Rats. Forgot the "r" in ecoagriculture.

Oh! Now I understand. :)

Actually, the term ecoagriculture has been used in the pages of the monthly ACRES USA, A Voice for Eco-Agriculture, for much of the past 30 years or so. The editor and founder, Charles Walters Jr, has fought against the industrialization of ag, dominance by the USDA, and the excessive use of petrochemicals. In fact, Prof. Altieri has been interviewed by and has contributed materials to ACRES.

The fundamentals of eco-agriculture hark back to the works of a now-obscure soil scientist, William Albrecht, U of MO. His thesis was that our food is fabricated fertility, so poor soil produce poor foods for humans and livestock. So focusing on NPK and macro-aspects of farming and livestock rearing has lead to a wide range of health problems and compromises. According to Albrecht and his disciples, the key to successful eco-agriculture is proper management of soil organic matter, supported by balancing soil nutrient elements and molecules. This school of ag scientists and practitioners were among the first to emphasize the roles of micro-organisms in healthy cropping and livestock management.

[anticipating farmersam's arrival] Modern agriculture has caught up in part with this traditional eco-agriculture with its focus on non-till, management of organic matter, and more precise fertilization practices. OTOH, mono-cropping of gm crops and extensive applications of herbicides over crops run contrary to the science and beliefs of the established eco-ag farmers and advisers.

A personal note about agroecology...

The work of Altieri and his students and like-minded colleagues looks at agriculture as but one component of local or national economy, a component that ought to sustain that economy and its agrarian populations, not supplant them with industrialized agriculture.

Marshall, Perhaps we can agree: Healthy soils with healthy mico organisms and adequate mico nutrients along with adequate macro nutrients help to produce healthy foods which help to produce healthy bodies which help to produce healthy minds which..........

Right on, Wayne Dude!

Thanks for explaining the history of the eco-agriculture Marshall. I agree with the view that sees agriculture as part of a complex system, integrated with social systems and individual needs such as Wayne described.

As a quasilibertarian, I have a natural affinity for schools of thought that start from the bottom and work their way up. Tyranny always relies on the opposite approach.

Yeah,,,,,......... ME, Tarzan, YOU, SoCal

Althea, I'm not equating the "new" Ecoagriculture being promoted by Big Agribusiness with the traditional eco-agriculture of Prof. Albrecht's disciples and farmers/ranchers following his principles.

Marshall, I didn't think you were equating the two, only pointing out changes in bigag's approach. The article reads as if bigag is co-opting the term. To find out more I went to ISIS's site to see if they had any more info, such as the footnotes that were not included in the reprint. The reprint didn't include this introduction.

"Editor's Note:

I first heard the term ecoagriculture' used by a Chinese scientist on Australia's Radio National to describe an approach combining the best that modern science has to offer, i.e., genetic modification of plants, with traditional sustainable agriculture.

A few days later, a motion to promote ecoagriculture appeared on the agenda of the upcoming 3 rd IUCN (World Conservation Union) World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, (17-25 November 2004). Angry critics had described it as "an organic agriculture that is very friendly to agribusiness". A protest letter from civil society participants at a recent ecoagriculture conference organised by IUCN in Nairobi maintained that, "ecoagriculture is fundamentally incompatible with food sovereignty" and hence unacceptable.

Suddenly, it seems, agribusiness is taking over Âsustainable agriculture' in a big way. Biotech giants Syngenta (as Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture) and BayerCropscience, together with Croplife International, a global network representing the plant science industry, and another agribusiness, Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, have become members of ÂEcoagriculture Partners', a consortium that includes 12 non-government organizations - among them, IUCN, Rainforest Alliance, Stakeholder Forum for our Common Future and World Association of Soil and Water Conservation - 9 research and education organisations - among them, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program and M.W. Swaminathan Foundation - and 4 inter-government organizations, among which, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The Ecoagriculture Partners define Âecoagriculture' as "sustainable agriculture and associated natural resource management systems that embrace and simultaneously enhance productivity, rural livelihoods, ecosystem services and biodiversity."

The ÂNairobi Declaration', made by participants at the recent conference in Nairobi, Kenya, similarly, called for "a framework that seeks to simultaneously achieve improved livelihoods, conservation of biodiversity (genetic resources, ecosystem services and wild flora and fauna), and sustainable production at a landscape scale"; and to ensure

"that large-scale development and adoption of ecoagriculture contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals on hunger, poverty alleviation, gender equality, environmental sustainability and partnerships, and enhance implementation of global environmental conventions by all nations."

Prof. Miguel Altieri at University of California, Berkeley, in the United States tells us why ecoagriculture is miles away from the agroecology that can truly deliver food security and sustainability, alleviate poverty and enhance biodiversity."

Here is the website for Ecoargriculture Partners.

I've been following this sort of co-opting of the "eco-" prefix and of the alternative ag paradigm by big agribusiness. GMO's have now been widely resisted and will be more resisted as "pharming" technologies and croppings come into their own over the next decade. So, let's go to the soft sell and promote "modern" sustainable ag brought to you by the same folks wearing their new PR costumes. Of course when you have the world's sole superpower promoting your agenda, your way in the world is eased.

We have already experienced the same sort of co-opting in environmental matters. Remember, we have a famous Environmental President in office as I write this.

I wonder if the New Eco-Ag practioners follow the principles of "sound science"?

But of course!