[Terrapreta] TERRA PRETA SAVE THE EARTH?

[Christoph Steiner]

There is a substantial difference between agriculture indigenous people in
the Amazon practiced and modern agriculture. Before arrival of the
Europeans agricultural goods were mainly produced for the settlement
itself. Furthermore INPUT came from hunting and gathering in the
surrounding area. Food was processes, consumed and the remains deposited,
all within the boundaries of the settlement. This was a huge INPUT of
nutrients (one major source of Terra Preta fertility are bones!).
Modern agriculture is completely different. Almost everywhere food is
produced for outside markets (even for a global market). Together with the
food the nutrients are exported from the fields to locations where they
are frequently accumulated in largest amounts already toxic for the
environment = OUTPUT. Many rivers in the industrialized world carry to
many nutrients (eutrophication) and this load damages the oceans and
lakes. The poultry industry (based on imported food) in Georgia produces
enough chicken litter to raise the phosphorus and calcium levels of the
land above Terra Preta levels. The problem is that the poultry production
is decoupled from poultry fodder production. Our modern agriculture can
not be sustained without mineral fertilization. In the cities the ?Terra
Preta material? get mixed up with toxic wastes and deposited in landfills
=OUTPUT. Landfills which would otherwise be something like a Terra Preta.
To save the Earth we need to change our global and nationwide nutrient
(food) cycles and our consumer habits. This is one step to balance
nutrients and carbon. The use of charcoal for soil amelioration can help
to balance carbon in the atmosphere. Carbon which is out of balance due to
fossil fuel burning and the conversion of forest into agricultural land
(again mainly for export-food and fodder).

Christoph Steiner