Permaculture: A rising conceptby Prayash Pathak (Chalise) | 16-02-2019 02:15 |
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Permaculture is word coined by Australian ecologist, farmer and writer Bill Mollison. It is self-sustaining agricultural system that not only provides and maintains good yields, but creates ecological stability while conserving soil, water and energy resource. It is complete agricultural eco-system that consciously designed taking into consideration effective placement of animals, plants and structures for each specific site. In permaculture, each selected element has at least three distinct function. For example, a fence should not be only barrier, it should produce food, forage and mulch, possibly fuel as well as keep animals out of restricted area. Characteristics of permaculture: •Small scale land use pattern •Intensive rather than extensive land use patterns. •Diversity in plant species, variety yield and habitat. •Integration of agriculture, animal husbandry and forest management •Use of three dimensional space, trees, shrubs and low growing plants. •Rehabilitation of damaged or marginal land. Principles of permaculture: i. Efficient: Efficient energy flows are characteristic of natural systems. The solar energy captured by plants is then used by many organisms, as fungi and bacteria decompose organic residues and are then fed upon by other organisms, which are themselves fed upon by other higher up the foodweb. It should also efficient in capturing and using rainfall and in mobilizing and cycling nutrients which help to maintain the quality of the groundwater and surface water. ii. Diversity: A great biological diversity, both above ground and in the soil, characterizes permacultural ecosystems. This provides checks and balances, nutrients availability to plants, check on disease outbreak etc. iii. Self- sufficiency: A consequence of efficiency and diversity is that natural terrestrial ecosystems are self-sufficient – requiring only inputs of sunlight and rainfall. iv. Self – regulation: Because of the great diversity of organisms, outbreaks of diseases or insects that severely damage plants or animals are uncommon. In addition, plants have number of defense mechanisms that help protect them from attack. |
