Monocultures & Monoculturalism: A Cause Of Pandemics & Social Disharmony 

By Kirthi Tennakone –JULY 4, 2020

Prof. Kirthi Tennakone

A monoculture is one single genetically identical crop planted over a large cleared area. In a broader sense it means a species of plants or animals dominating a region. Our planet is essentially a monoculture of humans. This species marginalized all the other animals in occupying the biosphere. Humans have also promoted monocultures of plants and domesticated animals, eliminating varieties naturally present in the habitat. They are largely selective in choosing food and consume few brands of vegetables and animals raised as monocultures.  

Excessive monocultures are inherently insecure and susceptible to external influences. These systems can be maintained and developed only at a cost and degrade the environment.

Monoculturalism imply a different but conceptually related intension. It is the promotion of heritage or cult incidental to one group in the society. This attitude provoke distrust among communities, creating situations conducive to conflicts and consequent misery and economic downfall.

The dangers of monocultures and monoculturalism reflects the strength of diversity. 

Why It Is Harder To Maintain A Monoculture? And Why They Degrade The Environment? 

In nature different organisms live harmoniously interacting symbiotically and competitively. Disturbing this balance by concentrating one species into a large area costs much and create chaos in the environment outside the region. The above consequence follows from an immutable law of nature referred to as the ‘Second Law of Thermodynamics’ which states that orderliness in one region of a closed system can be achieved only by imposing disorder elsewhere in that system. A monoculture is more orderly than a forest where different species are mixed-up. Forests are natural and self-sustained, whereas monocultures are man-made and nourished at an expense.

Imagine a forest covered island where the inhabitants live solely on its resources. To establish a monoculture there; a portion of the land will have to be cleared, a crop planted and nurtured. All this work necessitates drawing material supplies and energy from rest of the island damaging the environment. The more orderly monoculture, inevitably creates disorder outside its confine.

Just like humans, pests and pathogens selectively choose their food getting accustomed to some specialties. A closely packed community of identical organisms would be a golden opportunity for them to proliferate moving from one host to the other. Whenever a monoculture establishes, sometime or other, the right pest or the pathogen will arrive, feed and breed there, weakening or destroying it. Thus monocultures poses the risk of epidemics, which turn into pandemics, when same types of crops or farm animals are adopted worldwide. Consequently, maintenance of monocultures frequently demand pest or pathogen control. Furthermore, in absence of symbiotic relationships between different species, a monoculture needs to be heavily supplemented with resources extracted from the exterior environment.

The ingenuity of Homo sapiens, permitted the civilization to circumvent the dangers of monocultures to some extent and expand overtaking all the other members of the animal kingdom. Nevertheless, they cannot stand indifferent to innate vulnerability of monocultures. Pandemics and disasters, are to be expected.  Such events sometimes change the course of history.

Irish Potato Disease That Changed The World 

Potatoes were first cultivated by South American Indians domesticating a wild variety. Although Spanish introduced the crop to Europe around 1570, it took more than one century to gain wide acceptance as a healthy substitute for wheat and maize. Compared to grains, potato growing turned out be easier and allowed utilization of inferior soils .The cheaper food resource increased the European population – potato starch calories fueled the industrial revolution providing the necessary workforce. To symbolize the virtue of the crop the French Royalty garlanded themselves with purple potato flowers. 

During 18th and 19th centuries Ireland has been a poor country in Europe, facing severe food insecurity. Potatoes proved to be a viable solution, when the planting of a favorite variety was expanded – making potatoes the staple food of Ireland. A previously unknown pathogen similar to a fungus struck the monoculture in 1845 rapidly spreading throughout the country, causing a famine of unprecedented magnitude lasting six years. Roads all over were packed with people begging and pleading for food. When crop failed penniless farmers weakened by hunger could not to pay the property rent. Landlords forcibly evicted them adding much to agony. Nearly one million died of starvation and illnesses caused by malnutrition – survivors resembled walking skeletons.  Another million migrated – mostly to United States.

The potato blight originated in Ireland rapidly spread into other parts of Europe divesting plantations everywhere. Economic distress aroused social agitation demanding reforms in land ownership, more liberal governance and freedom of expression. As a result many European monarchies fell or compelled to limit their authority – a reinvigoration of the spirit of French revolution – carried Europe further towards democracy. On the other hand Karl Marx attempted to interpret the potato blight as an outcome of the British imperialism.  The manifesto of the communist party by Marx and Engels was launched during the time of the potato crisis. Marx’s monograph “Das Capital” analyzed the Irish potato famine in terms of his ideology.  Perhaps the Irish potato blight had at least an indirect bearing on Russian revolution as well. 

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