What about soils?

Before I start studying Agronomy, my vision about agriculture was very limited. I understood the final function of this area, which is to feed the world, but I could not imagine the large amount of processes that food needs to go through before it gets to our table. After being accepted in an university at my hometown, in Brazil, I learned more about some of these processes and I realized that agriculture has other functions.

As I realized during my internship in a laboratory of environmental chemistry of soils, the soil passes through many interventions during agricultural production. With enough time, these interventions can change the natural behavior of soils and turn it into unproductive or dangerous lands, in extreme situations. For instance, in some places the agricultural waste is released irregularly in rivers, contaminating the soil. With this blog I would like to demonstrate where contamination of soils can be found in the United States and other countries, and also emphasize the importance of protecting this natural resource in order to continue to fulfill its function.