Soil Biology

Fungi’s impact on agriculture will continue to make great strides as we learn how to harness the capabilities of this unique resource. I think we’ll continue to see fungi play an expanding role in crop enhancement, whether that’s improving the composition of soils, mitigating soil toxins, acting as a pesticide, promoting root expansion or accessing greater quantities of water and nutrients.
Taking a deeper dive into white rot fungi, it’s documented that they produce unique extracellular oxidative enzymes that degrade lignin, as well as related compounds found in explosive contaminated materials, pesticides, and toxic wastes. All white rot fungi are basidiomycetes, a fungal group that includes edible mushrooms as well as plant pathogens such as smuts and rust. The white rot fungus that has been intensely studied is Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

Like everything in life, plants are only as strong as their weakest metabolic link. In the case of plants, photosynthesis bottlenecks or the inability of the plant’s engine to fire on all cylinders can keep plants from reaching their full potential. Discovering ways to improve photosynthesis and water hydration can help to conserve water yet still transport nutrients, keeping plants healthy and metabolizing.

Almond Hull Rot can be devasting for almond growers, and there haven’t been many decent options to control it. Organic growers are especially limited in what they can apply to address hull rot.

Hull rot is a general term for hull infection by one of several pathogens. The list of hull rot pathogens is growing, and now includes Rhizopus, Monilinia, Aspergillus, and Phomopsis. Hull rot is traditionally caused by Monilinia and Rhizopus. Aspergillus infections can lead to staining of the kernel and reduction in nut quality. The most susceptible varieties commonly planted include Nonpareil, Monterey, and Wood Colony.

Although fungi have long been lumped together with plants, they are more closely related to animals. At a molecular level, fungi and humans are similar enough to benefit from many of the same biochemical innovations. When we use drugs derived from fungi, we are often borrowing a fungal solution and repurposing it within our own bodies. Fungi are pharmaceutically prolific and today we depend on them for many other chemicals besides the fabled penicillin. There’s cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant drug makes organ transplants possible, and statins, for lowering cholesterol. Taxol is just one of many anti-cancer compounds. And of course there’s alcohol, fermented by yeast. Sixty percent of enzymes used in industry are generated by fungi and 15% of all vaccines are produced by engineered strains of yeast. Citric acid is produced by fungi. Fungal solutions are also useful well beyond human pharmaceuticals. Fungi play a major role in agriculture, whether it’s reducing colony collapse in honeybees, treating heavy metals and toxins in soils (Andaman Ag has a great product for this application), mobilizing soil nutrients and trading them with plants for sugars and fats — we are only beginning to understand the intricacies and sophistications of fungal interactions.

Humic substances such as lignin and charcoal are formed by the microbial degradation of dead plant matter. Among these substances are humic acids — complex molecules that exist naturally in soils, peats, oceans and fresh waters. Humic acid is not a single acid; rather, it is a complex mixture of many acids containing carboxyl and phenolate groups.

Fungi is doing what it’s been doing for more than a billion years – eating rock, making soil, digesting pollutants, nourishing and killing plants, producing food, making medicines, manipulating animal behavior and influencing the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere. Yet, fungi are largely hidden from view and more than 90% of their species remain undocumented.

2021 is being compared to 2015 as a critically dry year for California. 2 million acres of farmland will fall woefully short of its required water supply. I mentioned in previous newsletters that Andaman Ag sells AquaVantage, a bio-degradable, starch-based polymer that’s used as a soil amendment, capable of absorbing up to 500 times its weight in water to store and gradually release it to crops. The result: crops require 30-40% less water, given the water holding capacity! We believe it’s a breakthrough product that can have a major role in helping to mitigate drought conditions.

We’ve decided to change the format for our newsletters for a while, and address questions from the field. I already do this indirectly: Many times these questions inspire me to conduct additional research and the information will then find its way into a newsletter. Fielding questions from growers is about as good as it gets for me, and I encourage all of you to send yours my way. We like to solve problems! If we get related questions, we’ll try to group them into a themed response.

I’m an organic almond grower and I’m looking for more nitrogen options. What do you recommend?

Organic fertilizers also help foster a healthy environment for beneficial microbes in the soil. Organic fertilizers typically contain smaller amounts of N-P-K than synthetic fertilizers they’re more beneficial to plants because they are taken up slowly as needed where synthetic fertilizers are quickly consumed.

In addition, organic nitrogen sources feed the soil biology while synthetic materials kill the biology and drive out other contributors to good soil like earthworms or nature’s fertilizer producing machines. While plants react to synthetic nitrogen, it breaks down the organic matter faster than plant residue and the dead microbes that go through cycles of bloom, can replace it.

I posted this newsletter back in November and doing it again given the drought conditions we’re likely facing this growing season. Almost 16 million California residents are living in drought conditions. Thankfully, a smart solution had entered the market to help growers reduce water usage yet still be able to move nutrients through the soils for crop access. Andaman Ag sells AquaVantage, a bio-degradable, starch-based polymer that’s used as a soil amendment, capable of absorbing up to 500 times its weight in water to store and gradually release it to crops. The result: crops require 30-40% less water, given the water holding capacity! We believe it’s a breakthrough product that can have a major role in mitigating drought conditions. It lasts the entire season keeping water where it needs to be from early season or planting/seedlings through harvest or post-harvest.