Tom Philpott, reports in a five-part series entitled “Is America Fertilizing Disaster?” at Grist.org, that new research is showing that synthetic nitrogen in fertilizer is damaging our agricultural soil. A team of University of Illinois researchers, led by professors Richard Mulvaney, Saeed Khan, and Tim Ellsworth, “argue  that the net effect of synthetic nitrogen use is to reduce soil’s organic matter content. Why? Because, they posit, nitrogen fertilizer stimulates soil microbes, which feast on organic matter. Over time, the impact of this enhanced microbial appetite outweighs the benefits of more crop residues.”

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Filed by admin at 10:11 am under Sustainable Agriculture & Policy