Permaculture and Sustainable Agriculture Quiz

Overview of Permaculture

• Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems.

• It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking and applies these principles in fields such as regenerative agriculture, town planning, rewilding, and community resilience.

• Permaculture uses creative design processes based on whole-systems thinking, considering all materials and energies in flow that affect or are affected by proposed changes.

• It has been criticised as being poorly defined and unscientific, with critics pushing for less reliance on anecdote and more peer-reviewed research.

• Permaculture draws from disciplines including organic farming, agroforestry, integrated farming, sustainable development, physics, meteorology, sociology, anthropology, biochemistry, engineering, and applied ecology.

• Permaculture was coined in 1978 by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, who formulated the concept in opposition to modern industrialized methods instead adopting a more traditional or "natural" approach to agriculture.

• The concept had broadened from agricultural systems towards sustainable human habitats.

• Permaculture has many branches including ecological design, ecological engineering, regenerative design, environmental design, and construction.

• Permaculture emphasizes patterns of landscape, function, and species assemblies, and seeks to minimize waste, human labor, and energy input while maximizing benefits through synergy.

• Permaculture design is founded in replicating or imitating natural patterns found in ecosystems because these solutions have emerged through evolution over thousands of years and have proven to be effective.

• Permaculture design principles include layers, guilds, edge effect, zones, and people care.

• Suburban and urban permaculture is a common practice of creating community-managed agriculture or farm sites, but challenges for developing suburban or urban permaculture differ greatly as a result of how the built environment is designed and property is treated in particular areas of the world.Permaculture: Sustainable Agriculture

• Raised beds imitate natural nutrient cycling and high water-holding capacities of organic detritus while also improving bed structure and drainage properties.

• Vermicomposting is a practice involving the use of earthworms to break down green and brown waste, producing worm castings that can be used to organically fertilize the garden.

• Natural building employs abundantly available natural materials and draws heavily on traditional architectural strategies found in various climates. It attempts to lessen environmental impacts of buildings without sacrificing comfort, health, or aesthetics.

• Rainwater harvesting is the accumulation and storage of rainwater for reuse before it runs off or reaches the aquifer. Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, which can be recycled for uses such as landscape irrigation and constructed wetlands.

• Domesticated animals are often incorporated into site design and are a critical component of any sustainable ecosystem. Activities that contribute to the system include foraging to cycle nutrients, clearing fallen fruit, weed maintenance, spreading seeds, and pest maintenance.

• Sheet mulching mimics the leaf cover that is found on forest floors and can generate healthy, productive, and low-maintenance ecosystems. It serves as a "nutrient bank" storing nutrients contained in organic matter and slowly making these nutrients available to plants.

• Grazing, when modeled after nature, can have a positive effect on the environment. Cell grazing is a system of grazing in which herds or flocks are regularly and systematically moved to fresh range with the intent to maximize forage quality and quantity.

• Keyline design is a technique for maximizing the beneficial use of water resources. It was developed in Australia by farmer and engineer P. A. Yeomans.

• Permaculture advocates heavily restricted pruning. Fruit trees should be raised entirely without pruning, allowing them to form healthy and efficient natural branch patterns.

• Marine permaculture, including seaweed farming, employs natural processes to regenerate marine life.

• Permaculture has been criticized as being poorly defined and unscientific. Critics have pushed for less reliance on anecdote and extrapolation from ecological first principles in favor of peer-reviewed research to substantiate productivity claims and to clarify methodology.

• Permaculture is not yet a mainstream scientific tradition and lacks the resources of mainstream industrial agriculture.