b'RETAIL STRATEGYWHEN IT COMES TO SOIL HEALTH,WERE DOING IT WRONGSoil isnt an inert growth medium like we once might have thought. Its teeming with beneficial organisms, and experts say the time is now to think about it in a new way.Marc ZienkiewiczTHE PANELISTS ACCORDING TOa recent report by the FoodThe rhizophagy cycle plays a huge role in crop and Agriculture Organization of the Unitedhealth.Nations (FAO), soil degradation affects aboutThe rhizophagy cycle operates as follows: 33% of global land area. In Canada and theplants essentially farm microbes around their United States, soil erosion alone causes anroot tips by secreting sugars, proteins, and annual loss of about 1.5 billion tonnes ofvitamins. These microbes then enter the root James White topsoil, equivalent to the loss of 3.2 millioncells at the growing tips, where the cells lack Professor of Plant Pathology,hectares of cropland, according to the FAO. rigid cell walls and are actively dividing. Inside Rutgers University This has serious implications for the sus- these root cells, the microbes shed their cell tainability and profitability of the agriculturalwalls and become trapped. sector, as well as the resilience and well-beingThey are exposed to reactive oxygen, such of rural communities. Therefore, it is impera- as superoxide, which breaks down some of the tive to adopt and promote soil health practicesmicrobe cells, effectively extracting nutrients that can enhance soil quality, productivityfrom them. Surviving microbes stimulate the Senator Robert Black and functionality, while reducing the negativeformation of root hairs on the plant roots. Chair of Canadas Senateimpacts of soil degradation on the environmentSubsequently, these microbes depart from the Committee on Agriculture andand society. root hairs at the growing hair tips, where the Forestry Our recent webinar on this very topic shedcell walls of the hair cells remain soft. light on the new soil health movement that isThe microbes then reconstruct their cell showing exactly how soil really works to helpwalls as they return to the soil, acquiring plants thrive, and how humans have neglectednutrients in the process. This cycle repeatsand damagedthis delicate soil ecosystemitself continuously. over time. People have long theorized that plants Yamily Zavala The webinar included four experts includ- might obtain nutrients from microbes, but Soil Health & Crop Managementing James White, a professor of plant pathol- the mechanisms for nutrient transfer from Specialist, Chinook Appliedogy at Rutgers University who has beenmicrobes to plants have remained elusive until Research Association conducting soil health research for severalnow, White says. years. White and his team have uncovered theUnderstanding this process may open mechanism through which plants utilize soilthe door to growing plants with minimal or microbes to acquire essential nutrients, a pro- no need for fertilizers and herbicides. We can cess he has named the rhizophagy cycle.manipulate this system to enhance the growth This process holds significant potential forof desirable plants while suppressing the enhancing crop productivity, combating weedgrowth of undesirable ones, potentially using Trevor Blois growth, and reducing the need for environ- the same microbes.Disease Diagnostician, 20/20mentally harmful fertilizers and herbicides.Seed Labs He has discovered that plants actively culti- Soil health is more important than ever.vate and then extract nutrients from symbioticAccording to Blackwho is spearheading microbes. In this cycle, bacteria and fungiCanadas first national senate soil health study alternate between a free-living phase in the soilin 40 yearsurbanization, pollution, and and a plant-dependent phase within the cellsclimate change are among the key factors con-of plant roots. Microbes in the soil acquiretributing to the degradation of soils. nutrients, such as nitrogen and minerals, andIn the past, the importance of soil health these nutrients are subsequently extracted fromand carbon sequestration was not as widely the microbes within the plant root cells. recognized as it is today. Its imperative that 32GERMINATION.CAJANUARY 2024'