893
Beans
(mander.xyz)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 17 May 2024
893 points (99.0% liked)
Science Memes
11431 readers
1414 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Cover crops can help a bit in soil that's not seem significant agricultural use yet... by biologically mining and aerating the soil (ie. plants with deep and hardy tap roots can break through some plow pan and clay to extract mineral nutrients beneath).
Like you say, external inputs and care are needed to amend the soil to grow useful food crops. If they weren't, we'd still be foraging, without need to settle areas and dedicate energy to agriculture.
There has to be a balance, we need to understand that as long as we export harvests out of the field we need to import nutrients into the field. We can't expect plants to naturally replenish the nutrients that we unnaturally extract.
Also we need to understand that when we introduce heavy machinery into a field, we need heavy machinery to break compaction. Plants and soil organisms simply cannot naturally break the compaction caused by our unnaturally heavy machinery that is heavily concentrated in the small contact area of a tire.
Some of these dogmatic beliefs lead to "regenerative" farmers being more extractivists than the industrial farmers they demonize.
Absolutely. I'm happy to see more people on the same page here. Conservation of Mass is a law that we have to abide by.
On compaction, I have read on some cultivars of root grass crops being capable of penetrating plow pan and freeing up the soil underneath but I have not yet read any studies that empirically validate this. And, even if the data proves it, the proposed process is NOT fast and requires assistance from seasonal freeze/thaw cycles to help mechanically crack the compacted layer. So, not likely useful for remediation of fields needed to grow food in the short to mid term.