Imagine there is a small island, like Malta, and the ecosystem has no external inputs (no fertilizer delivery, etc).
What does a sustainable plant based agriculture system look like? Are there already existing examples?
I’m very interested in how top soil is maintained without external fertilizer inputs?
One area of concern, I have, with modern monocrop farming techniques is the depletion of top soil, with something like 60 crop cycles left before we are current system falls over.
My understanding is that manure, and the crop rotation (three field system) both rely on animals; Does composting provide enough to replenish the soil sustainably?
The Three Sisters method, https://www.nal.usda.gov/collections/stories/three-sisters, has a ruminant cycle in it as well I believe.
I’m not sure, are ruminants acceptable as part of a plant based ecosystem?