75 results for tag: rock dust


Rock Dust Crop Dusting: Pulverized Rock Makes for Effective Pesticide

As long as there has been agriculture, there have been insects, mites, and other creatures eager to share in the bounty. Pests remain an enduring problem for agriculture. Increasingly, communities are seeing even pesticides designed to deter or eliminate pesky insects become a liability as essential pollinator populations decline, unwanted toxins infiltrate crops—endangering farmers and consumers—and insects develop resistance to traditional deterrents and poisons. One possible solution: rocks. Crushed rocks, to be precise. Seeding mineral-poor soils with pulverized rocks not only introduces badly-needed nutrients to the plants they house, it ...

Barbuda Limestone Soil Crop Growth Stimulated by Montserrat Volcanic Ash

Fig. 1 Principal John Mussington surveying the plants. The plot receiving the volcanic ash on the left, and the control plot on the right. Introduction Soil fertility depends on the geological history of the minerals in it, climate, and their management. Oceanic islands are either limestone or volcanic, the only exception being the high granite islands in the Seychelles, an ancient small continental fragment. Most limestone islands, including all atolls, are low and flat and are much drier than the high wet volcanic islands. Volcanic islands are much more fertile, because they are wetter, and because basalt contains an ideal mixture of the nutrient ...

Basalt Rock Dust Increases Carbon Capture Fourfold

A research team within the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation has demonstrated basalt rock dust as a method of improving crop yield and sequestering carbon.

A True Hero: Bernardo Castro Medina Intensifies His Remineralization Efforts in 2020

Version original en Español: https://www.remineralize.org/2020/04/un-verdadero-heroe-bernardo-castro-medina-intensifica-sus-esfuerzos-de-remineralizacion-en-2020/ Bernardo Castro Medina is a remineralization superhero for our time! Through his ongoing workshops for farmers and his yearly Expo and conference, he has facilitated many tens of thousands of hectares of agriculture in Mexico going organic while using rock dust with some of the most sophisticated formulations to be found anywhere in the world. This is a good example of the potential for agriculture to store carbon in our soils and create lasting soil fertility. --Joanna Campe, Executive ...

Alex Podolinsky (1925-2019) Was an Australian Biodynamic Farming Giant

In 1988 I had the good fortune, along with my husband Christian, to assist Christopher Bird and Peter Tompkins on their upcoming book Secrets of the Soil, after their previous worldwide bestseller The Secret Life of Plants. I assisted on the chapters, “The Dust of Life” and “Life and Death in the Forest,” which focused on remineralization. During that year, Christopher Bird travelled to Australia to join Alex Podolinsky on his yearly tour of biodynamic farms, which covered over a million and a quarter acres of land. Christopher would send the hand-written scripts to me to give to Peter Tompkins. While on their tour from farm to farm, Alex ...

Call for Papers for the IV Congresso Brasileiro de Rochagem

(Photo from the III Congresso Brasileiro de Rochagem in 2016 conference.) Translated from Brazilian Portuguese. Original version available here. The Event The third millennium began with an unprecedented recognition of the importance of the use of natural resources. Environmental issues have gained in visibility and share importance along with economic issues. As a result, there is a greater concern with food security and socio-environmental and economic development, without losing sight of the preservation of biodiversity and the well-being of the human species. In this scenario, Brazil is a protagonist, as it holds a large part of the world’s ...

Planting a Trillion Trees to Save Earth? Remineralization Can Help

Reforesting the Earth with a trillion trees may be the best way to fight climate change, and remineralizing the Earth with crushed rock dust is perhaps the best way to ensure those trees take root, grow and prosper. A recent study from scientists with Crowther Lab in Switzerland found 223 million acres (900 million hectares) of global tree restoration is the most effective climate change solution, as those trees (about a trillion) would store about 205 billion tons (186 tonnes) of carbon, or roughly two thirds of the carbon emitted since the Industrial Revolution. Unfortunately, decades of poor agricultural practices, desertification and simple ...

Restoring Forests to Avoid Catastrophe: Remineralization is crucial

Recently screens across the globe wracked viewers with destruction-torn images of the Amazon Rainforest on fire. It’s no secret that our forests are in trouble. Over-development and slash-and-burn agriculture practices clear areas that were once forested, and acidic rain, invasive disease, and pollution contribute to the declining health of remaining trees. The first response to forest destruction is the obvious: plant more trees. Some organizations sponsor tree planting events where locals can help plant hundreds of trees in a matter of days, and cities across the globe are addressing environmental and urban challenges by creating more green ...

Review of Eelco Rohling’s The Climate Question

The Climate Question: Natural Cycles, Human Impact, Future Outlook, 2019, Eelco Rohling, Oxford University Press, 162 p., reviewed by Tom Goreau, August 10, 2019   This slim volume is the best possible source for those who wish to understand how much humans and natural forces have changed the climate in the past and present, and what realistic options we have for nature-based solutions to prevent runaway climate change. Unlike other books about climate change, this one is firmly based in an understanding of the global carbon cycle and the changes it has undergone in the past. The book is very tightly focused on the facts, and entirely ...

RTE’s New Research Database Director Spreads Word about Remineralization at Australia-Brazil Conference

Above: Multidisciplinary team of researchers at the Australia-Brazil Alumni Conference. The 4th Australia-Brazil Alumni Conference was held in São Caetano do Sul, at the Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia, from May 17th - 18th. Aiming to engage former scholarship recipients from Australian and Brazilian government programs, the two-day conference brought together a multidisciplinary team of researchers and students to explore ways to strengthen the scientific bonds among the two countries, stimulating international cooperation. From biologists to lawyers, participants had the opportunity to give a presentation in the TED Talk format and show others ...