Comments on: How to feed the world http://agro.biodiver.se/2010/02/how-to-feed-the-world/ Crops, animals, wild relatives ... Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:45:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: back40 http://agro.biodiver.se/2010/02/how-to-feed-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-832752 back40 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:52:16 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/?p=10105#comment-832752 In important respects some animals are very efficient in that they can digest forages that otherwise are food only for bacteria. Omnivores like humans and chickens are inefficient predators at the top of the food chain, but ruminants can thrive where both humans and chickens would starve. In a general farming system they can loosely be compared to pigs in that they can thrive on what is considered to be wastes, but they eat the much more abundant coarse vegetation that pigs can't digest. Small ruminants such as goats or even miniature breeds of cattle are complementary to cropping systems. In a sense they are not only walking storage houses for seasonal surpluses, they are all but free. A rumen is a brief stop over for rough forage on its way back to the soil where the cycle can begin again. They retain about 10% of the energy in that otherwise wasted forage, a tithe to the future. On grasslands that are not cropped the equations are even more favorable if full accounting is done since the soil improves, biodiversity is maintained, water is conserved and fertility rises. . . assuming sensible management of course. It's possible to mess up even this sort of sensible system. In important respects some animals are very efficient in that they can digest forages that otherwise are food only for bacteria. Omnivores like humans and chickens are inefficient predators at the top of the food chain, but ruminants can thrive where both humans and chickens would starve.

In a general farming system they can loosely be compared to pigs in that they can thrive on what is considered to be wastes, but they eat the much more abundant coarse vegetation that pigs can’t digest.

Small ruminants such as goats or even miniature breeds of cattle are complementary to cropping systems. In a sense they are not only walking storage houses for seasonal surpluses, they are all but free. A rumen is a brief stop over for rough forage on its way back to the soil where the cycle can begin again. They retain about 10% of the energy in that otherwise wasted forage, a tithe to the future.

On grasslands that are not cropped the equations are even more favorable if full accounting is done since the soil improves, biodiversity is maintained, water is conserved and fertility rises. . . assuming sensible management of course. It’s possible to mess up even this sort of sensible system.

]]> By: Ford http://agro.biodiver.se/2010/02/how-to-feed-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-831849 Ford Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:26:14 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/?p=10105#comment-831849 There are some other potential benefits to using animals, despite their intrinsic inefficiency. They can buffer food supply: build up herds in good years, eat them (and any grain they would have eaten) when crops fail. See "Future Harvest: pesticide-free farming" (or similar title) for other benefits: growing more soil-conserving forages becomes more economic, graze weedy fields rather than building up weed seed bank, etc. There are some other potential benefits to using animals, despite their intrinsic inefficiency. They can buffer food supply: build up herds in good years, eat them (and any grain they would have eaten) when crops fail. See “Future Harvest: pesticide-free farming” (or similar title) for other benefits: growing more soil-conserving forages becomes more economic, graze weedy fields rather than building up weed seed bank, etc.

]]> By: DannyH http://agro.biodiver.se/2010/02/how-to-feed-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-830435 DannyH Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:21:52 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/?p=10105#comment-830435 Yes, a big hurrah for wild relatives. Hopefully when three of those sectors in particular sit around a single table they will also figure out a three-way-win situation that awaits their closer cooperation to meet the challenges of in situ conservation of crop wild relatives. I look forward to reading the full paper. Might be an opportunity for a response from the heavyweights of the agricultural biodiversity world to 'put out their stall' and get rid of those scare quotes. Yes, a big hurrah for wild relatives. Hopefully when three of those sectors in particular sit around a single table they will also figure out a three-way-win situation that awaits their closer cooperation to meet the challenges of in situ conservation of crop wild relatives. I look forward to reading the full paper. Might be an opportunity for a response from the heavyweights of the agricultural biodiversity world to ‘put out their stall’ and get rid of those scare quotes.

]]> By: Jeremy http://agro.biodiver.se/2010/02/how-to-feed-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-830431 Jeremy Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:17:42 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/?p=10105#comment-830431 Isn't iron a mineral? Care to amplify on your point? Isn’t iron a mineral? Care to amplify on your point?

]]> By: Rita Wing http://agro.biodiver.se/2010/02/how-to-feed-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-830422 Rita Wing Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:26:18 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/?p=10105#comment-830422 "[I]n developing countries meat represents the most concentrated source of some vitamins and minerals, which is important for individuals such as young children." apart from B12, what are we talking about here? Minerals? errrr? “[I]n developing countries meat represents the most concentrated source of some vitamins and minerals, which is important for individuals such as young children.”

apart from B12, what are we talking about here? Minerals? errrr?

]]> By: pablo eyzaguirre http://agro.biodiver.se/2010/02/how-to-feed-the-world/comment-page-1/#comment-830410 pablo eyzaguirre Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:01:56 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/?p=10105#comment-830410 Jeremy, Thanks for bringing this to our attention and your analysis is extremely perceptive and useful. I am really enjoying the blog, and this is something to say for a person who prefers cuneiform as a means of communication . Jeremy,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention and your analysis is extremely perceptive and useful.
I am really enjoying the blog, and this is something to say for a person who prefers cuneiform as a means of communication .

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