Preservation of Natural Resources and the Environment

Effective soil management practices through the use of Pro-Soil agricultural products is the key towards increasing soybean crop yield and preserving farmland.  The excessive erosion of topsoil from farmland caused by intensive tillage and row-crop production has caused extensive soil degradation and also contributed to the pollution of both surface waters and groundwater. Organic wastes from animal production, agricultural and marine processing industries, and municipal wastes (sewage and garbage), have become major sources of environmental pollution in both developed and developing countries. Furthermore, the production of methane from paddy fields and ruminant animals and of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, land clearing and organic matter decomposition have been linked to global warming as “greenhouse gases” (Parr and Hornick, 1992b).

Chemical-based, conventional systems of agricultural production have created many sources of pollution that, either directly or indirectly, can contribute to degradation of the environment and destruction of our natural resource base. This situation would change significantly if these pollutants could be utilized in agricultural production as sources of energy.

Therefore, it is necessary that future agricultural technologies be compatible with the global ecosystem and with solutions to such problems in areas different from those of conventional agricultural product technologies. An area that appears to hold the greatest promise for technological advances in soybean crop production, crop protection, and natural resource conservation is that of beneficial and Effective Microorganisms applied as soil, plant and environmental inoculants (Higa, 1995).