ECOLOGICAL ROLE OF BIODIVERSITY IN SHORT

ALL SPECIES PROVIDE SOME KIND OF FUNCTION TO AN ECOSYSTEM. THEY CAN CAPTURE AND STORE ENERGY, PRODUCE AND DECOMPOSE ORGANIC MATERIAL HELPS IN CYCLING WATER AND NUTRIENTS THROUGHOUT THE ECOSYSTEM, CONTROLS EROSION AND PESTS FIXES ATMOSPHERIC GASES, AND ALSO PLAYS A PIVOTAL ROLE IN REGULATING THE CLIMATE. ECOSYSTEMS ALSO PROVIDE VARIOUS SUPPORTS OF PRODUCTION, SUCH AS, SOIL FERTILITY, POLLINATORS OF PLANTS, PREDATORS, DECOMPOSITION OF WASTES, AND SERVICES SUCH AS PURIFICATION OF THE AIR AND WATER, STABILIZATION AND MODERATION OF THE CLIMATE, DECREASE OF FLOODING, DROUGHT AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS.

BEFORE WE LOOK INTO THE ECOLOGICAL ROLE PLAYED BY BIODIVERSITY IN AN ECOSYSTEM AND HOW IT HOLDS A CRUCIAL POSITION IN MAN'S OWN SURVIVAL, WE WILL BRIEFLY EXAMINE THE STRUCTURE OF THE BIOTIC COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM.

COMMUNITIES HAVE STRUCTURES AND PROPERTIES THAT ARE ORGANIZED, AND COORDINATED IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE SMALLER COMPONENTS ARE INSEPARABLY LINKED WITH THE LARGER COMPONENTS IN A HIERARCHY WHERE EACH LEVEL IS FORMED OF COMPONENTS OF A LOWER LEVEL WHICH IN ITSELF BECOMES A CONSTITUENT OF STILL A HIGHER LEVEL. ECOLOGICAL HIERARCHY OR ECOLOGICAL LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION ARE THE HIERARCHICAL LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION CONNECTED WITH ECOLOGICAL GROUPING OF ORGANISMS. THERE ARE NO SHARP DEMARCATIONS IN THE FUNCTIONAL SENSE AMONGST VARIOUS LEVELS OF ECOLOGICAL HIERARCHY, AS THE SAME INDIVIDUAL IS A COMPONENT OF THE POPULATION, THE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITY AS WELL AS THE ECOSYSTEM.


THE INDIVIDUAL ORGANISM IS THE BASIC UNIT OF ECOLOGICAL HIERARCHY AS IT CONTINUOUSLY EXCHANGES MATERIALS AND INFORMATION WITH ITS ENVIRONMENT. NEW INDIVIDUALS DEVELOP FROM PRE-EXISTING ONES, AND BY THIS PROCESS HEREDITARY CHARACTERISTICS ARE TRANSFERRED. NO INDIVIDUAL CAN SURVIVE INDEPENDENTLY. POPULATIONS CONSIST OF SIMILAR INDIVIDUALS THAT INHABIT A PARTICULAR GEOGRAPHICAL AREA OR SPACE. ECOTYPES COMPRISE A LOCAL POPULATION THAT IS GENETICALLY ADAPTED TO A PARTICULAR ENVIRONMENT. A BIOTIC COMMUNITY IS ESTABLISHED WITH AN ASSEMBLAGE OF POPULATIONS COMPRISING DIFFERENT SPECIES OF PLANTS ANIMALS, BACTERIA, FUNGI WHICH LIVE IN A PARTICULAR AREA THROUGH COMPETITION PREDATION AND MUTUALISM ETC. EACH BIOTIC COMMUNITY HAS ITS OWN PECULIAR COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE, EXAMPLE POND COMMUNITY, MARSH COMMUNITY.


A BIOTIC COMMUNITY FORMS A DISTINCT ECOLOGICAL UNIT. SUCH A UNIT MAY BE  FLORA, FAUNA OR BOTH.


COMMUNITY UNITS MAY BE VERY SMALL, LIKE THE COMMUNITY OF INVERTEBRATE. SAND FUNGI IS  A DECAYING LOG. THE EXTENT OF A COMMUNITY IS LIMITED ONLY BY THE REQUIREMENT OF A MORE OR LESS UNIFORM SPECIES  COMPOSITION. COMMUNITIES MAY BE DISTINGUISHED AS MAJOR COMMUNITIES ARE THOSE WHICH, TOGETHER WITH THEIR HABITATS, FORM MORE OR LESS COMPLETE AND SELF SUSTAINING  UNITS OR ECOSYSTEMS, EXCEPT FOR THE SUSTAINING SOLAR ENERGY. MINOR COMMUNITIES ALSO CALLED SOCIETIES, ARE SECONDARY AGGREGATIONS WITHIN A MAJOR COMMUNITY AND ARE NOT, THEREFORE, COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT UNITS AS FAR AS  CIRCULATION  OF ENERGY IS CONCERNED. THE BIOTIC COMMUNITY ALONG WITH THEIR HABITATS, FORM MORE OR LESS COMPLETE AND SELF SUSTAINING UNITS OR ECOSYSTEMS, EXCEPT FOR THE SUSTAINING SOLAR ENERGY. MINOR COMMUNITIES  ALSO CALLED SOCIETIES, ARE SECONDARY AGGREGATIONS WITHIN A MAJOR COMMUNITY  AND  ARE NOT, THEREFORE, COMPLETELY  INDEPENDENT UNITS AS FAR AS  CIRCULATION  OF ENERGY IS CONCERNED. THE BIOTIC  COMMUNITY ALONG WITH ITS HABITAT, CALLED AN ECOSYSTEM, COMPRISES  UNITS OF VARIOUS SIZES AND CHARACTERISTICS, AND ARE LIMITED  TO DISTINCTIVE COMBINATIONS OF AIR, SOIL AND WATER. THESE FUNCTIONS ARE IMPORTANT  FOR ECOSYSTEMS  FUNCTION AND HUMAN SURVIVAL.


THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT IS COMPOSED OF SUNLIGHT, ATMOSPHERE, WATER AND SOIL OF ROCK. ALL THESE PHYSICAL ELEMENTS AFFECT THE LIVING ORGANISMS, AND ALL ARE  IN TURN AFFECTED  BY THEM. PLANTS  FOR EXAMPLE, OBTAIN THEIR  ENERGY  FROM THE SUNLIGHT, THEIR BASIC FOOD FROM AIR AND WATER, SUPPLEMENTED BY CHEMICALS FROM THE SOIL ROCKS. PLANTS, HOWEVER, DIFFERENTIALLY REFLECT, REFRACT OR ABSORB VARIOUS WAVELENGTHS OF SUNLIGHT, AND THUS MODIFY IT. THROUGH THE USE OF CARBON DIOXIDE AND THE GIVING OFF OF OXYGEN AND WATER VAPOUR THEY MODIFY THE ATMOSPHERE. PLANTS ALSO REMOVE AND ADD VARIOUS CHEMICALS THROUGH WHICH SOIL IS MODIFIED OR ALTERED. ALL PLANTS AND ANIMALS EXIST AS A PART OF AN ECOSYSTEM. MAN, LIKE OTHER ANIMALS, IS DEPENDENT ON THE ECOSYSTEMS IN WHICH HE EXISTS DESPITE  HIS HIGH MOBILITY WHICH ENABLES  HIM TO MOVE FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER OR TO EXTRACT PRODUCTS FROM ONE ECOSYSTEM AND EXPORT THEM TO ANOTHER. DESPITE THE TECHNOLOGY WHICH PERMITS HIM TO CREATE MAJOR MODIFICATIONS IN ANY ECOSYSTEM, HE HAS NO CONTROL OVER THE NATURAL FUNCTIONING AND SUSTENANCE  OF AN ECOSYSTEM. THUS, WE SEE THAT MAN TOO IS DEPENDENT LIKE OTHER ANIMALS ON THE ECOSYSTEM FOR HIS SURVIVAL AND FUNCTIONING.

IN AN ECOSYSTEM, THE PRODUCERS ARE USUALLY THE GREEN PLANTS THAT CONVERT SOLAR ENERGY  INTO CHEMICAL OR FOOD  ENERGY. CONSUMERS MAY BE HERBIVORES, CARNIVORES OR OMNIVORES THAT DEPENDS ON THE PRODUCERS DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY  FOR FOOD. DECOMPOSERS TAKE THE CHEMICALS BUILT UP BY THE GREEN PLANTS AND BREAK THEM INTO SIMPLER FORMS IN WHICH THEY CAN BE REUSED. 

THE SUSTENANCE OF THE ECOSYSTEM DEPENDS UPON THE DIVERSITY OF SPECIES IN AN ECOSYSTEM AND KEEPING IN BALANCE THE MINERALS BETWEEN THE BIOTIC  AND ABIOTIC COMPONENTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM.

AN ECOSYSTEM IS A SELF MAINTAINING  SYSTEM EXCEPT THAT IT DEPENDS ON THE  SUN AS ON EXTERNAL SOURCE OF ENERGY. THE LIVING COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEMS ARE PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES  INCLUDING  MICRO-ORGANISMS  THAT MAKE UP THE BIOTIC COMMUNITY. EACH SPECIES  IS ADAPTED TO A PARTICULAR  ROLE IN THE ECOSYSTEM KNOWN AS ITS ECOLOGICAL NICHE  EACH DEPENDS  FOR ITS EXISTENCE UPON THE PRESENCE OF A SUITABLE HABITAT, COMPRISING OTHER SPECIES AS WELL AS NECESSARY  COMPONENTS OF THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT. THE FUNCTIONING OF THE ECOSYSTEM IS DEPENDENT  UPON THE PRESENCE OF A SUITABLE COMBINATION OF SPECIES EACH OF WHICH PERFORMS A SPECIALIZED TASK WITHIN THE TOTAL ECOSYSTEM.

ENERGY WILL PASS THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM IN A ONE WAY PATH OF THE SOLAR ENERGY REACHING THE EARTH, ONLY A PORTION WILL BE STORED BY PLANTS, OFTEN LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF THE TOTAL SOLAR  ENERGY  FALLING ON A VEGETATED AREA IS RETAINED  AS CHEMICAL ENERGY BY THE GREEN PLANTS OF THE TOTAL ENERGY THUS AVAILABLE IN PLANT TISSUES FOR CONSUMPTION BY ANIMALS, USUALLY LESS THAN TWENTY PERCENT  WILL BE STORED AS CHEMICAL ENERGY IN AN ANIMAL'S BODY TISSUES.

EVENTUALLY, AFTER SUPPORTING LIFE FOR A TIME, MOST OF THE ENERGY IS LOST TO THE ECOSYSTEM. SOME HOWEVER, IS STORED IN LONG -LIVED ORGANIC MATERIALS  SUCH AS TREE TRUNKS, OR IN DEAD ORGANIC MATERIALS  PRESERVED FROM DECOMPOSITION, WHICH EVENTUALLY FORM ORGANIC DEPOSITS OF ONE OR THE OTHER, INCLUDING PEAT, COAL, OIL AND NATURAL GAS OVER LONGER PERIODS OF TIME. BY CONTRAST, CHEMICAL NUTRIENTS FLOW THROUGH  THE ECOSYSTEM IN CIRCULAR  PATHWAYS, FROM SOIL TO PLANTS AND ANIMALS AND BACK TO SOIL, BEING REUSED OR RECYCLED AGAIN AND AGAIN.

             

MINERAL RESOURCE LIMITATION

GEOLOGISTS ARE APPREHENSIVE THAT MANY RESERVES OF MINERALS MAY NOT LAST FOR LONG AND MOST OF THEM WILL BE EXHAUSTED WITHIN 100 TO 200 YEARS. NEW POSSIBILITIES OF MINERAL RESERVES IN LAND AND BEYOND THE LAND, AS IN THE SEALED, ARE BEING EXPLORED WHICH MAY REDUCE, IF NOT TOTALLY REMOVE, THE FUTURISTIC FEARS OF EXHAUSTION OF THE RESOURCE.

CERTAIN MINERALS CANNOT BE REPLENISHED ONCE USED , WHILE THOSE THAT CAN BE RESOURCES. CONSERVATION IMPLIES EFFORTS TO UTILIZE MINERALS IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY, DEPENDING UPON THE INDUSTRIAL NEEDS AND CHANGING TECHNOLOGICAL REQUIREMENTS, SO THAT THE LIFE OF THE DEPOSITS IS INCREASED WITHOUT SACRIFICING ITS OWN NEEDS. CONSERVATION OF ENERGY MEANS CURTAILING UNNECESSARY OR WASTEFUL CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY AND MAKING THRIFTY USE OF USE OF ENERGY PRODUCING RESOURCES TO ENSURE THEIR STEADY SUPPLY FOR GENERATIONS.

BIOLOGICAL RESOURCE LIMITATION

FORESTS COVER ONE-THIRD OF THE WORLD'S LAND SURFACE OF WHICH ABOUT 50 PERCENT IS OCCUPIED BY TROPICAL FORESTS.ON A GLOBAL SCALE FORESTS REPRESENT HUGE MASSES OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC VEGETATION. THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR RECYCLING THOUSANDS OF TONS OF CARBON DIOXIDE AND OXYGEN EVERYDAY. WITHOUT THE RAIN-FORESTS,OUR ATMOSPHERE WILL GRADUALLY DETERIORATE. EQUALLY IMPORTANT IS RAIN FORESTS RECYCLING OF WATER. OVER 75 PERCENT OF RAIN THAT FALLS ON THE FORESTS IS RETURNED TO THE ATMOSPHERE THROUGH EVAPORATION AND PLANT TRANSPIRATION. THIS WATER MAY TRAVEL HALF WAY  AROUND THE GLOBE BEFORE IT FALLS AS RAIN AGAIN. ANIMAL LIFE PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MAINTAINING THE FORESTS. DESTRUCTION OF THESE FORESTS MEANS EXTINCTION TO THE WILDLIFE , WHICH DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY  HELP IN CONTRIBUTING THE FOREST RESOURCES.

THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL HAVE TO PAY A HEAVY PRICE FOR THE LOSS OF SPECIES , GENETIC DIVERSITY AND DEGRADATION OF HABITATS. BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES , WHICH COMPRISE OF THE PORTION OF BIODIVERSITY THAT IS OF ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL USE TO PEOPLE, PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR MOST HUMAN ENTERPRISES. THE SPECIES BEING LOST TODAY CONTAIN UNKNOWN FOOD, MEDICAL  AND INDUSTRIAL USES. DUE TO MISMANAGEMENT, THE BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES ARE LOSING THEIR CAPACITY TO SUPPORT THE HUMAN POPULATION DEPENDENT UPON THEM, AND THIS DEGRADATION IS INCREASING FURTHER COSTS THROUGH SOIL EROSION, SILTATION OF RESERVOIRS, LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGES, DESERTIFICATION AND LOSS OF PRODUCTIVITY.

HABITATS OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS PROVIDE FOOD AND SPACE FOR NORMAL GROWTH AND TERRITORIAL BEHAVIOUR, BREEDING AND MOVEMENT FOR ANIMALS. THERE IS CONSTANT INTERACTION BETWEEN ORGANISMS WITHIN THE HABITAT IN EXCHANGE OF ENERGY AND SHELTER . HUMANS ARE DESTROYING THIS HABITATS, THROUGH COMMERCIAL LOGGING, RECLAMATION OF WETLANDS AND POLLUTION. MIGRATORY BIRDS FROM THE SUB-POLAR REGIONS THAT SETTLE IN WETLAND AREAS DURING THE WINTER WILL SUFFER FROM DISTURBANCE IN THEIR MIGRATORY PATTERN AND BREEDING HABITS, IF WETLANDS DISAPPEAR. BUILDING OF DAMS ALONG RIVERS INUDATES ADJACENT LANDS, DESTROYING FORESTS AND KILLING ALL LIFE FORMS IN IT. IT ALSO UPSETS THE BREEDING PATTERNS OF FISH IN THE UPPER CATCHMENT AREA.

PROTECTED AREAS ARE INCREASINGLY SUBJECTED TO THREATS THAT EVEN THE BEST MANAGED AREAS CANNOT RESIST TO EXPLOITER. TO DATE A COMMERCIAL  LOGGER HAS FELT FREE TO EXPLOIT TIMBER STOCKS WITHOUT ANY REGARD OF WHAT HIS ACTIONS WOULD RESULT ON THE BIODIVERSITY. THE SAME APPLIES TO CATTLE RANCHERS, ROAD AND DAM BUILDERS AND OTHERS WHO EXPLOIT TROPICAL FORESTS MINDLESSLY.

POLICIES  THAT PROMOTE CONSERVATION MUST BE GIVEN SERIOUS ATTENTION BY THE GOVERNMENT AND COMMERCIAL DECISION MAKERS EVEN PARTIAL VALUATION OF THE BENEFITS OF COSERVING BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES CAN PROVIDE, AT LEAST , A LOWER LIMIT TO THE FULL RANGE OF BENEFITS THAT COSERVATION CONTRIBUTES TO NATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

MAN IS DAY BY DAY CONSUMING AND WASTING THE EARTH'S RESOURCES WITHOUT KEEPING IN MIND ITS LIMITATIONS. EARTH'S RESOURCES CAN ONLY BE STRETCHED TILL A CERTAIN POINT AFTER WHICH IT IS UNABLE TO REGENERATE OR REPRODUCE. UNLESS MAN USES THESE RESOURCES SUSTAINABLY AND CHECKS HIMSELF FROM OVER CONSUMPTION AND EXPLOITATION, HE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SURVIVE FOR VERY LONG ON A PLANET STRIPPED OF ALL ITS RESOURCES. 

WATER RESOURCE LIMITATION

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT OUT OF THE TOTAL AVAILABLE WATER, 97.3 PERCENT IS CONTAINED IN THE OCEANS AND THE REMAINING 2.7 PERCENT IS FRESH WATER WHICH IS MOSTLY FOUND IN SOLID FORM GOETHE RIGHTLY SAID, "EVERYTHING ORIGINATED IN THE WATER AND EVERYTHING IS SUSTAINED BY WATER" THUS WE SEE THAT IT IS MOST IMPORTANT FOR US TO MANAGE OUR WATER RESOURCES FOR HUMAN BENEFIT. THIS CAN BE ACHIEVED BY KEEPING IN MIND ITS QUALITY AND CONTROLLING ITS DEPLETION AND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPING IT IN VIEW OF THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE NEEDS. WATER, LIKE FORESTS, IS A MULTIPURPOSE RESOURCE AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEE THAT ITS VARIOUS USES SHOULD NOT BE AT CONFLICT WITH EACH OTHER AND THAT IT CAN BE ENJOYED IN ITS TOTALITY BY MAN AND OTHER ORGANISMS. THUS, ITS RIGHT ALLOCATION AND ITS QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE CONSERVATION ARE THE PRIMARY TASKS BEFORE WATER MANAGERS.

 

THE QUALITATIVE DEGRADATION OF WATER IS ALSO IN A WAY QUALITATIVE DEPLETION OF USABLE RESOURCES. THEREFORE RECYCLING OF WASTE WATER AFTER DUE TREATMENT WOULD RELIEVE THE WATER SCARCITY TO A GREAT SCARCITY TO A GREAT EXTENT. THE DEMAND FOR USABLE WATER IS INCREASING LIKE ANY OTHER RESOURCE, WITH THE CONTINUOUS RISE IN POPULATION AND CONTINUOUS INCREASE IN PER CAPITA DEMAND LINKED WITH MORE SEWAGE DISPOSAL AND TRANSPORT, PROLIFIC USE OF WATER USING GADGETS AND INCREASED RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 

WATER HAS MULTIPLE USES AND MUST BE MANAGED IN AN INTEGRATED MANNER; THEREFORE, IT INVOLVES OVERALL PARTICIPATION  THE LOWEST POSSIBLE LEVEL. THE PROBLEM OF EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF USABLE WATER MUST BE WELL MANAGED. POSITIVE POLICIES MUST BE FORMULATED TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF WOMAN AND TO WORK TOWARDS THEIR EMPOWERMENT, SO THAT THE PROBLEMS THEY FACE AT THE DOMESTIC END IS SIMPLIFIED FOR THEM. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, WATER MUST BE TREATED AS AN ECONOMIC COMMODITY AND USED JUDICIOUSLY. PROTECTION OF POTENTIAL OF FRESH WATER RESOURCES IS AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY COUPLED WITH JUDICIOUS USE SOUND AND SUSTAINED WATER MANAGEMENT WILL NOT ONLY MEET THE NEEDS OF A GROWING POPULATION BUT WILL ALSO BENEFIT THE ECONOMY OF A COUNTRY.

LAND RESOURCE LIMITATIONS

ALTHOUGH LAND APPEARS TO BE A LIMITLESS RESOURCE, ITS INJUDICIOUS USE WOULD LIMIT THE AVAILABILITY OF THIS INDISPENSABLE LIFE-SUPPORTING SYSTEM . ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES HAVE GREAT APPLICABILITY ON LAND USE PLANNING CLASSIFICATION OF LAND USE SHOULD BE BASED ON NATURAL ECOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE LAND IN IN QUESTION, KEEPING IN MIND THE SOIL TYPE, SLOPE, BIOTIC COMMUNITIES , ETC.

TO THE FARMER SOIL IS THE VERY ESSENCE OF LIFE AND SURVIVAL AND HIS ECONOMIC WELL BEING IS FIRMLY LINKED WITH THE FERTILITY OF HIS LAND VEGETATION COVER IS IMPORTANT TO BIND THE TOP SOIL AND PREVENT IT FROM EROSION AND LOSS OF FERTILITY. VEGETATION COVER ALSO SLOWS DOWN RUN-OFF OF WATER AND ALLOWS IT TO PERCOLATE INTO THE GROUND WHICH FURTHER ENCOURAGES PLANT GROWTH. ENGINEERING AND AGRONOMIC PRACTICES SHOULD BE APPLIED CONJOINTLY TO COUNTERACT THE EROSIVE FORCE OF BOTH WATER AND WIND ON THE SOIL. THESE INCLUDE CONTOUR CULTIVATION, COVER CROPS, CROP ROTATION AND STRIP CROPPING , USED ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH TERRACING WHERE IT IS REQUIRED.

HEALTHY SOILS ARE KEY COMPONENTS TO SUSTAINABILITY AS IT WOULD PRODUCE HEALTHY CROPS THAT GIVE GOOD YIELDS AND ARE ALSO PEST RESISTANT . SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION CAN HELP TO REDUCE CROP DEFICIENCY AND NUTRIENT IMBALANCE. SOIL FERTILITY CAN BE MAINTAINED BY ALTERNATE CROPPING , JUDICIOUS  INPUTS OF WATER-TRICKLE DRIP IRRIGATION, USE OF ORGANIC FERTILIZERS, USE OF INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT AND BIOPESTICIDES, CONSERVATION TILLAGE AND AVOIDING PLOUGHING ON WET SOIL, MAINTAINING SOIL COVER WITH COVER CROPS OR MULCHES; FOREST CONSERVATION AND LAND REFORMS. RESTORATION OF SOIL FERTILITY CAN BE MADE BY RECOVERING MINERALS FROM DECOMPOSED LEAVES, TWIGS DEAD ROOTS, DEAD ANIMALS AND ANIMAL EXCRETA. ADDITION OF FARM YARD  MANURE OR GREEN MANURE ALONG WITH ADDITIONAL FERTILIZERS WILL STABILIZE THE SOIL'S FERTILITY.