Soil Health: You Can Help
by Tim McGee, Helena, MT, USA on 01.27.08
Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” Our civilization depends on the fertility of soil, yet soil scientist Daniel Richter says the soils of the world have been so changed by humans that it is now appropriate to call this the "Anthropocene (or man-made) Age". But what will this new stratum of soil foretell?
“Society’s most important scientific questions include the future of Earth’s soil.” says Richter. "Can soils double food production in the next few decades? Is soil exacerbating the global carbon cycle and climatic warming? How can land management improve soil’s processing of carbon, nutrients, wastes, toxics and water, all to minimize adverse effects on the environment? Each of these questions require long-term observation and analysis, and we know far too little about how to answer them in much detail," he said. "We need to work to sustain soils with a greater sense of urgency.”
The immensely quotable Richter continued, "This is an old story writ large of widespread cropping without nutrient recycling, with the result being soil infertility," he said. "And agriculture is only part of the reason why soils are so rapidly changing. Expanding cities, industries, mining and transportation systems all impact soil in ways that are far more permanent than cultivation."
To study this immense and weighty problem Richter, a professor of soils and ecology at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, along with his colleagues throughout the world have established the first global network of long-term soil experiments. Their objectives are to raise awareness of how fundamental soil health is to our civilization, and to better coordinate the worlds research into soil science.
What more, the Long-Term Soil Ecosystem Studies on their front page asks for your help:
"We seek individual scientists, managers, & students, but also institutions & the general public to help build this inventory and network."
"If humanity is to succeed in the coming decades, we must interact much more positively with the great diversity of Earth's soils," said Richter's recent paper in the journal Soil Science. He couldn't be more correct, and is willing to interact with the world to get the job the done. For all of the soil geeks out there, follow the links to get started.
:: Long Term Soil Ecosystem Studies
via :: Duke News
The US already spends lots of its farm able land to grow landscaping plants, so we could in theory divert those areas to food crops if needed. Same for much of the greenhouse space in the US.
LED grow lights +hydroponics+ solar heating could mean nearly year round growth in a green house. in several states at least.
I think the average person is out of touch with reality of how much land would be needed to feed their family, the average suburban yard would not support a garden big enough to feed the average family, no matter how skilled and knowledgeable the person, and many have grown out of touch with how to grow their own food.
I myself would starve with my limited green thumb skills!
Soil health is (or should be) the primary concern of our future ("our" meaning humanity and all the living species that are dependent on living soil...which is nearly everything).
". . .the primary concern of any society is agricultural. Without the production of food; society ceases to exist; agriculture and its corollary components are the base of human existence. Until the Industrial Revolution, the world was based on agrarian societies. We planned our years based on agricultural cycles; we lived near the soil. Now we think of soil as something dirty. It is something dead and dusty that gets tracked into the house and must be vacuumed up and disposed of. At best, we look upon soil as an inert medium in which we grow plants (and will at least deign to have some inside for houseplants). . .we consider ourselves the benefactor of the agricultural cycle. However, we are not the end product of agriculture; plants and produce are not the final product either. Soil is the product of agriculture. The difference between vegetable produce and soil as end products, at first, seems subtle; however, the implications of this difference and the aims of agriculture based on one or the other are significant. Broadly, If produce is the end result and all manner of supplementary resources are allowed into the system to ‘maximise production’, soil health becomes a secondary consideration. If soil is the primary factor, the supplementary resources that may seemingly benefit plant growth are more carefully evaluated based on their effect on soil health."
A lot of that farmeable land isn't just sitting idle. It's helping to diversify all sorts of critters that can't live on land being farmed. So no, it cannot be simply used.
Do you live in the Northeast? I just returned from the Northeast Organic Faming Association's five-day workshop on Organic Land Care Management. If you want to know how to protect soil health, there is no better place to learn it. The Massachusetts and Connecticut courses are over, but you can still go to the Rhode Island workshop in late February. Don't miss it!
I absolutely agree with you that we should take serious this topic considering the growing population. We take it for granted that we have food on our table but I would say that in ten years time we would suffer shortage of that. I haven`t discovered yet how healthy and fertile is our soil around our Toronto neighbourhoods but undoubtedly I would have a check on it. I think that this topic should be brought up more frequently to make people realize the importance of their environment.
nice
This is really very important issue. We should work collectively to preserve our soil.