Kenyan farmers utilize local knowledge of ecological and sustainable farming practices to cope with pests, enhancing yields over industrial agriculture or monoculture, by up to 350 percent.
Executive summary: In East Africa, maize farmers are overcoming some of their most damaging plant and insect pests in an ecologically sustainable manner. A proven approach called the 'push-pull system' utilises ecology to improve yields by stopping plant and insect pests. A multi-year study in six districts of Kenya showed consistent maize yield gains for the push-pull system over monoculture, sometimes as high as 350 percent (Khan 2008). The integrated approach relies on ecological knowledge and diverse farming methods rather than chemicals or GE (genetic engineering).
Number of pages: 2
Counting the Costs of Genetic Engineering - the report documents numerous case studies demonstrating the adverse environmental, economic and social impacts of genetic engineering, suggesting sustainable agricultural solutions instead.
Benefits of Diversity in Rice Farming - case study of ecological / sustainable rice farming in China.