The "organic versus conventional farming" debate that runs in hipster circles often ignores a hugely important aspect of agriculture: how either method impacts crop yields. It's pretty easy to rail against the evils of synthetic pesticides when the biggest ramification of your views is having to walk half a block out of your way or spend an extra $1.50 for an all-organic, non-GMO, shade grown, free-range, kale smoothie instead of a regular one.

But it's not quite as simple when trying to grow enough calories to sustain our planet’s growing population on a shrinking number of arable acres. A radical new venture, undertaken in rural China in 2009, has helped maximize crop yields, getting them within a hair of their theoretical maximum. And it didn't rely on any fancy new chemicals or technologies. Rather, it “deployed several time-honored education-extension methods coupled with innovative outreach mechanisms.” In other words, scientists moved in with and tutored the farmers.

In 2009, professors and graduate students from China Agricultural University went to live in farming communities in Quzhou County, about 300 miles south of Beijing. In order to determine why crop yields were so much lower than they could be, the scientists devised a clever experimental design: they asked the farmers. It turns out the farmers were not planting the best seed varieties for their local soil, they were not planting them at the optimal densities, and they were not applying fertilizers properly.

Much of this was due to market confusion. These farmers are marketed dozens of fertilizers and seed varieties but given very little information about them, so they often ended up making purchasing decisions just like we do when paralyzed with indecision upon facing too many delicious varieties of Doritos in the supermarket aisle: they bought based on price and advertising schemes rather than which one is best (nacho cheese, obviously [ed. note—Taco, actually]).

Farmers were also not sowing, irrigating, and harvesting during the optimal time windows, primarily because they are often working other jobs.

After gleaning this information from the farmers, the scientists made 10 recommendations to help optimize yields. The farmers vetted and modified the recommendations to make sure they were viable. The scientists reported that they then “engaged members of the community via in-person communication and social-cultural bonding.” In other words, they hung out with the farmers and explained how these changes could help them.

Within two years, the program has raised the yields of wheat and maize from only 67 percent of experimentally attainable yields to 97 percent. The farmers also had more agronomic knowledge, increased nutrient and water efficiencies, and saw better economic returns. And the farmers didn't just talk to the scientists; they talked to each other. The knowledge and benefits of this technology traveled like the wind to neighboring farming communities.

Nature, 2016. DOI: 10.1038/nature19368 (About DOIs).