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Soil Care
This article is based on a number of articles I have read recently in various farming magazines showing what they are doing to improve their soils. At one time farmers were considered to be some of the bad guys when it came to soil maintenance but following research over the last twenty years are moving to be the good guys and many are changing their ways.
Soil is the starting point for most of the food we eat (except for hydroponically grown crops) so is very important to
the grower as well as being greatly undervalued. Soil is very valuable although you would not think that the way many people treat it especially builders and contractors. It takes 1000 years to develop 1cm of soil this is not only the mineral
part but also the biological activity and structure. We need good soil structure and biological activity to be able to produce good crops.
A good soil is full of life, literally tens of thousands of species in fact it is often stated that 1 gram of soil contains one billion of individual bacteria across thousands of species and this is not
to mention the earthworms, beetles, centipedes, ants as well as fungi like mycorrhizae, protozoa and actinomycetes. The soil biology of an active soil performs a number of functions these include decomposing organic matter which releases nutrient for plants, suppressing disease, producing types of antibiotics and hormones a well as breaking down pesticides and pollutants. The soil life
can produce up to 30 to 40% of the plant available nutrients in the soil.
The first point I will mention is the vast increase in the use of organic matter especially compared to 20 to 30 years
ago. This is for two reasons the first is
that farmers have been advised and have realised the importance of organic matter to the soil and its growing capacity. In
the past they have relied too much on artificial fertilisers which are O.K short
term but not over a period of time as the soil organic matter decreases so does its fertility. Mention of fertilisers neatly brings me to the second point which is the large increase in fertiliser costs, and they are unlikely to reduce much in the future if at all owing to the energy costs. Good organic matter contains a small amount of nutrients that are readily available to the plants,
and this reduces the amount of fertiliser required.
Organic matter not only adds nutrients but improves the soil fertility, structure and soil health which improves the crops health and yield. Some farmers test their soil to check the level of various nutrients and how much is available to the plants.
Members could do this, but it is a bit expensive and not really cost effective for small areas unlike farmers who do it every 3 to 5 years.
Any organic matter will improve soils and some like good quality farmyard manure (FYM) may supply all of the phosphate
and potash the next crop needs as well
as many of the other nutrients with the exception of nitrogen which is required in higher amounts. One farmer who applied 40 tonnes of FYM per hectare saved £450.00 in fertilisers costs and 40 tonnes is a very low application rate compared to what most gardeners use. Savings like that are even worth considering on a garden or allotment scale.
Research has shown that long term manure use can improve the organic content of the soil which is what we should be aiming to do to achieve good healthy soil. There are studies that have shown tangible increases in soil quality following long term use of organic matter. Recent research has shown that on sandy and light soils well-rotted organic matter is better applied in the spring rather than autumn
as this reduces the amount of nutrients leached out by the winter rains, which was a particular problem last winter.
If you do not have access to organic matter or enough for your soil you are not alone as many farmers are on the same position and have to buy in large amounts. A number are now growing cover crops (used to be called green manure but
we seem to be following the Americans using the name cover crops – not sure why!) if sown and overwintered the cover crops take up nutrients that are recycled when the crop is ploughed / dug in or composted. The use of cover crops will improve the soil structure and health as well as increase the amount of organic matter in the soil. Cover crops will improve any type of soil whether sand, silt or clay
Annual weeds (dig in as green manure)
Compost heap starting
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