Humus for Food security and Climate

While working with the participants of our natural farming course in Ground-Up Initiative (GUI), I made interesting observations in the soil of our plot.

In Singapore, there are lawns everywhere. In such constructed landscape, grasscutters come to mow the grass regularly, leaving behind large quantities of nylon strings, which get buried in the soil eventually. In such conditions, even weeds (pioneer species) cannot grow. The lawn is simply a lifeless green desert.

Our natural farming plot was just a typical Singapore lawn initially, with very poor reddish-yellow compacted soil. Not even a single earthworm could be seen. We marked off an area for our plot and allowed the grass and weeds to grow naturally. We didn't sweep away the leaves that fell on it. Over time, through biological processes in and on the soil, humus begins to form. The layer of dark soil shown in photo 2 indicates good humus content and richer soil life as compared to photo 1,  which shows the condition of the soil in the lawn area just outside our plot. This comparison shows how thoughtless human intervention can prevent nature from restoring fertility to the soil.

Humus is a very important substance that supports life, including us. It makes the soil dark and spongy, and possesses so many crucial properties that make the soil alive to support the healthy growth of plants.

Humus is 60% organic carbon (carbon sequestered in soil). It is created through a multitude of complex biological processes beginning with photosynthesis, which pulls carbon out of the air and fix it into carbohydrates in the plant body. A certain fraction of the fixed carbon will eventually enter the soil through different biological pathways and become stable soil organic matter - humus. Humification is a very efficient carbon sequestration process. Check out French government's 4 per 1000 Initiative.

The role of humus in soil cannot be replaced simply by adding to the soil things like fertilizers, biochar or even humic and fulvic acids, which are derived from humus.

This single substance can solve so many problems that humans have created, from food issues to climate issues and is so important for the future of humanity. It is a concern that many people, including some who are passionate about climate change and other environment issues, do not even know the word: humus.

Formation of humus is complex, but to help nature create humus can be simple. We just need to pay attention to a few simple principles as we grow our food.

We need many more people to understand the importance of humus in food security and climate and get involved in one way or another to help restore health to our soils.

Organic farming and Natural farming

People ask me why natural farming and how it is different from organic farming.

It is unfortunate that the meaning of organic agriculture has changed so much since it was first defined by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) more than 2 decades ago. Most people now accept that organic farming simply refers to a farming approach that does not use chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. In a farmers' market a few years ago, I overheard the following conversation:

Customer: "Are your vegetables organic?"

Hydroponics farm representative: "Our vegetables are grown indoor, so no bugs can go in. We do not apply pesticides and our vegetables are clean and hygienic. Yes, our vegetables are organic."

The customer happily bought two packets of vegetables from them.

Even some certified organic farms only just technically abide by the regulations set by the organic certification bodies, ignoring the spirit of organic agriculture.

USDA's definition of organic agriculture in 1995 was

“Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony."

I see that the word "organic" is related to the word "organisms". That means it is closely related to life - living things. It is clearly reflected in the original definition of organic agriculture.

Now, the term "organic farming" in people's mind has changed so much in meaning. Vegetable sellers often use it as a marketing tool.

There is a need to differentiate organic farmimg from the farming approaches that really looks after the natural environment, soil, biodiversity, health of people and animals, etc. I take natural farming as an approach that encompasses some of the principles and practices from Masanobu Fukuoka's approach, Shumei natural farming (秀明自然農法), Permaculture, etc. Although some of the practices of these approaches are different, they all have a common goal - caring for nature and people.

$78 million, plus a forest and its ecological functions, is the cost of the clubhouse

There is a nice small forest with large mature trees next to the plot I am farming in Khatib. It is nice to hear the songs of a few straw headed bulbuls from the forest in the morning. Besides this endangered songbird, I have seen other nice birds such common kingfisher, Javan or Chinese pond heron, Lesser whistling-duck, etc. The nearby stream and ponds provide habitats for fish and dragonflies too.

It is very sad that these habitats are being destroyed. Part of the forest is already cleared. This happens because a SCDF clubhouse is to be built there, a clubhouse with facilities like gym, swimming pool, KTV, prawn fishing, etc., all for human entertainment.

Apparently, herbicide was used to kill the long grass.

Besides the S$78 million, energy and materials used to build the clubhouse, there are other costs. The ecological services that the forest and its creatures have been providing for many years will be lost. The trees can no longer sequester CO2 and provide fresh air to us. The soil, together with the soil creatures, can no longer clean the water for us. Without the water holding capacity of the soil, we must work harder to prevent floods.

Press-kill the soil with construction debris

I wonder if a proper environmental impact assessment had been carried out.

My two friends and I went into the destroyed part of the forest and salvaged a few wheelbarrows of soil (together with some soil creatures like earthworms, of course) and transferred to our farming plot. We found a beautiful feather of a bird on the damaged land. My ornithologist friend told me that it was an outer wing primary feather of a raptor. It is not surprising because the large mature trees in the forest and the surroundings can support a majestic bird like a raptor. But the bird is probably gone now. The degraded habitats in the area also explains the disappearance of two nice dragonfly species: Bronze Flutterer (Rhyothemis obsolescens) and Sapphire Flutterer (Rhyothemis triangularis).

We salvaged some forest soil and added to our plot.

An outer wing primary feather of a raptor, picked up from the damaged land.

I hope to see more climate change efforts and nature conservation in Singapore.

I admire governments which put forward far-sighted policies and initiatives such as Australia's Carbon Farming Initiative, where farmers are paid for sequestering carbon, and France's 4 per 1000 initiative, which encourages farmers and organizations to increase soil carbon content (in the form of soil organic matter) by 0.4% annually in order to offset global carbon emissions.

Soil is little regarded in Singapore. It does not make sense that our armed forces are working so hard to defend our land, while we ourselves are destroying our soils everyday.

This is a quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt:
"A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people."

Soil security is the necessary condition for food security, not high technology

I am very concerned about the future of agriculture in Singapore.

In order to achieve food security in our land-scarce nation, the mainstream and government thinking here is that the country needs to develop high-technology agriculture such as multi-tier hydroponic systems using LED lights and data analytics, multi-storey farms that use robotics and automated soil-less cultivation. According to Singapore's Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), "the future in our food security lies in a modern and technologically-savvy farm sector that is fuelled by agricultural professionals, or ‘agri-technologists’ and ‘agri-specialists’."

https://www.ava.gov.sg/files/avavision/Issue1_2017/future_of_farming.html

Already, I can see heavy machinery and workmen clearing and flattening large parcels of agricultural land on the west of Singapore island to prepare the sites for future high-tech farms.

No, I do not think that high technology will ensure food security. If one understands the nature of food growing, he/she would see that soil security is the necessary condition for food security, not high technology.

Healthy soils are necessary to produce healthy food and achieve sustainable global food security.

Unhealthy soils do not have the diversity of soil life to provide the nutrients to support healthy crop growth, leading to systemic food and nutrient security problems.

I strongly believe that land scarcity in Singapore is an advantage in creating many small farms which are close to where people live (consumers). It is easy to see pockets of lawn area scattered throughout the island city. I hope the Singapore government will see the values of small farms and the potential of these lawn areas becoming productive small farms, growing food responsibly and regeneratively, providing safe and nutritious food for the people - small farms being part of food security in Singapore.

Like many other cities, there is increasing interest in urban farming in Singapore. People are concerned about food safety and nutrition and many are interested in growing their own food. Our government should consider creating conditions for people to establish community farms to feed themselves, not just community gardens for recreational purposes, but small farms that are seriously producing food in healthy soils. Perhaps, this can be the first steps towards Rubanization, architect Tay Kheng Soon's reconceptualization of rural and urban spaces as one same space, which brings greater balance to working, living, learning, playing, farming and health within walkable distances.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubanisation

Rise of high-tech farming - a worrying trend

This is a follow-up post I wrote in response to some feedback on my previous post Indoor High-Tech Farming Vs Natural Farming.

Certainly, high-tech farming is perceived by many as the future of agriculture for food security, feeding the world's 9 billion people by 2050. High-tech farmers are cropping up in many places around the world.

An Internet search on high-tech farming would give you results like these:

• The High Tech Farms Where Our Future Food Will Grow in Nothing But Air
• Vertical Farming - An Urban Agriculture Solution
• The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century
• This Farm of the Future Uses No Soil and 95% Less Water
• Future food-production systems: vertical farming and controlled-environment agriculture
• A rosy future for vertical farming
• Urban farming in Singapore has moved into a new, high-tech phase

It is worrying to see this global wave because I see many problems with high-tech farming.

The main issue is that high-tech farming does not pay attention to how nature works.

In recent years soil biologists are discovering the essential role of soil food web in the healthy growth of plants. Plants need to interact with communities of soil microbes around their root zone (rhizosphere). One group of bacteria, called the Plant Growth Promotion Bacteria (PGPB), supplies nutrients and hormones to the plants. These bacteria also protect the plants against diseases. Examples of PGPB include Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, and Arthrobacter. In fact, the soil creatures in the different trophic levels such as fungi, bacteria, nematodes, protozoa, arthropods, all work together to benefit the growth of plants. Soil is a very complex biological system, which science today is only beginning to understand. Healthy and diverse soil life is the key to healthy soil, which in turn produces healthy and nutritious crops.

High-tech farming ignores the biology and the role of healthy soil. They focus on the chemistry and dictate a cocktail of macro- and micro-nutrients in their nutrient solution for their plants. They grow crops using industrial processes, just like manufacturing iPhones in a factory.

Inside a high-tech farm

Food, whether plant or animal, is part of nature and needs nature's elements (sun, rain, soil, day and night, other plants and animals) to grow healthily. They should not be grown using industrial processes. The two following videos show a high-tech vegetable farm and a high-tech chicken farm. Their technologies are certainly impressive, but the food they produce are not healthy, not to mention the ordeals those chickens have to go through from the day they hatch to the day they are slaughtered.

Growing vegetables using industrial processes

Rearing chicken using industrial processes

There are many other issues with high-tech vegetable farming - high on capital, materials, machines and energy, etc. And much of the materials used are not recycled or not recyclable, such as sponge cubes, net pots, phenolic foam, etc., and are simply discarded as general waste.

Apparently, their yield per acre may be high, but their nutrients per acre is certainly low.

Ecological model of agriculture such as natural farming not only produces better quality food in terms of flavours and nutrition, but it also has a mutually benefiting relationship with nature. While we are growing food for ourselves, we are also returning ecological services to nature - creating habitats for wildlife, sequestering carbon to mitigate climate change, restoring soil fertility, etc.

2015 was UN's International Year of Soils to raise full awareness among civil society and decision makers about the profound importance of soil for human life. It is encouraging to see more such global efforts in recent years, such as:

Soil Solutions: https://soilsolution.org/watch-the-film/chefs-for-soil/
Kiss the Ground: https://kisstheground.com/
4 Per 1000 Initiative: https://www.4p1000.org/
Regeneration International: http://regenerationinternational.org/

In "land-scarce" Singapore, how can we contribute to these efforts? Please read my 2016 post: We need more small farms