Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by FlyMoreRockets 2767 days ago
A simple out of the box solution is intercropping. The loss of a single crop in a multi-crop system is not a ruinous loss compared to monocropping. It also reduces the requirements for pesticides and fertilizers if done well.
3 comments

Yep. See Sepp Holzer's mountain farm for an egregious example of this.
I'm not a native speaker, but generally "egregious" means "particularly bad", is that what you meant?
Is this solution compatible with contemporary mechanized agriculture ? Seeding, spraying, harvesting by machines ?

Otherwise, it's like finding an automobile manufacturing improvement that can only be used with hand assembly. Besides Rolls-Royce, it won't help anyone.

Yes, depending on the particular intercrop. It's an area that could benefit from the application of robotics.
Somewhat, but 180 bushels of corn at $3.50/bushel is worth more than 60 bushels soybeans at $10/bushel. Farmers only grow soybeans because they are a source of fertilizer for their corn and so it works out in the long run.
This is why farmers spend so much money on insurance.