Is Taiwan's soil healthy? Guo Hongyu sighs: You can't wait for one centimeter of soil in a lifetime, so it must be treasured

(Continued from the previous article) Is Taiwan's farmland soil healthy? The answer to this question must be asked of Guo Hongyu, a retired researcher at the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute who has been engaged in soil surveys for 37 years. Over decades, he has dug soil and taken samples all over Taiwan, and can be said to be the person most familiar with this land. After years of investigation, he has observed that the organic matter contained in Taiwan's soil has increased because of agricultural cultivation, but acidification and salinization have also appeared because of excessive fertilization. Farmers must learn rational fertilization to make land use more sustainable.

In addition, after farmland was opened for free buying and selling, factories and luxury homes have appeared in many agricultural areas, and in recent years they have also been invaded by photovoltaic operators. Guo Hongyu believes that this is all seriously harmful to soil. Agriculture is a relatively sustainable way to balance soil ecology and crop production, and enabling soil to perform its proper functions and allowing all things to continue growing endlessly is the greatest wish of him as a soil surveyor.

Soil records the chronicles of the Earth; a person cannot wait for even one centimeter of soil in a lifetime

Taiwan is rich in soil resources. Global soil classification follows the 12 soil orders of the United States. Guo Hongyu says that Taiwan has 11 of them, lacking only permafrost soil. Soil, which nurtures all things, determines the crops that ultimately grow from it through its own particle size, electrical conductivity, pH value, water content, and contained components.

Walking into the Soil Museum located at the Agricultural Research Institute in Wufeng, Taichung, rows of soil profile samples as tall as 1.2 m are quite eye-catching. Guo Hongyu explains that the history of the land can be seen from soil profiles. For example, the Meinong area of Kaohsiung used to flood frequently. From the profile, alternating light and dark soil layers can be seen, and it is inferred that there were at least 7 floods in the past.

Soil formation is not easy. Guo Hongyu takes Penghu as an example: Penghu's basalt took 8 million years to form 1.3 m of soil. "Local residents may not be able to wait for even one centimeter of soil in a lifetime."