Global Health in Crisis
Global Health in Crisis, The Answer Lies in the Soil
In agriculture we are working with living processes. This includes two realities: firstly the processes associated with life and secondly those associated to physical, mineral matter. Together they create a whole and are not separable. A restriction to purely quantitative analysis will not suffice when we deal with life processes. We can understand the properties of inorganic matter, which are accessible to measure, weight and number, but a living organism is more than the sum of the substances into which we can categorise it through analytical data. Advances in Systems Theory, Chaos Theory and Biotechnology promise revolutionary ways of seeing things and extends our understanding of life. Our most immediate and accessible wisdom lies in the intuitive knowledge of the farmer. This knowledge is accumulated over time by constant observation and practice. In some not yet dispossessed indigenous societies this extends back for generations.
As mankind we have the possibility in our evolution to help Nature take a step beyond herself. Our future agriculture, when properly implemented, will mean that with man’s co-operation something will be created which natural processes alone would not bring about. Man, acting out of wisdom, and with the help of nature and her products, takes a step beyond Nature, is able to assist Nature in her development.
Man can become consciously active in his participatory role in world evolution, not merely preserving and living from the fruits of the earth, but building and helping in Creation. We need to renegotiate that age-old conversation between Man and the whole of Creation and through this find expression for our true human potential.
CONTENTS Global Health in Crisis
Preface
Global health in crisis
Evolution and the raising of consciousness
Agriculture and ecology
What are the current trends in agriculture?
Soil health and plant health page
Research for ecological agriculture
The future and alternative agriculture
Pests, disease and weeds
Forming the perspective to the whole plant
Effective Microorganisms (EM)
The origin of soils
Humus
The key to future agriculture
New awareness and new responsibility
Synoptic conclusion
Bibliography