Hacker News Reader

I'm not worried about the water, I'm worried about the phosphorus! Almost all of the fertilizer in the world is made from phosphorus that comes from Morocco and Western Sahara, and it appears that we're depleting it very quickly.

http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2016/finalwebsite/solutions/p...

(actually, I'm worried about the water and the soil too)

View on HN

All the minerals needed for plant life are available in the sand, silt, and clay in soil. Soil life is the key to breaking down aggregate minerals into plant usable nutrients. In healthy soil fertilizing is not necessary.

It is hard to talk about soil life without sounding like a kook to most people. But, our practices of using synthetic fertilizers and spraying fungicides, herbicides, and pesticides are literally killing the soil's capacity to feed plants.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com