as Albert Howard in the UK (as a developer of composting methods), Rudolf Steiner in Switzerland (as the founder of biodynamic farming), and Jerome I. Rodale in the US (who founded a number of magazines in this field). Organic farming got off the ground as a response to the use of industrial fertilizers, and more so since the 1940s to the use of synthetic pesticides. All forms of organic farming focus on agricultural practice of the farm as a whole. The aims of organic farming are to enhance biological diversity within the whole system; to increase soil biological activity; to maintain long-term soil fertility; to recycle wastes of plant and animal origin in order to return nutrients to the soil, thus minimizing the use of non-renewable resources; to rely on renewable resources in locally organized agricultural systems; and to promote the healthy use of soil, water and air as well as minimize all forms of pollution thereto that may result from agricultural practices. This is translated into a number of specific requirements, including: no use of industrial fertilizers, no use of synthetic pesticides, no use of feed additives, no use of genetically modified (GM) crops, a none too strict crop rotation, and mechanical weed control. These strict and well recognizable requirements are all defined at the level of management activities; they are thought to result in a living soil ecosystem with high soil fertility, a good water quality, high biodiversity and a harmonious landscape. The farmers should be acting as part of an encompassing natural system.
Although there are basic standards of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), national systems still do differ. For instance, in the US and in the UK there are formal requirements for the minimum area of natural habitats, whereas in other countries such as the Netherlands there are no formal requirements for that purpose, and Manhoudt and De Snoo (2003) report that in this country organic arable farms have only slightly more non-productive land than conventional arable farms (3.1% compared with 2.1%). In contrast, for bio-dynamic farming in the US a minimum of 10% of the productive farm area should be set aside as natural habitat.
In this context it is of importance that international guidelines for organic agriculture be developed. This task has been taken up by the above mentioned IFOAM, but is also included in the Codex Alimentarius, an international forum of 176 countries founded by FAO and WHO, which has as its main task to develop standards, guidelines and related texts on food products (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2007). This Codex has, in mutual interaction with IFOAM, just issued a third edition of guidelines for the production, processing, labelling and marketing of organically produced foods. The above mentioned aims are part of this document. The main drivers for organic agriculture are concerned farmers, followed by consumers focusing on human health and on environmental aspects.