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Comment by Mistletoe | Hacker News Reader

I'm pretty sure if the average household engaged in basic permaculture we would all start to starve like Sri Lanka.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/7/15/23218969/sri-la...

I'm an avid gardener and I love the environment but we have to realize the real numbers for how we feed ourselves. It would take about one acre of land to feed yourself on wheat in a year.

>An estimated value of 720 pounds of wheat is said to be consumed by a family of four yearly. 60 pounds of wheat can be got from a bushel. Since a bushel of wheat can be grown on 0.25 acre of land, you’ll need 0.75 acres of land per person. You’ll need approximately 3 acres of land for growing wheat and grain yearly for a family of four.

https://permaculturism.com/how-much-land-does-it-take-to-fee...

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I think you're misunderstanding what a household engaging in basic permaculture means. It doesn't mean that they have to grow all their own food. It doesn't mean all farms have to switch to permaculture overnight.

Is wheat the most impactful-per-area crop? Would other crops yield sufficient quantities in smaller areas compared to wheat?

As others mentioned, the original idea is to supplement, and not replace. If every household strove to grow at least some of its food, we could probably reduce our need to transport, store, and distribute edibles by a non-insignificant amount. And the GP's point especially revolves around the lack of effort involved. While some crops require a lot of preparation and attention, in the case of "weeds" like dandelion, the effort can be no greater than walking outside and pulling them from the ground.

I believe rice is.

The commenter you're responding to didn't suggest changing anything about our current food supply, other than to _add_ residential permaculture.

I think the calculations are off here. The USDA lists average wheat yield across all types to be between 44 and 49 bu/acre from 2020/21-2023/24. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/wheat-data/

Plus,the University of Nebraska mentions this regarding winter wheat:

A review of seedling rates vs. yield potential is helpful. On average, there are 22 seeds per head and 5 heads per plant, or 110 seeds per plant. With an average seed size of 15,000 seeds per pound or 900,000 seeds per bushel, a pound of average-sized seed with 80% germination and emergence has a yield potential of approximately 1.5 bushels per acre. Seeding 40 lb of seed with a weight of 15,000 seed per pound has a yield potential of 60 bushels per acre. https://cropwatch.unl.edu/2019/determining-seeding-rate-wint...

You know I think you are right and that this often repeated answer on the internet may be wrong or maybe the yield you can get using permaculture type methods at home is drastically lower than professional farmers using fertilizer and industrial equipment (very likely).

Let's say a home grower could maybe get 1/4 of a professional farmer's yield. 45/4= 11.25 bushels per acre is 675 lbs per acre, which would be enough for four people for a year.

It makes me feel better about the feasibility of growing my own grains and living on it in an apocalypse. I've always wanted to try growing a field of wheat or something in my backyard. Maybe I'll try it someday. I've often wondered if garden grown grains and bread would have the same massive difference in quality and taste that you get with a homegrown tomato vs. store-bought.

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