Should we abandon agriculture altogether?

Description

This suggestion may sound mad. If so, this likely comes from an understanding of agriculture as equivalent to the practice of producing food, and to suggest producing no more food would be absurd. That is not what we suggest here, rather the opposite. This contribution calls upon the exploration of agroforestry systems and the environmental and cultural ecosystem services they can provide against the need to create resilient food provision in a net zero society. This includes the benefits of carbon sequestration, biodiversity restoration, recreational and educational benefits, and, last but not least, food production. Polycultural agroforestry, drawing on woody species, other perennials and plant-fungal symbiosis, has serious potential to replace “agriculture” (as we know it), and it is a form of regenerative agroecology that goes beyond more established alternatives such as organic, yet treeless, growing in monoculture.