Carbon Farmers Work to Clean Up the World’s Mess
Thats a promising beginning – but we can go a whole lot further than this without breaking the bank. Right now we till the soil and prevent beneficial fungi that put the carbon back into the soil where it is needed to form and live. Plowing was invented by Egyptians in order to dry the soil after the Nile flooded. Its unnecessary in most parts of the world and not plowing would allow the soil to retain a lot more carbon. We have too much carbon in the air and not enough in the soil. Lets fix this.
It was a bright afternoon in March of 2011 when I met Pedro (a pseudonym) on his organic farm in the mountains of Costa Rica, north of San José. I was there to do research on changing agricultural practices in the country. As we walked around his land, he showed me his greenhouses where lettuce, potatoes, and peppers grew. The warm air smelled earthy and sweet.
