The Search for Research
A common and very reasonable complaint I hear of Agroecology (and by Agroecology I mean all the different brands and labels associated with this i.e biodynamics, permaculture, regenerative agriculture, regrarian, sustainable farming etc) is that there is a lack of research and experimental data to support the claims made by its proponents. There is, in fact, quite a lot of research undertaken regarding agroecological systems (see below) however it has not been disseminated effectively and is relatively difficult to access. I have not been able to find any research relevant to small scale that addresses the simplest of issues. I have been looking for answers to what I consider to be very simple questions, such as how productive is a four species annual guild in direct comparison to growing the same 4 species separately in the same amount of space with the same nutrient and water inputs. I decided this year to embark upon some self directed research, my modest efforts foc...