Part 2: The Need

The use of synthesized chemicals to fertilize plant growth has consistently increased in the last century and the impact of such use is growing ever clearer. These chemicals, which make up or are contained in the vast majority of fertilizers, plant foods and potting soils sold for gardening, are designed to provide nutrients that plants need. However, direct application of such nutrients ignores and disrupts the natural nutrient cycle, leaving soil infertile. As the chemicals seep into our rivers, lakes and oceans they are destroying critical ecosystems on which we depend. Chemical fertilizers also require the use of a large amount of energy for their production. According to a study published by the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan, as much as 40 percent of energy used within the US food system is expended in the production of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.⁸

The USDA has estimated that "reducing repetitive [synthetic] fertilizer application on the 250 million acres of major cropland in the United States would save approximately one billion dollars worth of petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides."⁹ How can we accomplish such reduction in our farms and gardens while generating results that are as good, or better than, the results of chemical fertilization?

There is an alternative>

Today, many gardeners, farmers and research scientists are searching for sustainable solutions to the problem of chemical fertilizer dependence and soil infertility, methods of encouraging plant growth that derive from natural processes and retain balance in the environment. The key lies in the recognition that healthy plants grow from healthy soil. The process of synthetic chemical fertilization is based on a simplistic model of direct nutrient provision to plants that pays little attention to the bigger picture of long-term soil health. Healthy soil is full of bacteria and microbes breaking down organic matter and making the nutrients available for plant use. Much of the now "infertile" soil in the US contains plenty of organic matter full of nutrients that plants cannot access because the necessary microbes are missing. Indian scientists and farmers, because of a small supply of arable land and the high costs of chemical fertilizers, were forced to start the search for a sustainable solution decades ago. Based on their discoveries regarding the reintroduction of soil microbes to restore soil health, Surya Organics offers an environmentally-sound alternative that produces flowers, grass, vegetables and fruits that match or exceed the results of synthetic fertilization in vibrance, size and flavor.

» PART 3: Surya Organics™ - A Sustainable Solution

⁸ Martin C. Heller and Gregory A. Keoleian, "Life Cycle-Based Sustainability Indicators for Assessment of the U.S. Food System", Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan, 2000. Available at: http://css.snre.umich.edu/css_doc/CSS00-04.pdf.
⁹ United States Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service, "Energy Management", February, 2006. Available at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/outlook/Energy.pdf.