“ Somebody said that it couldn’t be done, but, he with a chuckle replied that "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin on his face. If he worried he hid it. He started to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn’t be done, and he did it.” E.A. Guest
A research paper by Roberto D'Autilia and Ilaria D'Ambrosi published on May 2015 worked on an important question "Is there enough fertile soil to feed a planet of growing cities?"
According to the research in today`s world we are dangerously close to the critical threshold.
“To tackle the thing that couldn`t be done” possibilities are given eg. the reduction of cities expansion as well as land consumption, increasing collective spaces, creating green spaces and urban gardens. “ For the next 50 years, this planet of cities is the challenge for the scientific community and the entire population.”
New Zealand is lucky as population is currently small in relation to land availability. That doesn`t free us from the responsibility of looking after our soil, more so worldwide demographic development demands to do better.
Healthy soils are base for healthy food and wine production.
"Soils also host at least one quarter of the world’s biodiversity. They are key in the carbon cycle. They help us to mitigate and adapt to climate change. They play a role in water management and in improving resilience to floods and droughts." To protect our soils "We must manage soils sustainably. There are many ways to do this. Crop diversification which is used by most of the world’s family farmers is one of them: this gives time for important nutrients to regenerate." José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General
Other key points are analysation of soil conditions, Crop rotation, erosion reduction, minimum tillage, stop soil degradation, implement land- use planning, wise use of nutrients, increasing organic content of soils.
Healthy soils can also be grown in between vines with the help of Cover crops such as Barley, Oats and Peas sown in spring. These give you plenty organic matter, both suitable in organic and conventional growing operations and best followed by perennial swards containing winter active fescue, different clover and herbs in autumn. The mixes are proven to increase biodiversity and soil health.
2015 is the Year of soils, it`s not too late “just take off your coat and go to it. Just start to sing as you tackle the thing that “couldn`t be done”, and you`ll do it. E. A. Guest
Healthy soils for a healthy life.
Call in at Kiwi Seed to see what you can do to contribute.
