杏吧原创

IT SOUNDS like an environmentalist鈥檚 dream. Low-tech 鈥渟ustainable
agriculture鈥�, shunning chemicals in favour of natural pest control and
fertiliser, is pushing up crop yields on poor farms across the world, often by
70 per cent or more. But it鈥檚 no dream. That鈥檚 the claim being made in the
biggest ever survey of green-minded farming
(see 鈥淎n ordinary miracle鈥�).
The findings will make
sobering reading for people convinced that only genetically modified crops can
feed the planet鈥檚 hungry in the 21st century.

The gains are greatest among poor farmers. This is not surprising. The
high-tech green revolution that has doubled global food production in little
more than a generation was always designed for big mechanised farms on the best
land, using capital to buy pesticides and fertilisers the new high-yielding
plant varieties need. It was never a blueprint for working the poorer land, or
helping illiterate farmers with plenty of labour and ingenuity but little
capital.

Yet over the past 30 years, these farmers have been pushed into
half-heartedly adopting this revolution. While some have gained, this
hand-me-down technology has not served them well.

The survey shows there is a better way. A new science-based revolution is
gaining strength built on real research into what works best on the small farms
where a billion or more of the world鈥檚 hungry live and work.

For some, talk of 鈥渟ustainable agriculture鈥� sounds like a luxury the poor can
ill afford. But in truth it is good science, addressing real needs and
delivering real results. For too long it has been the preserve of
environmentalists and a few aid charities. It is time for the major agricultural
research centres and their funding agencies to join the revolution.