Importance of Soil Health Management for Sustainable Agriculture
Introduction –
Soil, the uppermost layer of the earth’s crust, is formed through various physical, organic, and chemical processes. Soil health refers to the soil’s ability to function as a living system within ecosystem and land use limits, supporting plant and animal production, maintaining, or enhancing water and air quality, and promoting plant and animal health. Good soil health is crucial not only for high-value crop production but also for sustaining ecosystem services. Over 99.7% of our food comes from the soil. However, soil health degradation worldwide has reduced agricultural productivity, water availability, and the health of forest and pasture ecosystems. This decline has also impacted human nutrition, with around 66% of the global population being malnourished. Therefore, soil health is vital for the wellbeing of humans, wildlife, and various ecosystems.
Soil hosts about 25% of the world’s biodiversity, with a teaspoon of healthy soil containing approximately one billion microorganisms. This biodiversity is the foundation of life on earth. Besides agriculture, topsoil is valuable for construction materials, grasslands, and forests. Biological components of soil, such as microbial community diversity, abundance, activity, and stability, are key indicators of soil quality. Soil biota plays a crucial role in mineralizing plant residues into easily available nutrients, accelerating decomposition through enzyme production, and transforming nitrogen between organic and inorganic forms. These microbial communities are essential for the stability and productivity of agroecosystems.
Soil Health in India –
Agriculture in India faces significant challenges due to poor soil health. Most soils have low nutrient levels, with an average soil organic carbon (SOC) of around 0.54%. Land degradation affects about 30% of the country’s geographical area, leading to nutrient deficiencies that impact local nutrition.
Nutrient depletion and improper fertilizer use reduce productivity. Sustainable practices like replenishing soil nutrients, applying fertilizers based on soil analysis, and increasing organic content are essential for food production. Additionally, approximately 3 billion tonnes of soil are eroded annually by water and wind in India.
Management Practices to Improve Soil Health –
- Reduce Inversion Tillage and Soil Traffic: Excessive tillage increases soil oxygen, stimulating biological activity and decomposing organic matter. It disturbs soil aggregates, exposing organic particles to microbes. This reduces soil health over time and increases erosion risk.
- Balanced Crop Nutrition: Seventeen essential nutrients are required for optimal plant growth. Deficiency in any nutrient affects crop life cycles. Balanced crop nutrition, incorporating the 4Rs (Right source, Right rate, Right time, Right place), ensures maximum yield and improved plant health.
- Implement the 4Rs: The 4Rs framework (Right source, Right rate, Right time, Right place) enhances production, farm profitability, environmental protection, and sustainability.
- Increase Organic Matter Inputs: Maintaining or improving soil organic matter is crucial. Healthy crops and crop residues, along with cover crops, animal and green manure, and compost, can enhance soil organic matter.
- Use Biofertilizers: Biofertilizers, or microbial bioinoculants, are organic sources of plant nutrients. They increase nutrient availability, enhance soil fertility, protect plants from pathogens, and improve soil health with minimal environmental impact.
- Use Cover Crops: Cover crops reduce erosion, increase organic matter, create macropores, enhance soil aggregation, and support beneficial fungi. Legume cover crops also fix nitrogen in the soil.
- Reduce Pesticide Use: Broad-spectrum insecticides harm beneficial insects. Enhancing biodiversity supports beneficial organisms and improves pest control.
- Crop Rotation: Diverse crop rotations break pest and disease cycles, manage weeds, and reduce nutrient excesses, improving overall crop health.
Conclusion –
Soil health and soil life are closely linked to agricultural methods and management systems. Managing soil health and life is essential for soil productivity, beneficial soil biota, soil protection, and stabilization. However, excessive use of chemicals and conventional farming practices negatively impact soil health. Intensive farming further depletes soil, threatening future food production.
To sustainably increase soil fertility, stabilization, health, and biodiversity, we must enhance the soil’s physical, chemical, and biological properties. This approach will also improve global food security. While conventional farming boosts food production, incorporating organic inputs, compost, and fertility restoration practices is crucial for better quality food and higher yields. Sustainable soil management practices offer long-term benefits for soil health, ecosystem functioning, greenhouse gas emission control, and climate change mitigation.
Sources –
https://iiss.icar.gov.in/eMagazine/v1i1/5.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9445558