Community

HEALTHY SOILS = HEALTHY PLANET = HEALTHY PEOPLE

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If we improve the health of our soils, we also improve the health of the planet, human health and indeed all life on earth. It’s so important to look after our soil yet, as with so many climate related issues, we have failed to act fast enough.

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Organic matter is essential for healthy soils, biodiversity and carbon storage. It soaks up and stores huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, estimated at 10 billion tonnes in UK soils alone (to put this in perspective, about 20 times the UK’s annual greenhouse gas emissions), dwarfing the 0.2 billion tonnes stored in UK vegetation. Conversely, degraded soils release greenhouse gases, estimated at 4% of UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2013.

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Healthy soil, due to its organic matter, absorbs water like a sponge, helping to slow the run-off from ever-increasing rain events, with the associated loss of topsoil. Water retention is, of course, important in dry spells if we are to continue UK food production during these periods. Last year some European farm crops suffered badly due to extreme heat events.

Farmers

These are the seven ways the Soil Association says farmers can save UK soils.

1. MONITOR SOIL HEALTH ON FARMS (currently not widely adopted)

2. INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF PLANT AND ANIMAL MATTER GOING BACK ONTO FIELDS

3. IMPROVE SOIL LIFE BY REDUCING TILLAGE AND CHEMICALS

4. COVER UP BARE SOIL WITH CONTINUOUS PLANT COVER

5. BRING MORE TREES ONTO FARMLAND

6. REDUCE SOIL COMPACTION FROM MACHINERY AND LIVESTOCK

7. DESIGN CROP ROTATIONS TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH

You will probably know that Cornwall Council is starting food waste collections. The food waste will be fed into an anaerobic digestion plant to produce farm fertilizer, used to improve our soil to grow more food, along with bio-gas energy to power communities.

Another valuable source of soil nutrients is human waste. Usually flushed down the toilet, this is now processed by South West Water and used by farmers as an alternative to fossil fuel derived fertilisers. This helps put natural nutrients back into the soil.

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Home gardeners

I have adopted some of the Soil Association’s practices. Kitchen waste and garden waste are composted. We no longer dig over the vegetable garden at the end of the growing season. Instead, we spread a layer of composted material over the surface. We do not use insecticides, fungicides or fossil fuel based synthetic fertilisers and we practice crop rotation. The vegetable crops we have successfully grown in Stithians’ soil include beetroot, potatoes, onions, garlic, sprouts, runner beans, broad beans, squashes, leeks, red cabbage, salad leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce. Fruit crops include apples, blueberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, and raspberries. There is also a small herb bed.

Organically grown food is so much better for us but it’s expensive and growing some of our own helps to offset the extra cost. Ultimately, I hope the cost of organic produce will come down, as more people realise the benefits to our health, the soil’s health and the planet’s health. But farmers must be paid a fair price for this produce.