8 results for tag: Peter van Straaten

Navigating Geological Contrasts: Strategies for Sustainable Agriculture in Tanzania

Tanzania exhibits highly contrasting geology, which plays a crucial role in its strengths and limitations for agricultural development. Certain areas of the region contain abundant minerals for fertile soils while others suffer from depletion. This disparity arises largely from the region's unique geomorphological features, notably its location along the East African Rift System (EARS). The EARS is an extensive continental rift valley beginning at the Red Sea in the north, and extending eastward into the Indian Ocean (Wood & Turn). The rift is actively forming through extensional tectonics, a process that pulls apart the Earth’s crust, thinning ...

IV Congresso Brasileiro de Rochagem: Highlights from the Presentations in English

Since September 2009 Brazil has held a conference on rochagem (rock dust) every 3 years. The Brazilian Conference on Rochagem highlights Brazil’s role as a leader in scientific research and policy creation around the use of rock dust as a sustainable fertilizer. The Congress creates a forum for researchers, the general public and private interests to discuss the scientific advances, effective policies and future rock dust potential. Past conferences have steadily advanced the importance of rock dust as a fertilizer to enhance food security and promote environmental health in Brazil. Despite pandemic difficulties, the IV Congresso Brasileiro de ...

An Inside Look at the III Brazilian Rochagem Congress – The Past, Present, and Future of Remineralization

Conference Organizers and Participants   V. Miranda Chase, the director of RTE’s online research database, gave a presentation and represented us at the III Brazilian Rochagem Congress that took place in November 2016. This is the first in a four-part series of articles about the conference.   “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” –Sir Isaac Newton, 1676   The good thing about working with leaders is that they can help us see ahead. They have a vision, and we get to witness it unfolding into reality. During the III Brazilian Rochagem Congress conference, I saw the future of ...

Spotlight on Agrogeologist Peter Van Straaten, PhD

At the II Brazilian “Rochagem” Conference, which took place in Poco de Caldas, Minas Gerais, in May 2013, Professor Peter van Straaten gave a series of talks on the use of rock dust to increase soil health for agriculture. As a pioneer in the practice of using rocks for soil remineralization, van Straaten shared his extensive knowledge with a broad spectrum of scientists and researchers who attended the conference. An expert in agrogeology, which Van Straaten defines as “geology in service of agriculture,” he has built an international network of projects that study remineralization and sustainable agriculture in Africa. His work has helped ...

Highlights from the 2013 II Brazilian “Rochagem” Conference

From May 12-17, 2013 the Second Brazilian “Rochagem” Conference convened an impressive assembly of scientists, researchers and technicians from Brazil and around the world. Joanna Campe, Executive Director of Remineralize the Earth, was invited to speak at the conference and was given the honor of presenting second on the opening day of the event. Joanna's presentation entitled “The Potential of Remineralization as a Global Movement” covered the historical context and current developments relating to ecological and social challenges that are being faced regionally and globally. Joanna helped open the conference to the long list of detailed ...

Topsoil Loss and Remineralization

Topsoil is the result of a long, gradual process in which parent materials (rocks) weather and mix with decaying vegetation. The most lasting and thorough restoration of topsoil lies in imitating and accelerating the natural processes that originally created it. (more…)

Rocks for Crops

From humble beginnings in Tanzania in 1984 to the establishment of a course at the University of Guelph, to the official opening of an Agrogeology Centre in Indonesia, the field of agrogeology is gaining wider global interest and exposure. The first Rocks for Crops International Conference took place in Brasilia, Brazil on November 7-14, 2004. Visit their website, Rocks for Crops , for abstracts of papers from the conference. Remineralize the Earth is working on the development of a large research database that will include agrogeology research from all over the world. Abstracts from the International Workshop in Brazil available. Peter van Straaten, ...

Remineralization Seminar in Norway

The seminar took place in the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Aas, Norway on March 13th, 2006. The gathering included people from many different institutions and industries to discuss different aspects of rock powder application in agriculture. A report on this conference by Michael Heim can be found in the Forum. Many questions were explored and issues addressed that are relevant to practical application of rock dust worldwide. The Norwegian University of Life Sciences is a leading international centre of knowledge, focused on higher education and research within environmental- and biosciences. UMB focuses specifically on biology, food, ...