Monroe+and+Weremijewicz

=** Could **//fungi //** be the key to sustainability? **=

The renewable resource debate in the United States is loud one.

An issue that speaks more softly is nonetheless urgent: that of phosphorous exhaustion and its relation to the way we grow our food in Florida.

Florida is a garden for the nation. Massive production requires the heavy use of fertilizer made of essential nutrients, including phosphorus.

But phosphorus, mined from rocks, comes in limited quantities. Experts project a production peak in 2030.

From rocks, we may have to turn to another supply source for phosphorus: fungus.

One fungal family, //arbuscular mycorrhizae,// forms an underground network. It lives in plant roots and helps plants acquire nutrients -- including phosphorus -- efficiently. The plant returns the favor. It feeds the fungus sugar it produces through photosynthesis.

Current agricultural practices are fungus-unfriendly. When farmers till, they disrupt the fungal network, reducing its ability to help plants. As a result, the plants have to acquire nutrients on their own -- and farmers have to pour on the fertilizer.

Learning to exploit the fungus that are already there would mean having to use less fertilizer on crops.

AND NOW BRING THE PIECE BACK TO THE ISSUE YOU BEGAN WITH: RENEWABILITY. REMEMBER, YOU'RE WRITING A COMMENTARY/EDITORIAL, SO THIS SHOULD STAKE OUT A POSITION IN RELATION TO THESE INTERESTING FACTS.