What is humus?

The "Humus" can be defined as the organic matter of the soil .The word "Humus" derives from Latin and means soil or soil.But, do you know how it is produced and what effects it has for the plants and for ourselves? Today Science Daily Online explains this in the following article.

Humus?

The Humus is usually accepted as a form of indicator of the darkest area and fertil of the soil.In other texts and dictionaries you can also find other definitions of the word, among which are fractions or areas of the soil suitable for generate stable aggregates.A soil is considered ideal if it has an approximate value of 5% of organic matter.

The organic matter of the soil is made up of animal and plant-type waste in different degrees of decomposition and has Carbon (58%), Hydrogen (5%), Oxygen (5%) and Nitrogen (5 %) among other things.Organic matter in combination with clays, controls most physical reactions ico chemicals produced in the soil.In agricultural crops carried out in direct sowing, the contribution of crop residues (stubble) favors maintaining the levels of organic matter in the soil.

Effects on plants and soils

Organic matter or Humus has several positive effects on plants and fundamentally on their nutrition: it provides and reserves important numbers of nutrients (N, C, P and S), and participates favorably on its growth.It also has effects related to the physical properties of the soil: it increases the infiltration of rainwater , conditions the structure, aeration and drainage by developing stable aggregates, increases the ability to retain nutrients and soil water , minimizes possible erosion losses.

In addition, the Humus has effects on all the activity of the soil microorganisms by virtue that it is the source of nutrients and energy for most of the microorganisms that inhabit the soil.

Soil organisms

Numerous groups of organisms are those that live, in spite of not seeing them, in the ground.Its dimensions can range from microscopic such as fungi and bacteria, to some groups recognizable to the naked eye such as larvae of insects and worms.Several of these Groups have a fundamental role for the soil, such as the decomposition of organic substances and the preparation of Humus, and others can cause diseases for animals and plants.Most of the microorganisms develop in the 30 centimeters first of the soil, where they locate the necessary organic matter for their feeding.

The earthworms can measure between two and fifteen cent imetros, according to the species in question.They act by mechanical action in the soil.When moving they are fragmenting the dry waste that they combine with mineral materials.They also favor the structure and aeration of the soil.

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