What Is The Next Agricultural Revolution? Horticultural – Frank A Hilario, 17 Nov 2019

I did not plan this, but this essay is dedicated to PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, who has a PhD in Horticulture from the national university UP Los Baños. 

Sunday, I came to think that:

Horticulture is the best way to fight climate change!
Horticulture is also the best Agriculture!

Original thoughts inspired by the news from Atlanta, Georgia, USA. "Atlanta Turns 7-Acre Vacant Lot Into Largest Free Food Forest In the Country[1]," Sara Burrows says. That's about 3 ha of horticulture in a citified forest – growing fruits, nuts, vegetables, mushrooms, and herbs for the citizens. There will be walking trails and a native forest restored.

A food forest means trees are welcome, nay necessary. So we turn to Horticulture, where trees are integral.

We need food crops, and
we need trees to fight climate change – so
we need food forests!

And the fastest way to have food forests is to turn Agriculture into Horticulture. In fact. Wikipedia tells me, "Horticulture has been defined as the agriculture of plants, mainly for food, materials, comfort and beauty for decoration[2]."

It is time to change Agriculture to Horticulture and put trees in their proper places in the food chain.

Horticulture has Floriculture, Olericulture, Ornamental Horticulture, and Pomology. Floriculture has to do with flowering plants, Olericulture with vegetables, Ornamental Horticulture with plant forms and foliage, and Pomology with fruit trees. With a food forest, you have several kinds of food:

Food for the body
Food for the eyes
Food for the mind.

Food for the mind? Contemplating Peace, Mother Nature, God.

With Agriculture changed to Horticulture, we now avoid climate change. How? Mostly, we avoid water evaporating from the soil surface, which makes the most significant greenhouse gas[3].

Now, which horticultural crops to grow?

Cacao is best grown with shade trees; coffee likewise. "Sun-Grown Vs Shade-Grown: How It Impacts The Environment And The Farmers" – Abby Chudnovsky, De La Gente[4] (image above from the same source). Cacao and coffee are commercial crops that are welcome anywhere in the world, but we need more than leisure & pleasure drinks – we need food!

So, in your own food forest, choose your food crops: fruits, vegetables, vines, livestock. For all, I recommend the native species.

I go back now to the subject of climate change. Robert Gebelhoff says, "Climate Change Isn't Just About Extreme Weather. Entire Ecosystems Are Collapsing[5]," and that is why I am interested in the concept of food forests. To stop climate change including ecosystems collapse, I believe:

The Practice of Agriculture must completely change into
the Practice of Horticulture all over the world!

The innovators among our farmers should now change their rice fields into food forests.

And of course, when you have food forests, you will have more birds and bees, not only the flowers and the trees.@517

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[1]https://returntonow.net/2019/06/27/atlanta-turns-7-acres-vacant-lot-into-largest-free-food-forest-in-the-country/

[2]R Arteca. 2015, Introduction to Horticultural Science, 2nd ed., Gengage Learning, Stamford, USA, p. 584. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horticulture

[3]"Climate Changer – Water Vapor Or Carbon Dioxide, I Go For The Female Logic!"

[4]https://www.dlgcoffee.org/news/2017/4/6/coffee-cultivation-sun-grown-shade-grown-and-how-it-impacts-the-environment-and-the-farmers

[5]https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/31/life-earth-is-groaning-under-weight-humanity-do-we-hear-it/