Wow. Can we contrast this with a sustainable farm maybe?
Monoculture has been a boogeyman word for a long time now, but what does this word really mean? Well, the above photo is an example of one. So is a cornfield, wheatfield or anything else that is comprised of a single species. The word too has come to include a system that has more than one but so little diversity as to have the same deleterious effect.
The problem is several fold. The most talked about is the danger of disease outbreak. Oft quoted is the so called Irish potato famine with the lumper potato. Monoculture systems don’t cause the disease outbreaks, they just provide an uninterrupted platform for it to run unchallenged. Another problem with systems like this is that they aren’t a system at all, instead a plant species and some dirt. A planting rich in diversity however, is an ecosystem and with it comes all manner of benefits from better soil health, increased animal activity, preservation of plant species, reduced leaching and runoff, etc. This does not mean that agricultural beds need to be devoid of any monoculture, but rather that the landscape is richly diverse. This means smaller individual fields, hedgerows, similar crops distanced from each other, and a wide selection of different crops and wild species farm wide. This will go a long way in mitigating disease, improving soils, and attracting beneficials. Nicer to look at too.