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SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

Rowen White, a student at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, is using Iroquois farming techniques as part of an experiment in adapting traditional Native American practices to commercial farming.

Commercial farms are planted in what is known as a monoculture system, or one crop at a time. Traditional farming involves intermingling crops in a polyculture system.

Polyculture fields can produce the same yield as monoculture ones, says Stephen Gliessman, a agricultural specialist at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Gliessman also says monoculture farms require more fertilizer and pesticide and are more susecptible to predators.

Get the Story:
FARM SCENE: Iroquois student reviving traditional farming (AP 9/6)

Relevant LInks:
Hampshire College - www.hampshire.edu