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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Mark Nagel <activism98201@verizon.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Fertilizer use by crop in Brazil
  • Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 20:58:58 -0500 (CDT)

Originally I ran across this article while debating the feasibility of
ethanol in the US; repeatedly we hear about the success that is Brazil's
ethanol program, that is a "model" for self-suficiency (and cleaner air
[which, runs into problems when cane stock is burnt by famers]) that we
should look to.

Thanks to the influence of this group, I figured I'd double-check all the
claims using the most important measure- soil health!

I found the following UN Food and Agriculture document to be quite the
treasure trove of information. As soil folks might expect, extensive,
intensive growing and exporting of coffee and sugar cane (plus burning it for
transportation) is taking a toll on Brazil's soils.

>From
>http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/007/y5376e/y5376e08.htm
> their concluding remarks contain:

"In general terms, the fertilizer nutrient balance in Brazilian agriculture
is unsatisfactory. The removal of nutrients by the 16 main crops is higher
than the quantities applied in the form of mineral fertilizers*. The deficit
is much greater in the case of nitrogen than in those of phosphorus and
potassium. >>> Thus the soil is being seriously depleted of nutrients and
this represents a serious threat to long-term agricultural
sustainability.<<<" (emphasis added)

* This is a big "duh" when one exports lots of crops!

But hey, Brazil is self-suficient in energy (well, not really, but that's a
separate issue)!

Not suprizingly, Brazil's import of natural gas is rapidly inceasing. I
don't know what their pecentage of NG use goes toward fertilizer manufacture,
but I'm sure that it can only be increasing.

One way or another we'll find a way to kill ourselves via automobile: we'll
do it via air and water pollution, and or through starvation...


-Mark Nagel
Everett, WA




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