The Oil Drum

Hello TODers,

Please recall my recent NPK posting on the Haber-Bosch nitrogen process, how much FF-energy it requires just to make it, then how much more gas/diesel is required to distribute 100 million tons annually around the globe so farmers can finally spread it on their fields. Thus my Wild & Crazy ping-pong ball idea. Has someone has recently invented an even better idea than my brainfart!

Could most of the Haber-Bosch nitrogen factories soon be obsolete? Could this company's Nitro-Fix invention soon save nearly 1% of the world's total energy usage? I would be interested in any expert elaboration or refutation.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view_article.php?artic...
--------------------------------------
Luis Guillen, president of the Summa Biotechnologies Corp. based here, said there was a 20 percent surge in rice output in Northern Mindanao due to farmers’ use of a locally-produced organic and environment-friendly fertilizer.

“The use of bio-organic inoculant fertilizer has increased palay yield by 20 percent,” Guillen said in a statement.

The fertilizer, known as Nitro-Fix, is made of nitrogen-fixing bacteria developed by researchers at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños.

Rice studies showed that once these bacteria from organic matters capture the nitrogen gas in the atmosphere, it would convert the nitrogen into a usable form needed to sustain the nitrogen requirements of rice, corn, vegetables, and other crops.

Guillen said the palay plants are healthier, and produce impressive results such as broader and greener leaves, extensive root system and sturdier stalks.

Also, the plants are more resistant to pests and diseases than those applied with chemical-based nitrogen fertilizers, which he claimed have proven to be detrimental to soil fertility and contributes greatly to declining farm productivity.
--------------------------------

http://www.malaya.com.ph/jan13/edbanayo.htm
----------------------------------
Food on every table

First the mayor tested in a pilot area, Nitro-Fix, a bio-organic fertilizer that contained nitrogen-fixing bacteria which attracts the nitrogen in the atmosphere and converts it into a form that substitutes for 50% of the chemical fertilizers needed as inputs by rice and corn.

The results were phenomenal. Fertilizer cost per hectare was reduced by half, and average yields grew by 20 percent. The incremental revenue of each Butuan farmer could go up to some 50,000 pesos per year.
-------------------------------------

http://www.uas-cropmaster.com/pdfTechsheet/Nitro-Fix%20Tech%20Sheet.pdf
------------------------------
GENERAL INFORMATION:

Nitro-Fix is a two-part beneficial bacteria package. First it aids in Crop Residue (stubble) break down. Next it helps fix nitrogen. Nitrogen fixation is considered to be the second most important bio-chemical reaction after Photosynthesis known to Man.

With large-scale chemical use along with synthetic fertilizer application, the natural bacterial life in farm soils have been reduced almost to the point of dead soil. Because of the important contributions made by beneficial bacteria to the fertility level of the soil, it has
been stated that if their functions were to fail, life for higher plants and animals would cease.

Nitrogen fixing bacteria play a vital role in plant growth since they are capable of converting atmospheric Nitrogen into useful forms in the soil. NITRO-FIXTM is formulated to rapidly replace reduced bacteria counts and increase biological activity for maximum plant growth, health, and resistance to pests and diseases. Bacteria work in conjunction with plant life to release minerals, fix nitrogen, breakdown crop residue, and much more. It is acceptable by the OCIA standards as "organic".
--------------------------------------------

If this Nitro-Fix is cheap to make, can be grown in volume and processed locally, is easy to apply to fields, and precludes the use of half or more of the energy intensive Haber-Bosch ammonia & derivatives--this company's stock could become EXTREMELY VALUABLE very fast. Or is this old news to the expert farmers and gardeners on TOD?

From a 1996 discussion I found:

http://www.bio.net/hypermail/plant-biology/1996-December/013085.html
-----------------------------------
To get into a comparison of growing techniques that involve direct feeding with annual applications of NPK fertilizer ("conventional" agriculture) versus biology-based methods which emphasize soil development could be a lifetime debate.

Sooner or later, the debate always comes down to the question of whether current cultural practices are sustainable or not. Can farmers simply keep using NPK fertilizer every year to sustain yields forever? There
are certainly doubts about this, from the USDA on down.

Some very respected soil scientists feel that current practices are like "mining" the soil, and that at some point the non-replenishment of humic matter and trace elements will make the soil unproductive, and that this
unproductivity will occur suddenly some year in the future.

The greatest argument against bio-organic methods at the moment is simply that there are not enough supplies available. (And you do have a valid point about the economic problems of converting over to a biological approach). We cannot begin to provide enough inoculant for
even one percent of the corn farmers of Illinois, for example.
------------------------------

IF this Nitro-fix is truly a breakthrough: then this could really help optimize our decline through the Bottleneck Squeeze if combined with universal Peakoil Outreach and relocalized permaculture; it could really quickly help restore the bio-vitality of urban and suburban topsoils along with easing the migration of other plants and trees to climate change.

Of course, we would still need NPK, but the emphasis would be rapidly shifting to P,K; we could be using much of the nitrogen [think natgas] for other uses. Thxs for any reply.

Bob Shaw in Phx,Az Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?