• ilinamorato@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    7 months ago

    Fertilizer does provide some help, but cover crops and crop rotation is still necessary. Anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate don’t replenish everything that crops take out of the ground (really just nitrogen); and even if it did, it’s really expensive.

      • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        Well, I think the word “barren” is a little bit more ambiguous, but generally “fallow” implies that it could be used, but isn’t; while “barren” means that it couldn’t be used for any productive purpose (specifically any agricultural purpose). In other words, land could be temporarily fallow but used again later, but would likely require remediation or even engineering to make productive if it’s barren.