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[email protected] frlpwr@flash.net is offline
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Default "collateral included deaths in organic rice production [faq]"

dh@. wrote:

>, anyone who knows anything at all about
> animals can easily understand how the machinery,
> spraying and complete changes of environment kill them.


Anyone who knows anything at all about farming knows that these deaths
can be greatly reduced by following simple ecologically sensitive
farming practices. Undisturbed field margins, for instance, give
animals a safe haven when machinery is in the field. Sprial cutting,
inside to outside, patterns during harvest leave animals an avenue of
escape. No-till or low-till crops spare non-mobile young.
Biological control of insect larva and species specific use of IPM
don't impact the reproductive capability of field animals. High
residue combining, manner of irrigation and control of run-off are
other sound practices and I'm sure there are some I've left out.

Not only do these enlightened farming practices save animals, not
something most farmers are concerned about, they slow desertification
of agricultural lands. That's something farmers care about or should
care about very much.

> If any person can't, that necessarily means they have no
> understanding at all about how the processes influence
> animals, probably because they're afraid to think about
> it for some personal reason(s). It undoubtedly shows that
> they have no understanding or interest in how humans
> influence animals during rice production.


It's simple. Only grow rice on natural floodplains where wildlife have
evolved survival strategies to cope with the cycle of flooding and
draining. If you can't grow rice without creating ecological mayhem,
grow something else.