Recharging soils with carbon could make farms more productive
We need to start rethinking agriculture altogether. Let’s take the plow – which was invented in order to turn over the wet soil in the Nile valley after the yearly flooding so the soil could dry out before seeds go in. In most cases its not needed at all, but we got so used to it, it’s almost unimaginable to have a farm without a plow. The sad thing is that plowing destroys fungi that help the soil store carbon that in turn helps it be more fertile. And this destroys one of the most potent carbon sinks. Plus it contributes to desertification. But this can be reversed.
Turning crop waste and discarded paper into a material called biochar could help to capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil while also helping to enrich farmland.
