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In my limited knowledge of fertilizers the larger problem seems to be P and K which are sourced from mined minerals rather than air. It's possible to fix soil N
by berjin 4y ago
In my limited knowledge of fertilizers the larger problem seems to be P and K which are sourced from mined minerals rather than air. It's possible to fix soil N with legumes but I don't know of a sustainable solution for PK leaving the farm with crop outputs.
- schiffern 4y agoP and K are abundant in the world's agricultural soils. They just need to be 'eaten' (dissolved) by soil microorganisms.[1] The problem is that farmers have been taught to ignore the health of soil organisms and just apply a short-term bandaid chemical (vs biological) spray product, which causes more harm in the long-term. Take a wild guess who taught them that? [1] https://youtu.be/x2H60ritjag https://youtu.be/x2H60ritjag
- berjin 4y agoProbably companies like Bayer and Yara. I'm aware that chemicals like glyphosate are detrimental to fungi and soil bacteria. But I don't think regenerative farming with no mineral inputs is sustainable either. As this story shows there isn't always enough PK to pull out of the soil https://www.newsroom.co.nz/green-dream-pushes-farmers-into-red https://www.newsroom.co.nz/green-dream-pushes-farmers-into-r...
- schiffern 4y ago"Abundant" != "ubiquitous," but I see your point. There are always exceptions, but in aggregate (no pun intended...) the world's agricultural soils have no shortage of minerals. Ultimately, this might be a simple story of "better soil outcompetes lower quality soil." Stop the presses! :) But I don't see how one exceptional case invalidates the use of soil biology to break down in-situ minerals. I haven't evaluated their property, but they may benefit from relatively inexpensive glacial rock dust amendment. Sounds like their system could be rate-limited in the rock weathering step, not the biological activity.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]