[Terrapreta] CARBON PROCESSES AND THE SOIL

[M. Michael Crown]

I found this article interesting, relating to soil and its breathing CO2 adn how to improve that process.  Perhaps people with more expertize can identify how this may relate to char-carbon.

The article is from Jon Frank of International Ag Labs, who do soil tests.
"Brix" is a term that puts a number of the sugars, minerals and such in the plant, giving us a way to quantify plant nutritional quality.

http://www.highbrixgardens.com/restore/healthy_soil.html
Start Here For Healthy Soil  By Jon C. Frank
  Plants
are truly amazing! They have the unique function of combining carbon
from the air with moisture from to soil in the presence of sunlight and
soil minerals to form carbohydrates. In spite of mankind’s
sophisticated understanding of chemistry we still cannot produce sugar
apart from plants such as sugar beets or sugar cane.
  An
often-overlooked component in a plants ability to manufacture sugars is
carbon dioxide (CO2). Inadequate carbon dioxide is many times THE
limiting factor to higher yields. This necessitates a better
understanding of how carbon cycles and how carbon dioxide gas is
produced.
  The goal in managing carbon is to build up the
carbon reserves in soil in the form of humus and carbonates so that it
is released as CO2 gas during the growing phase of the new crop. CO2 is
released from the soil 24 hours a day but it is primarily taken up by
the plant during the daytime. Since CO2 is heavier than air it
accumulates during the nighttime.
  The higher carbon dioxide
accumulates during the night before dawn’s first light, the better the
yield potential of the growing crop. Iowa crop advisor Mike McNeil
maintains that CO2 release and amount of nighttime buildup is a quality
indicator of soils. We fully agree. The production of high brix plants
means a higher production of plant sugars, which are built from CO2,
hence an even greater need for carbon dioxide. The greenhouse industry
has known this for many years and regularly enhances the CO2 level in
greenhouses to several thousand parts per million. This is 10 times the
normal amount in air. The result: significant yield increase. This is
the exact same thing we strive for in field conditions. We want to use
the CO2 already in the air and enhance this with the CO2 released from
the soil.
  Older farmers will remember what happened when they
cultivated young corn—it would grow six inches almost overnight after
cultivation. Why? There are 2 reasons; soil conductivity was increased
and CO2 release was speeded up. Combined these two factors caused
tremendous crop growth.
  I can imagine no-tillers andenvironmentalists cringing when I say that healthy soil should haveincreased levels of CO2 release. Yes we want it released so that it is subsequently reabsorbed by the growing plants.This results not only in increased yield, but also in increased volumeof plant residue. If this plant residue is incorporated into the soiland digested by soil biology it causes the humus level in soils torise. Increasing the humus level in soils is the truest form of carbonsequestration. Through the carbon cycle the CO2 that is released by thesoil is returned back to the soil with interest i.e. even more carbons.
  Sohow do we start the cycle of increasing carbon storage in soil? It issurprisingly simple; start using the premier “organic” fertilizer:limestone. That’s right—limestone, more specifically high calciumlimestone. For years International Ag Labs has practiced low-levelliming and seen great results. We have recommended annual applicationsfrom 200-500 lbs. of pelleted limestone be added to other fertilizersand broadcast together. We knew that regularly supplying calcium as a nutrient would greatly enhance crop growth—and we saw the results.
  WhenMr. McNeil presented the concept of using CO2 release as a qualityparameter in monitoring soil health the lights went on and we made theconnection. Limestone is calcium carbonate, CaCO3.Not only does it provide calcium, it also provides carbon. Did you knowthat a 500 lb. application of high calcium limestone provides 190 lbs.of calcium and 60 lbs. of carbon? When calcium carbonate is applied tosoil it must be “digested” by soil biology before the calcium is madeavailable for plant uptake and before the carbonate is released as CO2.This is the difficult part of biological agriculture. In contrast toconventional agriculture, which uses water-soluble nitrogen andpotassium as the main growth elements, biological agriculture relies onmaking calcium available to the plant to provide the “growth energy.”Since calcium carbonate is not water-soluble it must be broken down bymicrobial action. Plant residues, another great source of carbons forthe
 soil, also need microbial digestion to take it apart and store itas soil humus.
  For the last several years International Ag
Labs has performed a soil test known as the Formazan test that answers
the question “What is the digestive capacity of my soil?” This is a
significant question that needs an answer when working with rock
powders and plant residues used in organics and biological agriculture.
  TheFormazan test provides the biology in a soil sample with a specificamount of a food supply and waits a specific amount of time. We thenmeasure the amount of metabolic enzymes given off by the bacterial andfungal species when they are active. The Formazantest is like the speedometer reading of microbial activity in the soil.It is an indirect microbial assay that gives us a picture of theforest—not the individual trees. Typical soils farmed with herbicidesand pesticides will have a microbial activity level of less than 200 onthe Formazan test. Biologically farmed soils that still use herbicidestypically run from 300-500. International Ag Labs shoots for a Formazanreading of 600 as an entry-level good. At this level rock powders willbe worked upon by soil biology and slowly made available. For organicsoil we recommend a Formazan reading of 1,000 or greater since manynutrients in organic production must first be digested by soil biology.A Formazan
 reading greater than 2,000 represents a terrific soil withplenty of digestive capacity.
  The Formazan test was developed
by member of the Soil Science Society of America. Skujins*, who did a
lot of original research on this test, found that the Formazan test
directly corresponds to CO2 release, proteolytic activity, and
nitrification potential. What this means in plain English is that low
Formazan readings indicate a poor cycling of carbon, less microbial
activity, and the inability of soil to break down organic inputs to
supply plants with available nitrogen. This is very significant for
organic farmers since all organic nitrogen fertilizers, with the
exception of Chilean nitrate, require proteolytic activity and
nitrification in order to make it available to plants. One last thing
on the Formazan test, guess what the reagent or “food supply” is when
incubating the Formazan test. CaCO3, that’s right—a fine grade of
calcium carbonate. Surprise. Surprise.
  Some time ago
International Ag Labs introduced a new parameter on our soil test
called the Soil Index. The soil Index is our attempt to answer the
question: “What is the overall quality of this soil?” It is represented
as a 0-100 score on the soil with the potential to show negative
numbers if the soil is extremely hostile to growing plants such as when
it has toxic salt levels. The Soil Index is simply the total of all
points (positive or negative) from all the other measurements and
ratios on the soil test. We have a desired level of 50 and greater,
which we feel indicates the potential, but not certainty, of producing
high brix. Readings in the 60’s and 70’s indicate a much better
opportunity at achieving high brix and excellent yield.
  In conclusion a healthy soil will have the following parameters:
  Good levels of CO2 release Good levels of humus      Good levels of microbial activity      Good levels of available calcium      The potential to produce high brix   
  
 *  Skujins, J. 1973. Dehydrogenase: An indicator of  biological activities in arid soils. Bull. Ecol. Res. Comm. NFR 17:235-241


http://www.highbrixgardens.com/restore/healthy_soil.html
 
Michael Crown 

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