Peak soil | Clipmarks


	Peak soil

JICWyllie

1-6-2009 1:51 PM

177 views

tags:

environment, soil, i-erosion, i-agriculture, i-risks, i-policy

1 Comment |

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1-7-2009 1:24 PM

allenmarkowski

I recall reading an article back in the 70's in the magazine Organic Gardening & Farming by I believe it was the founder that said we would at some point need to return to an agricultural economy. I think it's time.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/6f4c5acd-3736-4b0b-9346-5f05e502049c/9D3C4822-A8F7-4814-8C10-B45CBE723707/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.newint.org/features/2008/12/01/soil-depletion/" href="http://www.newint.org/features/2008/12/01/soil-depletion/" style="font-size: 11px;">www.newint.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.newint.org/features/2008/12/01/soil-depletion/">This  ongoing soil loss means we face the problem of feeding a growing population  from a shrinking land base.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.newint.org/features/2008/12/01/soil-depletion/"> Indeed, the decline in fertility and  loss of agricultural lands through wind and water erosion is a problem as old  as agriculture itself. Civilizations from Babylon to Easter Island have proven  only as durable as the fertility of their land. </blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.newint.org/features/2008/12/01/soil-depletion/">Over the past century, the effects of long-term  soil erosion were masked by bringing new land under cultivation and by  developing fertilizers, pesticides and crop varieties to compensate for  declining soil productivity. However, such ‘agrotech’ fixes become  progressively more difficult to maintain because crop yields decline  exponentially as soil thins. </blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.newint.org/features/2008/12/01/soil-depletion/">So how do we move to sustainable agriculture  and still feed the world? </blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.newint.org/features/2008/12/01/soil-depletion/">we need to restructure agricultural subsidies to  favour small-scale organic farms, encourage soil-friendly farming methods such  as no-tilling (see below) for larger industrial farms, and develop urban  agriculture. </blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/9D3C4822-A8F7-4814-8C10-B45CBE723707/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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