Permacul The Role of Soil Microbes

[China Connection]

Microbial Activity
Boost Beneficial Microbial Activity
Increase activity levels in beneficial soil microbes.
The Role of Soil Microbes
Feeding microbes helps ensure there is enough biological activity to get plant & soil health benefits.
Soil microbes are a critical component of healthy soils and disease suppression. Soil Microbes operate through multiple means to:

• Improve nutrient availability
• Reduce root disease
• Improve water penetration (heavy soils) & water retention

The incidence and severity of root disease is an indirect assessment of soil health (Abawi 2000).
Disease suppression is related to a global increase in soil microbial biomass. A large biomass creates a competitive environment deleterious for the pathogens (Janvier 2007; Ratnadass 2012).
We have two key products to stimulate microbial activity:

• Fish Plus – all-in-one soil health improver. Contains fish & molasses to feed microbes, Kelp to improve root growth, Fulvic as a carbon source.
• Fish Emulsion – feeds microbes plus improves nutrient uptake and source of nutrients.

Where have the microbes gone?
There is a clear relationship between the decline of soil microbial activity and the use of agrochemicals which has negatively impacted on yield, disease and farm sustainability (Geense et al 2015).
The resultant decline in soil health is now a global issue. Intensive agriculture is at the crossroad and needs to find ways to improve microbial biomass and diversity to reduce disease.
Examples from research:

• All biocides potentially have a negative effect on soil biology (Geense et al 2015).
• Several studies have found decreased levels of microbial biomass, diversity and altered community structure due to disturbance mostly caused by pesticides, heavy metals, sludge amendments (Crecchio 2004; Abawi 2000)

Benefits of feeding microbes with Fish Emulsion
Soil microbes are the key to creating disease suppressive soils. They have a pivotal role in improving soil health and reducing disease. Disease suppression is related to a global increase in soil microbial biomass. A large biomass creates a competitive environment deleterious for the pathogens. (Janvier 2007; Ratnadass 2012)
Research:

• Fish Emulsion feeds microbes resulting in an increase in the activity and diversity of the resident microbial communities (Abbasi 2006).
• The increased soil biological activity and stimulation of biological control after application of fish emulsion to soil may be the key mechanism of disease suppression using Fish Emulsion (Abbasi 2012).
• Fish Emulsion improves nutrient uptake in multiple ways including promoting rhyzobacteria, lactic acid, stimulating growth promoting hormones and is a nutrient source within itself (multiple references).

Use of Fish Plus and/or Fish Emulsion will stimulate beneficial microbes.

Fish Emulsion and Fish Plus improving microbial activity and helping crops thrive

Organic Soil Microbe Activity - Sustainable Farming Solutions

Sustainable Farming Solutions helps Australian farms boost beneficial microbial soil activity using organic and zero residue products.

sustainablefarming.com.au

 

[China Connection]

To restore our soils, feed the microbes


Our soils are in trouble. Over the past century, we’ve abused them with plowing, tilling and too much fertilizer.
What many think of as “just dirt” is actually an incredibly complex mixture of rock-derived minerals, plant-derived organic matter, dissolved nutrients, gases and a rich food web of interacting organisms.
By plowing and overtilling, we have increased erosion on agricultural fields by 10 to 100 times natural rates. Over just the last several decades, we may have lost about half of the topsoil that natural processes produced over thousands of years in the U.S. corn belt.
Topsoil is rich in soil organic matter – dark spongy material formed from decomposed plant and animal tissue. Soil organic matter is critically important: It helps soils hold onto water and nutrients and supports soil microbes that recycle nutrients. Loss of soil organic matter has made many farms increasingly reliant on fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
Much recent research has focused on adding organic material back to soils to restore them. This is an important strategy, but I believe we also should aim to enhance the microbes that are responsible for soil formation. I was part of a research team that demonstrated in a 2015 study that adding efficient microbes to soils can enhance the percentage of plant carbon that is transformed into soil. New research suggests that by fostering an efficient and active soil microbiome, we can accelerate soil regeneration far beyond typical rates seen in nature.

Microbes perform critical functions in soil food webs, such as decomposing organic materials, cycling nutrients and improving soil structure. USDA NRCSIt takes a village to make healthy soil
Natural soils are thriving with life. They contain an incredible diversity of microscopic bacteria, fungi, viruses and other organisms. A single handful of soil can contain tens of thousands of different species.
These microbes interact closely with each other, forming complex networks. They communicate with chemical signals. They work together to break down complex organic materials, including dead plants and animals. They often work in teams to complete biochemical processes, such as transforming nitrogen from an inert gas to plant-usable forms, and recycling it from dead plant materials back into dissolved forms.
In healthy soils, organic matter is protected from decomposition inside clumps of soil called aggregates. But tilling crushes aggregates, unlocking their carbon and allowing microbes and soil fauna to attack it.


Components of soil organic matter. USDA NRCS
This creates a temporary feast for soil microbes, but eventually they deplete their food supply and die off. Without a healthy microbial community, nutrients are no longer recycled, opportunistic pests can invade and farmers rely increasingly on chemicals to replace biological soil functions.
Reviving agricultural soils
Soil degradation is a critical problem because it threatens our ability to produce enough healthy food for a growing human population and contributes to climate change. In response, large companies, nonprofits, scientists and government agencies are working together to restore soil health.
For example, General Mills is working with the Nature Conservancy and the Soil Health Institute to encourage farming practices that begin to rebuild soils.
The first step to improving soil health is to stop the bleeding. Instead of leaving fields barren in between crops, which leads to erosion, farmers are increasingly planting cover crops such as rye grass, oats and alfalfa. They also are replacing intensive tilling with no-till practices to prevent the breakdown of soil structure.
Soil organic matter contains over 50 percent carbon. Globally, soils contain more carbon than plants and the atmosphere combined. Losing carbon-rich organic matter from soils releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, which can accelerate climate warming. But by regenerating our soils, we can sequester more carbon underground and slow climate warming.
In addition to protecting soil, cover crops take carbon out of the atmosphere as they grow and funnel it into the soil. Unlike cash crops that are harvested and removed from the soil, cover crops are left to decompose and contribute to soil formation.
Increasing the supply of plant carbon in this way is an important first step in rebuilding soil carbon. But new research suggests that it may be insufficient.
A new paradigm of soil formation
We used to think that soil organic matter was formed from leftover bits of plants that were difficult to degrade. Over time, we thought that these plant particles became chemically transformed into what was called humus – dark, long-lasting material left over when dead plants and animals decay. This view suggested that the key to building soils was getting a lot of dead plant material into the ground.
Recently, however, technological advances have transformed our understanding of soil formation. There is now strong evidence that that the most persistent forms of soil carbon are formed primarily from dead microbial bodies rather than from leftover plant parts. The vast majority of old soil carbon appears to have undergone microbial decomposition. While plants are the original source of carbon for soils, microbes control its fate by using it as food, thus ensuring that at least some of it will remain in the soil.

North Dakota farmer Gabe Brown describes ways to improve soil health, including relying on microbial action.Feeding the soil by feeding microbes
Microbes can take a simple compound like sugar and transform it into the thousands of complex molecules found in soils. When microbes break plant matter down, they use some of the material they consume for building new biomass – that is, to fuel their own growth – and exhale the rest as carbon dioxide. The efficiency with which they create new biomass varies widely. Some microbes are like weeds: They grow quickly in food-rich environments, but are sloppy eaters and waste much of what they consume. Others are slow-growing but hardy, waste little and are able to survive times of starvation or stress.
To maximize the proportion of plant carbon that is transformed into soil organic matter, we should aim to support and enhance soil microbiomes that quickly and efficiently transform dead plant materials into soil organic matter. Healthy soils should also contain microbiomes that help prevent disease, cycle nutrients and help reduce plant stress.
My research group is now bioprospecting for groups of microbes that are especially efficient at forming new soil and recycling nutrients. We are also researching which crop traits support microbiomes that help enhance soil health. Making soils more healthy will make it possible to grow more food with fewer inputs, which will make farming more profitable and protect our air and water.

To restore our soils, feed the microbes

Healthy soil teems with bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microorganisms that help store carbon and fend off plant diseases. To restore soil, scientists are finding ways to foster its microbiome.

theconversation.com

 

[China Connection]

If you are using any type of nitrogen fertilizer then it pays to use molasses dissolved in water to get bacterial life going mad in the soil. Add a good hydroponic salt mix as well.

 

[hummer]

If you are using any type of nitrogen fertilizer then it pays to use molasses dissolved in water to get bacterial life going mad in the soil. Add a good hydroponic salt mix as well.

Thanks CC for all the info.

 

[China Connection]

Bacteria need nitrogen and minerals to form protein along with sugars. The two main shortages in the soil are nitrogen and free sugars.

I grow azolla with a hydroponic mix in water. Great for worm food and the soil.










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In addition to its traditional cultivation as a bio-fertilizer for wetland paddy (due to its ability to fix nitrogen), azolla is finding increasing use for sustainable production of livestock feed. Azolla is rich in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals.

Azolla - Wikipedia