Re: Beneficial Soil Microbes

From: Elaine Ingham (Soilfoodweb@AOL.COM)
Date: Mon Dec 16 2002 - 07:47:48 EST


Do we have to get into the "which factor is most important" silliness?

Why is that some people like to start doing the list of "most important", as
if there is a way to say this or that is always most important?

I liken this to reductionists who like to say, "what's the most important
organ in your body?" Your heart or your brain, right? Depending on personal
point of view.

So, I can take away all the rest of your organs because you only need the
most important one, right?

Don't be silly. If you plan on staying alive, you need them all, functioning
together.

I have NEVER said that the only thing you have to think about is the
organisms, or organism diversity. It's an important parameter, however.
More important than the foods to feed the organisms? Don't be silly.

What I said was we tend to destroy the life in our soils, because of past
pesticide and high level of fertilizer uses. If you have killed off the
diverse set of organisms you need, if you don't have the life in the soil you
require, no amount of addition of food resource, which is what Joel was
talking about, will help.

We need the organisms, and if killed off, how do you get them back? We need
foods for the organisms, and if you have a monoculture crop, how can you be
feeding all the foods the organisms need back into the soil? It's called
compost, or compost tea, with thousands of kinds of foods for the organisms
added back in.

You have to have the correct soil chemistry, and soil physics. So, of all
these factors, which one is the most important?

Let's not go there, it's stupid to play that game.

You have to have ALL the things needed. You can't function with just a
brain, you need your stomach, liver, kidneys, skin, etc. You need all the
beneficial organisms - bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, microarthropods,
worms, plants, etc., including humans, to have a healthy functioning
agricultural ecosystem.

Don't chide people for forgetting things they have never forgotten. Don't
jump into the middle of a discussion thread and shake your finger about
something without knowing that the question that started the thread had
nothing to do with what you are being chiding about.

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
www.soilfoodweb.com


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