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> TAKE ME DIRECTLY TO THE SOIL & PLANT NUTRITION TEAM WEBSITE
About the Soil and Plant Nutrition Team
The Soil and Plant Nutrition Team - once named the Waste Management Team
- focuses its efforts on helping farmers in Massachusetts find good uses
for their overflow of manure. Cultivating rich compost and using it as
an organic fertilizer saves farms money and protects the environment by
reducing the use of commercial fertilizers. The team is also exploring
uses for human waste and paper sludge.
The team's work overlaps with the Floriculture
Team on several projects. A current "global" project looks
at ways to expand the rhododendron industry to foreign markets. Shipment
of soil overseas is restricted so the team researches how to ship juvenile
plants without soil. The Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture
gave the team a $17,000 grant to fund the study. Other team projects include
helping the Commonwealth protect wetlands and advising cities and towns
on how to best revegetate the often drab-looking property around their
waste water treatment plants. The team also runs a soil
testing lab that is open to the public. For more information on the
lab and the team contact Allen Barker at (413) 545-4733.
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