Growing a Revolution: Bringing Back Our Soil to Life by David R. Montgomery

BOOK REVIEW – GROWING A REVOLUTION: BRINGING BACK OUR SOIL TO LIFE BY DAVID R. MONTGOMERY
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Book Review – Growing a Revolution: Bringing Back Our Soil to Life by David R. Montgomery
Scope and Main Arguments
Montgomery (2017) looks at the impact of agricultural practices across the globe that have significantly impacted the soil on earth. For a long time, farmers have continuously exploited different ways of enhancing their yields without putting into consideration the impact that such methods may have on soil. As a result, farmers are now seeing the direct effects of soil misuse through worsened productivity. The author takes a trip across different parts including the Great Plains, Africa, South and Central America, to meet farmers taking action to reverse the centuries of soil degradation caused by aspects such as increased usage of pesticides and herbicides.
Consequently, the proposed solution to conserve agriculture involves the planting of cover crops, rotation of crops and eliminating tilling. Such a regenerative type of farming has shown its efficacy in improving the quality and health of soil enabling the rebuilding of organic matter leading to increased crop yields. More so, the costs involved in purchasing and utilizing chemical inputs dramatically reduce due to the sustainability of the farming process (Montgomery, 2017). Restoration of the fertility of the land can thus significantly reduce food shortages, pollution and the effects of climate change.
Being a geologist, Montgomery (2017) delves deep into the aspects of soil ecology that affect farming across the globe. His description of an underground economy involving the transfer of nutrients from the soil into plants forms the basis of mutual benefit. With fungi and bacteria in the soil being food for other organisms such as protozoa and nematodes, they produce micromanure that is rich in micronutrients that enrich the soil composition. Apart from that, the question of farming practices that sequester carbon, comes up in helping with climate change along with raising food. With approximately half of the carbon in the world’s soil being lost due to extensive farming practices, the introduction of new processes such as the elimination of ploughing can increase its conservation.
Context
Agriculture has been practiced all across the globe by human societies to fend for themselves and produce food for economic purposes. With the growing population of the earth, food demands have increased significantly to ensure that the needs of the globe are met by all means (Guo, 2021). Consequently, farmers resorted to modernized practices in order to produce higher yields in the shortest time possible. This included the use of irrigation techniques, automated tilling and ploughing, use of chemical inputs to kill pests and farm inputs that enhance the crop properties. While these new methods have produced great results with increased food production, its environmental impacts have also started to adversely affect farmlands.
Currently, a significant number of farms practice monocrop culture which involves the planting of a single type of staple or economic crop across va...