How is permaculture farming different from conventional chemical farming?
- Permaculture farming discourages monocultural practices but in conventional chemical farming, monoculture practices are pre-dominant.
- Conventional chemical farming can cause increase in soil salinity but the occurrence of such phenomenon is not observed in permaculture farming.
- Conventional chemical farming is easily possible in semi-arid regions but permaculture farming is not so easily possible in such regions
- Practice of mulching is very important in permaculture farming but not necessarily so in conventional chemical farming.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2021 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 3
(b) 1, 2 and 4
(c) 4 only
(d) 2 and 3
Answer: (b)
Explanation:
- Permaculture is a farming approach that takes a holistic view of a piece of land, considering the plants and animals living on it, and incorporating social structures that promote sustainable agriculture.
- This method breaks down each element of the food cycle, analyzing its needs and contributions, and then combines them to form a self-supporting ecosystem.
- Permaculture avoids monoculture, as it depletes necessary nutrients over time and leads to barren land.
- Similarly, the use of artificial fertilizers can build up salts in the soil, making it inhospitable to plants.
- To combat these issues, permaculture emphasizes the use of mulching and encourages crop diversity.
Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.
