Switch to organic farming causes chaos in Sri Lanka

[Cowcorn]

Born to a prosperous farmer in Prek Sbauv, French Cambodia, Pol Pot was educated at some of Cambodia's most elite schools. While in Paris during the 1940s, he joined the French Communist Party

Pol Pot transformed Cambodia into a one-party state called Democratic Kampuchea. Seeking to create an agrarian socialist society that he believed would evolve into a communist society, Pol Pot's government forcibly relocated the urban population to the countryside to work on collective farms. Pursuing complete egalitarianism, money was abolished and all citizens were made to wear the same black clothing.

Pol Pot was a driving force behind the Cambodian genocide, the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodians that the Khmer Rouge regarded as enemies. The genocide, coupled with malnutrition and poor medical care, killed between 1.5 and 2 million people, approximately a quarter of Cambodia's population.

"And youll work harder with a gun in your back for a bowl of rice a day "
Dead Kennedys " holiday in cambodia "

 

[Cowabunga]

Palm oil
Soya
Almonds

To name but 3 that are having massive impacts on finite resources.

Not really. It just turns forest into arable land. Problem is that they don't actually farm the land and return nutrients.
Most significantly, we are not Brazil.

 

[Cowabunga]

Destroying a planet is a bold description but there is no question producing food for 8bn people is causing changes to the global climate and environments, changes which will make feeding that growing population increasingly difficult.

Are you actually advocating alternative, factory produced artificial protein? Because you ain't going to do anything to stop population hitting somewhere between 10 and 11 billion before it starts to decline. That is because of the people already born, not due to increased birth rates outside of Africa where they can already barely feed themselves anyway.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Ever since the first farmer dropped a seed or tamed a dinosaur to milk more has been better. If you farm you should understand that. Only by striving to attain more from our chosen farming venture will the worlds population continue to be fed. Enough kids go to bed hungry every night now without a tree hugging butterfly chasing twits telling the farmers of the world to cut production so they can sleep better. Seems only yesterday farmers were praised for working all hours to put food on the tables of the furloughed millions ignoring their own possible exposure to COVID.
I wonder if the general public would pay double for food so we could cut production and still feed our families???

Cut production enough and they will pay you everything.

 

[Cowabunga]

There is plenty of under-utilised land that is suitable for vastly increased food production worldwide. Plenty of minerals that can be used or converted to fertiliser. No problem feeding 10 billion people, which is about 15 to 20% more than we currently have. The only real issue is producing it at a price the African population can afford to pay for and is therefore viable to grow commercially. Everywhere else has, or soon will have a birth rate that is below that needed to maintain their current population numbers.
In practical terms, Africa needs to stop their wars and start producing jobs and wealth so that their own farmers can produce their own food locally. They have all the resources at their disposal, if only they'd get their priorities straight.

 

[Sid]

Not really. It just turns forest into arable land. Problem is that they don't actually farm the land and return nutrients.
Most significantly, we are not Brazil.

Ah that's ok then, let's deforest the planet and its even better because its in Brazil so has nothing to do with the Planet.

You really couldn't make it up

 

[wanton dwarf]

Are Africa's deserts increasing ?

Plenty of land available to grow crops and for wildlife. Just takes people to be interested in reversing desertification rather than pandering to Climate Change research grants and jetting around the world into hotels.

 

[wanton dwarf]

Ah that's ok then, let's deforest the planet and its even better because its in Brazil so has nothing to do with the Planet.

You really couldn't make it up

People can do whatever, most notable that those supposedly concerned about deforestation are doing nothing about it.

 

[Cowabunga]

Ah that's ok then, let's deforest the planet and its even better because its in Brazil so has nothing to do with the Planet.

You really couldn't make it up

Nobody needs to deforest the planet. That is just a political and possibly corrupt economic management decision by the would-be dictator, Bolsonaro, who's latest quote is "only god will remove me from power". I don't believe in a god, but wish that some god-like benefactor will remove him sooner rather than later.

 

[wanton dwarf]

Nobody needs to deforest the planet. That is just a political and possibly corrupt economic management decision by the would-be dictator, Bolsonaro, who's latest quote is "only god will remove me from power". I don't believe in a god, but wish that some god-like benefactor will remove him sooner rather than later.

Nobody is lining up to replace those forests though are they ?

No cash from the Climate lobby, no research white papers predicting doom, no banning of Brazilian beef, no COP26 conference about deforestation.

Just constant destruction of Western livelihoods for political and monetary gain.

 

[Sid]

Nobody needs to deforest the planet. That is just a political and possibly corrupt economic management decision by the would-be dictator, Bolsonaro, who's latest quote is "only god will remove me from power". I don't believe in a god, but wish that some god-like benefactor will remove him sooner rather than later.

Well it's not the Brazillians buying soya is it?
Exports have tripled in the last 12 years.

If the demand wasn't there it wouldn't be grown would it?

 

[Cowabunga]

Well it's not the Brazillians buying soya is it?
Exports have tripled in the last 12 years.

If the demand wasn't there it wouldn't be grown would it?

Much of the deforestation is illegal, but allowed by Boldonaro, and condemned by all and sundry outside Brazil. However you are perfectly correct in that there are no boycotts or embargoes in place.
Below is copied from here… posted in 2019, so reasonably up to date. The bold and colour is mine.

QUOTE
Much of what remains of the world's rainforests is in the Amazon basin, where the Amazon Rainforest covers approximately 4 million square kilometers. The regions with the highest tropical deforestation rate are in Central America and tropical Asia. FAO estimates that the decrease of primary forest area, 0.4 percent over a ten-year period, is largely due to reclassification of primary forest to "other naturally regenerated forest" because of selective logging and other human interventions. Large-scale planting of trees is significantly reducing the net loss of forest area globally, and afforestation and natural expansion of forests in some countries and regions have reduced the net loss of forest area significantly at the global level. Forests cover about 31 percent of total land area of the world; the world's total forest area is just over 4 billion hectares. END QUOTE

It is notable that over ten years the Central America and tropical Asian forested area has only shrunk by 0.4% and, if I read the above correctly, that decrease in primary forest is only because of the reclassification of that area as "other naturally regenerated forest'. There seems to be a significant large scale planting of trees plus natural expansion of the forested area that counters the area temporarily felled and cropped. However, if you listen to 'conservationists' you would imagine massive destruction on an unimaginable scale which is non reversible. The figures above indicate nothing like that.

Europe on the other hand has seen a 30%+ INCREASE in forested area since the years 1900 to 1945.

Don't shoot the messenger. Follow the evidence.

 

[farmerm]

Are you actually advocating alternative, factory produced artificial protein? Because you ain't going to do anything to stop population hitting somewhere between 10 and 11 billion before it starts to decline. That is because of the people already born, not due to increased birth rates outside of Africa where they can already barely feed themselves anyway.

I am not advocating anything, I don't have the answers, I can just see that population growth means the planet I eventually leave will be a far less nice place than the one I was born into. Will population grown peak at 11bn, I am not so sure, the ability to feed ones children has very little influence on the mating decisions of those living in impoverished countries. China are once again growing their population. Classic economics taught us we need population growth to produce economic growth and to be able to both support and pay off the debts of the generation above. Going forward shortages of food, water and economic stagnation will drive even greater migration, instability and conflict. China have recognised the problem and are preparing strategically and militarily, when they need more resources they will simply walk in and talk it.

 

[N.Yorks.]

I am not advocating anything, I don't have the answers, I can just see that population growth means the planet I eventually leave will be a far less nice place than the one I was born into. Will population grown peak at 11bn, I am not so sure, the ability to feed ones children has very little influence on the mating decisions of those living in impoverished countries. China are once again growing their population. Classic economics taught us we need population growth to produce economic growth and to be able to both support and pay off the debts of the generation above. Going forward shortages of food, water and economic stagnation will drive even greater migration, instability and conflict. China have recognised the problem and are preparing strategically and militarily, when they need more resources they will simply walk in and talk it.

Maybe humans aren't so clever after all then...............

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Maybe humans aren't so clever after all then...............

Too clever for our own good. That's one reason why there's so many of us that we're poisoning the planet.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Cleverness has nothing to do with it.

The trouble is the complete lack of care for anything other than the immediate future. Decisions need to consider futures decades and millenia and not make assumptions that some new technology will simply cure all our wrongdoing.

 

[Henarar]

Too clever for our own good. That's one reason why there's so many of us that we're poisoning the planet.

how are so many poisoning the planet ?

 

[farmerm]

how are so many poisoning the planet ?

About 8bn...

 

[farmerm]

About 8bn...

Though some far more than others

 

[Henarar]

Though some far more than others

how are they doing it ?