The Environmental Effects of Soil Depletion and What We Can Do About Them
After our oceans, our soil is our planet’s next biggest carbon sink (four times more powerful than all the plant life on Earth). The bad news is that the constant depletion of the soil via a range of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, along with various unsustainable agricultural practices has led to a condition in which the ground is losing its effectiveness in capturing and sequestering carbon.
Fortunately, there are some very promising developments in the world of sustainable ag, including aeroponics which, as I’ve described earlier, offers a broad array of benefits vis-a-vis traditional farming: local, organic growing, far less water consumption, and bringing real nutrition into our food deserts.
IMO, this is a wonderful cleantech business opportunity, i.e., deploying our current technology in this space, while developing better, more cost-effective approaches.
Soil depletion has happened. Industrial scale agriculture is not like your backyard garden.
The rich topsoil with natural fertility has been depleted over the last century or so. You can’t grow corn and get 300 bushels per acre without seriously depleting the soil. Yet in many parts of Wisconsin and the rest of he Midwest this is achievable year after year. Yields are actually going up. How is this possible? It is called put and take agriculture. From the previous crop yield it can be determined what nutrient including micronutrients have been lost and those quantities are replaced in the soil. It’s not just about NPK fertilizer. This is the green revolution on steroids. Crop residues are incorporated into the soil to maintain tilth and absorptivity and pesticides are used to fight the pathogens that take refuge in the shredded stalks. It doesn’t sound good to a organic purist who is defending his or her low crop yield per man hour but it is a nitche market that commands a premium price.
You can’t feed the whole world with yesterday’s agricultural methods. Half of the world would starve if certified organic methods were somehow mandated. Agribusiness is what keeps food on the table of most people. Oh, as an after thought, if you are worried about the nutritional content of factory food, we have a pill for that! Nutraceuticals for every real and perceived deficiency are available and provide employment for thousands of people. It’s just not like the good old days. Brave new world here we come.
Larry,
Well said, that man !