Blended solution

“But as a scientist, I don’t like that as the solution," Sanchez says. "And I will not preach it as the solution. I want to integrate that with organically-produced nutrients.”

Organic nutrients, such as fertilizing cover crops, have worked out for Bill Mason and his conventional-farming neighbors are taking notice.

“I think there’s ideas that we’re using that are carrying over to the conventional world,” Mason says.

So the ideal solution to feeding a world of nine billion might not necessarily be a choice between organic or conventional farming, but rather a blend of both.