Monoculture & Polyculture: What's the Difference?
Most will remember the basic principles of the food web from highschool - plants are eaten by herbivores, which are then consumed by carnivores, which eventually die and provide nitrogen for plant growth, etc. What many people don't realise is that a similar mutually beneficial environment occurs botanically. Plants (in this case, those cultivated for human consumption) thrive in a biodiverse setting in which multiple crops are grown in the one area - the term given to this form of cultivation is rightly named Polyculture. The contrary to this is Monoculture, which became more widely used after the rise of the 'Green Revolution' in the name of efficiency.
Monoculture's Uses and Effects
The Green Revolution started in the 1940s in an attempt to industrialise food production and increase efficiency in harvesting. This was when synthetic pesticides started being widely used on hybridized plants, arranged in crops with no other types of plant to make for quicker harvesting. The link between exposure and consumption of treated foods and poor health goes without saying; a simple google search will show a plethora of information on the topic. The other downfall of monoculture is that the plants don't receive the same amount of minerals for growth and are often nutritionally deficient, and contain far less nutritional value than their traditional counterpart. The problems caused by this mass-production of crops could be solved by avoiding foods grown in monocultural crops.
Polyculture and the Benefits of Biodiversity in Food Cultivation
Plants naturally thrive in a biodiverse environment due to the mutually beneficial relationship they have with other plants. This has been used successfully in numerous traditional cultures, for example, in pre-modern Indian cultivation, farmers often included a combination of tomatoes, onions and marigold in crops (this is called "Multicropping"). The marigold and onion would act as a natural repellent against majority of insects that fed on the delicate flesh of the tomato. Another study shows that rice grown in polycultures had a higher yield of 89% with a 94% decrease in disease spread. One of the most important reasons that polycultures are superior is due to the higher nutrient content. Constant leaf fall from a greater abundance of plants provides a nutrient-dense soil composition; this nourishes the crops and gives them a far greater nutritional value than the latter.
So, with less disease, lesser-to--no need for pesticides, higher nutritional value, less soil erosion, it's clear that polycultures would not only assist us in living healthier lives, but would also be kinder to the environment with less waste and spoilage. The next question most would ask is "How do I know the produce I'm buying has been grown in polycultures?". The answer is simple. The only way to know what is going into your food is to know where your food is coming from. Always buy from locally grown, fresh, organic sources when possible and build a rapport with the suppliers providing you with this produce.
In Radness & Health,
Rhys Choake
Food for Thought - Further Reading Material:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6X-3RH6GTP-V&_user=10&_coverDate=06%2F30%2F1997&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1655807159&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=685f396779f9b89eebc70f8d100356bf&searchtype=a
http://www.new-ag.info/01-1/perspect.html
http://www.mindfully.org/GE/Rice-Diversity-Yield.htm
http://true-progress.com/monoculture-vs-polyculture-farming-methods-84.htm
http://www.foodforest.com.au/Agroecological%20analysis%20of%20a%20polyculture%20food%20garden%20on%20the%20Adelaide%20Plains.pdf
