Inevitability and Prospects of the Use of the “Green Farming” Strategy by Humanity

Abstract

The article presents the physical substantiation of the basic laws of ecology of B. Commoner. It is shown that the evolution of dissipative structures on the Earth, which include, amongst other things, living organisms and superorganismal systems, obeys a fundamental principle–Ziegler’s principle of maximum entropy production. However, when a system approaches its stationary state due to the exhaustion of the free energy available to the dissipative structures of the planet, evolutionary changes are replaced by the relatively slow processes of the optimization of the homeostasis of the emergent structures. At this stage, Prigogine’s principle of minimum entropy production becomes the main principle. It is shown that humanity found itself in this situation at the present stage of the Holocene, facing the inevitable need for rational use of the resources available to us. A similar rationalization was already implemented by Nature at the end of the previous stage of evolution (in the absence of man) based on the ability of biota (which developed over billions of years) to regulate and stabilize the biosphere of the planet. Therefore, at the present stage of evolution, B. Commoner’s law of ecology is manifested: nature knows better. It has been demonstrated that humanity is already in the situation of the operation of this law. Over the past two decades, the so-called “green economy” has emerged—a direction in economics in which it is believed that the economy is a dependent component of its natural environment and is a part of it. In particular, it is shown that the use of “green farming” is expanding in the field of agriculture and the associated water sector (especially in the arid and semiarid regions of the planet). It is largely compensating for the growing challenges to the food and water security of the population.