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KOZGRO’S AFB AND SOIL SALINITY

           A serious problem farmers face today is the accumulation of salts in their soils.  Some of our soils naturally have high salt content, while others are lower in salts.  Most soils today are affected to some degree by salinity problems.  Salt is continually being added to our soils by the use of commercial fertilizers, manure, compost, and pesticides.  Most commercial fertilizers and pesticides are salt based, which adds to the soil salinity problem.  In many regions across the United States, the irrigation water itself has a high salt content.  As salts build up in our soils, production declines accordingly, while essential nutrients become tied up and unavailable to the plant.  Salt accumulation in our soils has become a critical issue.  Many farmers are forced to raise lower value crops on fields with high salt concentrations and in severe cases, fields are being taken out of production.

           AFB helps increase the ionic activity in the soil.  Increased ionic activity increases the availability of nutrients to the plant, by releasing tied up nutrients.  Increased ionic activity in the soil also helps break down accumulated salts into cell and tissue salts.  Cell and tissue salts are in a form that can be readily utilized by the plant, thus effectively reducing soil salinity.  High salinity not only affects the crop directly, but creates other problems as well.  Parasitic organisms such as parasitic nematodes flourish in saline soils, while beneficial organisms decline sharply.  Soil fumigants and nematicides kill parasitic nematodes on contact, but fails to affect their eggs.  Since the eggs are unaffected, the life cycle continues.  Another concern when using fumigants and nematicides is that they not only kill the targeted pests, but destroys beneficial organisms as well.  In contrast, as AFB increases the ionic activity, soil salinity decreases, creating a favorable environment for beneficial microorganisms to propagate.  With the proper environment, these beneficial microorganisms populations increase rapidly. Beneficial predatory microorganisms in turn feed on parasitic microorganisms, such as parasitic nematodes, effectively breaking their life cycle.  The only way to truly control parasitic nematodes is to break their life cycle.

           Another benefit of decreased soil salinity is that microorganisms (such as earthworms) will once again flourish.  Although earthworms cannot survive in high saline soils, their eggs remain viable under such conditions for 40 years and more.  When the salt level is reduced to a favorable level, these dormant eggs begin to hatch.  Within a relatively short period of time of using Kozgro’s organic fertilizer and plant food, AFB, you can once again have a healthy earthworm population.  Earthworms not only aerate your soil while breaking down residues, but enrich the soil with essential nutrients as well.

A HEALTHY LIVING SOIL IS A PRODUCTIVE SOIL

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