According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, Monoculture is the planting of a single crop on the same farmland year after year, which is extremely bad for soil health. The organization has found that planting the same crop over and over again depletes soil nutrients, which often leads farmers to apply large amounts of synthetic fertilizers—something that further degrades soil health in the long run.
Science reporter Emily Makowski for the Environmental Health News organization (EHN) adds that the practice contributes to a large portion of soil erosion, costing the U.S. an estimated $520 million in crop loss and $1.1 billion in health costs. Furthermore, farmers are growing more crops that require pollination, such as fruits, nuts and oilseeds, because there's an increasing demand for them and they have a higher market value. How does Monoculture Farming directly impact bees?
The lack of floral diversity contributes to an unbalanced diet and starvation in bees.
Increased application of pesticides on crops increases toxic exposure to bees.
There aren't enough beekeeper-managed honeybees to keep up with the increase in crops, leading to a decline in wild bees.
"walk to Caxton 4 / Monoculture 3" by ndrwfgg is licensed under CC BY 2.0
