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Going Back To The Soil: An Integrated Approach To Farming., Renée V. Christie
Going Back To The Soil: An Integrated Approach To Farming., Renée V. Christie
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
Agricultural productivity is often constrained by nutrient availability; as such, copious amounts of synthetic fertilizers are applied to maintain productivity. However, the intensive use of synthetic fertilizers has reduced the capacity of the soil to carry out crucial roles such as nutrient cycling because of shifts in the microbial community composition and structure. In addition, much of the applied synthetic fertilizers become lost to the environment through run-off, which contributes to soil degradation. With the increasing demand on agricultural systems to provide food and fibre and the adverse impacts of agricultural production on the soil resource, amendments that support soil …
Context Is Everything: An Investigation Of Spanish River Carbonatite And Its Effects On Soil-Plant-Microorganism Systems, James Mc Jones
Context Is Everything: An Investigation Of Spanish River Carbonatite And Its Effects On Soil-Plant-Microorganism Systems, James Mc Jones
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
With growing concerns about agricultural sustainability and food security, the use of rock fertilizers and agrominerals is receiving renewed interest. A wide variety of geological resources have been proposed as crop nutrient sources, with silicate rocks the predominant focus. Carbonatite rocks are known to weather more readily than silicate rocks; yet, they have received relatively little attention as it is thought their high Ca and Mg contents hinder effective nutrient release. However, there is strong evidence that the nutrients within carbonatite rocks are easily accessible to plants, and that these rocks have noticable effects on crop plant growth. Here I …