Evolution of Agricultural Technologies: from “Gray” to “Green”

Abstract

The evolution of agricultural technologies in the development of human civilization is considered. Based on this example, it is shown that a new stage in soil cultivation technology began in the 20th century. It is associated with the transition from extensive “gray” technologies for the management of natural resources, which are strictly oriented only by momentary economic feasibility, to nontraditional (“nature-based”) “green” farming technologies. A natural transition has taken place from the strategy of its development based on Ziegler’s principle of maximum entropy production to Prigogine’s strategy of minimum entropy production, which is based on the rationalization of the use of available resources for a dissipative structure on the planet, such as the human population. The foundation for the rationalization is nature-based technology for human use of natural resources. The theoretical justification of the inevitability of “green farming” is confirmed by the example of a long-term biosphere experiment on the development of agricultural technologies. This type of farming is characterized by a more economical method of tillage: partial or complete rejection of soil-turn plowing, the absence of vertical mixing of the arable layer, minimal disturbance of the soil cover by agricultural machines, and mandatory soil mulching (“no-till” or “mulch tillage”) in order to preserve the soil moisture and reduce soil erosion. The no-till soil processing system, i.e., the absence of interference in the natural processes of soil formation, is a modern farming system in which the soil is not processed and its surface is covered with specially crushed plant residues (mulch). It is illustrated that the no-till technology of direct sowing and mulching is currently being introduced in various regions of the planet with shallow, surface loosening or even complete rejecting tillage. It is shown that the application of the green farming technologies leads to rationalization of the use of not only energy and soil resources but also water resources, for which the situation is becoming increasingly tense for human civilization.