Soilcharge Comprehensive Resources Library: Nourishing Growth

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Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative agriculture focuses on restoring and enhancing ecosystems on farms by applying principles and practices designed to work with the land. It aims to protect and improve soil biodiversity, enhance climate resilience, conserve water resources, and increase carbon sequestration in the soil, all while making farming more productive and profitable without resorting to harsh chemical inputs.

Regenerative agriculture employs a collection of practices that focus on regenerating soil health by increasing the soil biology. Improved soil health promotes better plant growth and resilience. Regenerative agriculture practices can include cover cropping, crop rotation, low- to no-till, making use of animal excrement and zero use of persistent chemical pesticides and fertilisers.

Cover cropping is the practice of planting multi-species seed in soil profile either after a cash crop is grown and harvested, or as a multi-species pasture for grazing animals. By keeping living roots in the soil, cover crops reduce soil erosion, increase water retention, improve soil health and increase soil biodiversity.

How do I start regenerative farming on my property?

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N2- Atmospheric Nitrogen

Nitrogen (N) is one of the vital elements required for proper growth and development of plants. In the earth’s atmosphere, N is available in the form of nitrogen gas (N2) and mostly plants utilise N in the form nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium ion (NH4+) which are fixed through the biological process known as N2 fixation. As N is one of the elements most likely to be limiting to plant growth, this phenomenon provides an alternative to the implementations of chemical fertilisers as source of nutrients which have resulted in the ammonia volatilisation, leading to significant impact on global warming in the atmosphere which, further, diverts the focus of scientist to find out eco-friendly technology.

Globally, the demand for introducing eco-friendly practices for improving sustainable agriculture productivity has been increased. Since long time, microbes play an important role in providing pollution-free environment. Endophytic microbes being present inside the specific tissues of plants mostly empower in the growth of plants. The endophytic nitrogen-fixing microbe has been well characterised from leguminous as well non-legume crops. Endophytic bacteria belong to different phyla such as Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria.

The predominant N2-fixing endophytic Burkholderia, Rhizobium, Pseudomonas, Bradyrhizobium, Bacillus, Frankia, Enterobacter, and Azospirillum have been reported from different host plant. Nitrogen-fixing, endophytic bacteria has a wide variety of application for maintaining growth of plant, crop yield, and health of soil for sustainable agriculture. The present review focuses on major developments on biodiversity of N-fixing endophytic microbiomes and their role for plant growth promotion and soil health for agro environmental sustainability.

The full article on N2 nitrogen can be found at

Cross section of a root nodule formed by Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria

The picture shows a cross-section of a root nodule formed by the nitrogen-fixing bacteria Rhizobium in symbiosis with a plant from the legume family. Within the nodule, bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into a plant-available form. Several key minerals drive this vital process. Legume plants secrete flavonoids through their roots to attract rhizobia bacteria.In turn, the bacteria produce signalling molecules called nod factors that initiate the formation of nodules on the plant’s roots. The nodules house the bacteria and serve as an in-house nitrogen factory. The intracellular movement of calcium mediates the complex dialogue between the plant and bacteria.

Bacteria use calcium to sense and transduce the flavonoid signal from the plants, and the plant similarly relies on calcium to detect the bacteria’s prompt to initiate nodule formation. Within the nodules is where the bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into biologically available nitrogen. Molybdenum, vanadium and iron are trace element co-factors required to activate the nitrogenise enzyme pathway.

The red pigment inside root nodules is leghemoglobin – the plant equivalent of haemoglobin and an indicator of active N fixation.

This process requires an adequate supply of cobalt to synthesise leghemoglobin. Nodules without a reddish colour inside signify a lack of cobalt. This process illustrates the synergy between soil microbes and minerals. Neither one fulfils its function without the other. Minerals catalyse biological processes, and microbes potentiate mineral availability.

RESTORE FERTILITY

With a biological system, fertility is returned to the soil, crops and farm animals. Restoring fertility is not a short term project, it takes time using the correct procedures, and you as the grower will gain knowledge and see tremendous benefits from your actions, including personal satisfaction, a healthier lifestyle and a better bank balance.

Building a biological soil profile will create greater organic matter, increase soil carbon, balance soil nutrients, grow better crops, and increase soil biological activity and soil species. All these things plus many more have a great multiplying effect within the soil profile such as increasing natural sugars within the plant, which means less insect/ pathogenic fungal attack, reducing watering by building carbon in the soil profile, buffering seasonal changes, balancing the soils’ populations of bacteria and fungi to support the crop that is grown, plus many more benefits for you as the grower.

Restoring fertility to your soil means that you are in control of what happens on your farm.

BALANCE YOUR SOIL

Firstly, contact us so we can come and take a soil sample. When you get your soil test results, you will also receive an Analysis of Sample plus an Action Plan. Our aim is to balance the soil chemical elements so that the transition to a biological system is much easier. The products recommended for this balancing are natural soil stimulants; some are registered organic products and all are soil building products.

The first action you need to undertake is to balance out the calcium/magnesium soil ratio. The easiest option is to review the results in the soil report under “Percentage” in the “Adjusted CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) column.

Understand your type of soil: For a clay-based soil, Calcium percentage needs to be 65-68% and Magnesium needs to be 12-15%. For a sand-based soil, Calcium percentage needs to be around 60% and Magnesium needs to be around 20%.

The soil profile needs to have the following elements where Calcium is in the greatest proportion followed by Phosphorus then Potassium, followed by Magnesium and then Sulphur, all in proportion.

In both cases, the CEC needs to add up as close to 80% as possible.Most soils I encounter require an amount of calcium to be applied, so without jumping to an immediate conclusion, the soil test will reveal the available phosphorus and/or available sulphur, which will help to determine the product we recommend to use.A number of growers/farmers use lime, dolomite or Gypsum because the calcium is low. However, lime (calcium carbonate) is a very hard element to break, releasing the calcium, and unless your soil has plenty of sulphur or phosphorus in the form of an acid or plenty of lactobacillus bacteria then lime will certainly NOT be the best product to use. Growers put out lime and see no or very little result because they do not have the naturally occurring acids to break the lime down so the soil can utilise it. There are a number of other products to use such as Soft Rock Phosphate, CMP or N-Fix Ag which will get the calcium components active within the soil profile.

A good soil profile will have more calcium than phosphorus, more phosphorus than potassium, more potassium than magnesium more magnesium than sulphur. That is the way nature intended the soil balance to exist. Any questions email soil@soilcharge.com.au

ELIMINATE USE OF FUNGICIDES AND INSECTICIDES

Building a soil biological system is the simplest and easiest way to eliminate the use of fungicides and insecticides.As discussed in Reducing Production Costs, it is about feeding the soil and the plant with biological products, and as a benefit, building natural sugars within a plant (Brix level) to produce as high as possible Brix level for that crop.

Each crop/plant has different readings, for example, potatoes usually have a Brix level of between 3 and 8, carrots 4 to 18 Brix, and pineapple 12 to 22 Brix. The standard for blueberries is 7 to 15 Brix. However, a number of our blueberry growers often obtain a reading of 23 Brix.Let’s examine the conditions for an insect attack. The chemistry of the plant determines insect attack as well as the plant’s Brix readings, therefore, a better-balanced soil (as discussed in Improve Crop yield and Crop Quality) will assist in insect repulsion, but a high natural sugar reading, or Brix, is the best deterrent and the natural way to protect your crop.

Plant-sucking insects lack a pancreas to process sugars. Therefore, if an insect were to feed on high-sugar plants, the natural sugars could ferment into alcohol, poisoning the insect from within. Hence, most insects would target crops with lower sugar content. Plants with naturally high sugar levels exhibit greater resistance to insect attacks.

To understand plant pathogenic fungal disease, let us examine what conditions it thrives in and change the conditions and environment to eliminate this effect. Plant pathogenic fungal disease (e.g. rust, algae, mould and fungus) breaks out in a crop when the conditions are right. These conditions generally are low natural sugar content within the plant, low nutrient transfer, and low electrical conductivity. These conditions have to be counteracted in the early stages of growing a crop, when the pathogenic conditions break out it is too late to implement natural growing principles.Any questions email soil@soilcharge.com.au

IMPROVE CROP YIELD AND CROP QUALITY

Following on from our discussion about Reducing Production Costs:To understand crop yield and crop quality I believe that first, we need to understand what a plant consists of::

A healthy plant is made up of 80% water and 20% dry material. 80% Water- is self-explanatory, but quality water is an issue we may all face in Australia. 20% Dry Material: break down of 47% carbon, 43% oxygen, 4% hydrogen, 3% nitrogen and 3% soil nutrients. Now the first four elements, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen all exist in the air.

In fact, every breath we inhale is 78% nitrogen, so if the air consists of 78% of nitrogen, then WHY do I have to buy so much nitrogen? Good question!!!The simple answer is that the requirement to buy more nitrogen is because the soil is short of one or all of the three elements, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. Why does the soil become deficient in carbon, oxygen and hydrogen? The initial answer is farming practices that have been used up to this point in time, and the second reason is: “that is the way nature operates”.

So, to achieve the best results, go about building these soil elements within your soil’s profile and build a strong biological system.A natural, strong biological operating system together with a balanced soil profile will increase your returns and produce high-quality crops, whilst reducing input costs and creating healthier living conditions. Any questions email soil@soilcharge.com.au

REDUCE PRODUCTION COSTS

When a biological system is in existence in your soil profile, the need to fertilise with biological products still exist, but your input costs are much lower due to the fact that the symbiotic relationship with the plant roots and the soil biology is working to build the soil food web.You may ask: How does this happen?

The plant’s fine root hairs exude liquid exudates into the plant’s rhizosphere (the region of soil around the roots in which the plant’s chemistry and microbiology are influenced through growth, respiration, and nutrient exchange). Plant exudates are used by soil bacteria, fungi, plus many other soil micro-organisms as a food source. While feeding on these exudates, the soil micro-organisms excrete carbon. In exchanging exudates from the root hairs, the plant receives the minerals it requires from the soil to utilise in plant growth or reproduction by way of fruiting or flowering.

For example, if a plant requires copper, the soil biology in association with help from mycorrhizal fungi supplies the copper from the soil profile to the plant root hairs. The mycorrhizal fungus is a network of fine white hairs spread throughout the soil profile which can spread many metres away from the plant, and supply the required copper in our example. This natural way of growing strengthens the plant’s immune system against insect or pathogenic fungal attacks by increasing the plant’s natural sugars.Not only do the plant’s higher natural sugars act as a defence mechanism, but as an added benefit, they increase the flavour of fruits, nuts, berries and vegetables, as well as the intensity of colours in cut flowers, and they enhance the length of the flowering period of plants which in turn increases crop yield.

In his book, “Teaming With Fungi”, Jeff Lowenfels writes that…” A staggering 80 to 95 per cent of all terrestrial plants form symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizal fungi”.IF you use synthetic fertiliser, then this symbiotic relationship is impaired or does not exist.

When plants are force-fed synthetic nutrients in a salt form, then the soil just becomes a medium to hold the plant up. Because the plant’s natural system is not being used, then the plant and the whole crop are set up for insect and pathogenic fungal attack, and guess what, ironically, the same company that supplied you the synthetic fertiliser just so happens to be able to supply sprays to control insects or pathogenic fungal attack.

To understand whether your crop needs to be dominated by bacteria or fungi, there is an easy guide. If your crop is in the ground LONGER than 12 months, then the soil profile needs to be dominated by beneficial fungi. However, if your crop is mostly in the ground LESS THAN 12 months, then the soil profile needs to be bacterially dominated, and with pasture/grass a 50/50 split between beneficial fungi and bacteria is required.

Diagram of the belowground interactions of a nodulated legume with a variety of microbes. A,Enlarged view of nitrogen-fixing nodules on the plant’s roots (circled). B, Ectomycorrhizal associations are often established with legume tree roots, but the fungi remain external. C, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi interact with legume roots utilising the same symbiotic pathway as used by Rhizobium. D, Gram-negative bacteria in the soil, such as Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, and Ochrobactrum spp. are established in the rhizosphere and some species may even nodulate legumes. E, Gram-positive microbes, including Bacillus, Paenibacillus, Lysinobacillus, and others are found in the rhizosphere and also within nodules. F,Actinomycetes, for example, Micromonospora, Streptomyces, and the nitrogen-fixing Frankia enhance plant growth.

For decades, rhizobia were thought to be the only nitrogen-fixing inhabitants of legume nodules, and biases in culture techniques prolonged this belief. However, other bacteria, which are not typical rhizobia, are often detected within nodules obtained from soil, thus revealing the existence of a phytomicrobiome where the interaction among the individuals is not only complex, but also likely to affect the behavior and fitness of the host plant. Many of these nonrhizobial bacteria are nitrogen fixers, and some also induce nitrogen-fixing nodules on legume roots. Even more striking is the incredibly diverse population of bacteria residing within nodules that elicit neither nodulation nor nitrogen fixation. Yet, this community exists within the nodule, albeit clearly out-numbered by nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. Few studies of the function of these nodule-associated bacteria in nodules have been performed, and to date, it is not known whether their presence in nodules is biologically important or not. Do they confer any benefits to the Rhizobium-legume nitrogen-fixing symbiosis, or are they parasites/saprophytes, contaminants, or commensals? In this review, we highlight the lesser-known bacteria that dwell within nitrogen-fixing nodules and discuss their possible role in this enclosed community as well as any likely benefits to the host plant or to the rhizobial inhabitants of the nodule. Although many of these nodule inhabitants are not capable of nitrogen fixation, they have the potential to enhance legume survival especially under conditions of environmental stress. This knowledge will be useful in defining strategies to employ these bacteria as bioinoculants by themselves or combined with rhizobia. Such an approach will enhance rhizobial performance or persistence as well as decrease the usage of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

The fixation of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into ammonia by bacteria is essential for plant productivity, especially in N-poor soils. About 60% of the fixed N on Earth results from biological nitrogen fixation whereas chemical fertilisers account for ca. 25% (†). The Green Revolution of the last century resulted in crops that produced higher yields. However, the improved crops relied heavily on chemical particularly nitrate fertilisers, which resulted in ground water pollution and negative effects on human health (†). Since the late 20th century, scientific research has focused mainly on plant biotechnology to improve crop productivity, but in this century, scientists are renewing interest in nitrogen-fixing microbes as well as the beneficial bacteria that act as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria/bacteria (PGPR/PGPB). We propose that the rhizobia and the “other” bacteria act together as a community within the root nodule to facilitate plant health and survival, particularly under conditions of environmental stress.

The phytomicrobiome or plant microbiome is defined as all the microorganisms that colonise everything connected to the plant body, i.e., the rhizosphere and the phyllosphere, and includes all the directly associated endophytes and epiphytes (†). Thus, the phytomicrobiome is a subset of the phytobiome, which has been described as plants, their environment, and the organisms that interact with them, and which together influence plant health and productivity (†). Taking a phytomicrobiome-focused perspective concerning the nodule and looking beyond the interaction of a legume with a single nitrogen-fixing species may help us better understand how to grow, fertilise, and protect crops in a sustainable way.

The nitrogen-fixing bacteria that comprise the majority of the microbial population of legume nodules, both α-rhizobia (members of the Alphaproteobacteria, e.g., Rhizobiumand Bradyrhizobium) and β-rhizobia (Betaproteobacteria, e.g., Cupriavidus and Burkholderia (reviewed by †), are the best known and the most studied inhabitants of legume nodules. Even though α- and β-rhizobia are evolutionary divergent, their symbiotic (nod and nif) genes are highly similar suggesting lateral transfer (†; †; †; †). However, legume root nodules contain many other microbial residents. Figure 1 illustrates that in addition to rhizobia (Fig. 1A), a mélange of soil microbes associate with roots (Fig. 1B to F), and many of them (Fig. 1C to F) inhabit the interior of nodules. With regard to fungi, the community in the legume nodule was found to differ greatly from that found elsewhere in the plant and also from nonlegume plants, supporting the idea of a selected and curated microbiome in the nodule (†). Another study showed that inoculating plants with AM fungi changed the bacterial community and improved plant growth most likely because of improved shoot N, P, and K levels (†). Nevertheless, the most commonly isolated members of the legume nodule community outside of rhizobia consist of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, some of which have the capacity to fix N2 (†; †; †).

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