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Re: [SANET-MG] nutrition in a bottle or a bag?



Tanya Kucak said:
 
"The most interesting work on soil fertility I've seen is a few short 
papers by Roland Bunch based on the work of Ana Primavesi. Basically, 
she describes the traditional approach to fertilization as the 
Nutrient Quantity Concept -- the notion that specific nutrients need 
to be supplied to plants in periodic large doses -- and proposes that 
in the tropics, the Nutrient Access Concept is more important. This 
is the notion that plants need constant access to tiny quantities of 
nutrients, best supplied by nurturing the soil biology and using 
sufficient compost and mulch."

I regard the Primavesi work as revolutionary. Because of her work, no
longer can anyone justify feeding plants any other way than through the
biological channels that nature evolved in the soil community. Her worked
demonstrated just how crude and inefficient other methods are in
providing the "constant access to tiny quantities of nutrients", which is
all the nutrient delivery that plants need to maximize growth and health.
To me this means that until someone can demonstrate differently, research
on feeding plants must adhere to that finding, and that rule.  There may
be many ways to enhance that biological delivery system and the health of
its constituents and interactions. In my view that is the research agenda
that Primavesi's work implies. 

Karl North
Northland Sheep Dairy, Freetown, New York USA
     www.geocities.com/northsheep/
"Mother Nature never farms without animals" - Albert Howard
"Pueblo que canta no morira" - Cuban saying

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