celery. Even though it is a good money-maker, it would be difficult to market an excessive amount. Projections . Generally, it appears tqat the biodynamic/French intensive method will produce on the average 4-6 times the United States •national per acre average of protein source beans, grains and rice. These yields should be independent of climate and original soil conditions. Once the soil system becomes mature and balanced, vegetable and soft fruit yields will probably average 8 times the national per acre average and seed yields may be 4-8 times as high. In comparison with world averages, the method's expected yiel'ds would be 14.5 times higher for beans, grains and rice, 12~n:imes higher for vegetables .and soft fruits, and 8.9 times higher for seeds. Because foreign yields, especially in developing nations, are •much lower on the average than those in the United States, the method may have its greatest impact in these areas. In fact,• the world low in the bean, grain, rice category is 203 times lower than the yield expected with the'biodynamic/French intensive method. Testing under natural rainfall conditions still needs to be performed, however, as the method usually •uses light daily watering as an essential aspect of its t~chnique. A very low water use recor,d leads Ecology Action to believe these tests may prove favorable. At the-1east, yields 4 times greater than those already being obq1.ined in many developing countries using natural rainfall mc!y be possible. Solar Energy "Sharing the Sun! Solar Technology in the '70s" Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Aug. 15-20, 1976: Contact: February/March 1976 RAIN Page 9 World-wide Use It is easy to see why the biodynamic/French intensive method may be appealing ~o developing countries. The method requires low capital expenses for shovels, hoses, and other low-technology tools and needs only minimal fertilizer, water and energy. Its diversified approach to cropping which lends itself to the use of local foods and plants, its non-dependence on hybrid varieties (which require increased amounts of water and fertilizer) for increased yields, and its emphasis on producing a healthy soil able to create its own fertilizer through nitrogen-fixation, makes the method worthy of serious research for possible incorporation into these countries. The fact that it uses less water, fertilizer and fuels ma,.y even make it·possible to open marginal lands to cultivation. Jeavons' manual on the method's general techniques, How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine, is available from . Ecology Action, 2225 El Camino Real,. Palo Alto, CA 94306. Postpaid in the United States and Canada for $4.00 (surface book rate), $4.24 in California (including state sales tax) or $5,00 airmail. To other countries the cost is $5.00 for surface mail or $6.00 for airmail. Prepayment in U.S. funds is needed for all orders. Ovei: 20,000 copies have been purchased to date and the book is in use in countries such as Brazil, England, India, Australia, I~donesia, Mexico, Canada and Nepal; John Jeav0ns NOAA Solar Radiation Measurement Program, write: ' L. Machta, Director Air Resources Laboratories NOAA Boulder, CO 80302 William A: Reid, Gen. Chairman '76 SESC-ISES Joint Solar Cpnf. Solar Energy Society of Canada P.O. Box 13 5 3, Winnipeg Manitoba, CANADA R3C.2Zl 204-888-3280 • Investing in Solar Energy, free from: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration researchers are beginning a program aimed at maki~g precise measurements of solar radiation and recording how it varies with time, weather and location. The prograi;n will also provide 500-word abstracts due by March 1; completed manuscripts, from those.ac~ cepted, due by July 20. Exhibitors of solar equipment send details of space and power I1eeds to exhibits chairman no later than May 1, 1976. Merrill, Lynch; Pierce, Ft;nner & Smith 900 s.w. 5th Portland OR 97204 (Attn: Solar Energy Investing) 5 03:221-4637 or your nearest MLPF &S' office a new instrument calibration facility and, it is said, put solar energy data into a form scientists, architects and engineers can more readily utilize. ~ontinued O!) page 1 7
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