Farmers will be attending an All Party Parliamentary Group meeting on Tuesday so MPs can hear first-hand why they use agroecological methods on their farms.
They will be joined by Farming Minster David Heath MP, who will meet the farmers and hear what they are doing.
The event involves 14 farmers from a diverse assortment of farms from dairy to horticulture, traditional mixed farms and even agroforestry, combining trees and crops.
They will explain to MPs the wide variety of techniques they use to ensure their farms are productive and efficient, while also producing a range of benefits to society and the environment. At the same time, they are mindful of economic reality, explaining that using farm management methods grounded in biology makes sound financial sense too.
What unites this diverse group of farmers is their decision to move beyond the conventional, industrial farming of the past half century. This model, based on monocultures and chemistry, has led to a range of problems, from environmental degradation to the loss and diminishment of rural livelihoods and the contamination of the food chain.
Farmer Tom Chapman, who will be at the event, said: "As farmers, we have a choice. We can either fight nature or we can work hand-in-hand with it. Our grandfathers and great grandfathers worked with nature; they had little choice! However, for the best part of 80 years we have been fighting nature.”
"For me, agroecology isn't turning our back on 21st century science. Instead it is about understanding how the natural world operates and then tailoring our activities to be 'in sync' with nature. As a result our reliance on artificial props reduces and their use becomes more targeted and case-specific.”
Agroecology uses biological techniques to improve farming and takes into account the social and economic context within which farming takes place. The approach is based on ecological systems, using them to build soil structure and fertility and manage pest and diseases. Agroecology is multifunctional and produces copious benefits, as opposed to more sterile monocultures.
Writer and biologist Colin Tudge said: “We need to enter The Age of Biology: truly acknowledging that all human endeavours, including or especially politics and economics, must take account of the physical and ecological realities of the Earth. Agroecology is farming that is rooted in this key idea.”
