Farming will only survive if the soil is nourished!

"What is Ecological Agriculture?", Volume 35 of the "Farmers Change the World" series, which shows how farmers change the world.
Introducing the mechanism of compost and soil fertilization.
Through my experience in the field of compost manufacturing for over 30 years and organic farming for over 10 years, I have learned that not only is it impossible to revitalize the soil without high-quality compost, but organic farming, even among eco-friendly farming, is impossible.


This explains everything from the selection of materials to the technical manufacturing method and effects of use to create high-quality compost that increases soil organic matter and secures soil depth.
The author's know-how in raising the soil level is revealed in detail.
We provide help to those who purchase the right compost to revitalize the soil, as well as those who use compost themselves.

The most important thing to secure soil is organic matter.
Many people believe that if you just give organic matter, the soil will improve, but that is not true.
Because using organic matter causes fermentation in the soil and damages crops, it must be fermented in advance and turned into compost before use.
It is difficult to find fully fermented compost among the composts available on the market.
A significant portion is less mature compost that is closer to the raw material.
Oil cake, which is commonly made into pellets and used, is also a raw organic material and is not suitable for revitalizing the soil.
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What is soil fertility? Simply put, soil fertility refers to the power of the soil to produce healthy crops and increase yields.
Soil with good depth is said to be soil where soil microorganisms are in harmony, crops can absorb nutrients evenly, and crop roots spread deep and widely into the ground to absorb nutrients well.
In other words, good soil refers to soil that has well-balanced physical and chemical conditions (water, air, nutrients, temperature, light, and microorganisms free of harmful factors).
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Compost also varies greatly in quality.
Well-fermented compost contains many beneficial microorganisms that eat pathogens in the soil, so adding this compost to the soil will gradually improve it.
On the other hand, if you use rotten compost, it may contain many pathogens, which may end up making the soil worse.
Well-fermented compost will show white, snow-like things during the post-ripening stage; these are beneficial actinomycetes.
… … Crops grown in this soil are disease-free, grow well, and are rich in flavor and nutrition.
When you eat these agricultural products, you are essentially consuming natural antibiotics.
This is the principle of compost farming, circular farming, and organic farming, and why eating organic produce is good for your health.
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Why does the amount of compost in soil vary depending on the raw material? For example, if one side were to load a large truckload of cabbage and radish waste, abundant during kimchi season, while another side were to compost a cartload of sawdust, which would produce more compost? The answer is sawdust.
There is so little left in the soil that you cannot find any traces of cabbage or radish waste.
Most people say it's because of moisture, but that's wrong.
This is because sawdust contains at least 20-50% moisture, although this varies depending on the degree of drying.
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There is one point I would like to particularly emphasize here, and that is the part about microbes and nutrients.
Even if you only use microorganisms and nutrients, farming will definitely be successful for 2-3 years.
It can't be helped because we are supplementing nutrients and microorganisms to soil that is lacking in microorganisms and nutrients.
But this alone is not enough to continue farming successfully for a long time.
Currently, Korean agricultural soil contains less than half of the optimal amount of soil organic matter (about 2%).
If only microorganisms and nutrients are used in this condition, the soil organic matter content may decrease further as the nutrients are quickly consumed as food for the microorganisms.
If this happens, the functions of soil organic matter described above, such as water retention and water holding capacity, will drop sharply, and the soil will harden and become increasingly poor.
If we use an analogy to our body, it means that it is like having fun by taking Viagra without building up your stamina, and then one day suddenly finding yourself weak.
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40-50 years ago, every farmhouse would write and hang a sign in their yard with the words 'Ipchundaegil ( ? ??)' and 'Sojihwanggeumchul ( ???? )'.
This means that if you sweep the yard, collect the waste from farming, make good compost, and farm well, you can earn income (gold).
This passage may be pointing out the importance of compost.
In old agricultural books, it is recorded that our ancestors considered compost making to be the foundation of farming and put the most effort into it.
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