An Agricultural Testament

Sir Albert Howard was the first pioneer of the organic method. The son of a Shropshire farmer, he studied agriculture at Cambridge University, then expanded his knowledge in a lifetime of practical research and study in the West Indies, India and England. An Agricultural Testament, his exposition of his practice theories of agriculture, remains a landmark work over 60 years after its original publication.

"Can mankind regulate its affairs so that its chief possession - the fertility of the soil - is preserved?" he asked. "On the answer to this question the future of civilization lies."

The organic method can trace its roots to this question. For Sir Albert examined the history of agriculture in many societies and in nature. He observed that those societies which most closely approximated nature's methods of husbandry had the longest histories. In nature he noted that "the forest manures itself." In India he observed that the natives with the healthiest crops and animals were those who eschewed chemical fertilizers for natural manures.

As a generalist, Sir Albert shunned the conventional—now almost traditional—forms of agricultural research for practical testing. He was opposed to research conducted by teams of specialists, each working on a fragement of the whole, each contributing an isolated splinter of knowledge.

In his major experiment, conducted over a period of 25 years in India, Sir Albert Howard farmed 75 acres, observing and testing the parts and the whole. His work suggested a system of farming—the organic method—which offered what is still the best answer to his question.

To read more visit http://www.biostim.com.au/sustainable-agriculture.html1