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Makes aware of a hidden habitat: soil animals and micro-organisms are essential for fertile soils and safe production of food. Effects of diffrent farmers' practices are briefly mentioned
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A Hidden HabitatSoil -
By Winfried Scheewe, 14 October 2010
Who lives there?
What is going on there?
What farmers are doing?
What are the effects?
Why hidden?
Who lives there? 1
Tardigradeor Water Bear
Who lives there? 2
Nematodes
Who lives there? 3
Actinomycetes
Fungi
Who lives there? 4
Protozoa
Algae
100 Insects and mites
110 Worms
250 Springtails
25,000 Nematodes
7,500,000 Protozoa
12,500,000 Algae
100,000,000 Fungi
125,000,000 Bacteria
One handful of fertile soil can contain :
What is going on in the soil?
There are many kinds of soil animals and micro-organisms
What are their roles?
Functions of soil organisms
Decomposing organic stuff
Maintaining a sponge like structure
Providing nutrients to plants
Decomposing organic stuff
Soil organisms help to bind soil particles together, give it a sponge like structure.
Fixing Nitro-gen
Mycorrhizae
Providing nutrients to plants
Effects of farmers’ practices on the soil organisms
Most pesticides are harmful to soil organisms
Application of fertilizers
Effects of farmers’ practices
Soil compaction
Burning of crop residues
Bare soil after burning the stubbles
Differences farmers can make
Returning rice straw
Example: Farm of Isidro Prado
After 15 years of using fertilizers, Zinc deficiency became a problem, yield declined by 60 to 70%
Straw application: within two years, yield back to normal levelsof over 4.5 t/ha(40 sacks from 0.38 ha)
Differences farmers can make
Soil cover
SOIL EROSIONCORN WITH A COVER CROP
Preventing soil erosion with hedgerows and mulch
Thank you !
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