Resuscitation: giving the farmer's land a second chance

Soil: the living, breathing, bio-diverse skin of the Earth, is a living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals and humans. The loss of fertility of our soil is one of the most critical issues facing our food system. Patches of land as big as entire nations are lost every year to soil erosion.

The aim of the Resuscitation project is to study and promote a global approach of agriculture as a healthy, dynamic yet stable ecosystem. The goal is the revitalisation of soils and increase the fertility index of the soil itself. The methods repopulate the soil’s natural live inhabitants to self-sustainable diversity levels, and apply rotation of species to further increase the carbon content -a key player in the soil’s health system- naturally.

“We need to ensure farmers have the right understanding and guidance to improve the health of our soils.”

 

Soil is an extravagant ecosystem: plants and other life species interact in synergy, that is often neglected and overlooked by industrial agriculture. Tsilla Boisselet wants to overcome the obstacles with respect and integrity of the environment first. Turns out some plants can act as bio-machines. Biodiversity can be restored and the ecosystem life-cycle restarted with the right combination of plants. Local insects or worms partner in resuscitating the soil, creating a second chance for the land to become naturally fertile, again.

“Like a truffle is formed when the mushroom grows with a partner tree, there are things only possible when you combine the right partners” –Tsilla Boisselet

Help give the farmer’s land “a second chance”

We are looking for people, schools, companies, organizations, with funds or in-kind contribution or bring skills for the design of prototypes, test experimental information systems and create usable laboratory spaces on real scenarios such as land, nurseries and agronomy research facilities to move this project forward.

One area of interesting ideas so far is the creation of “Lab Kits” that target each problem for growers and the interested population to understand the land, be able to select suitable seeds for plant grouping resulting in better crops with fewer chemicals added.

Are you a programmer? Resuscitation is in the first phase of creating the Cluster Simulator: an interactive, microorganism database with catalogue of plant categories, their ecological partners, the possible-combinable partnerships. Reliable data to establish an ecosystem-based method to conceive cultivation, should be flexible, adaptable, and extend to an open-source database where users can input experiments as new data.

On the horizon. What’s ahead?

The "Lab Kits" and each location where someone becomes part of the experiment, become a source of data and the plants themselves become living "data banks". Each new test location reports soil health diagnostic, restoration rate, monitoring and simulation system. Eventually, leading to a concept like an online network of people and organizations collaborating to have a better garden, healthier farms, more fertile land.

Tsilla Boisselet; leader of the Resuscitation project, studied Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry, has one PhD in Natural Sciences and one PhD in Geology. She is passionate about nature and fascinated where science meets all the other human fields of activity, making her realize the direct impact humans have over the present environment.

For expression of interest and support, ideas, suggestions, questions about donations or in-kind contributions, please use the contact form on this blog or email directly to foundation@scimpulse.org

More details on the project click here .... >>