Biointensive agriculture

Last updated August 08, 2023

Biointensive agriculture is an organic agricultural system that focuses on achieving maximum yields from a minimum area of land, while simultaneously increasing biodiversity and sustaining the soil fertility.^[1] The goal of the method is long term sustainability on a closed system basis. It is particularly effective for backyard gardeners and smallholder farmers in developing countries, and also has been used successfully on small-scale commercial farms.

History

Many of the techniques that contribute to the biointensive method were present in the agriculture of the ancient Chinese, Greeks, Mayans, and of the Early Modern period in Europe, as well as in West Africa (Tapades of Fouta Djallon) from at least the late 18th century.

Sustainable bio-intensive farming (BIF) system, which emphasizes biodiversity conservation; recycling of nutrients; synergy among crops, animals, soils, and other biological components; and regeneration and conservation of resources is a type of agro-ecological approach. This alternative can approach that can appropriately address the central issue of hunger, poverty, food / nutrition insecurity and livelihoods (Rajbhandari, 1999).

System

The biointensive method provides many benefits as compared with conventional farming and gardening methods, and is an inexpensive, easily implemented sustainable production method that can be used by people who lack the resources (or desire) to implement commercial chemical and fossil-fuel-based forms of agriculture.

Ecology Action's research (Jeavons, J.C., 2001. Biointensive Mini-Farming Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (Vol. 19 (2), 2001, p. 81‐83) shows that biointensive methods can enable small‐scale farms and farmers to significantly increase food production and income, utilize predominantly local, renewable resources and decrease expense and energy inputs while building fertile topsoil at a rate 60 times faster than in nature (Worldwide Loss of Soil – and a Possible Solution Ecology Action, 1996).

According to Jeavons and other proponents, when properly implemented, farmers using biointensive techniques have the potential to:

Use 67% to 88% less water than conventional agricultural methods.
Use 50% to 100% less purchased (organic, locally available) fertilizer.
Use up to 99% less energy than commercial agriculture, while using a fraction of the resources.
Produce 2 to 6 times more food at intermediate yields, assuming a reasonable level of farmer skill and soil fertility (which increase over time as the method is practiced)
Produce a 100% increase in soil fertility.
Reduce by 50% or more the amount of land required to grow a comparable amount of food. This allows more land to remain in a wild state, preserving ecosystem services and promoting genetic diversity.^[2]

In order to achieve these benefits, the biointensive method uses an eight-part integrated system of deep soil cultivation (“double-digging”) to create raised, aerated beds; intensive planting; companion planting; composting; the use of open-pollinated seeds; and a carefully balanced planting ratio of 60% Carbon-Rich Crops (for compost production) 30% Calorie-Rich Crops (for food) and an optional 10% planted in Income Crops (for sale).

The following outline of the methods approximates the descriptions found in the popular biointensive handbook, How to Grow More Vegetables (and fruits, nuts, berries, grains and other crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine, by John Jeavons, now in its eighth edition, and in seven languages, including braille.^[3]

Double digging with spade and fork loosens the soil, to increase drainage and aeration. DoubleDig.gif — Double digging with spade and fork loosens the soil, to increase drainage and aeration.

In double digging, a 12-inch (305 mm) deep trench is dug across the width of the bed with a flat spade, and the soil from that first trench is set aside. The 12 inches (305 mm) below the trench are loosened with a spading fork. When the next trench is dug, that soil is dropped into the empty space of the first trench, and the lower layer is again loosened with a spading fork. This process is repeated along the full length of the bed. The final trench is filled with the soil that was removed from the first trench. The result is a bed that has been tilled to a depth of 24 inches (610 mm). When an entire bed has been double dug, the soil will have greater drainage and aeration, which allows the roots to grow much deeper and reach more nutrients. Despite the fact that no soil has been added, the bed is raised due to the aeration. It is worth noting that hard, unworked soil should be double dug each season until the soil has attained good structure and long lasting aeration. During subsequent seasons, it can be surface cultivated 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) deep with a hula hoe until compaction again becomes apparent. After double digging the first season, deep tilling during subsequent seasons can be quickly accomplished with a u-bar, particularly in the cases of larger minifarms or commercial farms.
Composting allows the plants to transform and enrich the soil with organic matter, and also to return nutrients to the soil. Biointensive composting is fairly straightforward, emphasizing the health and diversity of the microbes that break down and become a part of the compost. Thus, relatively cooler composting is practiced, and plant materials are preferred over animal materials. Soil is often combined with the compost to inoculate the pile with microbes. Without human waste recycling, however, nutrients and organic matter are constantly removed from the soil (as food that is consumed by the farmer) and flushed away. Therefore, when safe and legal human waste recycling is possible—as in many places it already is—that fertility can, and should, be returned to the soil. Another great unappreciated source of compost and soil improvement is the roots of crops themselves, which, in the biointensive system are left to decompose in the soil, where they help to both fertilize and “sew it together”, creating stable soil structure. Thus, crops such as alfalfa, which has exceptionally deep roots, and cereal rye, which has a particularly high volume of roots, are valued.
The soil air from the development of deep soil structure, combined with the microbe- and nutrient-rich compost allow the crops to be planted intensively. To plant intensively, beds are 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m) wide, usually 5 ft (1.5 m) and at least 5 feet (1.5 m) long, often 20 feet (6 m), forming a bed of 100 square feet (10 m²). Crops are not planted in traditional rows according to a square pattern, but are planted in a hexagonal or triangular pattern in the bed so that no space is left unnecessarily unused. These wide beds and close spacings not only allow more plants per area (up to 4 times as many), but also enable the plants to form a living mulch over the soil, keeping in moisture and shading out weeds. Additionally, whenever possible seedlings are started in flats or nursery beds, so that more garden space is available to large plants and so that the seedlings can be more closely spaced before transplant, forming a living mulch in the flat as well.
Companion planting is described as taking place both in space, which is traditionally called companion planting, and in time, which is traditionally called crop rotation. Companion planting can be used to improve the health and growth of crops, and also as another form of intensive planting, which uses vertical space more efficiently by mixing shallow rooting plants with deep rooting plants or slow growing plants with fast growing plants.
In order to achieve sustainable fertility on a closed system basis, the biointensive method uses carbon and calorie farming, an aikido-style of work (using the least amount of energy or effort to achieve the greatest amount of work or production), composting—including safe and legal human waste recycling—the use of open pollinated seeds, and limited land use, which allows farmers and gardeners to retain more of the land in a wild state for genetic diversity and an ecosystem balance.
If carbon or compost crops are grown in about sixty percent of the cultivated land, they can provide the compost materials that maintain the fertility for one hundred percent of the cultivated land. Many cereal crops qualify as compost crops, but provide both food and abundant compost. Some of the compost crops may be grown during the winter, when the land would be otherwise unused. Certain compost crops are higher in carbon while others are higher in nitrogen and/or fix nitrogen in the soil, and the desired proportion of each must be grown for the compost to achieve maximum effectiveness. Also, certain compost crops take particular desired nutrients from the subsoil and concentrate them in the compost, thus allowing a redistribution of those nutrients to the food crops. This proportion of 60% compost crops is crucial to the sustainability that is the goal of the biointensive method, and to the fertility of the garden.
In calorie farming, care is given to growing enough food energy (and other nutrients) to live on in a minimal area. Root crops are often used in calorie farming because they allow biointensive farmers and gardeners to grow more nutrients in smaller areas, resulting in less labor per calorie, and more space for wilderness and other people. These crops—which have both a high calorie content per pound, and a high yield per area—include potatoes, sweet potatoes, garlic, leeks, burdock, Jerusalem artichoke and parsnips. These crops can produce as much as 5 to 20 times the calories per unit of area per unit of time. In biointensive farming, 30% of the land cultivated for food is used for root crops.
The use of open pollinated seeds ensures genetic diversity, and allows the farmer to be self-sufficient, harvesting seeds from his or her own plants, and cultivating varieties which are best suited to that particular region.
The Whole System: biointensive experts emphasize that because these techniques can result in intense productivity and high yields, the system must be practiced as a whole in order to prevent rapid soil exhaustion. The goal of the biointensive method is sustainability, but if the techniques concerning productivity are practiced without integrating the techniques concerning sustainable soil fertility, the soil may be depleted even more rapidly than with conventional farming methods. The most important element for building and maintaining sustainable soil fertility is the growing of 60% compost crops, proper composting techniques that incorporate the right balance of mature carbonaceous brown and green nitrogenous compost materials, and when possible, safe and legal human waste recycling.

Animals

The biointensive method typically concentrates on the vegan diet. This does not mean that biointensive farming must exclude the raising of animals. Animals, while not considered by biointensive practitioners to be sustainable, can be incorporated into biointensive systems, although they increase the amount of land and labor required considerably. The following is excerpted from an article on the topic of integrating animals into a biointensive system from the “Frequently Asked Questions” page on Ecology Action's website:

Livestock can fit into a [biointensive] system, but it usually takes a larger area [than growing a vegan diet]. Normally it takes about 40,000 sq ft of grazing land for 1 cow/steer (for milk/meat) or 2 goats (for milk/meat/wool), or 2 sheep (for milk/meat/wool). [In contrast] With [biointensive farming] and maximizing the edible calorie output in your vegan diet design, one person’s complete balanced diet can be grown on about 4,000 sq ft—a much smaller area.
The challenge [to growing animals for food] is that by 2014, 90% of the world’s people will only have access to about 4,500 sq ft of farmable land per person, if they leave an equal area in a wild state to protect plant and animal genetic diversity and the world’s ecosystems! As you will see from the information that follows on the land requirements for incorporating livestock, this becomes a challenge.

The article goes on to estimate the square footage required to grow fodder for various animals (and compost to replenish the soil), and provides a discussion on whether animal manure should be used as a fertilizer/compost supplement.

Promotion

In 2010, the UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) posted an article detailing the benefits of biointensive agriculture, Grow Biointensive System, a tool to fight against desertification.

Related Research Articles

Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and manure. The resulting mixture is rich in plant nutrients and beneficial organisms, such as bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and fungi. Compost improves soil fertility in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, urban agriculture, and organic farming, reducing dependency on commercial chemical fertilizers. The benefits of compost include providing nutrients to crops as fertilizer, acting as a soil conditioner, increasing the humus or humic acid contents of the soil, and introducing beneficial microbes that help to suppress pathogens in the soil and reduce soil-borne diseases.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to agriculture:

Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that uses fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia. Organic farming continues to be developed by various organizations today. Biological pest control, mixed cropping, and the fostering of insect predators are encouraged. Organic standards are designed to allow the use of naturally-occurring substances while prohibiting or strictly limiting synthetic substances. For instance, naturally-occurring pesticides such as pyrethrin are permitted, while synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are generally prohibited. Synthetic substances that are allowed include, for example, copper sulfate, elemental sulfur, and ivermectin. Genetically modified organisms, nanomaterials, human sewage sludge, plant growth regulators, hormones, and antibiotic use in livestock husbandry are prohibited. Organic farming advocates claim advantages in sustainability, openness, self-sufficiency, autonomy and independence, health, food security, and food safety.

Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming, conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural land area. It is characterized by a low fallow ratio, higher use of inputs such as capital and labour, and higher crop yields per unit land area.

Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem services. There are many methods to increase the sustainability of agriculture. When developing agriculture within sustainable food systems, it is important to develop flexible business process and farming practices. Agriculture has an enormous environmental footprint, playing a significant role in causing climate change, water scarcity, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation and other processes; it is simultaneously causing environmental changes and being impacted by these changes. Sustainable agriculture consists of environment friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without damage to human or natural systems. It involves preventing adverse effects to soil, water, biodiversity, surrounding or downstream resources—as well as to those working or living on the farm or in neighboring areas. Elements of sustainable agriculture can include permaculture, agroforestry, mixed farming, multiple cropping, and crop rotation.

Conservation agriculture (CA) can be defined by a statement given by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as "Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a farming system that can prevent losses of arable land while regenerating degraded lands.It promotes minimum soil disturbance, maintenance of a permanent soil cover, and diversification of plant species. It enhances biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the ground surface, which contribute to increased water and nutrient use efficiency and to improved and sustained crop production."

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to organic gardening and farming:

Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no surplus. Planting decisions occur principally with an eye toward what the family will need during the coming year, and only secondarily toward market prices. Tony Waters, a professor of Sociology, defines "subsistence peasants" as "people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace".

Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudo-scientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasizing spiritual and mystical perspectives.

Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs.

Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety preservation.

Agricultural soil science is a branch of soil science that deals with the study of edaphic conditions as they relate to the production of food and fiber. In this context, it is also a constituent of the field of agronomy and is thus also described as soil agronomy.

Agricultural sustainability in Northern Nigeria requires flexibility in both ecological management as well as economic activity. The population densities of the rural area in this region climbed from 243 to 348 people per square kilometer between 1962 and 1991, but the land area under permanent cultivation remained approximately the same. Increasing population results in high food demand among urban and rural dwellers, areas of cultivation, and reduced soil fertility. However, there are instances where frequent agricultural practices is not associated with degradation such as in Kano and neighboring region. Even though poverty and insufficient food exists in the region, it does not affect crop yield owing to sustained efforts to produce food in response to its high demand.

Soil management is the application of operations, practices, and treatments to protect soil and enhance its performance. It includes soil conservation, soil amendment, and optimal soil health. In agriculture, some amount of soil management is needed both in nonorganic and organic types to prevent agricultural land from becoming poorly productive over decades. Organic farming in particular emphasizes optimal soil management, because it uses soil health as the exclusive or nearly exclusive source of its fertilization and pest control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manure</span> Organic matter, mostly derived from animal feces, which can be used as fertilizer

Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that are utilised by bacteria, fungi and other organisms in the soil. Higher organisms then feed on the fungi and bacteria in a chain of life that comprises the soil food web.

French intensive gardening also known as raised bed, wide bed, or French market gardening is a method of gardening in which plants are grown within a smaller space and with higher yields than other traditional gardening methods. The main principles for success are often listed as soil improvement, raised beds, close spacing, companion planting, succession planting and crop rotation. Originating in France, the practice is very popular among urban gardeners and small for profit farming operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural farming</span> Sustainable farming approach

Natural farming, also referred to as "the Fukuoka Method", "the natural way of farming", or "do-nothing farming", is an ecological farming approach established by Masanobu Fukuoka (1913–2008). Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer and philosopher, introduced the term in his 1975 book The One-Straw Revolution. The title refers not to lack of effort, but to the avoidance of manufactured inputs and equipment. Natural farming is related to fertility farming, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, agroecology, agroforestry, ecoagriculture and permaculture, but should be distinguished from biodynamic agriculture.

Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil.

Soil regeneration, as a particular form of ecological regeneration within the field of restoration ecology, is creating new soil and rejuvenating soil health by: minimizing the loss of topsoil, retaining more carbon than is depleted, boosting biodiversity, and maintaining proper water and nutrient cycling. This has many benefits, such as: soil sequestration of carbon in response to a growing threat of climate change, a reduced risk of soil erosion, and increased overall soil resilience.

This glossary of agriculture is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in agriculture, its sub-disciplines, and related fields. For other glossaries relevant to agricultural science, see Glossary of biology, Glossary of ecology, Glossary of environmental science, and Glossary of botanical terms.

References

↑ "Biointensive agriculture".
↑ John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine ISBN 1-58008-233-5; "Biointensive agriculture".
↑ John Jeavons, 10 Speed Press, 2012. 256p.

External links

In addition to Ecology Action, which provides public outreach in the form of workshops, internship and apprenticeship programs, and public tours of their biointensive research mini-farm in Willits, CA, examples of groups and organizations around the world that use and teach biointensive techniques are:

Biointensive Agriculture Center of Kenya (G-BIACK)
Manor House Agricultural Centre (MHAC), also in Kenya
Common Ground for Africa (CGA) ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
Las Canadas in Aguascalientes, Mexico
Ecología y Población A.C. (ECOPOL) in Mexico
Biointensive for Russia (BfR)
Comunidad Biointensiva – a Spanish-language social networking site for people interested in biointensive agriculture and sustainability.
Ecology Action's Spanish-language website:
The Salt Lake City Green Program which maps the city's farmable land and uses biointensive as a reference point to enable its residents to determine how much food their land can produce.
The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food System

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[1] "Biointensive agriculture".

[2] John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine ISBN 1-58008-233-5; "Biointensive agriculture".

[3] John Jeavons, 10 Speed Press, 2012. 256p.

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