Biological Activity In Soil May Reduce Salt And pH Problems in Soil and Water
In low rainfall areas, the accumulation of salt in the soil can have serious economic consequences. The accumulation of sodium is of particular concern. Low rainfall areas usually have low organic matter content and high pH in the soils.
The Bio-Generator® System technology increases the biodiversity in soil. As the biological food web is expanded, the various biological families affect the pH. The fungal families tend to acidify soils while the bacterial families tend to increase alkalinity. As the fungi/bacteria relationship is built up in soil, there is a tendency to bring the soil pH away from high acid and high alkaline conditions to a more neutral pH condition.
The increased biological activity in soil produces humus compounds that tend to buffer salt problems; the mode of action is not well understood scientifically.
In low rainfall areas, the accumulation of salt in the soil can have serious economic consequences. The accumulation of sodium is of particular concern. Low rainfall areas usually have low organic matter content and high pH in the soils.
The Bio-Generator® System technology increases the biodiversity in soil. As the biological food web is expanded, the various biological families affect the pH. The fungal families tend to acidify soils while the bacterial families tend to increase alkalinity. As the fungi/bacteria relationship is built up in soil, there is a tendency to bring the soil pH away from high acid and high alkaline conditions to a more neutral pH condition.
The increased biological activity in soil produces humus compounds that tend to buffer salt problems; the mode of action is not well understood scientifically.
- The biological action improves soil structure by flocculation and aggregation of soil particles. The biological polysaccharides improve soil porosity. This improved soil structure provides improved water infiltration that moves salts out of the root zone, reducing salt damage and detrimental affect on plants.
- The increased rhizosphere at the surface of the roots provides a root coating that buffers the negative salt influence on nutrient uptake. Since the microbiological activity in soil is highest at the root surface, the microbes have a significant impact on nutrient transfer to the plant.
- Many synthetic fertilizers are salt-based and contribute to the increase of salt in the soil profile. A biological environment where the nutrients are attached to carbon compounds creates chelated or complexed nutrients that have a lower salt index, thereby reducing the salt build-up in soil.
- Some experts suggest that a portion of salt can be taken out of the active soil solution by ingestion by the biological community. As the biological diversity increases, the potential for salt to be removed from the soil solution increases, as it becomes part of the biological cell structure.