Dr. Mike's News

What if …. We changed how we grow our food?

 “In times of change learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to work in a world that no longer exists.”   Eric Hofer Author

 Here is what we are learning.  The fact is the rate of increase in food production has slowed drastically in recent decades.   A big concern is what we are learning about the true cost of growing food.  A growing body of published evidence by the world’s leading research institutions indicates many agriculture practices are degrading soils, spreading toxic chemicals, contributing to global warming, rendering water unfit to drink, reducing biodiversity, and creating dead zones where chemical runoff reaches lakes and oceans. 

 The truth is our food production system is subsidized by non-renewable resources, by dangerous chemicals and pesticides and by depleting the production capacity of million-year-old topsoils. 

 It is tempting to point fingers and name names.  But Agriculture’s role in our global ecological crises is not a subversive plot caused by government officials, fertilizer, fuel and pesticide salespeople, farmers or grocery shoppers.  Rather it is a conscious choice regarding how we grow our food.

Farmers are working harder and learning more than ever about ways to feed a growing global population in a sustainable way.  What we need is to get back to our roots:  Literally.  Deep long-lived perennial roots and associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have played key roles in the sustainablility of our natural areas for millions of years.  AMF form a beneficial relationship with approximately 80% of the world’s plant species in their natural habitat. Perennial roots and their associated AMF efficiently absorb water and nutrients deep within soil, prevent drought stress and the off site leaching of pollutants.  Perennial roots and AMF protect soils from erosion and put carbon in the ground where it promotes plant growth instead of the air where it promotes global warming. 

Large areas of our nations croplands have lost their mycorrhizal populations.  Tilling, fallow, erosion, and the use of certain chemical fertilizers and pesticides have diminished populations of Mycorrhizal fungi.  AMF have been fundamental for plant growth for 460 million years in our natural ecosystems and have promoted the productivity and stability of our natural areas without irrigation, chemical fertilizers, genetically modified seeds and pesticides.  How do they do it.?   Miles of tiny fungal filaments can be present in a thimbleful of healthy soil.  These tiny filaments access, absorb and transport nutrients from the bulk soil to their plant hosts.

Organizations, like The Land Institute, in Salinas Kansas have worked for over 30 years on the problem of agriculture from the ground up. Their purpose is to develop an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the perennial prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops. Their specific research is an innovation for agriculture, using “nature as the measure” to develop mixed perennial grain crops as food for humans. Over 75 percent of human calories worldwide come from grains such as wheat and corn, but the production of these grains erodes soil and pollutes our waters. Perennial grain crops with deep and abundant root systems and AMF would improve soils  and waters instead of degrade them.

This evokes lots of “what if” questions about the future of agriculture for the learners among us:

What if Agriculture emulated nature instead of subdued nature?

What if Agriculture improved soil productivity instead of degraded it?

What if the roots and mycorrhizae of agricultural plants anchored and enriched soils?

What if the roots and mycorrhizae of agricultural plants help protect crops from drought and disease?

What if the roots and mycorrhizae of agricultural plants added organic matter to soils instead of depleted it?

What if Agricultural crops had the efficiency and resilience of native ecosystems?

What if Agricultural crops produced nutritious food without subsidies of fossil fuels and without degrading water quality?

What if ….    We changed how we grow our food?

Dr. Mike

President Mycorrhizal Applications, Inc.

*Mycorrhizal Applications, Inc with over 32-years of experience with the use of Mycorrhizal fungi, has helped develop a new concept in the growing of plants, participated in a comprehensive research agenda, ran experiments to see how best to use AMF, lectured to scientists and growers all over the world.  Mycorrhizal Applications has raised millions of pounds of mycorhizal fungi and is dedicated to customers and their needs to produce plants using  both economically and ecologically sound methods.

A.  Automobiles     

B.   iPod    

C.  Cell Phones  

D. Computer   

E.  Mycorrhizal Fungi      

If you picked E. then you got it right.  In today’s modern world we may find it difficult to live without our cell phones I-pods, computers, and automobiles.  While these material goods often seem indispensable; it is clean air, clean water, and nutritious food that are the unconditional requirements for human survival. 

 There is a connection that makes clean air, water and healthy food possible, all three are dependent upon the activities of mycorrhizal fungi.

 We invite you to learn more about this amazing group of fungi and how they shape your world at our website

 www.mycorrhizae.com

 Dr. Mike

The decision to inoculate your plants with mycorrhizae often comes down to cost, so there are many things to consider. In general, it is most cost effective time to inoculate is very young plants where the average cost can be less than a penny per plant. Larger plants require more inoculum so costs are proportionately greater. Applying mycorrhizal inoculum at seeding can greatly reduce the cost per acre for treating crops.

Another important consideration is to learn which type of mycorrhizal fungi occurs with your plant species. A list of plants with their mycorrhizal associates can be found at this website or, better yet, contact a mycorrhizal specialist to make sure that you select the proper type of inoculum (866-476-7800).

The next decision is what type of inoculum to buy and how best to apply it. Spore-based inoculums have the most options. The least expensive inoculation method is to apply liquid or powdered inoculum to seeds. Incorporating mycorrhizal inoculums into soil or growing media also works well. Mycorrhizal inoculums come in three formulations (powder, liquid, or granular) and the choice will depend on the needs of the grower and the application equipment available.

Here is one important consideration regarding cost-benefit ratios. When evaluating the use of mycorrhizal inoculums, it’s tempting to consider only the benefits of increased plant growth or yields. Instead, try to account for all the cumulative mycorrhizal benefits including reduced costs for water or fertilizer, better germination or survival, increased soil carbon levels, or improved soil structure — if each incremental benefit contributes 5% to 10%, the combined benefits can total 20 to 40%.

An old African proverb says, “If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”

When it comes to how we treat soil…We need to go far and quickly.

The Mycorrhizal Applications website is about tools to improve rather than degrade soils. It is about working with rather than working against the biology in the soil. You will find helpful articles, pictures and video that demonstrate what mycorrhizal are and how they function as well as helpful tips on using inoculum effectively.

This type of information has never been so important. Our soils are being lost and degraded at a record pace. The escalated use of certain chemicals, erosion, land clearing, and compaction has had a devastating effect on beneficial living organisms in the soil. Globally, 4 billion acres are significantly degraded. The global urgency to produce food and fiber is not expected to lessen. By 2030 our planet is expected to support 8.3 billion people. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has stated that by then, farmers will have to produce 30 percent more food than they do now to keep pace with hunger.

How do we increase plant productivity while fossil fuel supplies decline and costs escalate, restricting their use on the farm and landscape? And, how do we expand production when desertification, soil erosion, organic matter, water pollution and nutrient loss are on the increase? It is a paradox: precisely as we are increasing our demands on soil, we are losing it at an unprecedented rate.

The health of our soil crosses politics, ideologies, occupations, and national boundaries. The key step toward a solution is this: we must make a choice.
When it comes to soil, the choice is clear and makes economic and biological sense on several levels.

The good news about making a definitive choice to reestablish the natural biological functioning of soils is that it brings a wide array of collateral benefits. Soil erosion, nutrient acquisition, plant productivity, fruit and flower production, carbon sequestration, root growth, ground and surface water pollution are all affected by the activities of the soil food web, in particular the strength and vigor of the mycorrhizal populations. In addition land managers can cut their input costs while maintaining or increasing plant productivity.

Mycorrhizal fungi are no silver bullet but they play a critical role in the health and productivity of 90% of the world’s plant species in natural areas. New technological breakthroughs enable us to use these beneficial organisms to improve soils on managed lands as well.

Each of us as individuals has a part to play with the actions we take on our own farm, field, nursery, landscape and restoration project. Mycorrhizal inoculation technologies are not a pie in the sky future possibility. They are here today. In 2009 Mycorrhizal Applications produced nearly a million pounds of mycorrhizal inoculum.

Thanks for visiting the Mycorrhizal Applications website. We hope you have an increased appreciation of soil biology and a greater awareness of its connections to major challenges we confront.

Call us anytime toll free at: 866-476-7800

Sincerely,

Dr. Mike Amaranthus