Benefits
Ecological farming involves the introduction of symbiotic species, where possible, to support the ecological sustainability of the farm. Associated benefits include a reduction in ecological debt and elimination of dead zones.
Ecological farming a pioneering, practical development which aims to create globally sustainable land management systems and encourages review of the importance of maintaining biodiversity in food production and farming end products.
One foreseeable option is to develop specialized automata to scan and respond to soil and plant situations relative to intensive care for the soil and the plants. Accordingly, conversion to ecological farming may best utilize the information age, and become recognized as a primary user of robotics and expert systems.
Challenges
The challenge for ecological farming science is to be able to achieve a mainstream productive food system that is sustainable or even regenerative. To enter the field of ecological farming, location relative to the consumer, can reduce the food miles factor to help minimize damage to the biosphere by combustion engine emissions involved in current food transportation.
Design of the ecological farm is initially constrained by the same limitations as conventional farming: local climate, the soil's physical properties, budget for beneficial soil supplements, manpower and available automatons; however long-term water management by ecological farming methods is likely to conserve and increase water availability for the location, and require far fewer inputs to maintain fertility.
