Healthy #soil sequesters #carbon, promotes the growth of nutrient-dense crops, holds more #water, and fights disease. What #farming practices can get you there? A thread:

Cover crops https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌿" title="Herb" aria-label="Emoji: Herb"> When fields are bare, they& #39;re vulnerable to #erosion and #nutrient loss. Planting cover crops protects against this, while also smothering weeds, controlling pests, retaining #water, and enhancing #biodiversity.

Crop rotation https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔄" title="Anticlockwise downwards and upwards open circle arrows" aria-label="Emoji: Anticlockwise downwards and upwards open circle arrows"> By refusing to plant the same #crop over and over, #farmers can return nutrients to the #soil without synthetic inputs. Crop rotation also wards off pests and disease, which have a harder time adapting with constantly-changing crops.

No-till https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚜" title="Tractor" aria-label="Emoji: Tractor"> Turning over the #soil can destroy important underground fungal networks, leave soil vulnerable to #erosion, and hinder the accumulation of #organic matter. No-till practices, on the other hand, allow the soil to thrive as it would naturally.

Compost https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💩" title="Pile of poo" aria-label="Emoji: Pile of poo"> You want your soil to encourage healthy #plant growth and development. #Organic #compost, with its diversity of microorganisms and nutrients, helps with this—while not polluting the surrounding #environment.

Organic practices https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌱" title="Seedling" aria-label="Emoji: Seedling"> Synthetic #fertilizers and chemicals do nothing to help accumulate the #organic matter that plants depend on. In fact, their toxicity reduces #biodiversity and makes #soil more susceptible to disease.

Now that you know... what can you do? https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷‍♀️" title="Woman shrugging" aria-label="Emoji: Woman shrugging"> https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organic/organic-basics/how-can-i-make-a-difference/">https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organ...