I was recently asked to do a presentation for the Australian version of TED.com. These talks represent an opportunity to share important ideas with the world. Last year TED talks achieved over one billion views, so it can be a remarkable tool to sponsor change.

I chose to speak about an issue of unparalleled importance at this point in time – the role of farmers in literally saving the planet. The presentation called ‘Humus Saves The World‘, offers a range of proactive strategies that allows everyone the opportunity to replace apathy with action in this most important of issues.

This week the planet reached a milestone where carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached 400ppm for the first time in 3 million years. This talk is a desperate call to action and I am hopeful that you might decide to share this message with as many people as possible within your network. This is important because if the video receives enough views, it will attract the attention of those that make the decisions about expanding the coverage to the main TED website. If you can find the small amount of time to watch this presentation, I am sure you will agree that the message is so urgent, that it needs to get out there. Sharing this it will help. Thank you.

Here’s the link: http://youtu.be/8Q1VnwcpW7E

Following my recent address to a crowd of climate change activists on the steps of City Hall in LA, I was flooded with urgent enquiries about the spelling of a word I had used several times during my presentation. I immediately assumed that word was “mycorrhizal”, as this truly is a spelling bee special. To my amazement, the mystery word was “humus” and I was shocked to realise that my uncommon passion for this wonderful substance was just that. It was horrifying to realise how disconnected from the source of our food many of us have become. I was dumbstruck to think that the very life blood of our planet could remain anonymous. (more…)

Imagine a supermarket chain, comprising over 300 stores, offering fresh produce grown with cutting edge technology to ensure maximum shelf-life and superb flavours. This same nutrient-dense food would also contain higher levels of the antioxidants and the phytonutrients that determine the medicinal value of food. Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine made the statement, “let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food” but we have largely ignored his directive in the pursuit of cheap food produced by an extractive, industrial agricultural system with little regard for nutrition. (more…)

Mauritius is a sugar cane-draped, island nation off the coast of Africa, suffering from a modern malaise. The 45,000 small producers who grow the fresh produce for the 1.4 million inhabitants of the island are using more acid/salt fertilisers each season and applying more farm chemicals each year, with less and less response. This mirrors the global unsustainability of conventional agriculture, where more chemicals are used every year but every year there is an actual increase in pest and disease pressure. (more…)

During my recent visit to New Zealand, I encountered a frightening scenario where the entire Kiwifruit industry was seriously impacted by a virulent bacterial pathogen not unlike the citrus canker that threatened the Australian citrus industry a few years ago. I offered my help based upon almost twenty years of problem solving experience in diverse crops around the globe. In the process of developing an integrated program for this industry I realised that the principles are relevant to all crops and should be shared with our ‘Nutrition Matters” readers. (more…)

The New Zealand kiwifruit industry is in serious trouble as growers battle the rapid spread of Psa, a bacterial canker disease that has seriously impacted most of the kiwifruit growing regions in the world. 52% of the NZ industry has now been affected and all efforts to halt the virulent disease have proved unsuccessful at this point. Graeme Sait, CEO of leading biological company, Nutri­-Tech Solutions (NTS), recently returned from New Zealand where he has been consulting with growers and the key industry body, Zespri, to expand the resistance effort. (more…)

NTS Soil Therapy is an in-depth, soil analysis and nutrition programming service that has been the mainstay of NTS agronomy for the past 18 years. The easy-to-understand, Soil Therapy reports ensure that growers are able to understand their mineral requirements in relation to balance and there are priority guidelines which can help in budget-related decision making. Until recently we have offered a Prescription Blend service but this usually involves base materials like lime and gypsum and these are often more cost-effective sourced locally. Now, you are simply advised what will be most productive and encouraged to address any requirements utilising the most cost-effective local materials. (more…)

In-field monitoring is a critically important component of the biological approach. Proactive plant management involves precision nutrition to achieve the plant resilience that reduces the need for chemical intervention. Refractometers, sap pH meters, nitrate and potassium meters are tools that monitor the sap of the plant to determine nutrient requirements. However, the first step in this monitoring process is the successful extraction of the sap from the leaf. This typically involves choosing the first fully developed leaves, rolling them into a small ball, placing that ball in the well of a good quality garlic crusher and then squeezing out the sap. (more…)

There are no magic bullets in agriculture but if you were aware that a substance in your soil could increase productivity, reduce pest pressure, enhance water use efficiency, reduce fertiliser requirements and spare the planet the chaos of global warming, you might prick up your ears and listen. This “magic” substance actually exists but it is not some commercial “cure-all”. It is, in fact, an essential component of soil that has been mercilessly mined for twelve decades of extractive agriculture. (more…)

A trace mineral deficiency can affect yield, disease protection, weed pressure, nodulation, reproduction or chlorophyll density and any of these will impact upon your profitability. Here are some guidelines that may help you in the management of trace mineral nutrition (more…)