Permaculture: A New Way of Growing Essays -- Agriculture Farming Envir

Permaculture: A New Way of Growing Permaculture is a term created in 1978 by Bill Mollison and one of his students, David Holmgren. Bill Mollison is an Australian ecologist who combined the words "permanent" and "agriculture." Holmgren and he defined permaculture as: "An integrated, evolving system of perennial or self-perpetuating plant and animal species useful to man." (Holmgren xix).A newer definition of permaculture that Holmgren mentions in his book is "Consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fiber, and energy for the provision of local needs." (Holmgren xix).Both definitions leave room for the evolution of the agricultural system. Conventional methods of agriculture deplete the land and its productivity over a period of time and remove beneficial interactions by excessive chemical dependence for pest control and fertilization. Employment of permacultural techniques, however, allows the farmer to not only grow healthy food, but also serve many other purposes at the same time: reduced chemical dependence as well as soil erosion while actually contributing to maintain productive, healthy soil to name only a few. Permaculture is about growing plants using the environment, and encouraging the restoration of balance in the environment. It is a technique that co-operates with the land and the environment, nurtures it to grow healthy food instead of abusing or forcing it to be productive. It aims to create an ecological system that is efficient, self-sustaining and productive, at the same time also in harmony with the environment. It can be used with either commercial agriculture or domestic agriculture. While the benefits of per... ...t to produce higher yields and using less chemical pesticides and herbicides, thus creating an increased profitability. The system is more stable due to the higher biodiversity, thus it is less susceptible to diseases. Permaculture is an economical concept because of increased profitability and productivity, and minimization of costs by reduction of chemical usage. Works Cited Hemenway, Toby. "A Toolbox, Not a Tool." Whole Earth 106 (2001)93-94. Holmgren, David. Permaculture: Principals and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. Holmgren Design Services: Hepburn, Australia, 2002. Janchitfah, Supara, and Vasana Chinkvarakorn. "Organic Matters." New Internationalist 323 (2000): 26-27. Sullivan, Dan. "On Your Turf." Organic Gardening 51 (2004): 11. Williams, Greg, Emily Polk, and Peter Warshall. "Permaculture: Hype or Hope?" Whole Earth 106 (2001): 90-92.