Northeastern University professor Gabriela Garcia studies the relationship between people and plants. And it’s an often misunderstood relationship. She’s especially interested in how decisions are made by farmers on small farms, which often operate on shoestring budgets with limited resources. Why is she interested? Because, Garcia says, more than 80% of the world’s farms are small, operating on one to five acres. So the global food supply depends on them. But, she says, outside the United States, most small farms don’t have agricultural insurance that protects them during low-yield years when revenues can drop by 70%. “There’s all sorts of uncertainty,” Garcia says.
One phenomenon that contributes to low yields and has been largely overlooked, Garcia says, is something called “alternate bearing” — a pattern of fruit and nut trees producing high yields one year, followed by years of low yields. In recently published research, Garcia and her collaborators — including Northeastern’s Laura Kuhl — developed a framework for how to better understand the impact of alternate bearing, which they say is often overlooked in discussions of resilient farming. They hope the research encourages others to join them in exploring the ecosystems of farms. And help study trees that produce things like apples, avocados, olives, pistachio and coffee.
