Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

This program at UC takes a little more study and committment than
permaculture.  Some things in there I like.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net
----------------------------------------

from Center for Agroecology, University of California, Santa Cruz
http://www.agroecology.org/principles/princlist.htm

Principles of Agroecology and Sustainability
    An interface to agroecology in list form
        Use Renewable Resources
        Minimize Toxics
        Conserve Resources
        Manage Ecological Relationships
        Adjust to Local Environments
        Diversify
        Empower People
        Manage Whole Systems
        Maximize Long-Term Benefits
        Value Health


The Full Principles List
        Use Renewable Resources
        Use renewable sources of energy instead of non-renewable sources.
        Use biological nitrogen fixation.
        Use naturally-occurring materials instead of synthetic, manufactured
inputs.
        Use on-farm resources as much as possible.
        Recycle on-farm nutrients.
        Minimize Toxics
        Reduce or eliminate the use of materials that have the potential to 
harm
the environment or the health of farmers, farm workers, or consumers.
        Use farming practices that reduce or eliminate environmental pollution
with nitrates, toxic gases, or other materials generated by burning or
overloading agroecosystems with nutrients.
        Conserve Resources
        Conserve Soil
        Sustain soil nutrient and organic matter stocks.
        Minimize erosion.
        use perennials.
        use no-till or reduced tillage methods.
        mulch.
        Conserve Water
        Dry farm.
        Use efficient irrigation systems.
        Conserve Energy
        Use energy efficient technologies.
        Conserve genetic resources
        save seed.
        maintain local landraces.
        use heirloom varieties.
        Conserve Capital
        Keep bank debt to a minimum.
        Reduce expenditures.
        Manage Ecological Relationships
        Reestablish ecological relationships that can occur naturally on the 
farm
instead of reducing and simplifying them.
        Manage pests, diseases, and weeds instead of “controlling” them.
        Use intercropping and cover cropping
        Integrate Livestock
        Enhance beneficial biota
        In soils
        mycorrhizae
        Rhizobia
        free-living nitrogen fixers
        Beneficial insects
        Provide refugia for beneficials.
        Enhance benefial populations by breed and release programs.
        Recycle Nutrients
        Shift from throughflow nutrient management to recycling of nutrients.
        Return crop residues and manures to soils.
        When outside inputs are necessary, sustain their benefits by recycling
them.
        Minimize Disturbance
        Use reduced tillage or no-till methods.
        Use mulches.
        Use perennials
        Adjust to Local Environments
        Match cropping patterns to the productive potential and physical
limitations of the farm landscape.
        Adapt Biota
        adapt plants and animals to the ecological conditions of the farm 
rather
than modifying the farm to meet the needs of the crops and animals.
        Diversify
        Landscapes
        Maintain undisturbed areas as buffer zones.
        Use contour and strip tillage.
        Maintain riparian buffer zones.
        Use rotational grazing.
        Biota
        Intercrop.
        Rotate crops.
        Use polyculture.
        Integrate animals in system.
        Use multiple species of crops and animals on farm.
        Use multiple varieties and landraces of crops and animals on farm.
        Economics
        Avoid dependence on single crops/products.
        Use alternative markets.
        Organic markets.
        Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).
        "Pick your own" marketing.
        Add value to agricultural products.
        Process foods before selling them.
        Find alternative incomes.
        Agrotourism
        Avoid dependence on external subsidies.
        Use multiple crops to diversify seasonal timing of production over the
year.
        Empower People
        Ensure that local people control their development process.
        Use indigenous knowledge
        Promote multi-directional transfer of knowledge, as opposed to 
"top-down"
knowledge transfer.
        Teach experts and farmers to share knowledge, not "impose" it.
        Engage in people-centric development.
        Increase farmer participation.
        link farmers with consumers (CSA).
        Strengthen communities.
        Encourage local partnerships between people and development 
groups.Ensure
intergenerational fairness.
        Guarantee agricultural labor.
        Ensure equitable labor relations for farm workers.
        Teach principles of agroecology & sustainability.
        Manage Whole Systems
        Use planning processes that recognize the different scales of
agroecosystems.
        Landscapes
        Households
        Farms
        Communities
        Bioregions
        Nations
        Minimize impacts on neighboring ecosystems.
        Maximize Long-Term Benefits
        maximize intergenerational benefits, not just annual profits.
        maximize livelihoods and quality of life in rural areas.
        facilitate generational transfers.
        Use long-term strategies.
        develop plans that can be adjusted and reevaluated through time.
        Incorporate long-term sustainability into overall agroecosystem 
design and
management.
        Build soil fertility over the long-term.
        build soil organic matter.
        Add value to agricultural products.
        Value Health
        Human Health
        Cultural Health
        Environmental Health
        Value most highly the overall health of agroecosystems rather than the
outcome of a particular crop system or season.
        Eliminate environmental pollution by Toxics and surplus nutrients.
        Animal Health
        Plant Health