List some of the list some of the replenishing steps by covering crops
Answers
Fertile soil is one of the foundations of a healthy and productive garden. It provides structure, minerals, and a balance of living organisms and decaying organic matter to plant roots. In effect, soil is a complex, living system. It can be sick, healthy, or even dead, depending on conditions. In order to be of greatest benefit to our plants, the soil must be nutrient-rich and filled with living organisms. Many areas of the world, however, suffer from mineral depletion and loss of topsoil. With the application of compost, cover crops, and other soil management techniques, gardeners can create a fertile soil environment, which can make all the difference between a failed crop and an abundant and lasting harvest.
Fertile soil is one of the foundations of a healthy and productive garden. It provides structure, minerals, and a balance of living organisms and decaying organic matter to plant roots. In effect, soil is a complex, living system. It can be sick, healthy, or even dead, depending on conditions. In order to be of greatest benefit to our plants, the soil must be nutrient-rich and filled with living organisms. Many areas of the world, however, suffer from mineral depletion and loss of topsoil. With the application of compost, cover crops, and other soil management techniques, gardeners can create a fertile soil environment, which can make all the difference between a failed crop and an abundant and lasting harvest.
Worldwide Mineral Depletion
An alarming trend in the last couple of centuries has seen productive soils worldwide rapidly lose valuable minerals faster than they can be replaced. Several factors are likely causing this, including geology and weather patterns. Contemporary farming practices in particular have contributed the most to mineral loss. Widespread use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers can imbalance the soil composition and cause rapid loss of nutrient-rich topsoil. Monoculture practices and planting crops in the same place for multiple seasons also causes mineral loss and leaves plants vulnerable to disease and pests. This leeching of nutrients can cause the soil to effectively “die,” and makes food crops more and more dependent on fertilizers.
Some areas are more vulnerable to soil loss than others, but just about any soil can be lacking in adequate minerals. The southeast US and all tropics, for example, have old soils that are low in certain nutrients. The Great Plains, meanwhile, are still recovering from the topsoil lost during the Great Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Other places, such as areas on recent lava flows in Hawaii, have never had topsoil to begin with and can take decades to develop.
Recent soil management techniques, such as the ones used on farms in Java, Indonesia have shown that providing nutrients to our crops via healthy, fertile soil is a cheaper, easier and more effective method than conventional fertilizers.
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Soil And Health
Depleted soil can have a profound effect on our health and the health of our families. Crops grown in depleted soils simply don’t have enough minerals to make nutrient-rich food that keeps humans healthy. In fact, depleted soils are a major factor in the decline of fruits’ and vegetables’ nutritional value for the past 70 years. The depleted nutrition of our food begins with depleted minerals in the soil. Without fertile, mineral-rich soil, plants are unable to get what they need to grow nutritious food.
Common Missing Nutrients In Depleted Soil
The chemical processes that determine a soil’s fertility are complex, and deficiencies may be difficult to determine. Soils that are heavily fertilized may be rich in macronutrients, for example, but very poor in microorganisms and trace minerals. Following are some of the more common minerals missing in today’s depleted soils:
Nitrogen: One of the three plant macronutrients, nitrogen leeches easily from the soil and needs to be consistently replenished. It also must be in a certain form in order for plant roots to use it. Although commercially added to the soil with ever-increasing amounts of fertilizer, nitrogen can remain available throughout all growing seasons through crop rotation, using compost, and other soil management techniques.
Calcium: Calcium plays an important role in a plant’s structure and growth. Recent studies performed in the eastern U.S. have found that calcium levels are dropping rapidly. Usually, calcium is returned to the soil through weathered rocks and decaying matter, but modern agriculture, erosion, and acid rain has stripped this mineral away.
Manganese: Vital for photosynthesis and other processes, this micronutrient can become depleted or unavailable to plants when soils are too wet, too high in organic matter, or too high in other elements, such as iron. Alkaline soils, such as those found in much of the southwest US, also often lack this mineral.
Carbon: This element is critical for living microbes to survive. It is used and returned to the soil through organic matter.
As many of these minerals are lost, soils are likely to become more acidic. This in turn can exacerbate the problem, as many plants are unable to properly absorb vital nutrients in acidic soils. Checking the pH levels is an important starting point to understanding the soil’s composition.