Permaculture is one of the new ways to practice biological agriculture. At Trailing Seeds, we believe that it is a promising and pertinent tool for the socio-economic transition that our societiesneed to go through. Everywhere around the globe, we witness new ideas simmering, projects blooming and communities steering forward. Permaculture is a philosophy as well as a tool that enables us to re-define the relation between man and its productive and ecological environment. It is based on the observation of arable land, the understanding of the living micro-systems naturally present in the land, and the nursing of bio-diveristy. Most of all, it re-integrates creativity and cooperation within the concept of production.  

 

When it comes to agriculture, permaculture represents an effective tool because it doesn't suggest any "miracle" solution. Rather, it incites us to shed an innovative look on the issues at hand, and to re-adjust our production and consumption models in a more holistic and more dynamic way, which is smarter and closer to the living (bio-mimetism). 

 

Its context, its breeding ground.

 

If we trace the history of agriculture, it is striking how much of a turn the wars, especially World War II, made us take. Before 1940, the majority of production sites were used for self-sufficient productions, and characterised by the diversity of its products (wood, honey, vegetables used in storage, compost exchange, livestock etc).

The war industry left us with a massive production of chemical ersatz meant to replace natural elements of soils, which are necessary to the plants' growth and health. The Green Revolution stormed away age-old agricultural practices, promising to prove Malthus wrong, and to eradicate hunger. Or so it was said...Along the way, NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) fertilisers became mainstream, as well as fungicides and insecticides (such as the DDT, which was forbidden during the 1970s, and whose traces we still find in soil analyses). Little by little, what we call "conventional agriculture" was born. If we summarize its principles, we find that it consists in the sterilization of soils so as to have maximum control over NPK doses and other such chemicals thrown at crops. The typical prototype of conventional agriculture is the maize field, sprayed with the help of massive machines that compress soils dramatically.

 

Parallely to these techniques, alternative production systems were born: they are diverse, but they are driven by common principles. Permaculture and agro-ecology are amongst the most well-known. Agro-ecology is the term used by the french farmer and philosopher, Pierre Rabhi, while permaculture is strongly associated with international personalities such as Bill Mollison (Aus), David Holmgren (Aus) and Fukuoka (Jap), etc.     

              

Its definition, the challenges.     

                                                                                                               

"Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system." - Bill Mollisson

 

Here is the definition given to permaculture by two of its pioneers: "Permaculture is the conscious conception of landscapes that reproduce models and links observed in nature; that aim to stimulate the biological production of soils so as to preserve them and obtain an abundant food and energy production in order to meet the local demand. People, their habitat and the way they organize themselves are central to the war permaculture is designed and used." (Permaculture Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability, David Holmgren).      

 

If we break this definition down, we notice that permaculture responds to a number of needs, and addresses key issues in today's society: 

• Conscious conception of landscape: The point of permaculture is no longer to produce with sterilized fields, but rather to consider an arable land as a whole system, with its constraints and its bio-diversity. Man will not try to modify the land according to a pre-conceived production system; he will observe the terrain as a living environment, and will adapt his production according to the land characteristics rather than the other way around, so as to produce optimally. This system will enable us to revive production diversity, in its shapes and scales, and according to the needs of each and everyone (whether for small scale consumption, or for commercial purposes). 

• Soil preservation: Pollution and the nutritional impoverishment of soils are major issues on the global agenda today. Conventional agricultural techniques have indeed enabled massive production scales, but did so at the expense of soil preservation. This entails that arable land has dramatically reduced globally while human demographics keep on increasing and world demand for food items keep on growing. Permaculture can help us in regenerating soils, and "healing" them, so to speak. This is a necessary step on our way to the recovery of food and agricultural systems, so as to consume nutritional and healthy food products and preserve bio-diversity as well eco-systems. 

• Obtain an abundant food and energy production: When we talk about alternatives to conventional or chemical agriculture, we hear a lot of people objecting that economic yields are not as high. This is plainly misinformed. Biological agriculture enables farmers to get superior crop and economic yields over the long-term while preserving the nutritional quality of their soils, crops and food products. Moreover, permaculture goes beyond the agro-alimentary production, and provides us with tools to generate, manage and save energy. In that sense, permaculture is a holistic production system since it considers the inter-linkages between human production and consumption needs. 

• Satisfy local demand: Permaculture begs us to ponder about the foundations of our socio-economic system. We take for granted that agricultural products are speculated over on international markets; that they are taken through endless trade routes; and that local productions are diverted away from their local demand. Pemaculture outright challenges this model, and brings agricultural productions back to human production and consumption scales. Yet, some questions legitimately remain: how can permaculture successfully adapt as an effective tool to respond to world production and consumption demands, while retaining the value of its teachings for locally driven market dynamics? This is one of the many questions at the core of Trailing Seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://permacultureprinciples.com

 

What does it look like in practice ?

 

The Three SIsters model is a classic example to be found in permaculture associations: at the bottom of each maize crop, we sow a bean seed, which will use the maize plant as prop, and we also sow a squash seed so as to create a ground-cover. What for? 

• We will gain space because each plant draws its nutrients from various depths of soil, and therefore do not compete with each other. 

• The bean is a fabaceae. We find nodules along its roots that helps in fixing nitrogen into the ground. The nitrogen is a necessary element for the maize and the squash to grow. 

• The squash ensures to keep the ground covered, which garantees a constant humidity at the bottom of the maize plant. 

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Let us not be mistaken though: Permaculture does not suggest a "return" to ancestral and indigenous techniques. It purports the use of various sources of knowledge (factual experience, scientific and agronomic knowledge, age-old savoir-faire) as well as the pragmatic experience of farmers wh have opted out of conventional agriculture to re-dynamise natural cycles into agricultural productions. The point is to work "with" nature, rather than "against" or "without" it, while preserving and enriching the production environment. 

 

Such a system like the "Three Sisters" demands that crops be handled with care, mostly, by hand...This means that production scales need to be re-thought, as well as their resilience potential and the cooperative systems around them. In short, permaculture brings us to re-imagine agricultural work, and the place of agriculture within our societies.