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The application of nitrogen fertilizer, whether as a synthetic input, manure or organic leguminous cover crop, is so common in agriculture that many growers believe it is an absolute necessity.
Jack Kittredge, past policy director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association, doesn't agree. “Anyone who thinks synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is necessary is not dealing with healthy soil,” he says. “It is the use of synthetic chemicals that has destroyed much of the biology in the soil. The result is lifeless soils that can no longer perform vital functions." 1
Generating three centimeters of top soil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue all of the world's top soil could be gone within 60 years.
Leaders created The Soil Health Institute to be an independent, nonprofit organization that adds value to the advancement of soil health.
Ray Archuleta ~ After his retirement from the NRCS in 2017, Ray founded Soil Health Consulting, LLC and Soil Health Academy, LLC to teach Biomimicry strategies and Agroecology principles for improving soil function on a national scale. Ray also owns and operates a 150-acre farm near Seymour, Missouri that he operates along with his wife and family.
In Farmacology, practicing family physician and renowned nutrition explorer Daphne Miller brings us beyond the simple concept of "food as medicine" and introduces us to the critical idea that it's the farm where that food is grown that offers us the real medicine.
By venturing out of her clinic and spending time on seven family farms, Miller uncovers all the aspects of farming—from seed choice to soil management—that have a direct and powerful impact on our health. Bridging the traditional divide between agriculture and medicine, Miller shares lessons learned from inspiring farmers and biomedical researchers and artfully weaves their insights and discoveries, along with stories from her patients, into the narrative. The result is a compelling new vision for sustainable healing and a treasure trove of farm-to-body lessons that have immense value in our daily lives.
Soil and Agriculture — The Origin of soil
Soil and Agriculture — The Origin of soil
Think back to prehistoric time. Algae came out of the water to live on rock. Lichens formed a symbiotic association of fungi and algae that colonize and break rock down into soil.
Then, algae provided a food source for microbes in the soil. However, they still must protect themselves against desiccation and diseases, so, algae secrete substances on their cell walls (exomaterials). Once there are enough algae in the soil, they provide a defense system and transfer this substance to the roots of plants.
When one thinks of natural resources, what comes to your mind first may be – air, water, wind…
However, soil is also a natural resource! Unfortunately, we are losing soil at an alarming rate. In a 2012, a report was released stating that we only have 60 years of topsoil left. Soil requires a primary producer (organisms that produce biomass from inorganic compounds). In this case, sunlight is our inorganic compound that is used in photosynthesis. Adding algae to soil will reintroduce a primary producer back into the microenvironment. Doing this cuts out the need for fertilizers.
Fertilizers contain nitrogen that acts as a food source. Runoff from farms contains nitrogen. The runoff leads to bodies of water with a healthy supply of algae. Normally, algae functions to clean up water, but the imbalance of nutrients and algae population throws off the environment. As this large source of nitrogen (from the fertilizer) enters the body of water, harmful and potentially toxic algal blooms can occur.
The use of fertilizers also damages the populations of primary producers in the soil. Even with the addition to fertilizers, the nutrients from the fertilizers aren’t always readily available to the plants. In addition, some crops fix nitrogen, such as soy beans and legumes. However, it is not the plant itself that does this, rather it is the nodules in their root systems. These nodules are colonized by cyanobacteria and form a symbiotic relationship with the plant. Really it is the nodules that are the functional unit that completes the work with nitrogen.
Algae and cyanobacteria that live in the soil photosynthesize. Photosynthesis provides a food source for higher trophic levels in the soil (think food chain). Algae also produces substances that retain water, thereby reducing a need for irrigation.
Non-photoactive organisms/components of the soil need some source of energy. This is where algae come in to play.
Since the primary producer of photosynthesis is a sugar molecule, this provides a food source. Therefore, photosynthesizers are the base of the food chain and are essential.
Algae is the base of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Soil contains nitrifying species, such as cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria make gaseous nitrogen available to plants in the soil. However, plants cannot take nitrogen up, so nitrogen must be converted to nitrate. This is done by nitrifying bacteria-- problem solved.
This interrelationship is why regenerative agriculture introduces soy beans, legumes, etc. because of their cyanobacteria colonized nodules.
With the introduction of algae in the soil, there is no need to rely on the cyanobacteria colonized nodules (i.e. the presence of soy beans and legumes).
[1] https://www.growingmagazine.com/education/research/farmings-role-nitrogen-cycle/
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