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empirical evidence Permaculture enhances carbon stocks, soil quality and biodiversity

 
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I searched thru the permies fora and didn't find any reference to this study.
With the European Parliament recently reaffirming the dire consequences of Climate Change on agriculture, solid evidence for the benefits of permaculture are important to demonstrate to direct taxpayer funds to proven solutions.
Agriculture is ridiculously subsidized in Europe (even though it only accounts for about 1% of economic output) but efforts to reduce or redirect funding meets very stiff opposition.
A study published in Nature provides solid evidence that Permaculture is better for agricultural land, and thus deserves to receive financial support (and hopefully redirect such funds Away from harmful practices).

Permaculture enhances carbon stocks, soil quality and biodiversity in Central Europe
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01405-8

Filename: s43247-024-01405-8.pdf
Description: PDF copy of study
File size: 2 megabytes
 
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Many long-term approaches work to build the soil, and these are being accepted in increments by farmers. But there is a lot of risk to experimenting, so "show me the results" is pretty important. One step at a time.

Frankly, a big barrier is that farmers increasingly rent land instead of owning it. The cost of ownership is crushing -- for a business, it doesn't make sense. As a result, there is little incentive to undertake improvements to the soil that will not show up in production boosts in the growing year. So many effectively use the soil as a hydroponic medium to hold plant roots and feed them with chemical fertilizers.

Given the thin margins in farming and the ever-present risk of failure, I can understand their approach. Sadly it's a long time away from the days of the small mixed farm where the owner had incentive to improve the natural soil with the intent of passing it on to future generations.
 
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This did come up in the thread  https://permies.com/t/260662/Stop-presses-Permaculture-beats-conventional    not long ago.  As Douglas A. noted, it will be hard to get conventional ag onboard with the idea for many reasons.  But also all the more reason for (re)-educating rural and urban communities on growing your own to the extent possible and how integral Permie methods can be in that trend.
 
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