Article on Soil and the Global Food Crisis

Hello DGers! I'm still pretty new at this whole soil and composting thing but after reading this article, I'm feeling a lot smarter than some of these guys. It starts off well in that it discusses the problem of overused soil in the world, but then I got a little confused when the only "answer" seemed to be fertilizer. I wanted to yell at the people about composting and crop rotation. Read it and tell me what you think.

FYI, I just wanted to say how well my raised beds (for vegetables) are doing. I filled them with compost and composted horse manure. Right now is the driest time of year in this part of FL. Even my weeds are wilting (and I'm not saying that to be cute, it's true). But wouldn't you know I was picking beans the other day and I had two little mushrooms growing in my beds?! I believe in the power of compost!



Overlooked in the global food crisis: A problem with dirt By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
Thu May 8, 6:06 PM ET



Science has provided the souped-up seeds to feed the world, through biotechnology and old-fashioned crossbreeding. Now the problem is the dirt they're planted in.

As seeds get better, much of the world's soil is getting worse and people are going hungry. Scientists say if they can get the world out of the economically triggered global food crisis, better dirt will be at the root of the solution.

Soils around the world are deteriorating with about one-fifth of the world's cropland considered degraded in some manner. The poor quality has cut production by about one-sixth, according to a World Resources Institute study. Some scientists consider it a slow-motion disaster.

In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 1 million square miles of cropland have shown a "consistent significant decline," according to a March 2008 report by a worldwide consortium of agricultural institutions.

The cause of the current global food crisis is mostly based on market forces, speculation and hoarding, experts say. But beyond the economics lie droughts and floods, plant diseases and pests, and all too often, poor soil.

A generation ago, through better types of plants, Earth's food production exploded in what was then called the "green revolution." Some people thought the problem of feeding the world was solved and moved on. However, developing these new "magic seeds" was the easy part. The crucial element, fertile soil, was missing.

"The first thing to do is to have good soil," said Hans Herren, winner of the World Food Prize. "Even the best seeds can't do anything in sand and gravel."

Herren is co-chairman of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, a collection of scientists sponsored by the United Nations and World Bank. It produced a 2,500-page report last month which, among other recommendations, emphasized a need to improve the world's soil.

Genetic improvements in corn make it possible to grow up to 9,000 pounds of corn per acre in Africa. But millions of poor African farmers only get about 500 pounds an acre "because over the years, their soils have become very infertile and they can't afford to purchase fertilizers," said Roger Leakey, a co-author of the international report and professor at James Cooke University in Australia.

Soil and water issues "have been taken for granted," said Ohio State University soil scientist Rattan Lal. "It is a problem that is not going to be solved. It's going to get worse before it gets better."

In Africa, farmers are forced to use practices that rob nutrients from the soil, not put it back, said Herren, who heads an Arlington, Va., nonprofit. Fertilizer is a quick, short-term fix, but even that isn't being done, he said.

The current crisis could have been avoided "if we, the world, had promoted fertilizer in Africa and we have known for ages it works," said Pedro Sanchez, Columbia University tropical agricultural director.

In that way, the problem with soil is a prime example of a larger failing of agriculture science, said Sanchez, who has won both the World Food Prize and a MacArthur genius grant. Scientists have the knowledge to feed the world right now, but that is not happening, Sanchez said. "It's very frustrating, especially when you see children dying."

The fruits of biotechnology and the staples of modern agricultural scientific techniques include irrigation, crop rotation, reduced tilling, use of fertilizer and improved seeds. It's a way of farming differently instead of just using better seeds that requires extra money up-front that many African farmers don't have, scientists said.

Fixing soil just isn't "sexy" enough to interest governments or charities, said Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute in Manila, Philippines.

Zeigler's center last week planted its 133rd crop of rice in the same land since 1963, trying to pinpoint the right combination of nitrogen and fertilizer. Better seeds worked wonders. But finding money for soil health is difficult and because of that, less work is accomplished, he said.

But there are success stories, Sanchez said, pointing to the small African country of Malawi. Three years ago, the country's new president invested 8 percent of Malawi's national budget in a subsidy program to get fertilizer and better seeds to small farmers. Each farmer got two bags of fertilizer and 4 1/2 pounds of seeds at less than half the cost.

Before the program started, one-third of Malawi was on food aid and the country wasn't growing enough food for itself, Sanchez said. It was producing 1.2 million tons of maize in 2005. In 2006, Malawi had more than doubled its production. By 2007 and 2008, the crop was up to 3.4 and 3.3 million tons. Now Malawi is exporting corn.

"In two years, the country has changed from a food aid recipient to a food aid donor and is self-sufficient," Sanchez said. "if Malawi can do it, richer countries like Nigeria, Kenya can do it."

___

On the Net:

International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development: http://www.agassessment.org/index.cfm?PageAbout_IAASTD&ItemID2

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research:

http://www.cgiar.org/

Tropical Agriculture Program at Columbia University:

http://www.earth.columbia.edu/tropag/


Link to article on Yahoo! News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080508/ap_on_sc/food_crisis_soil&printer=1;_ylt=AsH7hj_kD7TAvQRON0zEmRFxieAA

Yep, throw some chemicals at the problem and feed the world... until all the soil is depleted... then feed the world the straight chemicals because there will be nothing else for them to eat. I fear the article is sorely lacking in helpful information and is therefore rendered a useless waste of printed space.

Reality check time...........

For your own garden you can collect leaves, manures, and compostable materials according to your time , energy, and resources. When it comes to larger farms and many foreign areas, the task to do it organically is much more difficult.....and to do it profitably. Oftentimes some "chemical nutrients"may be necessary for a time at least as some supplementation. IMO

I guess I always go back to the thought of "how did people do things before there were chemicals". I'd rather give them a backhoe to turn massive piles of compost. I also can't imagine planting 133 crops of anything in the same soil. Even an idiot would have to know that eventually the crop will run out of nutrients. I just wish the first answer wasn't always "chemicals" or genetic modification or whatever the latest trend is. It's like they don't even acknowledge there's another way.

I suspect that some rice paddies have been planted to rice nearly every year in some intensive crop areas. But then some of the Eastern farmers have learned how to replenish their plots. But that knowledge is not widespread everywhere nor perhaps easily transferable.

Some areas of Africa have had so much fighting and instabilty that it is difficult to be very productive and soil building minded.

Farming on a large scale is indeed different. But to tout chemical fertilizers instead of teaching them no till and or composting crop remnants will not stop the soil degradation which in the long run is most important to the survival of the worlds population is pure folly.

Proper treatment of farmlands in developing nations and here at home are necessary steps to insure food resources for generations now and those to come. This planet can sustain us if we use it's resources wisely.

Many Asian countries deal with the soil nutrition issue of rice crops through rotation and......ducks!

http://www2.rda.go.kr/ipsm/Korean/03_undp/morgue/rice/file/OA-25(Jeong).doc

http://web-japan.org/trends01/article/021022sci_r.html

Indy does have a very good point about the fighting and instability making it hard to have productive agriculture and soil building. The associated poverty also contributes to soil decline. Where is the incentive to maintain the forest and shrubs that hold up the water table if the only income available if from making and selling charcoal? This same issue contributed to the deforestation of the Haiti side of Hispaniola.

Here is an inspiring article from the archives of the New Farm journal (international section) about the project to reintroduce composting methods to farmers in Senegal.
http://www.newfarm.org/international/senegal/0905/intro3.shtml