Evening in orchard

Please excuse the Phantom Photographer. A late evening picture across the orchard. 26.04.2007

Clearly the trees show no signs of stress or distress despite getting zero applications of fertilizer bought from any place. There are some trees with zinc deficiency in the orchard (see earlier posts), but not enough to put the crop or the livelihood of the dependants of the orchard in jeopardy.

As a result, there is no justification for intervening with synthetic or purchased "organic" products.

Pecans Overcoming Zinc Deficiency Naturally

This picture (No.1) shows a tree that grew vigorously until it ran into Zinc deficient problems. Those include "die back" as can be seen by the dead twigs at the top of the tree. Bunching of leaves and very close inter nodal spaces and also browning of leaves making photosynthesis less.
The tree is in big trouble.
We take the shells from the previous harvest and put a heavy load on the drip zone or root area of the tree as you can see in the picture. The natural nutrients from this material is in a usable form for pecan tree absorption. It has been successfully absorbed by pecan trees before.
Nothing can be done about the damage already there.
Photo taken 26.04.2007










This picture (No.2) shows a tree in the recovery stage. The dead twigs from the first phase of vigorous growth can be see directly above the stem.
The tree has had applications of shells in previous seasons and new growth without Zinc deficiency is seen on the left side.
Photo taken 26.04.2007













This picture (No.3) shows the final stage of recovery. On the left side some browning and rosetting can still be seen, and on the right nuts can be seen amongst the healthy green leaves. Because the tree is beginning to bear a crop, the recovery will be dramatic from here on and in a few years no evidence of Zinc deficiency will be visible.
Photo taken 26.04.2007

For me the interesting observation is that the recovery of the tree usually begins on the south-east side of the tree. This is the coolest side of the tree and the side with the slowest trans location of fluid and nutrients. The bark is thinnest on the south-east side of trees in the Southern Hemisphere. The converse applies to the Northern Hemisphere.

I think that good research results can come from the study of the relationships between phloem capacity or thickness, temperature and zinc trans location. Just maybe, a thick layer of white paint cooling the warmer (north north-west in Southern Hemisphere) side of the stem may slow the rate of nutrient trans location and give the cell development time to assimilate the required constituents for normal cell development.

Academics do not find funding for research that does not result in the use of synthetic products or petro-chemical by-products.
Organic farmers need to be observant. Chemical farmers just get the goo and spray it.

How to make "Organic" Agriculture Mainstream Agriculture

This word "Organic" or any of it's synonymous is an unfortunate label hung around the neck of certain styles of agriculture or farming.
It is very broad and cannot be clearly defined in the mind of any individual, group or community.

It appears to me that there is a distinction between plundering the environment for personal gain by individuals or shareholders in companies who act on their behalf on the one hand, and the epitomy of hand to mouth hunter gatherer individuals or communities living off the land, on the other hand.
Between these two extremes is a grey area.

Somehow, "Conventional" agriculture spin doctors have managed to convince Organic farmers AND their customers that they should pay a premium for goods bought and supplied.

This to me is completely wrong. The converse should be the norm.

It is Conventional Agriculture that should pay a tax for using the methods they do.
The tax can be used for amongst MANY other things for;

• Environmental clean-up. Damage to eco-systems due to leaching of synthetic fertilizers into the environment. Landfill of packaging
• Community health programns. Harvesting immature nitrogen fed crops of low nutritient value causes community health problems. Anti-biotics fed to animals enters the human food chain causing immune related problems.
• Assisting communities and infrastructure destabilized by industrial sized agricultural farms
• There are many divisions and sub-divisions of subjects. The list can be added to.

I propose that all agricultural projects no matter how big or small operated for commercial gain or profit be subject to a scale from 1 to 10.

10 on the scale:

Imagine a farmer who owns a piece of land. He tries in every endeavor to apply Nature and Human Compassion to make a profit for the benefit of himself, his family, his community, his country, his Continent without detriment to any of those, and leaves the land as it was or more fertile than it was when he arrived on it.This Farmer may be “10” on the scale. (Organic)

1 on the scale"

Imagine a farmer buying a particular piece of land, and uses all available expertise or systems mechanical, industrial or technological to make the most money in a very short space of time for as long as possible irrespective of any other consideration, environmental, sentimental or social. If there happens to be a downturn in expectation at any time he withdraws this capital and departs.This Farmer may be “1” on the scale. (Conventional)

This system can be coupled to the National Taxation system in every country. Governments love taxes.

This will be the surest way of effecting a change in mindset amongst farmers and their customers because this input cost will be added to thye cost of the product. Like tobacco and smoking. It is not tobacco that is bad for you or those around you, it the tobacco smoke when you smoke it. Tobacco products (Cigarettes etc.) are taxed not tobacco. So too should those farmers using environmentally unhealthy practices and inputs pay for the resultant damage caused.

Farmers love an incentive. Synthetic stimulants, herbicides, cut and burn agriculture and so many other environmentally unfriendly and for that matter socially unfriendly practices will become economically unattractive.

"Organic" or Natural methods will become more popular, as tax avoidance becomes an incentive.

In this way, there will be no conflict between "Organic" and "non-Organic" as is the case today. It will simply be a choice.

Just as in the case of the tobacco lobbies of the 1950's made smoking fashionable and denied the ill-effects of the practice, so too, society should punish the companies and individuals who misuse the land and public health as a result.

Thoughts on Zinc deficiency and the causes

Just lately I have had a few conversations with pecan growers about the eternal problem with pecan trees and their penchant for a zinc deficiency.
I am convinced that Commercial Farmers are blinded by science and well meaning but scheming commercial sellers of zinc products and equally well meaning but scheming consultants and sellers of advice.
It is very seldom that a pecan tree grown in a garden for its' esthetic appeal develops zinc deficiency. Equally it is true that an old or bearing pecan does not have or show deficiency in zinc.
Therein lies the answer.
The question is, "Why?"

In the first place Commercial Farmers have been tought to believe any seller of scientific observation with the prefix Prof., or Dr., before their name. In fact they believe most anybody that is employed by any Agricultural College, fertilizer company or just plain bull-shitter if he somehow can shuffle science into the equation.
It is easy to do, because most farmers are driven by greed and their egos. They want the quickest return on their establishment cost, and in their blind rush to do this they are victims to quick fixes and fertilizer.
Their egos drive them to get maximum production in the shortest time. Consequently they deceive themselves in their predictions of future crop potential and the time taken to achieve them.

The "Gardener" on the other hand plants the tree and marvels at its progress with a minimum of fuss. The tree being only one individual among many asking for attention in a garden environment. Water most often is all that is required for the tree to flourish.

Because a Gardener plants any number of other plants around the tree, they are NOT inclined to be liberal with herbacides as they do damage to the garden. Not so the commercial farmer. He wants every drop of water and fertalizer only to be available to his money plant and therefore eliminates any other plant with the weapon of choice. In South Africa it is Roundup. The symptoms of a whiff of Roundup on a young pecan tree are very similar to sever or terminal zinc deficiency. It is my opinion that often, herbacide poisoning is mis-diagnosed as zinc deficiency or better still more subtly, herbacide poisoning inhibits the metabolism of the tree which in turn initiates the most likely deficiency. Zinc.
It is very difficult to control vapours in a spacing of 10m x 10m attempting to kill "weeds" only.

Then of course to rush the plant to maturity and bearing, fertilizers of every discription are applied to the soil and foliage and any other place if possible to stimulate it to grow and produce.

If a plant or animal has a genetic problem with absorption and translocation of any mineral or trace element during growth, it is likely that that problem will become evident if the plant or animal grows faster than the minerals and trace elements can be translocated. All other things being equal of course.
Needless to say the stimulation applied by fertilizer to pecan trees has this effect most particularly when the tree is growing vegetatively and not producing. It does not matter whether this is an organic fertilizer or a synthetic fertilizer. The stimulation is the same. This is the first 1-7 years of its' life depending on variety. Thereafter they start bearing and grow slower because they are growing a crop.

Stimulating growth encourages the possibility of deficiencies developing.
Commercial farmers can see a problem, and they are told by consultants that it is a Zinc deficiency.
Simple solution. Buy Zinc, a tractor, spray tanks and equipment, labour and time and apply the zinc. Just imagine the cost.
The Commercial Farmer is like a hamster on a treadwheel. And imagine how happy the consultant, the fertalizer agent and equipment salesmen are.

Now there is a new fad.
Organic Fertalizer - sold in a bag. Mined some place and sold as "environmentally friendly" and guaranteed to impress the "housewife".
Fertilizer is fertilizer as far as stimulating growth is concerned.

My suggestion to Commercial Farmers is:
Ask the Gardener in your family what they do. Garden more and get off the tread mill.

Stimulate growth less and plant cover crops.

It is tough for Commercial Farmers to believe it. The more they believe the consultants and fertilizer agents the more hamster-like their minds become.

Tribute to Red

It has been a while since updating but each time I open the page I see Red in the dam, and my enthusiasm drains a bit. Red died from a compaction from a twisted gut or a cancerous intestine.

We did not have a post mortem done. He had had a wretching belch for a month or two and the end came quite quickly. Sandy and I were with him for a while when he got up and walked away from us. We found him at his favourite cool spot at the kitchen door about five minutes later. He had died. He was nine and a half years old.

Red was a fantastic friend. Not agressive but he was assertive. Famously he defended me when we inadvertantly got into a troop of baboons (Chacma baboon) and he had his face ripped open requiring more than 50 stitches to repair him.

He was very friendly with children and gentle to them.

He is the father to three litters of pups and his offspring have given a lot of owners happiness.

He is buried in the "botton garden" under the weeping mulberry tree.

Rest well "Old Mate".