YOUR SOIL
Micro-organisms
for healthy soil
H
ealthy soil is soil
which will continuously function as a
living eco-system to support
plant life.
Soil health in conventionallyfarmed lands is often poor
due to the use of chemical
fertilizers, mostly the addition
of nitrogen.
The resultant unhealthy soil
requires ever-increasing
quantities of fertilizers to
promote good growth, but
also encourages the growth of
Tomato grown with Soil Bio-Muti
pathogens and pests, such as
eelworm.
To combat this, the farmer
then resorts to ever-increasing
use of pesticides.
Thus an unhealthy and
unsustainable vicious circle
develops with ever-increasing
input costs and ever-
SOIL
From page 15
trampling and soil erosion.
K Rehabilitate degraded veld.
K Build, engineer and install
soil and water retention
constructions where appropriate, both to harvest and retain
rainwater run off, and to
capture silt. These can include
constructing contoured swales
across sloping fields and placing
silt-retaining gabions across
watercourses.
(Sources: Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United
Nations and Agriculture: Facts
& Trends - South Africa, WWF)
16
www.sasmallholder.co.za
decreasing crop yields
because of the pests attacking
the underground and aboveground structures of the
plants.
To biologically rehabilitate
soil, control pathogens and
lower crop input costs, it is
necessary to repair the
biological functions of the
soil, which will also improve
soil structure and water
retaining capacity.
One effective way to
accomplish this is to
incorporate a lot of
organic material into
the soil together with
one or more
applications of a
liquid microorganism carrier such
as Soil Bio-Muti
(SBM).
SBM is a collection of
beneficial soil microorganisms which are
taken from natural
virgin soil to a depth of
300mm and then by means
of a special process, they are
quickly propagated to high
concentrations.
SBM thrives in moist soil
with temperatures around
20 °C.
Soil micro-organisms are
propagated in suspension in
water, becoming Soil BioContinued on page 18