and here is a quite interesting and complementary piece: [Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] Cultivating diversity underground for better yields above - http://www.newfarm.org/depts/NFfield_trials/0903/daviddouds.shtml * To: lfl@intrex.net * Subject: Cultivating diversity underground for better yields above - http://www.newfarm.org/depts/NFfield_trials/0903/daviddouds.shtml * From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." * Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 23:24:01 -0700 * Delivered-to: lfl@intrex.net * Organization: http://market-farming.com -- Venaura Farm * User-agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.5) Gecko/20031007 http://www.newfarm.org/depts/NFfield_trials/0903/daviddouds.shtml Cultivating diversity underground for better yields above Research at The Rodale Institute® demonstrates how sustainable farming practices can boost yields by nurturing beneficial soil fungi. By Laura Sayre About this series: As some of you may know, The Rodale Institute®, which publishes The New Farm®, is home to the longest running field trials in the country comparing organic and conventional systems of farming called The Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial® (FST). The data from that 23 years of research is a real treasure trove of insight into the economic, ecological and agronomic benefits of organic farming. In addition to this long-running Farming Systems Trial, we have a variety of other research in progress at The Institute. David Douds, as youll read in this story, has been studying soil fungi here at The Institutes research farm for 15 years. Were engaged in no-till research, weed research, compost tea research, composting research, water quality research, and much more. Until now, much of the light were generating here on our research farm has been hidden under the proverbial barrel, but were taking off the barrel and busting it up for firewood. Were going let the light of the amazing research being done here shine on farmers, consumers and environmental activities. Over the next year well be running a series of stories, about one a month, on the significance of our research ... and its practical applications. That includes a few stories on equipment constructiona front-mounted roller for no-till, and a compost turner converted from a junked 18-wheeler. So sit tight, and be prepared to be amazed, starting with David Douds discoveries about how you can increase vegetable yields by 50 percent using homemade fungal inoculants. Enjoy, Chris Hill Executive Editor p.s. Interested in hearing more about how you can take part in the mycorrhizae revolution? Click here and let us know. Send your name, phone number and e-mail address with your note so we can follow-up with you. "Overall, Douds work suggests that a small amount of mixed MF inoculant can be substituted for a large amount of fertilizer--with no loss of yield, greatly reduced environmental impact, and lower production costs." Home-grown mycorrhizal inoculum can be produced at a fraction of the cost of purchasing commercial mixes. "I've done some preliminary calculations," says Douds. "The on-farm system produces 100 million propagules for approximately $50, not counting the cost of the farmer's labor, which is fairly minimal. To purchase 100 million propagules as listed on the bag of some commercial mixes would cost anywhere from $8,000 to $40,000." FACT SHEET: Mycorrhizae Above: USDA soil microbiologist David Douds with a carrot root-mycorrhizal fungi culture. Under the leadership of Dr. Douds, field trials have shown yield gains of as much as 50% in the presence of healthy mycorrhizae populations. Now Douds is developing a practical, low-cost method for on-farm production of mycorrhizal soil innoculant, promising higher yields with lower nutrient inputs. (Photo by Peggy Greb, courtesy of the Agricultural Research Service Photo Unit.) September 29, 2003: You've read the amazing facts and figures: one teaspoon of healthy topsoil can contain millions of individual microorganisms, all playing a part in the functioning of the soil ecosystem. But how much do you really know about the action of those diverse species and how to maximize their presence in your own fields? Ongoing research at The Rodale Institute® sheds light on one important component of the soil community--mycorrhizal fungi--and its impact on agricultural production. Under the leadership of Dr. David Douds, a soil microbiologist with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, field trials have shown yield gains of as much as 50% in the presence of healthy mycorrhizae populations. Now Douds is developing a practical, low-cost method for on-farm production of mycorrhizal soil inoculant, promising higher yields with lower nutrient inputs. A mycorrhizal primer Mycorrhizae are soil-dwelling fungi that live in and around the roots of plants ('myco-rrhizae' means 'fungus-root'). The fungi and the plants form mutually beneficial associations in which the fungi receive carbohydrates from the plants and the plants receive nutrients and other benefits from the fungi. Since the first mycorrhizae species were described by a German botanist in the 1880s, researchers have discovered that approximately 80% of all land plants form mycorrhizal associations. The relationship is so widespread, in fact, that it is sometimes referred to as 'the Universal Symbiosis,' and is believed to have played a key role in the evolutionary transition from aquatic to terrestrial plant forms. Today, scientists divide mycorrhizae into two major types: endomycorrhizae, which penetrate and colonize plant roots, and ectomycorrhizae, which form sheaths around plant roots. Whereas ectomycorrhizal relationships tend to be highly specialized--with some 6000 fungal species worldwide associated with tree species of the oak, beech, and pine families, among others--endomycorrhizal associations are more generalized as well as more widespread, with fewer than 150 fungal species opportunistically colonizing the roots of the vast majority of terrestrial plant families. Ectomycorrhizal inoculants are already widely used in commercial forestry, but the possibility of developing endomycorrhizal inoculants for production agriculture is a more recent idea. "These are beneficial soil fungi that colonize the roots of plants and help them take up phosphorus" and other immobile soil nutrients, such as zinc and copper, Douds explains. "The fungus colonizes the root and it also grows out into the soil; the part of the fungus that's in the soil acts as an extension of the root system, to explore a greater volume of soil and take up nutrients and bring them back into the root." In addition to facilitating nutrient uptake, some mycorrhizae secrete a gluey substance, called glomalin, which helps develop soil structure and soil aggregation; others may help plants fight disease. Yet because endomycorrhizae are 'obligate symbionts'--they must have living plant roots to colonize in order to complete their life cycle--their numbers will decline under conventional agricultural monocultures, which have living crop covers fewer months of the year than organic rotations. The drop in yields typically seen after the first year of cultivation on virgin prairie or forest soils is probably attributable in part to the loss of native mycorrhizae, Douds says. Fifteen years of research prove benefits of fungi Douds has been conducting research in collaboration with The Rodale Institute since 1989, his first year at the Agricultural Research Service's Eastern Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. "Some employees of The Institute farm came down to our research center as part of a kind of an interagency show-and-tell about research programs and facilities and what all we could do to help each other," Douds recalls. "Rhonda Janke"--The Institute's research agronomist at the time--"gave a presentation about The Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial," a side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional production systems. Douds recognized it as a great opportunity to study endomycorrhizal associations. "Later that year I started sampling, and right off learned that [the soils under] the conventional farming systems had fewer mycorrhizal fungi than the soils under the low-input farming systems. So right away we all got excited and we branched out from there." Since that first season, Douds' work at The Rodale Institutes 333-acre experimental farm has progressed in three overlapping phases: In the first phase, from 1989 to 1995, Douds and his team surveyed native mycorrhizal fungi (MF) populations at Rodale and examined the impact of different agricultural practices--including tillage regimes, crop rotations, and soil amendments--on those populations. The second phase, which is still ongoing, looks at the utilization of MF by crop plants, comparing yields in the presence and absence of different MF species. The third phase seeks to apply those findings by devising a simple, on-farm MF inoculum production system, so that farmers can harness the benefits of endomycorrhizae without spending lots of money on commercial mixes. (Commercial products already on the market include Bio/Organics Endomycorrhizal Inoculant [$79.95 for 3 lbs, labeled to treat 500 plants], Plant Success Mycorrhizae Tablets [$19.95 for 100 tablets, labeled to treat 50 plants up to 1 ft tall], and Earthroots VAM Fungi by First Fruits LLC [$15 for 3 lbs, labeled to treat 200 seedlings].) On-farm production of mycorrhizal inoculant in test enclosures at The Rodale Institutes farm. Douds chose bahiagrass as a host plant "because it's a tropical grass and the first frost will kill the shoot growth"--so it won't escape to become a new local weed and won't harbor any pests or pathogens that might affect either resident crops or northern native grasses. Agronomic practices that boostor depress mycorrhizal levels Although the first phase of Douds's research found larger and more diverse MF populations in organically-managed soils than in conventionally-managed ones, it also revealed how specific agronomic practices can boost or depress MF levels. "Over-wintering cover crops. . . are very beneficial to mycorrhizal fungi," Douds notes, whereas "tillage disrupts the mycorrhizal fungi in the soil and serves to decrease the initial colonization of the plants." Based on these findings, Douds emphasizes that all farmers, organic or conventional, can take steps to nurture the MF already present in their fields: reduce tillage, he says, use fungicides sparingly, and--most important--maximize cover cropping. "Over-wintering cover crops give the MF a host plant to colonize when there's no cash crop growing on the soil," Douds explains. In the coldest part of the year the MF go dormant, but during warm spells in early spring and late fall, the MF will try to grow, and can exhaust their reserves if they find no plant hosts. "During these periods. . . the fungus is still respiring, it's still burning up its carbohydrate storage in the spores, it's burning up the lipids that were stored," leaving it "less viable when the time comes finally for the crop plant to be present." A cover crop or even just a weedy fallow will maintain healthy MF populations, which can then benefit the cash crop coming on to the field. Crop rotations are another factor to consider, since a handful of crop species belong to plant families that do not form mycorrhizal associations (said to be 'non-mycotrophic'), including the Brassicaceae (rape, broccoli, cabbage, turnips, etc), the Chenopodiaceae (beets, spinach), and the Polygonaceae (buckwheat). Not only will these crops not benefit from the presence of MF, but MF levels in the soil will be depressed after these crops are grown, potentially showing an effect on any mycotrophic crops which follow. Potatoes and peppers inoculated with mycorrhizae get yield boosts of up to 50 percent! In the second phase of his research, looking at the impact of MF on crop yields, Douds began inoculating plants in the greenhouse and then tracking their performance in the field. "We had some plants that were inoculated with a control mix with no inoculum, another one inoculated with a mix of mycorrhizal fungi, and another inoculated with just one species commonly present in commercial inoculum," Douds explains. "We transplanted them into the Compost Utilization Trial,"--another ongoing experiment at The Rodale Institute--"and we found over the course of the 3-year experiment that the mixture of mycorrhizal fungi increased the yield of marketable-sized peppers up to a maximum of 34% over the control. Last year we tried inoculating potatoes, and we got up to a 50% increase over the controls." David Douds and a research intern dig potatoes in this season's mycorrhizal test plot at the Rodale Experimental Farm. In last year's trials, potatoes grown with mycorrhizal fungi showed yield increases of as much as 50%. Other crops known to respond dramatically to mycorrhizal colonization include citrus, onion, and strawberries. This year they are repeating the potato trial, measuring yields under four different treatments: one with no added MF; one with a commercially available MF; one with a mixed MF inoculant grown in a leaf compost and vermiculite medium; and one with a mixed MF inoculant grown in a dairy manure compost and vermiculite medium. Overall, this work suggests that a small amount of mixed MF inoculant can be substituted for a large amount of fertilizer--with no loss of yield, greatly reduced environmental impact, and lower production costs. One unexpected finding of Douds' work at Rodale "is that mycorrhizae can be used to increase the yield of crops even in soils that are very high in phosphorous." Some of the soils at the Rodale Farm which have been heavily composted, Douds notes, "have available P in excess of 300 parts/million"--well above the level at which mycorrhizal responses are typically seen, around 20-50 ppm available P. "The generalization would be that P as high as 300 would be a situation in which the plant can take up all the P that it needs by itself without relying on the mycorrhizal fungi." Douds believes that at high nutrient levels, some of the other benefits of MF--enhanced disease resistance, improved soil aggregation and better water relations--could be showing an effect. Build your own on-farm inoculum production system The third phase of Douds' research at Rodale Farm focuses on developing an inexpensive, practicable system for on-farm production of mycorrhizae inoculant. As obligate symbionts, endomycorrhizae have so far resisted attempts to create what scientists call axenic (or isolated, single-species) cultures--they can only be grown in the presence of a host plant. Douds' system works within this constraint, using bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum), a tropical grass native to the southeastern US, as a host. A myccorhizae factory: The basic procedure is for the farmer to construct a simple enclosure out of landscape fabric, fill it with a mixture of compost and vermiculite, and then transplant pre-colonized bahiagrass seedlings into the mixture. Over the course of the growing season the bahiagrass spreads within the enclosure and the mycorrhizal fungi spread and reproduce along with it. When the grass dies back in the winter, the farmer is left with a concentrated mycorrhizal inoculant that can be incorporated into his or her potting mix when starting seedlings in the greenhouse the following spring. The basic procedure is for the farmer to construct a simple enclosure out of landscape fabric (75 cm square and 20 cm high), fill it with a mixture of compost and vermiculite, and then transplant pre-colonized bahiagrass seedlings into the mixture. Over the course of the growing season the bahiagrass spreads within the enclosure and the mycorrhizal fungi spread and reproduce along with it. When the grass dies back in the winter, the farmer is left with a concentrated mycorrhizal inoculant that can be incorporated into his or her potting mix when starting seedlings in the greenhouse the following spring. This year, Douds gave inoculated bahiagrass seedlings and other materials to a few Pennsylvania farmers to see how the method fares in the real-life conditions of farming. Meanwhile, Douds has 12 soil enclosures growing at the Rodale Farm in an experimental grid designed to identify optimum growth media. Douds chose three different kinds of compost--yard-clippings compost, controlled microbial compost, and dairy manure-leaf compost--and then diluted each kind with vermiculite at four different ratios, ranging from 1 part compost:2 parts vermiculite, down to 1 part compost:49 parts vermiculite. Each soil enclosure, finally, has nine separate sections, three with no inoculant and three each with two different mixtures of MF. At the end of the season, says Douds, "we'll sample the mixtures from within each enclosure, quantify the inoculum production, and then hopefully develop a prediction formula, where the optimum ratio [of compost to vermiculite] is a function" of the nutrient analysis and other properties of the compost. All the farmer will need to do, then, is get the nutrient analysis of his or her compost, plug it in to the formula, and find the optimal ratio of compost to vermiculite to use for his or her farm. "On-farm methods have several advantages over commercial inoculants," Douds explains. In the first place, whereas commercial formulae typically only contain a single MF species (frequently Glomus intraradices), Douds' method yields a diverse inoculum containing many MF species. This is crucial because MF show significant 'functional diversity'--"some are good at holding the soil together, some are good at gathering nutrients," others help fight disease. A second, related advantage is that by mixing in some soil from a nearby woodland, prairie, or hedgerow, the farmer can use Douds's system "to produce the native or indigenous strains of mycorrhizal fungi. . . the ones that are already adapted to his [or her] particular soil conditions." This could be especially important on problem soils, such as those with high aluminum, say, or high or low pH, where commercially-produced fungi may not survive. Growing fungi in real life: David Douds with one of his on-farm mycorrhizal fungi production systems at Shenk's Berry Farm in Lititz, PA. John Shenk, the cooperating farmer, grows 5 acres of strawberries, 3 acres of raspberries, and 10 acres of mixed vegetables in a low-input system, selling on-farm and at the Clark Park Farmers Market in Philadelphia. "We try to farm thoughtfully," says Shenk. "And do lots of reading and research to keep improving our farming methods." Next season, Shenk will incorporate the soil from the enclosure into his greenhouse potting mix. Last but not least, home-grown mycorrhizal inoculum can be produced at a fraction of the cost of purchasing commercial mixes. "I've done some preliminary calculations," says Douds. "The on-farm system produces 100 million propagules [in a single enclosure] for approximately $50, not counting the cost of the farmer's labor, which is fairly minimal. To purchase 100 million propagules as listed on the bag of some commercial mixes would cost anywhere from $8,000 to $40,000." Commercial inoculants are sold in a peat- or vermiculite-based medium, so purchasers have to buy (and pay to have shipped) a large volume of material to get a small number of viable MF propagules--another reason it makes more sense to grow your own. At the moment, Douds' system (like commercial MF inoculant) is suitable for two types of farms: vegetable growers on any scale who produce their own seedlings and can mix the inoculum into their potting mix; and smaller, labor-intensive farms or urban gardens where "the inoculum can be incorporated by hand, directly into the planting furrow or planting hole." Farmers growing field crops on a large scale can only take advantage of MF inoculants if they want to try them out in a relatively small area. "Delivery of MF inoculum to the field is a problem," acknowledges Douds. "Commercial companies are working on this for their particular inocula." He smiles. We can only hope that he will be too. OPX e-letters to the e-editors news & research columnists gleanings 1000 stories talking shop certification the pig page this farm life newsletters mid-atlantic marketing new farm japan FARM LOCATOR PRESS ROOM Farmers: Is organic certification worth it? 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Naptha? Isn't that kerosene? Yuck! Oh, right. Aldehydes. I guess that goes. Some O-Chem hydrocarbon petroleum thing. (shudder) I use 7th Generation Free & Clear. It doesn't smell like much of anything. And glycerine handsoaps with flower scents (rose or cucumber). (Method green tea + aloe pump is foul (much too much tea) but the color looks good with my powder room sink top and the guests don't seem to mind.) MaryS, thanks for bringing up the cumin thing! It's fine in a complex curry, but it tastes like dirt to me on it's own, and I can't eat samosas, and things like that, that are heavy on cumin. Or taco meat without the rest of the taco (tomatoes help). On the other hand, I love turmeric. It's been decades since I did this, if I had a soup that just wouldn't come together, I'd dump some turmeric into it. I called it my yummifing agent. Which probably makes up for the cumin in the curry. :) Hey! Speaking of tea, I wonder if this all that we're talking about is also why some people think green tea ice cream is a good idea? I don't even like the smell on my hands from the soap, and think green tea ice cream is an insult to Flossie. Though back when I did caffeine, I didn't mind drinking green tea as tea.

beginner's eye, "...your assuming the person apologizes and accepts your apology. what if they don't. is that the fault of the parent as well..." I'm going to take....fault of the parent out of this equation and provide another example here. Perhaps a non-apology was given. I have an older sister, who I'm estranged from. She was given to periodic calls out of the blue. Usually, she would rage at me, criticize, judge, etc. Sadly, she just could never connect to my feelings. The point is that it was all about her and her feelings. I got used to her negative judgments and criticisms. She was very aggressive, although I'm convinced that she never saw herself as an aggressive person. She always framed me as the problem. Once, at the urging of some therapy group she decided to make another call. By this time I equated all phone calls and every interaction with her as emotionally painful. As charastic of her, she demanded to know why I avoided her. My sister could never, never see how hurtful her behavior was. EVER! Then she said to me, "...If I apologize, will it make things better?" This took me by surprise and there was a long history of her emotional outbursts, anger and denial. I responded saying I guess so. Then she got mad. Then immediately after she made another very telling comment, she said,"I DON'T GET ANY OF THIS." I was in therapy at the time and discussed her non-apology with my therapist and why I felt it was insincere--it was a very telling comment to me. She was apologizing for behavior that she didn't UNDERSTAND, because as she said, "She didn't get any of this." Neither could the rest of my family and the rage, anger and blame continued from them. My response was to distance myself even further. The concept here is that if someone truly doesn't understand how hurtful and destructive their behavior is (and will not own it and don't understand it), then I'm certain that the behavior will continue and there will be repetition. This may not be the best example, but think of a wife-beater who abuses his wife, then profusely apologizes with flowers, gifts and she reconciles. Then he beats her again, even more cruely than the first time. Then her well-meaning friends or relatives say, "she allowed herself to be manipulated, abused," or they may encourage her to "forgive and forget". Plenty of people MINIMIZE emotional abuse and the damage it creates, because unlike physical abuse you can't see it, therefore if you can't see it, it must not exist. I can assure you my estrangement from my sister is NOT TO PUNISH her. It is 100% about PROTECTING MYSELF and PROTECTING my emotions. It is not because I do not want "...resolution/reconciliation/closure/healing". Of course, I want that. I also want change and I want her destructive behaviors to STOP. I want her to demonstrate AWARENESS and I want to be convinced that she UNDERSTANDS why she is apologizing. I'm not interested in prolonging the conflict. I'M NOT INTERESTED IN PROLONGING EMOTIONAL ABUSE with someone who DOESN'T UNDERSTAND my feelings. I am also not looking for perfection of character. Responsibility and awareness, YES. That is what I am looking for. My intest is in preserving some sense of myself and protecting myself. I posted on another thread about the Art of Apologizing.

It was the meatloaf.......traditionally baked in a loaf-shape, that our then nine year-old declared he would eat never again. I fooled him -- changed the shape to large meatballs next time! He ate the meatballs without question for the next three or four years, then suddenly asked, "is this what I think it is?" After we agreed that it indeed was meatloaf, he eats it no matter what shape, and complains no more. A young visitor found an Italian green bean in a pasta sauce and was about to throw one of her royal fits. I had to think fast to save the day, and told her how lucky she was to have found the special bean. We held it high and announced that this was her lucky day, and that anyone finding the lucky beans would also share in the luck. It worked!! The first day I kept the two neighbor boys after school, I sliced apples, and bananas on a plate for their after school snack. The six year old took one look and announced, "we don't like fruit, and we won't eat it!" The 10 year old told me they usually have potato chips and soda at grandma's house. Those are the two things I don't keep in my house. We've found a few healthy snacks to replace their regular junk. And I've got the younger one to eat Elvis' grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich now and then. Jan