Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 7: Benefits of Electroculture On
Soil
Let's begin looking at the effects of electric fields on soils. Improvement of soil fertility is
the primary benefit. It does this by improving the actual structure of the soil, making it light
andporouswhichimprovesthegrowthofplantsbycreatingareasformorewaterinfiltration
and places for roots to easily access more nutrients. Also, through both electrochemical
reactions and enhanced microbial activities, the breakdown of complex nutrients can occur,
making plant nutrient uptake much more available.
Soil Structure
The application of electricity to soil creates a number of effects on the actual structure of
soil. It increases the granular structure and decreases the bulk density of soil by chemically
increasing the size of soil aggregates, while also increasing humification. This has the end
result of greatly increasing the soil's moisture retaining capacity.
The increase in humification occurs because of the reaction of free calcium ions with any
humicacidpresentinthesoil,whichoperatesasfollows:
”Under the effect of Ca
2+
, calcium
humate can make organic and inorganic colloids be glued together, which provides a good
condition for the formation of aggregates.”
1
This is further enhanced by naturally occurring bacteria present in the soil. Actively
reproducing and metabolically-accelerated bacteria populations work in conjunction with
the plants to help fix carbon molecules that are sequestered from CO
₂
in the atmosphere.
The combination of additional amounts of carbon, plus the way that the microbes process
the soil creates lots of nooks and crannies throughout the soil mass, thus helping with the
Water Capacity
The wilting point is the point in which a plant begins to use water from its own tissues for
transpiration because soil-water has been exhausted. While clay soils have the capability of
