permaculture

[Mark <mpludwig@facstaff.wisc.edu>]

> I always thought in permaculture people would have a broader view.
>
>
> --
> Thilo Pfennig
> http://www.alternativ.net/edv/
>
> _

This has come up a few times in the recent past for me.  Myself and another 
PC savy fellow got talking about agriculture and he stated that round up 
ready (glyphosphate herbicide tolerant) soybeans seemed to him to be the 
most sustainable method going for this crop.  I have to say I agree with 
him, having grown the crop organically and made 2-3 times the trips across 
the fields to get the same yields.  In another context I pointed out to one 
of our new PC group members who had posited organic farming as the only 
acceptable alternative in PC that this was too narrow.  Organic fertilizer 
made from ground up ocean fishes and kelp may be far less "sustainable" 
than industrial by product based materials in our area (midwest 
USA).  Furthermore spraying to kill turf to convert it to a garden yields 
less erosion, preserves soil structure better and burns far less fuel.  It 
is essential to get passed our biases and look as clear eyed as possible at 
all system and be prepared to push past ideologies to really design 
sustainable system, or at least move toward the least harmful alternatives.


Mark P. Ludwig
Poultry Research Lab
University of Wisconsin -Madison
608-262-1730 WK
608-846-7125 HM