What are the methods of improving fertility of a soil without using any harmful chemicals?

Question

What are the methods of improving fertility of a soil without using any harmful chemicals?

Answer 1

You said not using "harmful chemicals"..You seem to suggest from the question that there are harmless and harmful Synthetic chemicals used in agriculture. Note that even good stuff used in excess of optimal level is harmful.. Even food taken becomes a poison if taken in excess, is it not?

Ok. It is also probable that you just meant "avoiding all synthetic chemicals used in agriculture" as they are projected as harmful by the new lobby of organic promoters...

You have not indicated if you intend growing traditional crop variety or the high yielding ones developed by farm scientists... If you are going for low yielding traditional cultivars, you may very well go for organic farming in the lines told by the friends here. The output would be less but they are sure to get good price as "green produce" meaning that they are produced from natural inputs alone without any chemical application to soil...

But if you are going for the high yielding ones and wish to adopt the organics, it is likely to prove trouble some. Basically these varieties /hybrids could take more nutrition (like a sportsman or a hard worker can eat and digest a lot more food than the average ones) and produce more economic output.. Even the nutrients in the organics would be siphoned off in a greater meaasure and good growth would result attracting the pests and diseases that would call for management.. You will have to adopt non chemical - alternate methods are available aplenty - for prevention and management... Still the output would be short of the full yield potential of these entries (varieties)...

You must know that the organic lobby is simply over stressing the point of chemicalisation... All nutrients are ultimately broken to simple chemical products before they are taken (absorbed) by the plants... The organic manures also produce organic acids in the process of their decompostion in soil that help digest complex nutrients in the mix to simple ones like nitrates and phosphates... The synthetic chemical fertilizers simply supply these final products for easy and quick absorption by plants... The problem arises when they are over used due to the greed of the producer, to exploit the full yield potential of the plants... The excess chemicals stay in the soil and make it saline or alkaline... Just as you develop acidity in stomach due to untimely and unsuited food..

More botanic (plant based) pesticides are now in the market that could replance the chemical pesticides greatly. But the alternate methods of control - including biological control methods using natural enemies of pests, light trapping of pests, use of pheromones etc - would have serious limitations during acute unfavourable weather etc.. Optiamal use of degradable chemicals could be considered to preempt significant crop losses in such situations, without getting too touchy about the "chemical" bias, since even biological processes are also chemical based in essence..

So it is just uncharitable trade trick to play down the synthetic chemical industry in order to boost the new organic formulations... It could be done without the unnecessary propaganda about the chemical (fertilizer / pesticide) industry that had helped agriculture during the worst times of famine and shortages in the world... Optimisation and conjunctive use of synthetic and organic products is the wise decision of any discerning farmer.. That is also the best for the future increasing demands for the agrl products.. or we may end up with huge short supplies by pure organic farming all over...

Well. We should also stop chemicalising the ground water with all the chemicals used in washing (clothes, utensils, machinery &c) polluting the air with toxic vehicular and machinery exhausts, dumping all sort of chemical (industrial, medical, civic utility) wastes in the soil... etc etc, before simply worrying about the food production and processing alone. Optimal use of chemicals and adoption of adequate social and personal environ-cleanliness would go a long way in improving the health of the soceity.. without unnecessarily overplaying the organic card and scaring the people..!

Answer 2

Add compost...peat moss...lime if the soil is acidic.  The single best is compost.  And tilling to loosen the soil, aerate it and mix in the compost!

Answer 3

the best way to improve the fertility of the soil is  to :

use natural manures like cowdung,neemseed cakes,wastes from sugarcane industry,organic manures.

want still more?

Answer 4

N P K   nitrogen, phosphorus, on potassium or potash. Then make sure the pH level is right( depends on what you're growing) most likely you will have to add lime to bring it up. after that make sure your soil has a good consistency clay sand and loam all have their vital parts, loam to hold nutrients, sand for proper drainage, and clay to hold water

Answer 5

hey i can answer u a farmer should use mannures like poultry,cow dung,waste material from our food such as egg shells etc.

Answer 6

There are many ways to improve the fertility of soil without using chemicals.  Use of barnyard manure, green manure crops, composting waste materials and adding compost to the soil are a few of the ways.  Probably the best way is a combination of these methods.  One of the biggest advantages is that the earthworm population will be restored and they will increase the fertility even more as well as improve soil texture and aeration.

Answer 7

Recycling of organic waste as manure and compost will improve soil fertility to a great extent.

Answer 8

crop rotation, using nitrogen fixers, like legumes

Answer 9

My mom's into organic gardening and she either uses compost or manure from the barn.

Answer 10

Hi Sonu . . .  Start composting!  You can recycle your kitchen waste in a recycling bin, and really close the food/waste cycle.  You can additionally check your local coffee outlets for spare coffee grinds to add to your compost pile, as coffee is rich in minerals, and helps break down the food waste.

Have fun!

~ A

Answer 11

Every year the farms around here smell like manure. In my garden I use a combination of mulched leaves with my dinner leftovers mixed in, and rabbit pellets (manure again) from my pets.

Answer 12

Manure is generally a good way.  It's best to have the manure sterilized to ensure that disease organisms don't enter the soil and contaminate the plants

Answer 13

Fertility of the soil doesn't have harmful chemicals........weed killers are harmful chemicals!

Answer 14

1.  composting

2.  manure

3.  If its a tilled field then proper tilling practices such as tilling at the right depth and tilling when the moisture content is right

4.  Planting perennial legumes in with perennial fields

5.  Proper grazing techniques

6.  Stop or limit the use of artificial chemicals of any sort (fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide) to promote soil organism growth.

7.  Crop rotation

8.  Installing drainage tiles and/or ditches to quickly remove excess water

Answer 15

By practicing crop rotation. This is where at different periods of the year you plant different crops/plants. Like this, monoculture does not deplete the soil of its nutreints.

By introducing animal dung (natural fertilizer). Mixing animal dung with the soil improves soil fertility. Animal dung has the natural organic components.

Contour ploughing or contour farming is the farming practice of ploughing across a slope following its contours. The rows formed have the effect of slowing water run-off during rainstorms so that the soil is not washed away and allows the water to percolate into the soil.

In contour plowing, the plowman plows perpendicular rather than parallel to slopes, generally resulting in furrows that curve around the land and are level.

Soil Organisms. Promoting the viability of beneficial soil organisms is an element of soil conservation; moreover this includes macroscopic species, notably the earthworm, as well as microorganisms. Positive effects of the earthworm are known well, as to aeration and promotion of macronutrient availability.

Salinity Management. The ions responsible for salination are: Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Cl-. Salinity is estimated to affect about one third of all the earth’s arable land[6]. Soil salinity adversely affects the metabolism of most crops, and erosion effects usually follow vegetation failure. Salinity occurs on drylands from overirrigation and in areas with shallow saline water tables