MONOCULTURE
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2190 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, General information, Human sciences |
- “The cultivation of a single crop to the exclusion of other crops on the land, i.e. in contrast to having a variety of different crops on the same land” (Template:Ency entity — Template:Ency entity, 1983, p.18).
- “Monocultures are often very susceptible to pests and diseases because of their concentration” (Ibid).
Monoculture is a typical violation of ASHBY's Principle of Requisite Variety. It is also a typical case of suboptimization in the name of maximization.
This problem is of much wider scope than agricultural. One could speak of mono-anticulture in the fight against pests and pathogens, where we produce evermore resistant strains by a kind of “inverse selection”.
One may even wonder if the present human overwhelming population explosion is not the result of a kind of gigantic and unconscious “monoculture” experiment. It is at least characterized by a massive destruction of biological variety and seems to lead to an increased susceptibility to global “pests and diseases because of… concentration”
The Template:Ency entity-Template:Ency entity glossary proposes “multiple use” as a corrective policy, i.e. the “coordinated management and planning for the most judicious and harmonious use of the land on a long term basis under the concept of combining two or more uses and/or purposes with attention to sustainability and nonimpairment fo the natural resources” (Ibid).
A general understanding of the systemic and cybernetic concepts and models seems a prerequisite for the adoption by economists, politicians and social leaders of corresponding politics worldwide.