Biointensive farming, which relies on closely spaced plants, use of seeds from plants that have been naturally pollinated and specific food-to-compost crop ratios, “produces far greater yields than conventional agriculture while using far less land and water,” Ensia magazine reports, and is especially well-suited to small-scale farmers in Latin America and Africa looking for low-cost, low-tech solutions to grow food.
Farmers also prepare the soil in a method called double-digging, which creates a deep bed of soil in which plants thrive. “These methods are rarely practiced on large farms, where mechanization is more profitable, but they can be life-changing for the 90 percent of the world’s farmers who work 4 acres (2 hectares) or less by helping them to make the most of a given plot of land,” Ensia says.
The article says research shows that biointensive farms use 50 to 75 percent less land, 50 to 100 percent less fertilizer, 67 to 88 percent less water and 94 to 99 percent less energy to produce a given amount of food than conventional farming. “Perhaps most intriguingly, biointensive methods ‘grow’ farmable soil — at a rate 60 times faster than occurs in nature — while traditional farming methods tend to deplete farmable soil through wind and water erosion,” Ensia says.
A U.S.-based now profit called Ecology Action is training farmers in these techniques. Headed by organic gardening pioneer John Jeavons in 1971 and funded by foundations and donations, the nonprofit teaches biointensive farming at three Mendocino County locations to agriculture activists and researchers from around the world who conduct research and then go on to teach others, Ensia says.
The Peace Corps, UNICEF and the 2010 U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification have all supported the program.