6. Agriculture Based on Soil Minerals

Only those soil minerals that are dissolved in water can be absorbed by plants. Direct absorption of soil minerals is restricted because of their low concentration (about 10^–6 mol lit⁻¹) in the soil solution. Therefore, farmers use highly water soluble chemical fertilizers. The soil micro-organisms are supposed to enhance the soil fertility by decomposing the organic matter in the soil to release the minerals from the organic matter. The author suggests that plants obtain minerals from the soil micro-organisms by killing and consuming them. This assumption is based on the fact that the root exudates of all plants contain biocides and digestive enzymes, and also on the Root Zone Technology, which can reduce the number of coliform bacteria and also the quantity of organic matter in fecally contaminated wastewater. The author demonstrated that the application of pure sugar to the soil induced the soil bacteria to proliferate. Since sugar does not contain any minerals, it was obvious that the proliferating bacteria absorbed minerals from the soil solution. In nature, the plants induce the soil bacteria to proliferate by feeding them with leaves, flowers and fruits dropped on the ground. The fact that plants consume the soil bacteria was demonstrated by the author with the help of a pot experiment. The soil in pots with plants had about 75% less bacteria than corresponding pots without plants. The new hypothesis not only provides a scientific basis to agriculture without chemical fertilizers but it also throws light on the evolution of terrestrial plants.