4.3 Recycling

In the natural forest, there is a nutrient cycle based on the soil. Everything comes from the soil and is returned to the soil. Because of this cycle, there is nothing unnecessary in nature. Everything needs and everything supports in turn. This cycle is a key point for proper use of resources but in agricultural practice, the cycle is always disturbed and problems are created.

In agricultural land, almost all biomass production is taken away from the land by harvesting. Almost nothing is left or returned, and only some minerals are added through chemical fertilizers which cause soil fertility depletion. In the case of commercial livestock, a farmer tries to keep as many cows or chickens as possible in a limited place, and all livestock and feed are purchased and fed from outside. The farmer may get good income by selling products. However at the same time, the farmer will face the problem of dealing with huge amount of cow or chicken dung, because there is not enough land to return it. This causes a sanitary problem in the area called livestock pollution. (This problem is very common in Japan.) In this way, breaking the cycle creates extreme problems. One is the fertility depletion due to too much organic matter.

The problems are created by a lack of knowledge of the nutrient cycle among farmers and agriculturists, and their tendency to specialization (thinking about one unit without considering its relation with others). Therefore, to solve the problem, it is very important to understand cycling and think how to recycle in agricultural practice. Recycling makes the proper relationship between farm elements (crop plants, animals, fish, trees, etc.) in order to have benefits for every element. Recycling is the key point in using available resources on the farm properly and reducing external inputs to farm production.

A Fishery Case Study
In the case of fisheries, specialists do not want to plant trees and grasses on the bank of the pond and have water plants in the pond because they think that tree shade and water plants reduce the plankton production of the pond and therefore fish production. They clean the pond and purchase the feed (input) from outside and sell the fish (production) to the outside. There is no recycling in this conventional practice and this creates some problems. The bank of the pond is broken by the rainfall so that re-excavation is needed, and oxygen deficiency due to lack of water plants causes fish diseases so that the use of medicine (chemicals) and the purchase of an oxygen supply machine are needed. They may get maximum production of fish but they will face many problems which sometimes cause the total failure of fishery or increases the cost of production for temporary solutions.

However, if trees and grasses are planted on the pond and the idea of recycling is introduced, much benefit will be gained.

1. The bank of the pond is protected by the trees and grasses so that no re-exclamation is needed
2. grasses (para, etc.) and leaves of trees (legume trees, etc.) can feed some cows
3. some ducks can be kept in the pond by feeding on water plants and others
4. cow and duck and organic matter from trees and grasses can be used as feed for fish, so that purchase of feed is not necessary
5. the water of the pond is kept clean by water plants (no oxygen deficiency) so that fish can live healthily
6. fruit production (papaya, banana, coconuts, limes, etc.) will be another source of income in a few years
7. other benefits such as the production of fuel and organic matter ofr soil fertilization as well as an ecological balance in the farm

This practice may reduce fish production somewhat but the increase in other sources of income (fish, cow, duck, fruits), reduced costs (almost no expenses) on external inputs (feed, etc.), and decrease in fish disease will result in more net income than that of the conventional fishery. In this way, the problem will be solved by applying the idea of recycling and much benefit will be gained from it. It is only necessary for the fishery specialists to be released from their specialization trap.