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by burglekutt 1741 days ago
Book recommendation: The Wizard and the Prophet: https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Prophet-Remarkable-Scientists-...

It’s a history of the step changes in ag yield due to (generally “non-organic”) optimizations, and two scientists’ competing visions of what things we should be optimizing for (feeding hungry people now, food security, “naturalness”, long-term soil health, use of chemicals, energy efficiency, aesthetics, crop diversity, etc).