Cyanobacteria grow any place that has water. Due to its easy prevalence and its efficient nitrogen fixing characteristics, it is used on land in agricultural ponds, which has been occurring for many years throughout the world. Click on Ted Talks by Jessica Davis of the University of Colorado, to get a good overview of cyanobacteria ponds. These cyanobacteria ponds are great, but they are only one piece of the nutrient puzzle, and that is why we pull our cyanobacteria from the ocean, because that’s where all 90+ elements and nitrogen fixers coexist together. That said, field tests have shown that cyanobacteria ponds with Firmelements produce tremendous ag production results. We call this Firmaculture.
There are many publications out there that show the blessings of cyanobacteria for solving agricultural and environmental problems while increasing the food supply. This research paper (by Singh, Kumar, Rai and Singh) states it this way:
“This review is an effort to enlist the valuable information about the qualities of cyanobacteria and their potential role in solving the agricultural and environmental problems for the future welfare of the planet…
“…The cyanobacteria are bestowed with ability to fix atmospheric N2, decompose the organic wastes and residues, detoxify heavy metals, pesticides, and other xenobiotics, catalyze the nutrient cycling, suppress growth of pathogenic microorganisms in soil and water, and also produce some bioactive compounds such as vitamins, hormones, and enzymes which contribute to plant growth (Higa, 1991). These bio-agents can improve the soil quality and plant growth, and minimize the crop production cost by supplementing the good crop management practices such as crop rotation, use of organic manures, minimum tillage, and the bio-control of pests and diseases. The use of cyanobacteria in agriculture promises definite beneficial effects on crop productivity, if used properly (Higa and Wididana, 1991).
…Cyanobacterial biomass is the effective bio-fertilizer source to water-holding capacity and mineral nutrient status of the degraded lands, and capability to fix the atmospheric N2…”
It’s amazing how the simplest and most prolific lifeform holds the key to our food and environment, and they’ve been there the whole time, right under our noses.
References:
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/04/a-single-drop-of-seawater-magnified-25-times/
https://dive-shield.us/infonewspages/Underthemicroscopejustasplashofseawater.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxXT73wzIYA
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4838734/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4838734/pdf/fmicb-07-00529.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4838734/pdf/fmicb-07-00529.pdf
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-biology2/chapter/nitrogen-fixation/
Ocean Cyanobacteria – Nature’s Nitrogen Fixer
