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Sep 22, 2008
"We thrive and survive on planet earth as a single human family. And one of our main responsibilities is to leave to successor generations a sustainable future." --Kofi A. Annan
110 Years of Sustainable Agriculture
A plot of land on the campus of Auburn University shows that 110 years of sustainable farming practices can produce similar cotton crops to those using other methods. In 1896, Professor J.F. Duggar at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (now Auburn University) started an experiment to test his theories that sustainable cotton production was possible on Alabama soils if growers would use crop rotation and include winter legumes to protect the soil from winter erosion. Today, his experiment on the campus of Auburn University is the oldest, continuous cotton experiment in the world and the third oldest field crop experiment in the United States on the same site. The experiment, known as "the Old Rotation," has continued with only slight modifications in treatments and was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1988.