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Comment and Technology

Why monocultures aren't nearly as bad as you may think

The word "monoculture" is often used to signify all things bad about agriculture, even by environmentalists. But if you dive in to what it really means, you may be surprised, writes James Wong

By James Wong

30 September 2020

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

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AS SOMEONE who spends far too much time reading academic journals and far too little talking to real people, I find it fascinating how different the actual meaning of terms can be to how they are often used in popular culture. It is like the Alanis Morissette interpretation of “ironic” compared with, well, what the word actually means. Ironically, kind of ironic, you might say.

Of all the terms with colourful interpretations that I see used in conversations, in the media and online, perhaps the most common is “monoculture”, especially in the field of environmentalism. Far from this just…

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