Improving soil health using everyday waste

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Could everyday consumer waste be an effective soil amendment that promotes a healthy microbial soil community and contribute to productive and profitable crops?

There’s a growing body of scientific evidence that supports the practice and research being conducted by the University of Alberta’s Dr. Derek MacKenzie is poised to share new understanding of how waste compost works when added to different soil types.

MacKenzie has been studying the effect of using landfill compost as a soil amendment on three different soil types; grey wooded, black topsoil and a sodium, salt affected soil. The study includes using municipal solid waste compost taken from the Edmonton landfill as a sole amendment without synthetic fertilizer, as well as in a series of blends with things like biochar, gypsum and wood ash. MacKenzie has then been comparing that to the affect of synthetic fertilizer alone on both the soil and the productivity of the crop.

The research has been showing some interesting preliminary findings on how the different soil types respond to compost and other soil amendments, giving insight into how the most productive agricultural soils function and how less productive soil types could potentially operate more like black top soil.

Check out the full interview with MacKenzie and RealAgriculture’s Amber Bell from the Western Canada Conference on Soil Health and Grazing in Edmonton below.

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