Soil Fertility: Renewing Soil,
Health, Food, Production and People
Sustainable Soil Fertility International
(In Development)
To reverse the ongoing losses of the world’s farmable soil, Sustainable Soil Fertility International (SSFI) will facilitate the establishment of approximately 5 autonomous GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Mini-Ag Centers/Sustainable Soil Fertility Test Stations throughout the globe. Each Center/Station will contain 50 100-square-foot GROW BIOINTENSIVE test beds sufficient to grow a complete balanced diet in 40 of these beds and a significant income in the other 10 beds while the build-up of their soil’s fertility is monitored. Additional beds will be used for research to optimize GROW BIOINTENSIVE for the region, and to investigate the limited use of less sustainable methods and the transition from less sustainable methods to more sustainable solutions in a one- to three-year time period. SSFI will encourage its Centers to collaborate its research efforts with established agricultural institutions whenever possible, in order to develop optimal agricultural solutions. GROW BIOINTENSIVE practices used in their entirety have the capacity to build soil fertility as much as 60 times faster than in nature. One regional Center/Station will be set up annually over a five-year period. These regional Center/Stations will then in turn catalyze the setting-up of national Center/Stations in other countries in their regions.
The staff of the regional Center/Stations will be trained by Sustainable Soil Fertility International staff, and the staff of the national Center/Stations will be trained by staff from the regional Center/Stations with technical and administrative backup from the Sustainable Soil Fertility International staff.
Each location will have three personnel: a Manager in overall charge of the project, an Assistant Manager in charge of extension, and an Intern in training to become a Manager at an additional spin-off Center/Station. Global coordination and technical assistance will be provided from the SSFI World Headquarters. The Headquarters’ staff will consist of a Director, Manager and staff with an appropriate level of administrative staffing. All staff and farmers will be trained to perform soil tests using simple diagnostic procedures. The Headquarters will also have two three-year Interns, who will perform similar work around the world upon completion of their internship.
In the sixth year, two educational videos will be developed—a PBS-TV special for the general public and a “how-to” video to facilitate the setting-up of Center/Stations.
More:
The State of Our Soil
•Detailed
proposal available, in process of being updated for 2020.
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