what is the difference between traditional farming and industrial farming in terms of ecological succession?
Answers
ndustrial agriculture has become part of an increasingly global economy that turns anything it touches into a commodity, reaching its tentacles wherever in the world a food can be produced cheaply and then transporting it wherever it can be sold most dearly. The basic strategy of a commodity is to produce for less. The classic way for commercial farmers to lower costs of their products is by substituting capital, mechanization, new technology, and fossil fuel energy for skilled labor-----and then stepping up production exploiting the economies of scale to compensate for shrinking profit margins. In a commodity business a producer must grow ever bigger or be crushed by a competitor who does.
For centuries, traditional farmers have developed diverse and locally adapted agricultural systems, managing them with ingenious practices that often result in both community food security and the conservation of agrobiodiversity. This strategy of minimizing risk stabilizes yields, promotes dietary diversity, and maximizes returns using low levels of technology and limited resources. These microcosms of agricultural heritage still cover no less than 10 million ha worldwide, providing cultural and ecological services not only to rural inhabitants, but to mankind generally. These services include the preservation of traditional farming knowledge, local crop and animal varieties, and native forms of sociocultural organization.