Frank Teuton wrote:
> Ron wrote:
> >
> >Dear Sanet,
> >I'm sorry, but the following is wrong on two counts.
> >
> >First of all, Chilean nitrate is not "natural geological deposit" but
> >rather the bird guano collected from islands off the coast of Chile. It is
> >so concentrated that its primary use was in the fabrication of gunpowder,
> >until the First World War, when, threatened with being cut off from its
> >"natural" source, Germany invented the Haber process to fix nitrogen from
> >the air (the basis of the synthetic fertilizer industry).
>
> No, Chilean nitrate is a natural geological deposit, which did give Chile a
> virtual monopoly on nitrates until the Haber-Bosch process was
> developed...You can look it up in the encyclopedia under sodium nitrate, or
> under the evaporite minerals...
> >
> >Secondly, I don't know of any organic certifier that has a "a default
> >allowance for natural
> >substances along with a default rejection of synthetic substances." This
> >is ridiculous. Organic certifiers evaluate substances in terms of their
> >effects on natural agroecosystem processes or on the quality of the food
> >produced. Some synthetic substances are allowed and some "natural"
> >substances,as you note, are banned. Among the latter is Chilean nitrates.
> > As Loren states, their effect on the soil is virtually the same as
> >synthetic sodium nitrate--e.g. negative for soil microbiology in general
> >and negative for the environment due to excess N runoff. I am not aware of
> >the "20% rule". IFOAM carried out a study on the reasons for the ban and
> >has a publication explaining this in detail.
>
> Andre Voisin mentions the use of sodium nitrate in Grass
> Productivity---grass roots would make an excellent capture medium for the
> nitrates---and the sodium would only be a problem in low rainfall areas or
> where sodium levels were high....
>
> Its use is allowed on a restricted basis by ecological landscaping
> standards, and at least has been allowed by some organic certifiers....here
> checking with the specific certifier you have, or have in mind, seems
> appropriate....
>
> The best place to get N, if you can, is on-site legumes.....
>
> Frank Teuton
>
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