Opening History: Gaining Perspectives

Abstract

After Second World War, historical agricultural systems that gave pivotal roles to organics were effectively locked away, with a warning on the door ‘Liebig disproved it all!’. The recent digitalisation of a vast amount of historical literature gave us the key to unlock the door. It opens not to a dusty archive but to a land with great treasures. Entering it we regain a perspective on the pivotal roles of organics in agriculture but not without effort. We lost contact with the soil when after Second World War, we denied farmers’ practices and focussed at fertiliser industry instead. Proud of our construct, ‘modern agriculture’, we nevertheless positioned the statue of Liebig the frightening warrior in front. It is not easy to get rid of a mix of pride and fear. Still, historical evaluation helps us to uncover what was hidden and equips us to rediscover the roles of ever-local organics as administered by local farmers.