Re: Soil Microbes, microorganisms make a difference sanet-mg-digest V1 #489

Michael J. Rankin, BioLIFE Technologies, Inc. (gfarm@waymark.net)
Tue, 18 Aug 1998 06:36:58 -0500

We have seen the use of nitrogen fixing bacteria work effectively to support
crop growth. The solution provided an average of 167 pounds of nitrogen per
acre when used with corn. It has also successfully been used with
vegetables, sugarcane, and alfalfa. In trials last year in Yuma Arizona the
savings was an average of $48/acre with yields equal or greater than the
plots using a full spectrum of chemical inputs.

In each case the use of chemical nitrogen was reduced by 70% to as much as
85%. In the corn trials the K was made more soluble and only 35 pounds of
chemical N was used with a yield that exceeded the plots with 100% of the
normal chemical nitrogen.

I would be happy to share the research with you.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Rankin
President
BioLIFE Technologies, Inc.
6780 Abrams Road, Suite 103-139
Dallas, Texas 75231
Phone: 214-343-6408
Fax: 214-343-6902
http://welcome.to/biolife
>Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 21:44:52 -0500
>From: Gordon Couger <gcouger@rfdata.net>
>Subject: Soil microbes
>
>Cheryl Fredericks http://www.uark.edu/~ecti/ said
>
>;We have a question we'd like to ask you. Do you believe in the ability of
>;microbial soil life to fixate N and demineralize P and K at a rate
>;necessary for healthy plant growth? Also, after 50 yrs of intensive urea
>;fertilization in the San Joaquin Valley and the Mississippi Delta areas,
>;do you see an increase in residual salts, hardpan formation and an
>;increase in soil borne plant pathogens?Maybe some of the readers on the
>;list this has been forwarded to, would also like to share their thoughts.
>
>Legumes that are properly inoculated with live innouclant with out exposure
>to sunlight general produce enough N for production. Additional N will
>usually show an increase in yield but not enough to pay for the fertilizer.
>
>P & K become more available as the soil become more acid. In most area
>acidity is a problem. I am not sure but I think that the SJV has an
>alkali/salt
>problem. The conventional way to solve the salt problem is to break the
>hard pan and wash the salts down or to plant grass that shades the
>ground and uses a lot of moisture to lower the water table so the salt
>water it not evaporating off the surface and leaving behind the salt.
>
>A lot smarter folks have worked on this problem for a long time. Some of
the
>solutions are to break the hard pan, applying less water using drip
>irrigation and
>raising salt tolerant crops.
>
>Gordon
>
>Gordon Couger gcouger@couger.com
>Owner PRAG-L PRactical AGriculture List www.couger.com/prag-l
>Stillwater, OK 405 624-2855 GMT -6:00

To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".