Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Dieter, certainly no-till won't work well in a hot or cold climate where
growing any crop is difficult.

>  But even in a temperate climate where there may be proven
>  methods of no-till farming, farmers are often under economic
>  stress that preclude any experimenting with new methods.

Let's remember the whole industrial farming system is under stress and
already failing economically and ecologically. Without moisture-conserving,
fuel conserving, and soil building alternatives, we don't have many more
years.This isn't about our children's or grandchildrens' future; it's now
our own future at stake.  We don't have time to experiment. We have to
change growing practices.

   "Another limit to food production is water. In many countries,
both developing and developed, current water use is often not sustain-
able. In an increasing number of the world’s watersheds, limits have
already been reached. In the U.S. the Midwestern Ogalallah aquifer
in Kansas is overdrawn by 12 cubic kilometers each year. Its depletion
has so far caused 2.46 million acres of farmland to be taken out of
cultivation. "  http://www.sustainer.org/pubs/limitstogrowth.pdf

   "The Ogallala Aquifer is being both depleted and polluted. Irrigation
withdraws much groundwater, yet little of it is replaced by recharge. Since
large-scale irrigation began in the 1940s, water levels have declined more
than 30 meters (100 feet) in parts of Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and
Texas."
http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Oc-Po/Ogallala-Aquifer.html

   "    * Agriculture accounts for 80 percent of all the water used by
people on
this planet, and dozens of countries already have insufficient water for
growing all the food needed for their populations. Further, the
agricultural
practices being used do not generally conserve water in our soil. The
result
is that we are in the process of depleting our available water base.
Biointensive practices use a third to an eighth the water per pound of food
produced as conventional farming practices. Thus, the amount of water
available for farming, which is currently insufficient, can be more than
enough."
   "    * Conventional agriculture uses 100 times the energy in mechanical
and
human forms per pound of food produced, compared to Biointensive farming."
   "   * Economically, conventional agriculture in the US produces on the
average up to $100 per sixteenth of an acre; the net return on a $500,000
investment on the average 500-acre farm is about $12,000, or a little over
2
percent. "
   "    * The world continues to deplete its soils approximately 7 to 80
times
faster with conventional forms of agriculture - even with organic
practices - than they are built up in nature. Probably only 50 to 100
years'
worth of world soil productivity remains for us to use. We are rapidly
depleting the soil base upon which civilization depends. In contrast,
sustainable Biointensive farming, if used properly, can build the soil up
to
60 times faster than in nature while producing more food and conserving
resources."
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_3659.cfm


paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 12/15/2007 at 12:16 PM Dieter Brand wrote:

>Ken, you wrote:
>
>  >The major problem farmer's have switching to organic,
>  >no-till is in their heads; not in the field.
>
>  Aren't you judging a little too harshly? In a parallel dialogue
>  with Phil, we have noted that there are climatic conditions
>  under which no-till will either not perform very well (cold climate),
>  or where no-till may not even be possible (dry climate).
>  But even in a temperate climate where there may be proven
>  methods of no-till farming, farmers are often under economic
>  stress that preclude any experimenting with new methods.
>
>  It is clear that ploughing has been ingrained in farmers since
>  ancient times, and that it can take something like a mental
>  revolution to convert to no-till. But I wouldn't underestimate
>  the intelligence of farmers, they know their responsibility in
>  running their business. No-till doesn't just mean to stop
>  ploughing.
>
>  Dieter Brand
>  Portugal