Nome: Vanessa Martins da Silva RA: 982257
Assunto: Agricultura Biólogica site escolhido: www.midwesternbioag.com
Este site é de uma companhia de consultoria sobre agricultura biológica com sede em Lone Rock , Wisconsin – EUA . Há muitas informações pertinentes sobre o tema escolhido.
"......."Bio-logical" farming. We're talking about your life here, your family's future. Perhaps a "Century Farm". Making a fundamental shift from"conventional" farming to "biological" farming is a serious decision.
Introducing you to the fundamentals of biological farming. After all, input costs trend steadily upward in "conventional" agriculture. Commodity prices continue to fluctuate wildly, diminishing predictable returns. Problems can seem out of control. This business of farming is complex and confusing.
Generations of farmers have successfully used this method. They knew how to work with the land. That's how they survived and thrived
Are Profits Possible?
You can reduce your input costs and increase your profits, while improving your soil and livestock health at the same time. That's what "bio-logical farming" is. It harnesses science and nature to create superior FARMING SYSTEM. It works WITH natural laws. If you need evidence that trying to overpower Nature doesn't work long-term, look at all the serious manmade ecological damage and destruction: foul or poison air, water, and food. Biological farming is the win-win way to produce food..."
A agricultura biológica primeiramente é analisada do ponto de vista econômico, diminuindo custos, ao mesmo tempo em que gera lucros; isso representa uma vantagem em relação ao sistema convencional, porque desse modo utiliza mais os recursos naturais aumentando a emergia , por exemplo , de um subproduto desse sistema.
Além disso , podemos verificar que o sistema convencional , que domina a natureza é insustentável e destruidor pela contaminação do ar da água e dos alimentos, e por isso necessita-se de meios para a conservação do meio ambiente , que é a proposta da agricultura biológica.
" Successful Biological Farming Traits
Skilled biological farmers learn how to grow and make a lot of their own fertilizers, using animal and green manures. They learn what fertilizers are best to use and which are environmentally-safe. These fertilizers work with the beneficial organisms living in the soil.
Success will largely depend upon your ability to feed and increase these soil organisms. They make the soil alive and fertile, which also feeds your crops and forages. Two important parts of your soil are: (1) the organic particles that are a plant food reservoir, and (2) the living micro-organisms like bacteria, fungi, algae and the larger ones like earthworms. These organisms process and decompose the inert mineral and organic materials, thereby feeding your plants. To thrive and multiply, they need air, water, organic matter (food) and safety. Work with them successfully and your farm's natural fertility and productivity will escalate.
On a biological farm, you strive for BALANCE. It's the economic and ecological key to success. It provides all the elements to your crops in proper balance. The productivity of your soil can never be greater than the plant food element in least supply. You make these nutrients easily absorbable by the plant's roots. You manage your soil and crops to produce large root systems that recover nutrients, create an optimum home for soil organisms, and hold the soil in place.
N-P-K Shortcomings
Conventional synthetic N-P-K fertilizers have few or no secondary and trace elements, yet plants need at least 16 elements to grow and reproduce. Continued use of high N-P-K levels can result in trace element deficiencies and other in balances.
N-P-K leads to hard, erodible soils. Water quality deteriorates. Animal health problems increase. Insects and weeds increase and become immune to chemical treatments."
O método convencional de agricultura utiliza fertilizantes sintéticos (cuja constituição é de nitrogênio, potássio e fósforo) , os quais usados continuamente enfraquecem o solo, causando erosão, contaminando a água e causando doença nos animais.
Já no sistema biólogico, o princípio do uso de fertilizantes é o da adubação verde e por animais, a preocupação é de aumentar a fertilidade do solo pelo aumento do número de organismos presentes (esses microorganismos transformam os minerais em matéria orgânica, aproveitável pelas plantas).Trata-se de um ciclo natural que envolve o solo , os microorganismos e a parte animal .
Conclusão, a diferença dos fertilizantes é que os naturais promovem a vida no solo enquanto que os sintéticos (N,P,K) destroem as formas de vida do solo, além de agredir as plantas.
"Healthy Livestock Needs
Livestock nutrition starts with high quality homegrown feeds that result from proper crop fertilization, handling, and storage. Feed supplements can't replace what poor feeds lack
Besides basic ration balance and feeding management, you can provide your livestock with some "extras".These include natural vitamins, digestive aids, yeast, kelp, chelated trace elements, beneficial micro-organisms (probiotics), and enzymes."
A nutrição do solo promove uma boa colheita , e boas pastagens. Os animais devem receber um suplemento na ração , completando uma dieta balanceada.
"35 Benefits of Biological Farming
1. Spend less on herbicides
2. Reduce use and expense for insecticides
3. Decrease danger to farm family's health
4. Reduce groundwater problems from chemicals
5. Reduce nitrogen input
6. Reduce nitrates in groundwater
7. Lower input costs -- after soil becomes balanced
8. Put fertilizer in the row = lower inputs
9. Decreased soil compaction means soil is easier to work = less fuel used
10. Decreased soil compaction means fewer weeds.
11. Reduce rain run-off and increase water intake rates from loose soils
12. Reduce erosion from better soil structure
13. Reduce chances of crop failure because of weather conditions
14. Create biological activity (microbes, earthworms) in the soil for healthy soils
15. Reduce pest and crop disease problems
16. Stimulate better root growth
17. Harvest better feed quality
18. Benefit from higher sugar in crops
19. Raise full-stemmed alfalfa with more digestable energy, not hollow-stemmed
20. Benefit from larger alfalfa leaves with more digestable protein
21. Plant less alfalfa seed for a good stand; save on seed costs; increase animal production from feeds you grow
22. Realize better protein availability in alfalfa
23. Spend less buying protein off the farm
24. More Mineral uptake in the feeds
25. Spend less buying livestock mineral
26. Feed less grains by raising high-energy forages
27. Maintain livestock production on less feed; save on feed costs
28. Profit from longer animal longevity
29. Decrease livestock stress; see better performance
30. Profit from better animal health; save on veterinary costs
31. Earn higher, more consistent profits
32. Put the fun back in farming again
33. Understand the laws of nature
34. Give the next generation a better future
35. Gain a better, less risky retirement for yourself"
São vários os benefícios promovidos pela agricultura biológica dentre eles:
"Midwestern Bio-Ag’s Six Rules of Biological Soil Management
1. Understand and balance the soil, giving attention to its chemical, biological, and physical components.
2. Balance soil chemistry and provide crop nutrition using life-promoting, non-toxic fertilizers.
3.Apply herbicides and other pesticides sparingly, and only when absolutely necessary,
4. Use a relatively short rotation and interseed row crops whenever possible.
5. Manage tillage to control the decay of organic materials while optimizing soil aeration and moisture levels.
6. Feed soil life with green manure crops and other sources of organic matter.
Midwestern Bio-Ag’s Six Rules of Biological Livestock Management
1. Raise animals in a healthy (clean and well-ventilated) humanely as a first-line against sickness and disease.
2. Feed rations formulated and produced under the principles of biological farming.
3. As an ill-health preventative, keep animals on a high nutritional plane utilizing quality nutritional supplements when necessary.
4. Properly vaccinate according to local veterinary instruction.
5. Do NOT continuously feed antibiotics as is common in many "conventional" production programs. Use antibiotics only when absolutely necessary to save the health/life of an animal.
6. Do NOT inject or feed synthetic hormones to promote enhanced growth/production beyond an animal's natural genetic ability."
O tratamento do solo abrange a composição física , química e biológica, através de seu reforço de nutrientes, de organismos e na boa aeração do mesmo (pode-se dizer que há um balanceamento pois são analisados os excessos e as deficiências) . É claro que , com todos esses cuidados , o solo não é utilizado permanentemente, e assim há sua conservação
O cuidado dos animais estende-se desde a alimentação , com suplementação de nutrientes, passando pela vacinação adequada para evitar-se o uso de antibióticos (usados só quando necessário) , além da não utilização de hormônios sintéticos para o crescimento do animal.Com isso, o alimento humano: leite , carne entre outros, mantém suas características naturais , próprias ao consumo.
Deve-se salientar a pequena quantidade de produtos químicos desde o solo até no cuidado dos animais, evitando assim o acúmulo de resíduos não aproveitáveis , e muitas vezes tóxicos, ao longo da cadeia alimentar.
" "Bio-Logical" farming is working with the life in the soil, with plants, and animals -- using a common sense approach that embraces, rather than dominates, nature."
Conclusão:
A agricultura biológica trabalha com a vida do solo , com as plantas e os animais visando um equilíbrio. Há um aproveitamento dos recursos naturais: rotação de culturas , redução de toxinas, balanço dos minerais no solo....Todo esse trabalho aumenta a produtividade e a qualidade do alimento.
Finalmente obtém-se qualidade de vida : animais saudáveis, poucas doenças na colheita , poucos insetos, a diferença do sabor e do cheiro da carne animal .