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Earthworms & Co .: Pay attention to healthy soils

2020-02-25T11:00:23.565Z


What does good soil have to do with fertility? Sepp Braun spoke about this in Forstinning.


What does good soil have to do with fertility? Sepp Braun spoke about this in Forstinning.

Forstinning - What is the significance of soil for humanity and nature? The “farmer with the earthworms” - Sepp Braun, organic farmer near Freising, gave a lecture on this topic at the Forstinninger Wolfmühle. Over 90 interested people crowded into the dining room of the biogastronom Kathrin Nagy, again and again more chairs had to be placed between the tables and the screen.

In his two-hour lecture, Sepp Braun reported on his daily work in cultivating his ecologically managed farm and researching soil fertility. He works with Bioland, the Bioland Foundation and the Healthy Soil Interest Group, as well as with various universities and scientists in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The floors have to come back to life

He made his appeal to the nature conservationists, gardeners, representatives of local authorities as well as farmers and foresters present: “Too little attention is paid to the health of our soils. We must finally do everything to bring our floors back to life! ”

Soil fertility is based on three pillars: soil physics, chemistry and biology. Braun placed a special focus on his hobbyhorse, the earthworms. The current dogma of “getting bigger, wider and heavier” with regard to tractors and society was discussed. “The axle load on the tractors has to be limited to 5 tons for a living soil. In road traffic, the axle load is limited to 11 tons, and in our fields many drive with an axle load of 20 tons. And then we are surprised that the floors are dead? ”Says Braun. With such compacted soil, no root can grow through and water can seep away. The expert continues: “If we pay attention to soil health, there live up to 600 earthworms per square meter, which dig the fabulous performance of up to 1140 m of tubes. Earthworms come through compacted soil and create tubes in which roots can grow and water can seep away ”.

Good soil absorbs 150 liters of water

This also has a very positive side effect for our drinking water. So these floors can also take up to 150 liters of water per square meter. The same applies to forestry. For example, up to 110 liters percolate in a healthy mixed forest, whereas only ten liters per square meter percolate in a forest area with monocultures.

Sepp Braun concluded with another appeal to the guests: “For our children and children's children, we must finally tackle the agricultural revolution from below. According to the World Agricultural Report, small farmers feed ¾ of the world's population, but politics are still being carried out for large companies.

Anyone can help

Here the Forstinningen local chairwoman of the BUND nature conservation, Eva Maria Wirth, agreed to the speaker. It is up to all of us to support the small farmers and to shop regionally and seasonally.

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Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-02-25

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