Comment on Why has no one thought of this before?!
ilinamorato@lemmy.world 5 months agoI’m aware of that land use need, but actually most farmers use crop rotation to fulfill that need. You plant a crop that depletes phosphorus one year, and then one that restores it the next year. Obviously that’s oversimplified, but actually letting land lie fallow isn’t as critical anymore in a more diverse agricultural world.
Besides, letting land lie fallow is agricultural use, as you’re restoring the land for later growing seasons. That, iirc, is why the word “idle” is included on the map alongside “fallow;” true fallowing would be included in the agriculture regions.
MeThisGuy@feddit.nl 5 months ago
eh… we can solve all that with ammonium nitrate… aka fertilizer
ilinamorato@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Fertilizer does provide some help, but cover crops and crop rotation is still necessary. Anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate don’t replenish everything that crops take out of the ground (really just nitrogen); and even if it did, it’s really expensive.
MeThisGuy@feddit.nl 5 months ago
true. maybe just more poop. btw is fallow the same as barren?
ilinamorato@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Well, I think the word “barren” is a little bit more ambiguous, but generally “fallow” implies that it could be used, but isn’t; while “barren” means that it couldn’t be used for any productive purpose (specifically any agricultural purpose). In other words, land could be temporarily fallow, but would likely require remediation or even engineering to make productive if it’s barren.