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Article: Soil Fungi Critical to Organic Success.(America's agricultural revolution )
- Article from:
- Agricultural Research
- Article date:
- May 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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One casualty of America's agricultural revolution were valuable native soil fun that enabled crops to grow well with less water and, nutrients, and pesticides.
Increase agricultural productivity has been largely dependents on high levels of chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides. There is a growing interest in reducing this dependency by encouraging biologically based systems to enhance productivity and product quality on farms.
That's exactly what ARS chemist Philip E. Pfeffer and his hope to accomplish by helping farmers reestablish the beneficial soil organisms called mycorrhizal fungi. Pfeffer is at the Agricultural Research Service's Eastern ...