[Gasification] BOYCOTT CALLED FOR SOYBEANS

[Richard Haard]

Thank you Benjamin.

This approach of boycott is one method but another, possibly better  
way to stop the expansion into forest frontiers  would be to certify  
production as coming from sustainable, organic producing farms. This  
way the farmer would receive a premium for his produce and the market  
- the consumers would receive a product with environmental costs  
priced in. Now that agriculture is established in this area it will  
not go away. What they need to require is agriculture that is  
specifically adapted to the soils and climate and not this bambi  
approach.

Slash and Char requires a great more labor by farmers but results in  
all available C to be deposited in soil. Less fertilizer needed,  
shorter rotations. Rotation periods with short rotation woody crops  
charred in place and pyrolysis of agricultural debris in place is the  
proposed method. The small holders do this - how can this be  
translated to large scale agriculture? This is a great challenge for  
the future of agriculture in the area - lets get to work.

Good discussion topic for this biomass pyrolysis group?

I would advocate low technology smothered combustion directly in  
fields to provide heat to soil and pyroligneous acids to stimulate  
microbial activity. If this becomes a regular practice then charcoal  
content of soil would build up over many cycles. Organic matter  
content would climb, calcium content of soil restored and phosphorus  
availability improved. Lastly and most important soil microflora  
composition would slowly shift from unproductive ferrosols to terra  
preta nova to the true terra preta of the ancient inhabitants of this  
very place!!

Rich

On Feb 22, 2008, at 4:41 AM, Benjamin Domingo Bof wrote:

> Boycott Called for Soybeans Coming from the Deforested Amazon Region  
> of Brazil - 02/15/2008
>
> Locality:
> Source: Organic Consumers Association
>
>  TAKE ACTION
> Only soy products that do not directly or indirectly destroy ancient  
> rainforests, or intensify climate change and other problems inherent  
> with large-scale industrial monocultures, will be tolerated in  
> international markets
>  The greatest emerging threat to Amazon rainforests and communities  
> is industrial soy plantations. Huge mechanized, soy monocultures  
> destroy tropical ecosystems, accelerate climate change and cause  
> human rights abuses primarily to produce agrofuel and livestock  
> feed. The soya industry wipes out biodiversity, destroys soil  
> fertility, pollutes freshwater and displaces communities. Soybean  
> production expands the agricultural frontier not only through fire  
> and deforestation to clear ancient rainforests, but more importantly  
> by pushing cattle ranches and displacing forest peoples further into  
> natural rainforest ecosystems.
>
>  With rising soy and other agricultural commodity prices, there has  
> been a marked increase in fires and Amazonian deforestation to clear  
> new agricultural lands from primary rainforests. In reaction Brazil  
> has again announced increased agricultural deforestation  
> enforcement. Amazon rainforest sustainability critically depends  
> upon new soybean production being kept out of ancient primary  
> rainforest ecosystems. Let's continue the commitment of Ecological  
> Internet's Earth Action Network to strongly speak ecological truth  
> to intransigent power.
>  TAKE ACTION NOW: http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=brazil 
> ...
>  DISCUSS ALERT: http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/2008/02/global_ec 
> ...
>  Rainforest Portal
> a project of Ecological Internet
>