The age of synthetic chemicals in agriculture... A damaging 100+ year detour
Agriculture took a detour from organic practices to synthetic chemicals with the advent of calcium nitrate in the early 1900s.
Originally, the intentions were pure – Increase crop yields to feed the rapidly expanding global population. The early results were promising… mouths were fed and lives were saved. But somewhere along the way, the objectivity of the scientific community was lost to deep pocketed chemical corporations built on the back of the industrial revolution.
Fast forward a century and change – Yield increases have tapered off, soil fertility is poor, topsoil is being eroded at historic rates and the only ‘advertised’ way to resist pests/diseases is to blanket your crop in a chemical cocktail of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides… Call it a Monsanto Mule, a Roundup Colada, but it’s a toxic mix that is fully entrenched in our food production system. Big AG continues to utilize their massive wealth and influence to push new chemical ‘solutions’ and GMO’s that are resistant to issues that they themselves have caused. Many farmers fell out of touch with their land and relied on these corporations to tell them what to apply to their soil. It’s a dependency trap that still has many farmers in its tight grip.
Every empire needs a resistance… A small cohort of farmers and environmentalists were blowing the organic horn 80+ years ago. They realized that force feeding chemicals to plants was destroying the underlying reason for their vitality in the first place – soil fertility. If the soil was devoid of life then over time the compounding effects would be catastrophic. However, the human race doesn’t like to correct course until we get slapped on the wrist a few times. As we stare down rapid climate change, continued population growth and deteriorating soil – growing organic is not simply an alternative, but rather an absolute necessity.
The term being thrown around SKUNK Magazine circles is ‘Green Renaissance’. It is considered a renaissance because for a large majority of human history, agriculture has been organic. Ancient civilizations used deep knowledge of the earth, crop cycles and supported the soil in order to feed their people. We are finally starting to see innovation in the agricultural space that utilizes organic ingredients and adapts them to modern farming systems. Vital Humic™ Hydro Bio allows farmers to transition to organic, regardless of their scale and budget. It is not a one stop cure all, but rather an engine that kickstarts the land into healing mode. The main reason farmers are reluctant to grow organic is the perceived cost, labor and the ongoing myth that organic yields less than synthetic. This is simply inaccurate… Sure, it takes time to transition off an IV drip of synthetic nutrients, but solutions like Hydro Bio now exist to bridge the gap.
I thought this was a cannabis magazine. What does Big Ag have to do with my Slurricane? I don’t put Roundup on my Durban Poison so buzz off!
You may not use carcinogenic pesticides in your craft grow, but we are in an era of rapid global legalization of cannabis. We are in an era of big business taking over cannabis, and the players look a lot like Big Ag. With headquarters in Canada, our company has seen cannabis cultivation balloon into million square foot greenhouses and 100+ acre outdoor farms. Health Canada has even approved a list of acceptable pesticides for use in cannabis, which is then consumed by the seemingly unknowing public. In the infancy of Canadian legalization, some cultivators have even been caught hiding banned pesticides in the ceiling tiles! The issue is real and we need to provide alternative solutions, like Hydro Bio, to ensure that cannabis does not go the way of Big Ag. Cannabis and hemp were made to heal the living earth, not further poison it.
Check out our organic cultivation supplements at Vitalhumicusa.com and join the Green Renaissance! We are #fermentingchange.