Rebuilding our Soil with Regenerative Farming
The Threat of Land Degradation
As of now, we have already degraded an entire third of the world’s top soil. Land degradation has become an increasingly large and alarming issue. Now, we must change agricultural methods because reducing fossil fuel use simply isn’t enough to save the environment from global warming.
Over-tilled soil has contributed to rising carbon dioxide levels in the air, which has the adverse effect of lowering crop yields, reducing the nutritional benefit of foods, and contributing to global warming. We must remove carbon from the sky and, ironically, we can do it by starting with the earth beneath our feet.
Tilled soil erodes over one-hundred times faster than it can form. As our population continues to expand, we will have more people to feed, creating a snowball effect. We must act now to change the way we grow crops before this problem gets too big to tackle.
The Science Behind Organic Carbon Matter
To understand why preserving our soil is so important, we must first unearth the basic science behind organic carbon matter. Healthy soils are high in organic carbon matter, which is obtained when plants remove carbon from the air via photosynthesis.
Organic carbon matter is so crucial to have in soils because it fuels soil organisms that recycle and release minerals, which plants ultimately use as nutrients.
But organic carbon matter exists in a cycle, and soil also has the ability to release carbon into the atmosphere. This results in an increased level of greenhouse gasses, which is the key perpetrator of global warming.
Increased tillage and fertilizer use causes the amount of carbon released by soil to sky rocket. It is important to keep carbon in the soil where it can be beneficial rather than it existing in our atmosphere where it is detrimental.
Studies have shown that globally, soils have lost 20 to 60 percent of their original organic carbon content, and in North America, soils have lost half of their organic carbon matter. To add to this catastrophe, modern advances in agriculture, such as plow use and chemical fertilizers, further destroy the environment.
Luckily, regenerative farming may be the solution for reversing the damage that has already been done.
The Solution: Adopting Regenerative Farming Practices
Examples of regenerative farming practices include switching from plowing to no-till methods and by planting a variety of cash and cover crops instead of growing strictly cash crops. Furthermore, livestock grazing practices can be adopted to regenerate healthy, carbon-rich soil.
While many have the misconception that regenerative farming methods are expensive and laborious, they are quite the opposite.
A U.N. report in 2018 stated that the benefits of land restoration are greater than ten times the cost. With that being said, there is absolutely no excuse for regenerative farming practices to not be used. In addition, a study performed in developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia revealed that when these types of practices were adopted, the yield actually increased by 80 percent.
Findings like these cannot be ignored, and we must continue to educate the members of our society to save our soils.
xVirity can Complement Regenerative Farming Practices
xVirity fits into this picture by complementing and increasing the effectiveness of regenerative farming methods with xVital.
xVital is simply a solution consisting of nitrate ions, and it lacks the harmful salts and chemicals that are present in traditional fertilizers. Our revolutionary fertilizer is made up of everything that plants need to grow but lacks the extra, unnecessary chemicals that contribute to run-off and root burn.
Additionally, the concentration of nitrogen in xVital is extremely accurate, resulting in precise nitrogen application that can be easily regulated. The perfect amount of nitrogen can be applied to plants–never too much or too little. Purchase xVital today to take the initiative in making a difference towards saving the planet and the soil!
For more articles on regenerative farming, see below:
Practicing Regenerative Agriculture to Reverse Climate Change
Modernizing South America’s Agricultural Practices is our Only Hope to Combat Climate Change
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