Nature's Fields: A Neglected Model for Increasing Food Production

Abstract

Natural ecosystems can offer attractive models for sustainable crop production, but hitherto only relatively complex vegetation has been considered. This review focuses on simple vegetation with a single dominant species. There are many reports of wild relatives of rice, sorghum and wheat in simple, extensive, often annual and apparently stable natural stands. These ‘wild fields’ could provide appropriate models for the ecologically sound management of cereal fields. The authors suggest that early farmers had a working knowledge of the ecology of wild cereal vegetation: this was important during cereal domestication and subsequently in crop management. There is a need for field research on monodominant wild cereal vegetation to confirm the value of simple natural models and to provide an ecological pedigree for the sustainable management of fields for food production.