How do soil microbes influence nutrient availability? This article, from Caitlin Hodges at Penn State University, asks an important question. How do soil microbes influence nutrient availability? Nutrient Availability Its no secret that plants need a number of important nutrients. Often these nutrients are hidden in plain site. They are in the soil or air,…
The Importance of Soil Microbes Here’s an article about a topic near a dear to my heart, the importance of soil microbes. As always, a link to the full article about soil microbe is below. Soil Microorganisms – Soil Microbe The author has it right in the first paragraph. Not only are soil microbes in…
Gaia Grows: Secrets of Sustainable Soil Heres an interesting article on sustainable soils. The full article is below. Importance of Sustainable Soils This opening paragraph from the article says a ton and connects the dots between sustainable soils, the environment and sustainable living. Sustainable practices in gardening and farming are only possible with healthy soils.…
Advantages of Loamy Soil – Soil Types Here’s a good article about Loamy soils. The complete article is below. Here’s some of the highlights. What is Loamy Soil? The technical definition of loam soil is: Less than 52% Sand Between 28-50% Silt 7-27% Clay In the USDA textural classification triangle, loam soils are the only soils that…
Biofertilizer Market Continues to Grow – Bio-Fertilizer The biofertilizer market continues to grow as demand and acceptance of these products increases. Here’s a report that outlines biofertilizer usage, challenges, and forecast for 2023. The link is at the bottom of this page. The idea that biofertilizer usage should not surprise readers of this blog. We’ve…
Liquid fertiliser study finds less harmful nitrogen run-off to Great Barrier Reef Here’s a great article discussing using liquid fertilizer to reduce nitrogen runoff. In this case, they’re protecting the Great Barrier Reef. A link to the complete article is below and yes, I know, the Aussies spell fertilizer with an “s”. Here’s some highlights.…
Great Green Wall. Food security in Africa is a major concern now and in the foreseeable future. Solving this problem will require intervention and cooperation between multiple governments. The Great Green Wall is an ambitious project, designed to develop a green wall across the width of Africa. When complete, it will cover about 8,000 km.…
4 Solutions to Farming in High Salinity Soils Saline Soils Salinity is the measure of the total amount of soluble salt in the soil. As the amount of salt increases, it becomes more difficult for the plant to extract the water out of the soil. Saline soils refers to soils that are too high in…
PGPB Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria, or PGPB, are a major factor in determining plant health, plant productivity and overall soil fertility. What are PGPB? Plant growth promoting bacteria, present in the rhizosphere, are beneficial soil bacteria that enhance plant growth and reduce the abiotic stresses through a variety of mechanisms. Since these beneficial bacteria are…
Will microbes save agriculture? Here’s a thought provoking article. Will Microbes save agriculture? by Geoffrey Mohan. Mohan is correct when he talks about the future of agriculture and the use of biofertilizers and other beneficial microbials. Regular readers of this blog will remember this article about the agricultural microbials market exploding in size. In fact…
