Page 55 - ALG Issue 2 2022

granular fertilisers tends to cover up the fact that our soil is degrading more and more every year beneath our very feet; it also takes more fertiliser to raise crops today than it did 60 years ago, proving that modern agriculture was not designed to improve the soil!
We are all familiar with herbicides, the toxic chemicals now suspected of causing cancer. They are so widely used in some areas that they have found their way into drinking water and plants are becoming resistant to them. Like fertiliser, as time passes, the effects of using them drops and more is required.
Pan UK has been tracking the amount of
chemicals in commercially produced food for over 35 years, and the results are frightening, with as high as 99% of some crops having chemical residues in them when they reach the shops. The chemicals are in our soil, in our water and in our food and not surprisingly they are in us.
The soil, plants and the climate are all connected; large areas of the world are drying up with water running out due to poor soil quality. If we stop tilling the soil it will start to regenerate and pull more carbon out of the atmosphere. It is estimated that per acre, for every one percent increase in organic matter, soil soaks up ten tons of carbon.
There is far more that could be said on the subject than I can write in this article and in case you are wondering, my wife and I are in the process of going “No Dig”. We see it as the way forward. In addition, as we get older with the various ailments that come with age, it will make the allotment easier to manage. It’s good for the soil, the environment, the planet, and there are less weeds; surely that fact alone is reason enough to change now.
Tim Callard, Chairman NAS SWB / NADCAA
Source: NASA Supercomputer
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 55