[Stoves] Effect of cattle on agricultural productivity

[adkarve]

I have a hunch that soil micro-organisms have the capacity to decompose soil
minerals in order to obtain the mineral ions required by them for their
metabolism. The energy for this process comes from the organic compounds
provided to them by green plants. When the carbon source get exhausted, the
soil micro-organisms die, and the mineral ions sequestered in their cells
are released for the green plants to absorb. I do not have any positive
proof to support this hunch, but there is a lot of indirect evidence, which
shows that this could be the only explanation to explain many of the
observed phenomena. What you have reported can be taken as one such
evidence.
In that part of the plot, where the grass is just cut and left on the
ground, the micro-organisms get both the organic as well as the inorganic
components of their nutrition from the decomposing grass. In the other half,
where the soil gets only the dung of the animals kept in that plot, the
micro-organisms do not get sufficient minerals from the dung alone, and
therefore, they have to fix nitrogen and also have to decompose soil
minerals in order to obtain the inorganic part of their nutrition. The fact
is well known, that the nitrogen fixing organisms in the soil do not fix
atmospheric nitrogen, when they are provided externally with a nitrogenous
chemical. The same analogy can be extended to other inorganic compounds too,
that soil micro-organisms do not break down soil minerals, if they get these
ions from an external source.
Yours
A.D.Karve

----- Original Message -----
From: Keith Addison <keith at journeytoforever.org>
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2007 1:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] The PROTOS Plant Oil Cooker


> Hi Simon
>
> >OK, I can believe that soils need fertiliser & that livestock fertiliser
is
> >probably the best all round.
>
> For long-term sustainability there's no alternative.
>
> If you browse through those links I gave you you'll find a reference
> to ley farming, the missing half of organic farming (composting is
> the other half). Well, never mind, here it is:
>
> >http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library.html#ley
> >Ley Farming
> >
> >"Sow a piece of land with a good pasture mixture and then divide it
> >in two with a fence. Graze one half heavily and repeatedly with
> >cattle, mow the other half as necessary and leave the mowings there
> >in place to decay back into the soil. On the grazed half, you've
> >removed the crop (several times) and taken away a large yield of
> >milk and beef. On the other half you've removed nothing. Plough up
> >both halves and plant a grain crop, or any crop. Which half has the
> >bigger and better yield? The grazed half, by far. "Ley Farming"
> >explains why "grass is the most important crop" and how to manage
> >grass leys. Leys are temporary pastures in a rotation, and provide
> >more than enough fertility for the succeeding crops: working
> >together, grass and grazing animals turn the land into a huge living
> >compost pile."
>
> That the heavily grazed half should produce the better crop is
> contrary to the beliefs of chemical farming, that nutrients removed
> from the soil must be replaced. With this grazing example you've done
> nothing to replace the large amounts of nutrients removed with the
> milk and beef, yet it gives the bigger and better crop. So much for
> chemical farming.
>
> We're currently developing a micro-ley farming system using poultry
> instead of cattle, for use on very small farms - 700 sq metres in
> this case, rather than the many acres needed for a cattle-based
> system (or sheep). So far the results are excellent, more than enough
> to establish that the principle works really well with poultry, and
> it's *much* faster. Some details here, if you're interested (though
> it's far advanced on that now):
> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/msg62619.html
> Re: [Biofuel] More Gardening News - micro ley farming
> Keith Addison
> Fri, 12 May 2006