'Forest-friendly Farming': Article Summary

The article ‘Forest-friendly farming’ was published in the economist on the 6th of November 2008. The link to the article is: http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12551566

This article deals with the subject of how there is a possible variation to farming, which could lessen the negative impact of farming on the environment. It is common knowledge that all around the world, species are endangered or disappearing because their natural habitat is turned into farm land; this is especially applicable in the tropics. However, a team of researchers of Stanford University have discovered a method of farming, employed in the Western Ghats (mountain range in south-west India) that, although the area has been cultivated for over 2,000 years, still sustains its biodiversity. This is because the locals mainly cultivate areca palms, which are large, free standing trees, providing a habitat for the regional forest birds. These palms are usually grown alongside other species such as vanilla and bananas, which makes the plantations structurally complex therefore making them, like the forest, compatible for many species. Moreover, these plantations rely on mulches made of leaf debris coming from the forest, therefore making this form of agriculture dependent on an intact ecosystem.
Of course the solution here isn’t to start planting areca palms instead of rice; it is the cultivation of multiple crops, in addition to being slightly dependent on natural resources. This would, potentially, allow for benefits both economically and environmentally. Although this method may work in the given environment, I don’t believe it can be applied to all regions in the world. Firstly, certain regions may depend solely on one crop, which of course is potentially devastating in economic terms; however, changes to this system would probably do more harm than good. Secondly, the climate has to be right for a variety of plants to grow in. Moreover, this step does not really solve the problem for the need of farmland. It is a good step towards preserving the biodiversity in certain areas, yet it isn’t applicable to the entire world.