Bija Vidyapeeth: Centre for Learning
Soil as a Living System
February 7- 11, 2005
with Navdanya and LAMS
Bija Vidyapeeth invites you to participate in a course designed to explore this question with a set of faculty who are on the forefront of the global movement to safeguard water.
The Course
Fundamentals of soil biology for sustainable agriculture
by Lydia and Claude Bourguignon, Directors of Soil Microbiological Analysis Laboratory
First day of course
Introduction
Agriculture is obliged to change for two reasons :
1) Economical
Industrial agriculture produces excess of yields and low quality products. This situation creates a decrease of agricultural prices. These low prices induce farmers drift from the land. The bad quality of agricultural products jeopardizes humanity health.
2) Environmental
Industrial agriculture creates 10 millions hectares of desert per year by soil salinisation, soil wind erosion and soil water erosion.
To compensate for soil losing, humanity deforests 15 millions hectares of tropical forests. The increase of cultivated areas is of 5 millions hectares per year and the human population increases of 80 millions peoples. So each new inhabitant has 700 meter square for his food, the half of what he needs.
The actual situation is : 1,8 billions hectares of cultivated areas for 6,3 billions peoples. So each inhabitant has 2800 meter square of cultivated area. Developed countries (Europe, Japan, U.S.A.) use 6000 meter square of cultivated area per inhabitant. So, a lot of people suffers of starvation.
There is urgency to develop a sustainable agriculture to avoid this vanishing soil.
To be able to cultivate soils without erosion, we must respect the soil biological dynamic.
I) Soil formation
- Biological process of rock transformation in clay
- Biological process of litter transformation in humus.
- Formation of clay-humic complex.
II) Soil dynamics
- Soil fauna
- Soil microbes
- Plant growth
- Biological cycles of nutriments
- Plant nutrition
III) Soil erosion
Second day of course
IV) Application of biological laws to agriculture
A) A new approach of genetic
- Use of biodiversity inverse to destroy the biodiversity with O.G.M.
B) A new use of pesticides
- Biological pesticides.
- Low volumes and low doses.
- Biological herbicides.
- Permanent cover, an efficient system again weed.
Third day of course
C) Direct sowing
- Application of direct sowing for tropical countries and for big or small farmers.
D) A new approach of soil fertilization
- Soil fertilization
- Soil fauna fertilization
- Soil microbes fertilization
- Plant fertilization.
Fourth day of course
V) Fields studies
A) Pedological approach of soil fertility.
B) Field tests for biological activity.
C) Field observations of roots.
D) Comparisons of forest soils and cultivated soils.
E) Influence of farming practices on soil fertility.
Fifth day of course
VI) Application of soil biology to Indian agriculture
A) Sustainable agriculture on slopes.
B) Efficient plants for soil protection.
C) Compost in tropical countries.
D) How to develop high biological activity in cultivated soils permitting low use of fertilizers.
Conclusion
The new green evolution.
Faculty
For more details
Coordinator, Bija Vidyapeeth
A-60, Hauz Khas,
New Delhi, India
Tel: 91 11 26561868, 26562093
Fax: 91 11 26562093
