Soil Re-Mineralization, a Way to Boost Agricultural Yields
Based on the earlier book by John D. Hamaker and Donald A. Weaver “The Survival of Civilization” (1982), Weaver also published a companion book “To Love and Regenerate the Earth” (2002). Both books are available freely as electronic (pdf) files from www.soilandhealth.org.
The main idea in both works is the “re-mineralization” of soil as a means to produce better yields of agricultural products. This re-mineralization essentially means adding finely ground rock powder to mineral-depleted or mineral-lacking soil. Without doubt, finely ground rock from almost any source will provide potassium and phosphate-type minerals that are vital for plant growth. However, grinding rock to a fine powder requires not just the equipment but a large amount of energy as well.
In terms of nitrogen compounds most of such rock material will contribute very little. That’s why the manufacturers of fertilizers, who don’t know which type of soil and plant you may use it for, commonly add all three vital materials. Household plant- and garden-type fertilizers commonly show N-P-Knumbers, indicating their N-[nitrogen],P-[phosphorus] andK-[potassium] contents. Most of them contain all three nutrients.
In addition, such fertilizers typically contain a variety of critical “micro-nutrients,” i.e. trace amounts of less common elements that are nevertheless necessary for the growth and health of many plants.
For farmers planting crops on good soil, nitrogen is often the yield-limiting factor and, consequently, the fertilization with nitrogen salts, such as ammonium nitrate, is most critical. Unfortunately, an overabundance of nitrogen compounds can lead to the growth of toxic algae in downstream waterways. Lake Erie is experiencing such algae blooms in recent years.
Though re-mineralization of soil with ground-up rock may not be sufficient in terms of the three main nutrients it still is a simple way to increase soil fertility. In any event, re-mineralization can be viewed as a “natural” way to provide vital nutrients to nutrient-depleted soil. The only question that remains would be whether it is cheaper or more efficient than modern methods using synthetic fertilizer mixtures. The answer to that depends very much on the particular location, climate, soil composition, crops grown and so forth.
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