the great fertiliser fake
June 26th 2008 05:57
This is so simple I feel stupid. Here was I thinking fertiliser enriches soil.
Today I learnt that chemical fertilisers deplete nutirnets from the soil, so you have to keep on buying more fertilisers, this is simplistically why soil is an emitter of carbon and a big part of our emissions problem. It doesn't have to be the case, I feel silly for overlooking this before. If we use organic fertilisers then soil miraculously becomes a carbon sink, or should I say the carbon sink it should have been before. I knew compost was good but I didn't realise how bad the soil problem was. Soil with higher carbon even retains more water so this could help partially solve water issue too. Mind blowing.
Read below for the facts out of this science journal. You will be pleased to know Australia is a word leader in developing commercial organic fertilisers in the form of a product called agrichar CLICK HERE to see a post I just wrote on it
It blows my mind that fertilisers deplete soil nutrents, you guys all probalbly knoew all this, but I guess, given its a multi-billion dollar industry they don't really want us finding out do they.
Anyhow, I am probably preaching to the converted and late to the party on this one but I am glad I learned this later than never.
Today I learnt that chemical fertilisers deplete nutirnets from the soil, so you have to keep on buying more fertilisers, this is simplistically why soil is an emitter of carbon and a big part of our emissions problem. It doesn't have to be the case, I feel silly for overlooking this before. If we use organic fertilisers then soil miraculously becomes a carbon sink, or should I say the carbon sink it should have been before. I knew compost was good but I didn't realise how bad the soil problem was. Soil with higher carbon even retains more water so this could help partially solve water issue too. Mind blowing.
Read below for the facts out of this science journal. You will be pleased to know Australia is a word leader in developing commercial organic fertilisers in the form of a product called agrichar CLICK HERE to see a post I just wrote on it
It blows my mind that fertilisers deplete soil nutrents, you guys all probalbly knoew all this, but I guess, given its a multi-billion dollar industry they don't really want us finding out do they.
Trials of agrichar - a product hailed as a saviour of Australia’s carbon-depleted soils and the environment - have doubled and, in one case, tripled crop growth when applied at the rate of 10 tonnes per hectare.
Agrichar is a black carbon byproduct of a process called pyrolysis, which involves heating green waste or other biomass without oxygen to generate renewable energy.
Tim Flannery is a major advocate of agrichar and pyrolysis. In The Bulletin magazine, Flannery recently ranked “fostering pyrolysis-based technologies” fourth among his five steps for saving the planet, because they convert crop waste into fuel and agrichar which can be used to enhance soil fertility and store carbon long-term.
NSW DPI senior research scientist Dr Lukas Van Zwieten said soils naturally turn over about 10 times more greenhouse gas on a global scale than the burning of fossil fuels. “So it is not surprising there is so much interest in a technology to create clean energy that also locks up carbon in the soil for the long term and lifts agricultural production,” he said.
The trials at Wollongbar have focused on the benefits of agrichar to agricultural productivity. “When applied at 10t/ha, the biomass of wheat was tripled and of soybeans was more than doubled,” said Dr Van Zwieten.
“This percentage increase remained the same when applications of nitrogen fertiliser were added to both the agrichar and the control plots.
“For the wheat, agrichar alone was about as beneficial for yields as using nitrogen fertiliser only. And that is without considering the other benefits of agrichar.”
Regarding soil chemistry, Dr Van Zwieten said agrichar raised soil pH at about one-third the rate of lime, lifted calcium levels and reduced aluminium toxicity on the red ferrosol soils of the trial.
“Soil biology improved, the need for added fertiliser reduced and water holding capacity was raised,” he said.
The trials also measured gases given off from the soils and found significantly lower emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas more than 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide).
NSW DPI environmental scientist Steve Kimber said an added benefit for both the farmer who applies agrichar and the environment is that the carbon in agrichar remains locked up in the soil for many years longer than, for example, carbon applied as compost, mulch or crop residue.
“We broadly categorise carbon in the soil as being labile (liable to change quickly) or stable – depending on how quickly they break down and convert into carbon dioxide,” he said.
“Labile carbon like crop residue, mulch and compost is likely to last two or three years, while stable carbon like agrichar will last up to hundreds of years.
“This is significant for farmer costs because one application of agrichar may be the equivalent of compost applications of the same weight every year for decades.
“For the environment, it means soil carbon emissions can be reduced because rapidly decomposing carbon forms are being replaced by stable ones in the form of agrichar.
Agrichar is a black carbon byproduct of a process called pyrolysis, which involves heating green waste or other biomass without oxygen to generate renewable energy.
Tim Flannery is a major advocate of agrichar and pyrolysis. In The Bulletin magazine, Flannery recently ranked “fostering pyrolysis-based technologies” fourth among his five steps for saving the planet, because they convert crop waste into fuel and agrichar which can be used to enhance soil fertility and store carbon long-term.
The trials at Wollongbar have focused on the benefits of agrichar to agricultural productivity. “When applied at 10t/ha, the biomass of wheat was tripled and of soybeans was more than doubled,” said Dr Van Zwieten.
“This percentage increase remained the same when applications of nitrogen fertiliser were added to both the agrichar and the control plots.
“For the wheat, agrichar alone was about as beneficial for yields as using nitrogen fertiliser only. And that is without considering the other benefits of agrichar.”
Regarding soil chemistry, Dr Van Zwieten said agrichar raised soil pH at about one-third the rate of lime, lifted calcium levels and reduced aluminium toxicity on the red ferrosol soils of the trial.
“Soil biology improved, the need for added fertiliser reduced and water holding capacity was raised,” he said.
The trials also measured gases given off from the soils and found significantly lower emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas more than 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide).
NSW DPI environmental scientist Steve Kimber said an added benefit for both the farmer who applies agrichar and the environment is that the carbon in agrichar remains locked up in the soil for many years longer than, for example, carbon applied as compost, mulch or crop residue.
“We broadly categorise carbon in the soil as being labile (liable to change quickly) or stable – depending on how quickly they break down and convert into carbon dioxide,” he said.
“Labile carbon like crop residue, mulch and compost is likely to last two or three years, while stable carbon like agrichar will last up to hundreds of years.
“This is significant for farmer costs because one application of agrichar may be the equivalent of compost applications of the same weight every year for decades.
“For the environment, it means soil carbon emissions can be reduced because rapidly decomposing carbon forms are being replaced by stable ones in the form of agrichar.
agrichar
Anyhow, I am probably preaching to the converted and late to the party on this one but I am glad I learned this later than never.
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Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
It's appauling isn;t it, things are so far out of kilter that no matter what we do - which way we turn - everything just attracts and unstabilises the next thing in a chain reaction that is now... well let's be honest... almost unstopable.
*shaking my head*
However, it will never stop me from planting trees and plants whenever I can...
Lilla ...
Comment by Louie
Climate Red
randomthoughts
Phil's Wellness Tips
Thanks for stopping by, i am having a little Orble holday today in honour of having so MUCH CRAAAPPP to do for the new financial year, urrgggghhhhh I don't know how people do all this stuff for a lving......drives me nuts but its only one day a year, just a hell of a long one.