SOIL: DIRT(Y) AND SEXY

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SOIL: DIRT(Y) AND SEXY

Soil is, it seems, sexy again.

The gorgeous 2012 film Symphony of the Soil is proving very popular the world over. Filmed on four continents, featuring soil scientists, farmers and activists, blending art and facts, it has been bringing this complex, agricultural substance right into people's living rooms.

(photo (c) Lauren Mitchell taken from the gorgeous looking site: environmental graffiti )

Building up the quality of soil is an important part of organic farming. In organic, some of the basic tools for producing food are different, so much attention is given on how to work with the soil to make it function better.

An upcoming UK Soil Association event is dedicated exclusively to soil. The National Soil Symposium 2012 (Thursday 15th to Friday 16th November), held in the Coventry Transport Museum, will comprehensively examine soil.

Topics include latest research; soil quality, health and life; optimising soil management for livestock Managing soil nutrients and trace elements; biochar fertility; low carbon farming; impact of traffic (i.e. heavy machinery) on soils; digestors; composting; trees and water.

And there was a session dedicated specifically to soil at the recent Teagasc organic conference. A recurring theme was how little is still known about the soil, and just how many billion bacteria (100,000,000,000) there are in a spoonful of soil.

Dr. Rachel Creamer defined soil quality in terms of both land use and ecosystem, and as sustaining biological productivity, environmental quality and plant and animal health.

A key issue for Creamer was how drainage and the structure and textural composition of the soil relate to each other. While “heavy textured clay soils are inherently poorly drained and need special treatment...soils prone to soil erosion are often fine sandy textured soils which are prone to drought” according to Creamer.

Dr. Stephen Briggs of the UK organic specialist consultants Abacus said a lot, but he really emphasised having not just soil, but farm yard manure, tested. He even asked for a show of hands on this, and found, to his horror, that no one had had their FYM tested.

He pointed out that clover, while fantastic, lagged behind mineral fertilizer application in May, in N terms. So what to do? Briggs' presentation pointed to 19 different types of N fixing legumes all with different functions in different contexts, to the rise of lentil growing in the UK as an alternative to clover, and to the serious weather-related sulphur and magnesium deficiencies this year.

“Mangnesium is most widespread trace element deficiency in Ireland : manganese sulphate application can be like a light turning on” Briggs said.

The good news is that organic farming methods been shown to increase organic matter in soil, to increase its store of carbon, and to balance soil acidity. So as the years pass, organic farming techniques both help the soil's structure – important in drought or flood situations especially – and make the soil more nutritious for plants.

As quality soil is lost in warmer parts of the world, partly but not exclusively because of the harshness of some aspects of conventional farming, organic methods can provide an alternative.

Just how much soil has be lost is difficult to quantify. However research from 2008 pointed out that about 1/4 of land globally was degraded, while “up to 40% of global croplands may be experiencing some degree of soil erosion, reduced fertility, or overgrazing” according to 2011 research.

There is ample evidence that organic farms exhibit superior indicators of soil quality. Many studies, such as those on the long running Swiss DOK trials,(e.g. here) but also other more recent studies, find that below ground biodiversity indicators, such as earthworms, tend to be at higher levels in organic systems.

Other studies point to the effect synthetic fertilisers and herbicide applications have on soil biodiversity, and on how the below and above ground biodiversity interact.

Some biodiversity and nutritional research that compares organic and conventional has either been done or is ongoing here in Ireland. Wouldn't dedicated homegrown research comparing organic and conventional in terms of soil quality indicators be very helpful in making the organic case? And why isn't this research being done?

That's our discussion regarding SOIL: DIRT(Y) AND SEXY

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