# Increased organic material



## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

I just spent the last week in Northern Iraq (Kurdistan) and it was quite interesting. South of the Northern mountains, that region was/is the breadbasket of the country and had some of the most beautiful soil I have ever seen. Every field I passed was in, what I was told was wheat, but they were plowing it under. It didn't have heads so I can only assume it was a cover crop. They were plowing it in what looked to be about 200' strips. I assume they were going to plant another crop and let the strips of remaining wheat head out.

My point though was the soil. They don't have fertilizer because there isn't an ammonia plant in the country and the area is way too large to rely on imports. The fields are some of the greenest I've ever seen as well. All I can figure out is that they have a lot of organic matter in their soil and they seem to be doing it without chemicals. It's gotten me thinking about planting radish in my hay fields next winter.

If/when I go back, I'll try to get more information on their farming practices. In the meanwhile, any of you guys have any ideas on how they do it??????


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Mike120 said:


> I just spent the last week in Northern Iraq (Kurdistan) and it was quite interesting. South of the Northern mountains, that region was/is the breadbasket of the country and had some of the most beautiful soil I have ever seen. Every field I passed was in, what I was told was wheat, but they were plowing it under. It didn't have heads so I can only assume it was a cover crop. They were plowing it in what looked to be about 200' strips. I assume they were going to plant another crop and let the strips of remaining wheat head out.
> 
> My point though was the soil. They don't have fertilizer because there isn't an ammonia plant in the country and the area is way too large to rely on imports. The fields are some of the greenest I've ever seen as well. All I can figure out is that they have a lot of organic matter in their soil and they seem to be doing it without chemicals. It's gotten me thinking about planting radish in my hay fields next winter.
> 
> If/when I go back, I'll try to get more information on their farming practices. In the meanwhile, any of you guys have any ideas on how they do it??????


I have no idea mike, I woulda never thunk it, whole different idea in my head, got pics? Perhaps they process their waste by products on their fields.....I know that we are guilty of relying on chemicals and petroleum products.......perhaps more than we should be. 
Next ? How the hell did you get convinced to go to Kurdistan?


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Nitrogen fixing legumes of some type. They do that here to reduce the cost of nitrogen for potatoes using clover in fallow years.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I think National Geographic had an article about restoring desert to productive land. Several ways mentioned, one was to place rocks in long rows as to catch any silt the wind may be blowing, another was to add charcoal to the soil, a third was to dig a whole and fill it with manure then bugs would be attracted to the holes and carry some of the manure along with them when they burrowed into the soil.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I found it, my mom gets me a National Geographic subscription every year for Christmas.

Is an entire article and I would strongly suggest reading it, but here is a link to the page on reclaiming desert without any chemical fertilizers.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/soil/mann-text/6


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

somedevildawg said:


> I found it, my mom gets me a National Geographic subscription every year for Christmas.
> 
> Is an entire article and I would strongly suggest reading it, but here is a link to the page on reclaiming desert without any chemical fertilizers.
> http://ngm.nationalg...oil/mann-text/6


Neat article but this area isn't desert...That's down South. It's what I assume to be a glacial plain before you get into the the mountains. You can see where they have taken rocks out of the fields over the years and they seem to plow pretty deep when they turn over, what I assume to be, their cover crop using mostly MF's and a couple of brands I didn't recognize. All the planters I saw were pretty small (probably 10') with what I assumed were very heavy row markers (rocks?). I saw some equipment in the fields and the rest in small villages we drove through. No large equipment sheds like you would expect (too much of a target). They get a lot of moisture up there from snow in the winter and rain in the spring and fall. The summers are hot and dry so I assume the high organic content retains the moisture. This is sort of the Kansas/Nebraska of Iraq with some Montana/Idaho thrown in.

Up in the mountains, you see a lot of small fruit orchards and plots where they have terraced the VERY steep slopes and small canals to channel runoff during the heavy rains and snow melt. The folks up in the mountains are mostly subsistence farmers. You also see quite a few herds of sheep and goats in both areas which is the main meat source. That's great for me because I really like lamb.....most people in the US don't know how to cook it properly.

The reason I know about the fertilizer situation is that the oil/gas has hydrogen sulfide in it and you have to find something to do with the sulfur other than make a big yellow mountain when you take it out. Typically you use it for fertilizer but you also need ammonia....Ammonia can also be used for explosives, so the ammonia plants they had were bombed a long time ago. Almost every process in the oil/gas and minerals industries has waste streams you have to get rid of in a nice green fashion. Maximizing profit almost always involves turning crap into ice cream.

The key is the soil and how they have adapted to the conditions/environment to maximize it's potential. They are using limited equipment and limited chemicals but they are doing something very right. I'd sure like to figure it out 'cause I have to start buying chemicals and fertilizer in the next few weeks and I'm really not happy about the prices.


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## cwright (Oct 19, 2011)

Mike120 said:


> That's great for me because I really like lamb.....most people in the US don't know how to cook it properly.


Coat with a little flour and brown in some olive oil. Slow cook with some carrots and taters in a couple of bottles of Becks.
Makes some good beer gravy.

CW


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## askinner (Nov 15, 2010)

I received this in an email a couple of years back, not quite related, but mind blowing all the same...


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I also imagine they grow and consume a lot more legumes than cereal grains or corn. Not sure if theirs a replicable here explanation for it. Might they fallow it for several years? Plant cover crops and may even turn any livestock loose on it?


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

askinner said:


> I received this in an email a couple of years back, not quite related, but mind blowing all the same...


I saw some of the big farms in Saudi the last time I lived in the Middle East but nothing even remotely that big. When we lived there in the '70 they were talking about changing the climate by planting trees. My son didn't know what rain was until we moved back home. Now there is a forest between Dubai and Abu Dhabi with irrigation to the trees. We used to get rain every few weeks when we were back in the early 2000's. I don't know if they were successful or not.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

mlappin said:


> I also imagine they grow and consume a lot more legumes than cereal grains or corn. Not sure if theirs a replicable here explanation for it. Might they fallow it for several years? Plant cover crops and may even turn any livestock loose on it?


I did see goat herds grazing some of the cut fields. That would be a logical way to get rid of the weeds with little compaction from the animals. Of course every herd had a couple of herders....something you couldn't get many people to do here.


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