With chemical fertilizers and pesticides it becomes necessary to increase the dosage or alter formulas as years go by. The last 50 years of intensive agro-chemical farming have been characterised by four distinct stages:
1. Honeymoon Period
The marriage between the farmer and the agro-chemical companies is blossoming. Everything is rosy in the agro-chemical garden. Massive increase in yields; the so-called High-yielding varieties (HYVs) produce high yields, farmers look forward to continuing succes in the future.
2. Period of Doubt
After some years the farmers notice that more and more inputs are required to produce the same results as before. They are spending more on external inputs but their income is at best steady if not falling.
3. Period of Despair
Then a stage comes when nothing grows unless the farmer uses massive doses of fertilizers and pesticides. At this stage he is ruining his soil, sub-soil and water resources. But often he now finds himself in a debt-trap owing to big losses incurred in previous years. He cannot go forward, neither can he go back.
4. Total Soil Collapse
The final stage is reached when the farmer plants the seed, gives the water and waits...
But nothing happens. Nothing will grow, not even weeds. Land that was once fertile and produced abundant crops has to be abandoned.
