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DR. MELTEM ONAY; FARMER FRIENDLY CARBON

Sometimes I cannot establish a complete relationship between concepts. But when I set it up, I am incredibly excited and naturally desire to share it. Ever since I started dealing with the topic of sustainable agriculture, I have been looking for “formulas” that will provide some convenience to our farmers, and especially our cooperatives, that will enable them to continue their agricultural activities. I believe that not only our current farmers, but also the new agricultural entrepreneurs, who we call the new generation, will be active in this field with great enthusiasm if we offer opportunities and methods to minimize their “fertilizer and fuel” needs, which are two major inputs that prevent them from doing agriculture.

In the field of fuel, I have not yet deepened my work on finding and uncovering renewable energy sources. However, I think that I have found some clues that productivity can be increased by means of “bio-organic fertilizer”, that our soils can be improved with the establishment of the carbon cycle, and physical and biological health can be improved. What are these? The perfect harmony of the relationship between the concepts:

“CARBON and COMPOST”; 2K

Carbon and Soil Relationship

Carbon is a molecule that has been rotating between “soil-atmosphere-living things” for millions of years and is the basis of life. The primary storage location for carbon is soil. Soil organic matter has a very complex structure. It is a heterogeneous mixture of sorted substances, from fresh plant residues to humus, a highly dissolved substance. Organic carbon mainly enters the soil by animal and plant debris, dead and living microorganisms, root infiltrations and dissolution of the soil structure. For this reason, soil organic carbon is directly related to the level of organic matter in the soil, and therefore soil organic carbon is usually a measure of soil organic matter. Soil organic carbon is an essential and essential building block source for soil microorganisms as well as plants.

Carbon Free Soils

Carbon, which is extremely necessary and important while rotating in a balanced way between atmosphere-living, tissue-soil, threatens our future when it passes from soil to atmosphere. Its direct and indirect effects, especially the deterioration of the carbon cycle rate, global warming, are reflected in our lives in many different ways, such as desertification, flood formation, soil desertification, and the threat of food security. The soils on our planet are the most practical method in preventing global warming due to their carbon storage capacity. How Does?

“Soil carbon bonding”, that is, sequestration. By storing the carbon dioxide taken from the atmosphere in the soil carbon pool. What will happen when we store it?

First of all, there is a very important issue that we should not forget. Our Anatolian soils are among the soil groups that lose the most carbon. Organic matter content of an intact, healthy soil should be at least 5%, for our soils it is around 1%. Carbon is a miraculous recipe for increasing organic matter in our agricultural lands. In case we conserve “organic carbon” in the soil for healthy soil management,

-We can increase the water holding capacity of our sandy soils.

– We can restore the structural balance of clay soils.

-We can maintain the strong PH balance of the soil.

– We can increase the amount of “organic matter” that affects efficiency.

In short, if we connect carbon to our soils, our soils will be improved and productivity will become sustainable, and we will be able to prevent the damages of CO2 gas, which is a global problem, creating a greenhouse effect.

FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) Warns!

He emphasizes the relationship between climate change and organic carbon stocks in soils with the “soil organic carbon” map on a global scale by FAO. In the same report; He explains that the carbon stocks in soils are twice the rate of carbon dioxide emission that causes global warming in the atmosphere, and accordingly, increasing the amount of organic matter in the soil acts as a good carbon pool, so the fight against global warming should be considered as a very powerful instrument.

Organic matter

When I read these statements in the report, I was curious. What is the amount of “organic matter” in the soil in our country, which is essential for the development and growth of a plant? When I found the result, I was afraid. This rate is below 1% in our lands in our country. According to FAO, the amount of organic matter that should be in an ideal soil structure is expected to be 5% or more.

Well, what have we done to our lands and fallen into these situations?

According to the report published recently by the European Environment Agency, the increasing temperatures due to climate change since the 1950s have caused a decrease in the humidity rates in our country as well as in Europe. The result is “desertification” due to erosions, we lose millions of cubic meters of our land every day.

There is a saying from H. Tolga Ilçin of Phonus Company: “We have to replace the amount of organic matter of our land as much as we consume it. To protect the soil means to protect the Misak-ı Millî (National Pact).”

National agriculture is an indicator of the degree of self-sufficiency. Each country has to provide at least its own seeds, fertilizers and necessary machinery for production with its “internal resources”. But how?

Compost, Biomass, Bio-organic Fertilizers

Compost production is a very useful input for many types of conventional agriculture, which is obtained by recycling all kinds of organic wastes, especially agricultural and animal wastes as raw materials, and does not require import for its production.

Compost

Although the subject of biomass is not yet sufficiently noticed for our country, it is very important for the efficiency of agricultural production. Why is that?

Because, the extremely low organic matter content in our country naturally causes the loss of the natural biomass of the soil in agricultural lands.

For this reason, high-content nutrients given by organomineral fertilizers cannot become completely beneficial for the plant due to insufficient microorganism populations, and the excess nutrients that cannot be taken by the plant are washed away from the soil by rains or taken by the plant more than necessary and stored in its body, causing other problems.

The formula for reducing fertilizer input

In our country, after gasoline, the second most foreign currency item is “fertilizer”. We have almost become a foreign dependent country in this regard. We have to move away from this addiction very quickly. So with whom are we going to do this? Together with our farmers and cooperatives.

We have the opportunity to reduce our production costs with “organic solid fertilizer”, that is, “compost” that we make from our own agricultural wastes. By increasing the amount of organic solids, it activates the micro and macro life in the soil, thus the basic “carbon molecules” necessary for life can be swallowed by the carbon dioxide gases in the atmosphere and connected by plants and plants by other living things. Each unit of organic matter we put into the soil contributes to the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions and the fight against climate change.

Since the plant will be healthy in a healthy soil, we naturally reduce the amount of various pesticides used. As a result, we have made a great contribution to the economy, environment and health.

I Love Carbon and Compost Plants

Why “carbon” friendly to our farmers? Why are we giving this responsibility to them? Because their role in the sustainability of agriculture is enormous. As long as our land is fertile, our farmers will continue agriculture. In this way, they will be able to both generate greater income economically and create new employment opportunities in the agricultural sector. With only one condition!

In agricultural production, “soil quality” is as important as air and water quality. As long as we strengthen our lands, agricultural activities will be able to continue. Therefore, our farmers have to fulfill some of their duties.

To increase carbon storage in the agricultural ecosystem; abandoning continuous deep soil plowing; keeping the soil surface with continuous vegetation; locating plants with excess harvest waste; planting plants capable of storing carbon in crop rotation; using the lands that are not suitable for agriculture as pasture and forest areas; abandoning the stubble culture ”; Re-submitting all kinds of plant and animal waste to the soil, that is, to increase the habit of composting.

Last word; Organic carbon management is the most effective and applicable method not only to combat climate change, but also to increase the productivity of our soils for our farmers. As a result of its smart use and recovery, it will provide many advantages. For this reason, it is nature-friendly and farmer-friendly.

It is our debt to our country’s lands to utilize all agricultural wastes and turn them into fertilizers naturally and to strengthen our own land in terms of organic matter. You ask why? For our future… To be a strong country among the countries that go to food wars…

Professor Dr. Meltem Onay,

Vice Rector,

15 November Cyprus University

About İsmail Uğural

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