Agriculture

'''Begins with "Initial Issues" as a section heading, but there are no subsequent section headings. Discuss agriculture in relation to short/medium/long terms. This page is clearly an elaboration upon the Human Needs page, especially in relation to food. Make this page consistent with that.'''

Initial Issues
Current agricultural business forces farmers to repurchase seeds each year to generate income by genetically modifying seeds to destroy their ability to re-germinate after each crop cycle. ['''This claim needs a reference. Explain how these seeds are genetically modified and how these modifications render them infertile.'''] This could be a problem for agriculture as non-genetically modified seeds could be hard to come by, and the supply of genetically modified seed could be destroyed in the apocalypse, stolen, or unattainable due to hoards of Ferals or vast distance between supplies. The need to establish a re-germinating crop before the seed supply runs out becomes important. ['''Isn't this the point of heritage varieties? Explain what these are. Source, obviously.''']

The soil has been left barren for multiple years before agriculture is re-established creating less fertile land that could cause problems of poor crop turnout for the first few years of crop rotation. [Tense is off here.] Any natural disasters such as droughts or floods would most likely completely destroy crops due to the already unstable survivability rate on the poor soil. [Presumably, if they aren't self-seeding, they wouldn't reproduce themselves the next growing season.]

Hunting would be the initial source of meat as sustaining a farm with livestock would attract hungry Ferals, and be too much of a burden in the initial apocalyptic world.[Wouldn't be out hunting risk exposure to and ambush by Ferals?] Animals don’t appear to be able to contract the disease so there is no worry of getting infected from eating an animal. The animal population is depleting quickly because the Ferals are eating them at a rapid rate along with the surviving humans needing food. [Doesn't this make animals a risky source of food in the long-term?]


 * If you had the capability to house animals during the night and performed overwatch security [What is this?] while having them graze you could probably keep them alive.


 * Initially you could gather as many seeds as possible to grow indoor crops with hydroponics, and/or use a greenhouse method to ensure they get the proper atmosphere, sunlight, and protection from the environment. [Switching back and forth between plant and animal is confusing. I'd recommend a section on each rather than blending them together.]


 * Making use of jarring and canning food for storage in cellars during the winter months will also have to be implemented. [A link/source on this? "How to make raspberry jam?"]


 * The land becoming less fertile is not the issue so much as how dead the soil is from pesticides and fertilizers when the Pandemic happens, but rather it is still alive. [Very confusing.] With the industrial farming practices destroyed,[You didn't really define/discuss this in detail. Make a subsection above or do so on a separate page.] it is more likely the soil will become more usuable again.[Sources on soil depletion?] Crop implementation [?] will also need to be used when building farming communities.