Planting water by harvesting sunlight
Ursula "Uzzy" Arztmann
President & Founder | Biodiversity advocate, Syntropic Farming educator, Entomology nerd, Systems thinker, Artist, Weaver of a resilient future & Macro photographer
?? "So, how is photosynthesis interlinked with planting of water?"
? "Wait...how's photosynthesis working again?"
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?? Photosynthesis is the driver of primary production in terrestrial ecosystems, transforming solar energy into biomass. It sequesters carbon, produces oxygen and new water (!) as well as carbohydrates.
?? Photosynthesis is the driver of the soil formation process. Together with the rhizobiome and its microbial resynthesis soil is created and with it the foundation of our food.
The plant needs water, CO2 and sunlight to do the magic.
Out of these "ingredients" it creates carbohydrates. And oxygen. And new water.
6 CO2?+?12 H2O?+?675kcal (energy from sunlight) ?= C6H12O6?+?6 O2 + 6 H2O
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?? This last aspect - new water - is barely talked about in school books. Yet the 6 H2O are made from the oxygen in the CO2 and the hydrogen of the "old" water.
In a tree this #watersynthesis results in more than 500l per 1000kg of wood. Due to their extensive size and the formation of forests in specific cross-species associations, trees provide 2/3 of global photosynthesis on Earth. (Ray 1972 | Lance 2013)
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?? A large percentage of the #carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis are released as root #exudates, which initiates and nourishes the #soil formation process: healthy, biodiverse, structured, well-aerated and water-retaining (!) soils (aka soil sponge) are created.
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? Photosynthesis leads to #cooling of the environment. Cooler and more humid air is heavier and stays in lower plant strata.?
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??Photosynthesis needs water to work. So in order for water to reach the crown of trees, they transpire around 400l per day - which makes trees the pumping hearts of the small water cycle.
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How do we maximize photosynthesis and the photosynthetic rate in Syntropic Farming practice?
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? We plant trees.
As trees provide 2/3 of global photosynthesis, we integrate trees on agricultural land - usually called agroforestry. As a matter of fact, this used to be the "normal" way of farming in the past and still is in many places.
We do this by creating multi-species tree lines that are intercropped with a variety of species in the interrows. That might be grains, vegetables, cover crops, meadow, fibers, etc. We harvest from the tree lines as well as from the interrows and might intergrate animals.
? We plant in strata/layers.
Instead of having only one crop at one height, we stack plants above each other to harvest as much light as possible per m2 ground. Thereby we choose the plants carefully as some do not tolerate any shade, others need shade to thrive. We replace “weeds” with harvestable crops of the same function. This way we also harvest in 3D.
? We carefully align our tree rows with the sun's movement.
This results in a north-south direction. The milder morning sun then reaches all layers. And it is in the mornings when the photosynthetic rate has its peak (KOYAMA ET AL. 2014).
Around midday, the leaves' stomata (tiny pores on the underside allowing for gas exchange) start to close in order to minimize water loss...this slows or halts photosynthesis. When the sun is hottest, the tall trees that are sun lovers shade the more sensitive lower strata.
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Light's spectral composition changes over the day (BRELSFORD ET AL: 2019). Morning light has higher ultraviolet while afternoon has more infrared wave lengths. It is ultraviolett that boosts plant growth. More growth, more photosynthesis - more photosynthesis more healthy soil, more water retention, more transpiration, more condensation, more cloud formation, more rain.
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? We prune strategically.
With our plants in light-optimized strata and according to their lifecycle within a successional process, we combine crop plants with support species. In trees, we often call them "mother trees". These fast growing trees are pruned regularely, while the other species are selectively pruned.
The plants respond with a growth impulse that is mediated by bacteria and fungi in the rhizosphere releasing growth hormones into the system. When a plant grows, its photosynthesis is the strongest.
With pruning, we aim to carefully keep the system in growth mode while harvesting biomass for mulching. Again: more growth, more photosynthesis ....
Summarized:
Outlook
In my next article I will look at the second core practice of Syntropic Farming and how it relates to planting water: Growing in natural succession.
Regenerative Agriculture, Agroecology, Climate Landscapes
3 个月I can highly recommend my UNEP article "Working with plants, soils and water to cool the climate and rehydrate Earth’s landscapes" in this respect: https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/36619/FB025.pdf
Organization & Community Builder | Holistic Strategist | Impact Orienteer
3 个月Very cool! Where are you guys practicing? What type of bioregion? At Drylands Agroecology Research we are honing the practice of rotational grazing throughout our agroforestry systems. Rather than plant tree rows NS to maximize sun, we plant them in swales dug along countour lines on slopes, which gather water, slow, spread, and sink it, in order to raise the water table in the interrows - the silvopastures or crop plantings. Let’s keep sharing wisdom! Our Director of research, Nelson Heider-Kuhn, might enjoy your article. And Nick DiDomenico
ORGANIC FARMER, Ex General Manager /Project Manager NESPAK, CHRP
3 个月Very informative
Businessman with a Clear, Decisive Vision to Address Risk Factors in a Population. PROFITABILITY + SUSTAINABILITY + SWORDS OF JUSTICE 不忘初心，守住本心，大步向前迈进，必胜。
3 个月There r C3, C4 and CAM plants, categories for different photosynthetic pathways. What u have done is utilising the respiration of C3 plants, attempting to create a water trap, something that exists in tropical rain forests. C4 plants does not respire and CAM plants r a completely different creation as they perform photosynthesis in the day, and respire at night. More recently, we realised and proven CAM plants can exhibit a very strange characteristics that is similar to C3 variety, under certain conditions I.e. when they r exposed to bio-enzymes. This allows us to control its metabolism even in day time. This is to say, in 3 months time, we r now able to grow pineapple to deliver double growth. In just 6 months, the crops is akeen to harvest ready state by visual inspection. Well I guess night time is best reserved for sleep anyway. In short, what u have done is to mimick the diversity of natural rain forest to improve sustainability. Plant a tree today, any day. It will reduce ambient temperature naturally. Thank u for sharing.
Matchmaker for Sacred Solutions: Permaculture Commodity Production
3 个月Jagdish Patel can you translate Uzzy's wonderful explanations?? And then share your creations with all?? Joshua Gyamfi here is a delightful simplification of how syntropic farming plants water...perhaps Uzzy can explain how syntropic farming practice can even lead to rain?? Kwame Ansah Baffour are you also familiar with these perspectives??