YEARLONG GREEN FARMING
Yearlong Green Farming (YGF)
Food for an increasing population.
YGF
is any process, technique or practice that turns bare soil into soil
covered with green plants for most of the year. Yearlong Green Farming
increases the quality, quantity and perenniality of green groundcover
in broadacre cropping, horticultural, silva-pastoral and grazing
enterprises.
YGF practices include (but are not limited to) pasture cropping,
over-cropping, cover-cropping, use of microbial stimulants and compost
teas, green manuring, alley farming and planned grazing. Livestock are
an important component of YGF. Grasslands and grazers have co-evolved
for over 20 million years and are mutually beneficial if managed
appropriately.
It is envisioned YGF prepares a new breed of farms and farmers, that
include sequestering CO2 as a source of income.
YGF balances productivity with ecology; soils remain richer and yields
high; lower dependance upon pesticides and petroleum products; lower
carbon footprint; grows crops and sequesters CO2 at the same time.
The farm continues to produce crops and foods, albeit different ones,
which may also include bio-energy crops.
The replenishing soil fuels the farmers eco cycle and farming becomes
an ecologically renewable and sustainable resource.
Yearlong Green Farming
* significantly reduces the amount of incoming light energy converted to heat energy
* significantly reduces the amount of heat radiated from the earth's surface and trapped in the atmosphere
* significantly reduces evaporation (which commonly accounts for around 80% of the water-balance equation), retaining soil moisture that would otherwise form atmospheric water vapour
* converts incoming light energy to biochemical energy through photosynthesis
* uses CO2 from the atmosphere to fuel biological processes and build organic carbon in soils
Points to note
* grasslands and grassy woodlands were the major vegetation type over much of the African, North American and Australian continents prior to European colonisation
* every 2.7 tonnes of carbon sequestered in soil as a result of the photosynthetic process removes 10 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere (conversely every 2.7 tonnes of carbon lost from soil adds 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere)
* more soil carbon is sequestered in grassland ecosystems than in any other type of vegetative cover
* increased soil carbon levels enhance nutrient density in plants, improving the immune response and reversing symptoms of trace element deficiencies (such as cancer) in livestock and people
* in countries where agricultural production is falling or erratic, YGF techniques enhance the quality, quantity and reliability of supply of basic food requirements
Incentive for change
YGF techniques are available worldwide but are not widely adopted due to lack of appropriate information. Incentive payments based on percentage green cover, calculated on an annual basis, would provide a catalyst for change. Levels of green cover could be remotely sensed and recorded at regular intervals (eg monthly) using satellite imagery. An overlay of spot testing of soil carbon and soil moisture levels would indicate the quantity of atmospheric CO2 sequestered and atmospheric water vapour retained in soil. A simple incentive scheme of this nature may prove easier to manage and have broader application than intensive testing for soil carbon, particularly in countries where the infrastructure and resources for scientific research and development are limited.
The 'greening of a brown land' would increase soil carbon sequestration, increase soil moisture retention, reduce heat radiation and reduce the concentration of both CO2 and water vapour in the atmosphere. These factors would reverse the 'Global Warming Effect'. As a bonus, the adoption of Yearlong Green Farming techniques would markedly improve the productivity agricultural land.
Dr Christine Jones
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It would appear
the land is thirsty for CO2 whilst the sky and the oceans have had a
belly full.
The Unseen Role of Soil
In this
time of
change, we hear a lot about renewable energies like solar wind waves
and tide to replace fossil fuels coal and oil, but soil
isn't
generally included.
It's
generally thought trees, like the Amazon Rainforest, are the
lungs of the earth... well, soils
breathe too.
Life is all about the breath, the
solution is always to breathe. It's the same for all living things -
the same for the oceans that team with life - and the soil that has
millions of organisms in a square inch.
Not
only have we dug up millions of years of coal and thrown up in the
air in 100, we've disabled soils ability to breathe by planting crops
that deplete the soil of nutrients, indadvertedly
blocking the natural carbon flow.
Soil carbon sequestration is switched
/OFF everywhere there is depleted soil. Recognizing the problem is the
first step, doing something about it; like switching it back /ON is our
next step.
The
healthier
the soil the more it breathes,
and soil needs
water and CO2.
It would appear
the land is thirsty for CO2
whilst the sky and
the oceans have had a belly full.
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"The most
meaningful indicator for the health of the land, and the long-term
wealth of a nation, is whether soil is being formed or lost. If soil is
being lost, so too is the economic and ecological foundation on which
production and conservation are based".
Dr Christine
Jones
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The unseen solution is at your feet - soil is the key to ecologically
renewable and sustainable farming and resources.
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"Soil
carbon sequestration is an important and immediate sink for removing
atmospheric carbon dioxide and slowing global warming". ref: Montana State University
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ECO SUSTAINABLE PLANET
ECO SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY
THE ECOLOGY REVOLUTION 