Daniel Larn
Member
Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited back to my old university, here in Plymouth, for their 'Healthy Landscapes' day. The day was focussed primarily on soils, and there were a number of interesting talks from various speakers, including representatives of the Soil Association, Sustainable Soils Alliance and the Environment Agency.
However, in my opinion, the most interesting talks of the day were given by Dr Rachel Warmington of the Eden Project and Dr Mark Fitzsimmons and Dr Jenny Rhymes of Plymouth University. These talks were geared toward something they called FABSoil, an artificially manufactured (FABricated) soil.
These fabricated soils were used to great effect by the Eden Project to deliver the required soil structure, and makeup, for the various different types of plants found in each 'biome'.
They went on to explain how these FABSoils could be incorporated into existing soils to change the dynamic of agricultural land, even going to the extreme of including key bacteria/ mycorrhizae to optimise nutrient uptake/release for target crops.
More details:
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/institutes/sustainable-earth/a-recipe-for-soil
How many TFFers would consider importing such soils to change the dynamics of their land?
What problems would you have with such a scheme?
Would TFFers even go so far as to pay for soil improvements of this nature?
Just trying to see how people feel about it, that's all.
However, in my opinion, the most interesting talks of the day were given by Dr Rachel Warmington of the Eden Project and Dr Mark Fitzsimmons and Dr Jenny Rhymes of Plymouth University. These talks were geared toward something they called FABSoil, an artificially manufactured (FABricated) soil.
These fabricated soils were used to great effect by the Eden Project to deliver the required soil structure, and makeup, for the various different types of plants found in each 'biome'.
They went on to explain how these FABSoils could be incorporated into existing soils to change the dynamic of agricultural land, even going to the extreme of including key bacteria/ mycorrhizae to optimise nutrient uptake/release for target crops.
More details:
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/institutes/sustainable-earth/a-recipe-for-soil
How many TFFers would consider importing such soils to change the dynamics of their land?
What problems would you have with such a scheme?
Would TFFers even go so far as to pay for soil improvements of this nature?
Just trying to see how people feel about it, that's all.