Part 4 (2)

So to what practical purpose can my last post be used in agriculture. All plant life needs N, and what we want to achieve are sufficient levels of N in the soil that are readily available to the plants we cultivate for food. Part 4 (1) clearly shows us one of natures tools that we can easily employ and benefit (a) by the introduction of natural N fixation by introducing leguminous plants such as beans and peas into the same field as our main food crop, and (b) the same plants introduced to help us maintain or increase N levels, will also yield a harvest of their own.

Modern agriculture has used this concept for many years, but not in a natural way. Legume crops have been used to improve soil health, but only in rotation with another crop. The practice of planting a single crop type in one field is called monoculture. In monoculture most of the crops nutrient requirements have to be added to the soil because the natural balance has been disturbed when all the plants and animal life have been cleared away to make way for modern agriculture. A much more natural method for the introduction of N is to have legumes growing in the same field as the main food crop. Of course, this one thing is not all that is required to become a successful organic farmer, we will cover much more in the weeks/months to come, discussing how nature works and how we can practically mimic her brilliant systems............................. Keep watching this blog!!