Q. How is permaculture farming different from conventional chemical farming?

1. Permaculture farming discourages monocultural practices but in conventional chemical farming, monoculture practices are predominant.
2. Conventional chemical farming can cause increase in soil salinity but the occurrence of such phenomenon is not observed in permaculture farming.
3. Conventional chemical farming is easily possible in such regions.
4. Practice of mulching is very important in permaculture farming but not necessarily so in conventional chemical farming.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  • 1 and 3
  • 1, 2 and 4
  • 4 only
  • 2 and 3

Answer: (b) 1, 2 and 4

Permaculture
  • The philosophy behind permaculture was developed in 1970s in Australia by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. The land is called Tamera, the name given to these 330 acres in southern Portugal by a community of 30 people who moved here from Germany in 1995. Through simple practices of digging swales (ditches) and creating water retention spaces, Tamera’s ecology experts have transformed an area on the brink of desertification.  
  • Permaculture tries to look at a piece of land in a holistic manner, integrating every animal and plant living on it, and combining that with social structures designed to foster long-lasting agriculture as well. Each element of a food cycle is broken down into what it requires and what it contributes, and then each element is pieced together to form a dynamically self-supporting whole.
  • Permaculture is a totally integrated design system that’s modelled on nature. Permaculture farming promotes multicropping and integrated farming systems. Agroforestry is its example.  
  • High-density crops and the use of single crops over large expanses of land strips away necessary nutrients as generations pass, eventually leaving the land barren. So Permaculture discourages monoculture.
  • At the same time, artificial fertilizers can build up salts over time, making the soil inhospitable to plants.
  • Mulching is an important practice in permaculture.
  • Chemical farming
    • Chemical farming is more suitable for monoculture cropping due to use of crop specific inputs like irrigation, chemical fertiliser and harvesting methods.  
    • Chemical farming is based on intense use of inputs like Chemical fertilizers and irrigation that make the soil less fertile over time, thus restricting its practise in semi-arid region. Thus, conventional farming is not suitable for semi-arid regions.