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What soil bacteria? Modern agriculture tills soil microorganisms to death then is forced up to make up the difference in fertility with oil-derived nutrients. O

• ncmncm 6y ago
  Regardless of misgivings about American farm practices, it is undeniably cool that ammonia-saturated water can have its ammonia fixed so very quickly by bacteria that have not in thousands of generations encountered saturated ammonia solution. Use of ammonia fixed by local wind power should be less objectionable than numerous other common farm "inputs". In particular, injecting nitrogen deep under the surface should result in much less nitrate-saturated runoff to streams and thus, ultimately, algae blooms offshore, than we get with spraying. That said, the tragic loss of buckwheat from world diets is a direct consequence if it not yielding more in response to fertilizers. That is tragic because it has better protein than any other grain. A buckwheat that produces more when fertilized would be a great gift to the world.