The Pitch:

One of the most difficult environmental issues the world faces today is also one of its most pressing economic and social challenges: how to inexpensively increase agricultural yields without using chemical inputs or farming techniques that can have a deleterious impact on soil quality or increasingly scarce water resources.

But unknown to even many agronomists is the fact that the planet itself has provided a potentially revolutionary solution, in the form of lava stone or pumice, that can be cleanly mined and processed and brought to market at a price favorable to that of chemical fertilizers.

Processed pumice is today used sparingly in horticulture, unlike a superficially similar material, perlite. But extensive research conducted in Hungary in recent years has demonstrated that it can optimize moisture content in farm land, provide trace elements and boost the immune systems of plants, whilst reducing potentially harmful nitrate levels in the soil. If applied along with an organic nutrient, processed pumice can increase yields significantly compared to chemical fertilizers - and at a lower price - especially in the over-stressed, sandy soils often found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

There is enough high-quality natural pumice and related processing capacity in Central Europe today to make the farming on millions of hectares more sustainable and economically efficient. With minimal additional financial and management resources we believe this powerful solution could quickly become a valuable addition to ongoing global sustainability efforts.

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