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Part 2
Scientists at the International Soil Reference and Information Centre in the Netherlands estimated in 1999 that mankind has degraded more than 7.5 million square miles of land. Our species, it would seem, is rapidly trashing an area the size of the US and Canada combined. A significant contributor to this degradation process is the rush to produce ever bigger mechanical harvesters, some weighing up to 15 tons. These massive machines mash wet soil into a well nigh impenetrable slab. Roots can’t penetrate the compacted ground, water drainage is poor; the water runs off causing erosion. The manufacturers of these giant machines are well aware of the damage done to the land due to compaction. Their solution to the compaction problem is to fit bigger tyres on the machines to spread the load. Farmers look at these machines as their salvation as they thunder through the cornfields – however in the long run they may be destroying their livelihoods and the very livelihoods of future generations. Unfortunately compaction is merely a small component in the mosaic of interrelated problems inflicting damage to soils all over the planet. “We are fast running out of dirt” - is a quote by a geologist at the University of Washington.
The Loess Plateau in China is a classic example of bad soil management due to rushing headlong into full scale, but untried farming practices – a system, the Dazhai Way, adopted by the Chinese government has resulted in the exacerbation of soil erosion by the Yellow River, deemed to be the worst erosion problem in the world to date. The Loess Plateau is about the size of France, Belgium and the Netherlands combined.
Opposed to this the Keita Project established 25 years ago by the Italian government of the day, has transformed 1,876 square miles of previously barren mountainous country in central Niger into an agricultural near miracle, which is now home to some 230,000 people. The project entailed tree planting to attenuate winds, lines of fist sized stones to slow the pace of eroding rainwater flow and a dam building program to conserve water from the seasonal rains.
There was a famine in Holland during the years 1944 – 45 one Dutch family survived on a minute plot of plaggen soil; land enriched by generations of careful cultivation. This family are grateful for their ancestors care of the land, without this care the whole family might have died.
Haiti is a classic example of soil mismanagement. Today less than 4% of Haiti’s forests remain and in many places the soil has eroded right down to bedrock. Haiti has to import some 400,000 tons of rice annually. The deputy director of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Haiti is quoted as stating “That’s as it should be, food self-sufficiency is not necessarily the goal. If it makes economical sense for them to sell mangoes and import rice then that’s as it should be”. The trouble is the farmers can’t sell enough mangoes to afford imported rice – shades of Marie Antoinette.
All is however not lost, farming practices employed by primitive tribes in the Amazon basin, described in the 1966 book, “Amazon Soils”, by Dutchman Wim Sombroek could be our salvation. Despite the fact that Amazonian soils are notoriously fragile and impoverished Sombroek discovered large patches of terra preta do indio (black Indian earth) scattered along the Amazon River. This soil is as lush and dark as the life saving plaggen mentioned earlier. It forms a rich base for agriculture in a land where it was not supposed to exist. Terra preta is found only where human habitation occurred, which means it was a man made soil, dating from before the arrival of Europeans. The soil is rich in phosphorus, calcium, zinc and manganese which are scarce in tropical soils – its most striking ingredient is charcoal - vast quantities of it; the source of terra preta’s colour. It is the result of burning plants and refuse at low temperatures. Researchers at the University of Bayreuth report that simply adding crumbled charcoal and condensed smoke imparts an exponential increase in fertility to bad tropical soils. Tests by a US – Brazilian team in 2006 found that terra preta had a far greater number and variety of microorganisms than typical tropical soils – it was literally more alive!
It is now believed that a black soil revolution based on terra preta might help combat global warming. Terra preta contains 10 – 20 times more carbon than typical tropical soils and the carbon can be buried much deeper down. Rough calculations indicate that the amount of carbon we can put into the soil is quite staggering. Researchers have postulated that man’s use of fossil fuels worldwide could be wholly offset by storing carbon in terra preta nova a modern version of terra preta do indio. These scientists are convinced that the world is going to hear a lot more about terra preta. Coupled to a steady return to crop rotation, reclaiming land from mono culture and resisting ‘knee jerk’ fertiliser/pesticide pollution regimes acre by acre, tree planting and systematic, planned soil enrichment programmes based on the high carbon mineral rich terra preta, food production might just be increased to meet the enormous demands predicted for the 2030s. Beekeepers, bees and other beneficial organisms would also benefit dramatically from a properly planned, sustainable world agricultural economy.
Let’s hope we as a species have the savvy to do the necessary spade work!
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Originally Posted by Eric McArthur
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