Recently though, researchers have been challenging the old paradigm for agriculture by demonstrating the scientific feasibility of a new, revolutionary system of agriculture that operates more like a natural ecosystem. Researchers at The Land Institute in Salina, Kan., have spent years trying to develop a new agricultural system with the ecological stability of a prairie and the grain yield of annual crops. Native prairie, left alone, recycles its materials, sponsors its own fertility, runs on contemporary sunlight, and increases its biodiversity.
Agricultural systems tend otherwise.
They erode and degrade ecological capital as they provide for human needs. Farmers try to temporarily offset these declines by using modern technologies like fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Natural Systems Agriculture seeks to solve this problem by incorporating the key features of natural ecosystems, namely perennialism and polyculture, into grain production. Perennial plants, have roots that live year-round. The presence of these roots in the soil helps prevent erosion by holding on to the soil during driving rains and strong winds.