Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Soilsecrets@aol.com]

There is  no correct answer for the efficacy and usefulness of a No-Till system.  The variables are many with the system capable of great success in some parts of the world and complete failure in other areas.  For example: in the high elevations of New Mexico (New Mexico has the highest average elevation of any state) the air is dry, the average precipitation low, evaporation high and the Sunshine abundant.  We run into a calorie equation limitation when trying to use green  manure because we simply cannot grow enough calories as a green manure crop to over come the oxidation of organic matter in our soils.  There's a net loss in organic matter that cannot be compensated for when you till in just green manure grown on the site.  Even the highest biomass producing crops capable of growing in this region cannot compensate for this oxidation.  Therefore we are faced with transporting organic matter generated from other sites to supplement. The one exception to this theory and observation are that the genus of mycorrhizae called Glomus produces proteins called Glomalin that seem to contribute in an extraordinary rate to the formation of humus and may be the single largest contributor of humus formation on the face of the earth.  That's still being studied!

 

I'm apologize to those who refuses to talk about microorganisms and using the power of these microbes.  Glomus is destroyed easily by typical gardening methods and needs to have the correct plants to associate with in order to be present in your soils.  If you are tilling in a green manure crop that did associate with Glomus, the slicing and dicing of the soil will inhibit the perpetuation of that association and consequently reduce the quantify of Glomalin that could be originating on the site.

 

Dr. Michael