Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
nerships promoted strategies to help growers perceive the relationship
between ecological processes in the soil and crop plant health using cover
crops.
The fifth strategy takes advantage of synergistic benefits by integrating
components of farming systems. Partnerships help growers develop
integrated farming system plans and provide educational opportun-
ities through workbooks and workshops. These represent the most
sophisticated use of agroecological principles in conventional California
agriculture. Winegrape partnerships have used these strategies more
effectively than those of other commodities.
To put these strategies into action, growers and their consultants have
to be able to recognize how they provide benefits to their farming sys-
tems, and how their risks can be managed. Social networks, as described
in the next chapter, are essential to managing those risks with increased
knowledge, and to helping convert agroecological theory to action.
