Science & Regenerative Agriculture

Intensive Agriculture Model

The green revolution after the second world war that was meant to increase tremendously productivity in farming through mechanisation and intensive use of inorganic fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, and automatic irrigation systems has been such a success that it is very difficult now to change the mentalities. The entire business model, farmers education, agronomists, engineers and the university research and funding have all been focused towards this model and still are today.

Limitations & issues of current model

However successful this model was in terms of increasing the production on always larger fields, this has come with a great cost for the environment, for the farmers and for the health of the entire population that has become more and more an obvious and a serious topic of consideration as time was passing witnessing farmers reduced margins or losses, an increasing rate of bankruptcy and suicides among small farmers while the farming industry suppliers profits increased new records high, and raising environmental concerns: top soil heavy erosion, soil compaction, water and air pollutions from intensive used of inorganic amendments, more severe floods and droughts. At the same time the farmers – ‘producers or growers’ – and the general population’s health and the average produces nutrient content are on a all times low.

On top of that, the entire meat production industrial model that is energetically very uneconomical, has led to serious deforestation and soil compaction and erosion issues as well, contributing massively to the green gas effect affecting climate change, while at the same time occupying a large part of fertile farming lands just to grow food for the animals.

Transition into a Sustainable Model

Now it has become critical to rethink and remodel our entire farming practices & premises in the light of the many scientific discoveries made these last 30 years about soil and plant health. Governments, institutions and universities are starting to use more and more institutional research funds towards sustainable agriculture research, agroforestry models, regenerative practices helping farmers to transition with their current equipment from mono crop intensive chemical tilling agriculture to a sustainable non till, cover crop, agroforestry, organic amendments, multi crops model. It is happening but slowly, with a strong resistance from the current actors supporting intensive agriculture, especially the fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides producers, but also fro;m some farmers who are not yet educated into these sustainable practices and are understandably afraid to lose incomes and the support they get today.

The Key to a successful transition

Today, our institutions start supporting the development a circular economy and the use of farming and green household waste as a source of organic amendments, and the transition to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable regenerative agriculture supporting soil health, biodiversity and more carbon sequestration. Science is heavily turning towards sustainable agriculture models and this is the frame in which we are positioning ourselves. A large part of the success and speed of transitioning will depend on the transitioning of the farmers, agronomists and engineers current education model into the latest sustainable practices based on the regenerative farming successful farms and the latest scientific knowledge, and accompanying our farmers into a progressive transition, starting with a test area of their crops, learning and observing the benefits, growing understanding, trust and faith that it can and will be done with many benefits but also with steps and challenges. ‘Producers’ will become healthy farmers again, directly involved in soil & plant health and crop nutrient content and optimal organic management. A complete shift of paradigm, but with the benefits of mechanisation and scientific progress to keep high yield.

God’s Way

A large source of inspiration of our enterprise has been Gods way, a non for profit Australian organisation which research and experiment about ecosystem restoration and food production in harmony with the principles of Gods laws of nature and love, meaning that the foundation of any lasting model by men, in this case in growing food and restoring the environment must always obey God’s law of nature to be durable and beneficial for all, all men and the environment. It needs to be loving supporting all life and permanent progress, based on truth (science), economical in the use of Earth and people resources, functionally self maintaining and with multiple benefits. For more information about Gods way operations, visit Godsway website.

Dr Elaine Ingham scientific publications:
  • Ingham, R.E., J.A. Trofymow, E.R. Ingham and D.C. Coleman. (1985). Interactions of bacteria, fungi and their nematode grazers: Effects on nutrient cycling and plant growth. Ecological Monographs, 55:119-140
  • Ingham, E.R., D.A. Klein and M.J. Trlica. (1985). Responses of microbial components of the rhizosphere to plant management strategies in semiarid rangeland. Plant and Soil, 85:65-76.
  • Ingham, E.R., C. Cambardella and D.C. Coleman. (1986). Manipulation of bacteria, fungi and protozoa by biocides in lodgepole pine forest soil microcosms: Effects on organism interactions and nitrogen mineralization. Can. J. Soil Sci, 66:261-272.
  • Coleman, D.C., E.R. Ingham. (1988). Terrestrial nutrient cycles. Biogeochemistry 5 (1), 3-5.
  • Ingham, E.R., D.C. Coleman and J.C. Moore. (1989). Analysis of food-web structure and function in a short grass prairie, a mountain meadow and lodgepole pine forest. Biol. Fertil. Soils, 8:29-37.
  • Ingham, E.R. (1993). The functional significance and regulation of soil biodiversity: An executive summary of the Soil Ecology Society meeting. Soil Ecology Society Newsletter, 5:2-9.
  • Sances, F.V. and E.R. Ingham. (1997). Conventional and organic alternatives to methyl bromide on California strawberries: Effect of Brassica residues and spent mushroom compost following successive chemical fumigation. Compost Science and Utilization, 5: 23-37.
  • Ingham, E.R. and J.Barlow. (1998). Sustainable Agriculture and the Ecology of Soil Perspectives on Business and Global Change, 12:31-42.
  • Ingham, E.R, Seiter, S., and R.D. William. (1999). Dynamics of soil fungal and bacterial biomass in a temperate climate alley cropping system. Appl. Soil Ecol., 12 (2): 139-147.
  • Doyle, J.D., Hendricks, C.W., Holmes, M.T., and E.R. Ingham. (1999). Effects of Klebsiella planticola SDF20 on soil biota and wheat growth in sandy soil. Appl. Soil Ecol., 11: 67-78.
  • Ingham, E., (1999)., Compost Tea. Part I & II, BioCycle, 40, 74-75.
  • Ingham, E. R. (1999). The Soil Biology Primer – Chapter 1. The Soil Foodweb. NRCS Soil Quality Institute, USDA.
  • Ingham, E.R. (1999). The Soil Biology Primer Chapter 2. Soil Bacteria. NRCS Soil Quality Institute, USDA.
  • Ingham, E.R. (1999). The Soil Biology Primer – Chapter 3. Soil Fungi. NRCS Soil Quality Institute. USDA.
  • Ingham, E.R. (1999). The Soil Biology Primer – Chapter 4. Soil Protozoa. NRCS Soil Quality Institute. USDA.
  • Ingham, E.R. (1999). The Soil Biology Primer – Chapter 5. Soil Nematodes. NRCS Soil Quality Institute. USDA.
  • Rygiewicz, P.T., E.R. Ingham. (1999). Soil Biology and Ecology. Environmental Geology, 564-568.
  • Ingham, E.R., (2000). Brewing compost tea. Kitchen Gardener. 29, 16-19.
  • Ingham, E.R. (2000). The Compost Tea Brewing Manual. Sustainable Studies Institute, Eugene, OR. 60 pp.
  • Moldenke, A., M. Pajutee. E. Ingham. (2000). The functional roles of forest soil arthropods: The soil is a lively place. Proceedings of the California Forest Soils Council Conference on Forest Soils Biology and Forest Management. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Gen Tech Rep PSW-GTR-178, pages 7-22.
  • Ingham, E.R. (2001). Micronized compost and microbial life in compost. Biocycle, 42 (7), 58-58.
  • Linder, G., G. Henderson, E. Ingham. (2002). Wildlife and the Remediation of Contaminated Soils: Extending the Analysis of Ecological Risks to Habitat Restoration. Handbook of Ecotoxicology, 191-214.
  • Peachey, R.E., A Moldenke, R.D. William, R. Berry, E. Ingham, E. Groth. (2002). Effect of cover crops and tillage system on symphylan (Symphlya: Scutigerella immaculata, Newport) and Pergamasus quisquiliarum Canestrini (Acari: Mesostigmata) populations. Applied Soil Ecology, 21 (1), 59-70.
  • Highland, M.T.F., D.C. Sclar, E.R. Ingham, K.L. Gartley, J.E. Swasey. (2004). Effects of Compost Amended Container Media on Ornamental Plant Growth. HortScience, 39 (4), 750C-750.
  • Ingham, E.R., M.D. Slaughter. (2004). The soil foodweb-soil and composts as living ecosystems. First International Conference Soil and Compost Eco-Biology, León, Spain.
  • Ingham, E.R. (2005). Comparison of soil biota between organic and conventional agroecosystems in Oregon, USA. 土壤圈: 英文版, 15 (3), 395-403.
  • Dornbush, M., C. Cambardella, E. Ingham, J. Raich, (2008). A comparison of soil food webs beneath C3- and C4-dominated grasslands. Biology and fertility of soils, 45 (1), 73-81.
  • Rygiewicz, P.T., V.J. Monleon, E.R. Ingham, K.J. Martin, M.G. Johnson. (2010). Soil life in reconstructed ecosystems: initial soil food web responses after rebuilding a forest soil profile for a climate change experiment. Applied Soil Ecology, 45 (1), 26-38.
  • Ingham, E.R. and R. Molina. 1991. Interactions between mycorrhizal fungi, rhizosphere organisms, and plants. Pages 169-197 in Microorganisms, Plants and Herbivores, P. Barbosa (ed). John Wiley and Sons, NY.
  • Ingham, E.R. 1994. Soil Protozoa. Agronomy Society of America. In Methods in Agronomy, P. Bottomley (ed). Agronomy Soc. Am.
  • Ingham, E.R. and A. Moldenke. 1995. Microflora and Microfauna on Stems and Trunks: Diversity, Food Webs and Effects on Plants. pp. 241-256. IN Gartner, B. Plant Stems. Academic Press. NY.
  • Ingham, E.R. 1997. Soil Microbiology. IN Sylvia, D. and Hartel, P. Soil Microbiology: Environmental and Agricultural Perspectives. Oxford University Press.
  • Ingham, E.R. and M. Alms. 1999. The Compost Tea Handbook 1.1.
    Ingham, E.R. 2004. The Soil Foodweb: It’s Role in Ecosystem Health. The Overstory Book: Cultivating Connections with Trees, 62.
  • Linder, G., E.R. Ingham, C.J. Brandt and G. Henderson. 1992. Evaluation of terrestrial indicators for use in ecological assessments at hazardous waste sites. USEPA/600/r-92/183.
  • Ingham, E.R. 1993. Use of soil foodweb structure and function to assess superfund sites. USEPA Ecological Site Assessment Program. Corvallis Environmental Research Lab.
  • Ingham, E.R. 1995. Standard Operating Procedure for Microbial Population Dynamics. USEPA Global Climate Change Program. Corvallis Environmental Research Lab.
  • Ingham, E.R. 1994. Standard Operating Procedure for Total Bacteria. USEPA Global Climate Change Program. Corvallis Environmental Research Lab.
  • Ingham, E.R. 1995. Standard Operating Procedure for Nematode Population and Community Structure. USEPA Global Climate Change Program. Corvallis Environmental Research Lab.
  • Ingham, E.R. 1995. Standard Operating Procedure for Protozoan Populations and Community Structure. USEPA Global Climate Change Program. Corvallis Environmental Research Lab. Technical Reports.
  • Ingham, E.R. and M. Holmes. 1995. Biosafety Regulations: A critique of existing documents. The Edmonds Institute, Edmonds, WA.
  • Ingham, E.R. 1995. Biosafety Regulation. Edmonds Institute, Edmonds, WA.
    Monthly Column in Biocycle (Ca. 1998-2000)
  • Taylor, B.R., H.G. Jones. (1990). Litter decomposition under snow cover in a balsam fir forest. Canadian Journal of Botany, 68(1): 112-120.
  • Bohlool, B.B., J.K. Ladha, D.P. Garrity, T. George. (1992). Biological Nitrogen Fixation for Sustainable Agriculture: A Perspective. Plant and Soil, 141(1-2):1-11.
  • L. Diels, M. De Smet, L. Hooyberghs, P. Corbisier. (1999). Heavy metals bioremediation of soil. Molecular Biotechnology, 12(2): 149-158.
  • El-Masry, M. H., A.I. Khalil, M.S. Hassouna, H.A.H Ibrahim. (2002). In situ and in vitro suppressive effect of agricultural composts and their water extracts on some phytopathogenic fungi. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 18: 551–558.
  • Scheuerell, S. J., W.F. Mahaffee. (2004). Compost Tea as a Container Medium Drench for Suppressing Seedling Damping-Off Caused by Pythium ultimum. Biological Control, 94(11): 1156-1163
  • Schmidt, S.K., D.A. Lipson. (2004). Microbial growth under the snow: Implications for nutrient and allelochemical availability in temperate soils. Plant and Soil, 259(1-2): 1-7.
  • Chen, H., S. Pan. (2005). Bioremediation potential of spirulina: toxicity and biosorption studies of lead. Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE, 6B(3):171-174.
  • Rehman, A., S. Ashraf, J. I. Qazi, A. R. Shakoori. (2005). Uptake of Lead by a Ciliate, Stylonchia mytilus, isolated from Industrial Effluents: Potential Use in Bioremediation of Wastewater. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 75(2): 290-296.
  • Kerkeni, A., M. Daami-Remadi, N. Tarchoun, M.B. Khedher, F. Ayed. (2006). In vitro and in vivo evaluation of individually compost fungi for potato fusarium dry rot biocontrol. Journal of Biological Sciences, 6(3):572-580.
  • Zaller, J.G. (2006). Foliar spraying of vermicompost extracts: effects on fruit quality and indications of late-blight suppression of field-grown tomatoes. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture, 24(2): 165-180.
  • Al-Mughrabi, K.I. (2007). Suppression of Phytophthora infestans in potatoes by foliar application of food nutrients and compost tea. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 1(4): 785-792.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started