[p2p-research] the new green revolution in AFrica

[Kevin Carson]

On 10/29/09, Paul D. Fernhout <pdfernhout at kurtz-fernhout.com> wrote:
> Having worked in organic agriculture for a time in a couple of ways, the
> basic adage is, feed the soil for healthy plants, and healthy plants resist
> pests.
>
>  And if you want to feed the soil, ground up rock does an excellent job:
>   http://www.remineralize.org/

Louis Bromfield killed two birds with one stone, by planting
deep-rooted legumes like red clover.  Not only did they fix nitrogen,
but (thanks to the Ohio valley's glacial subsoil) the roots brought up
lots of trace minerals and aerated the soil to a considerable depth
(actually, I guess that's three birds).

>  So yes, that person does not know much other than (wrong) "conventional
> farming" wisdom.

Borlaug and many of his ilk have also conflated the big-large
distinction with the conventional-organic distinction.  Their
evaluations of organic farming don't control for farm size, which
means a lot of what they regard as "organic" is just large,
conventional agribusiness without the chemical pesticides and
fertilizers.  But generally speaking, small-scale production is more
efficient in output per acre.

I should have added, in the bit for the blog, that Borlaug stacked his
Green Revolution techniques against the strawman assumption of
traditional native techniques--assuming that there were not multiple
paths of development for making production more efficient.  Either the
Third World adopted his techniques,  or it stood still; the
possibility of progress through adopting more intensive forms of
production that incorporated modern soil science was apparently out of
the question.

Every time I see people like Ronald Bailey kiss Borlaug's ass, I get a
little angrier.

-- 
Kevin Carson
Center for a Stateless Society http://c4ss.org
Mutualist Blog:  Free Market Anti-Capitalism
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Studies in Mutualist Political Economy
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Organization Theory:  A Libertarian Perspective
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