No till Systems, Plants adaptive Response, Glyphosate

A meta-analysis by the University Of Illinois College Of Agriculture (Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2016) has found that No-till systems had greater microbial biomass and activity and higher enzymatic activity. This study confirms that the only time one should till is to mix ingredients together in a new bed. The more microbes and the more active they are in the soil, determines the health of the soil. This in turn determines the health of our plants. 

In the July, issue of the journal Current Biology there is an article on how plants take risks. They found that pea plants take gambles when it comes to root growth. They grew pea seedlings with their roots divided between two pots that contained differing levels of nutrients. As expected, pea seedlings with their roots divided between a pot with adequate levels of nutrition and one with variable levels (sometimes high and sometimes low), grew more roots in the stable pots. However, when the roots were divided between pots with consistent low levels of nutrients and one with variable levels, more roots grew in the pot with variable levels of nutrients. In the pot with consistent low levels of nutrients the plant would die, hence the plant took a chance and put its energy into the pot with varying levels of nutrients where there was a chance it could grow and survive. This is the first demonstration of an adaptive response to risk in an organism without a nervous system. www.cell.com/current-biology/home 

The dangers of glyphosate (Round-Up) continue to be exposed, and is now being compared to the pesticide Zyklon B death chemical that was used to kill millions by the Nazis in WWII. A study published in the journal Entropy by P. Coleman, PhD of the Cornucopia Institute has linked glyphosate to the rise in allergies, dementia, gastrointestinal disease, cancer, and a host of other ailments due to the biochemical pathways damaged by exposure to this chemical. They found that low-level exposure builds up over time in our bodies leading to chronic disease. One of the methods it damages our bodies is by obstructing the synthesis of amino acids during digestion, depleting amino acid reserves within the body and damaging the probiotic bacteria in the gut. They also found that glyphosate depletes the body of enzymes it needs to detoxify other harmful poisons, including pesticides and heavy metals. 

“The available evidence shows that glyphosate may be the most important factor in the development of multiple chronic diseases and conditions that have become prevalent in Westernized societies”. The full study can be found on the website: cornucopia.org 

Note: The largest exposure to glyphosate is on GMO foods where the levels can be ten times higher than conventionally grown food. Best yet is to eat organically grown food where this toxic chemical is not allowed or grow one’s own fruits and vegetables organically.