Reshaping agriculture toward a transition to a post-fossil bioeconomy

Abstract

This work tackles the need to overcome the dependence of our societies on fossil energy sources and to establish a productive model focused on the highest harmonization with biological processes based on renewable energy sources. The first step is to start from agriculture. The productive success of industrial agriculture is entirely based on the energy of darkness, the fossil resources, while the traditional form of peasant agriculture trusts entirely on the energy of light, i.e. the radiative energy coming from the sun. This energy, through photosynthetic carbon assimilation, is stocked into the soil in the form of organic matter; it represents the “second” energy source (after sunlight) of the agro-ecosystem. Protecting the soil, preserving its organic content, and sustaining its biological functioning are the essential elements of a “paradigm shift”: From industrial agriculture to agro-ecology. This paper presents and discusses the contents and the forms of this possible transition, its obstacles, and chances. The new approach should be multifunctional and diversified, local based and self-sustained.