World Soil Day, (5th December) is the one day in the year that the United Nations asks us all to think about the role of soil in our daily lives. Farmers already know the central importance of the soil to their business and its future. However, current crop production levels are often maintained by increased inputs, such as fertilisers, pesticides and technology which can mask losses in production due to reduced soil quality.

A new project, SoilCare, is investigating ways in which soil quality can be improved through cropping systems and techniques, benefiting both the profitability of farms and the environment. Such soil improvement is necessary to break the negative spiral of soil degradation, increased inputs, increased costs and damage to the environment.

The project brings scientists from 16 countries across Europe together to work on trial plots where cropping systems will be tested to find out how improving the soil can boost and sustain productivity. Working on 16 trials across Europe that represent not only different climatic conditions but soil types and crop types, the project is looking to solutions that can be easily adopted by farmers. All of the test sites have been chosen because they have access to significant bodies of historical experimental data which can supplement the trial data. This approach, together with consulting stakeholders throughout, ensures that any promising systems or techniques can be quickly made available to the farming community.

Dr Julie Ingram, from the Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire, said,

"One of the products of this project will be an interactive tool to allow decision-makers to select cropping systems that will benefit the soil, and so guard one of our most valuable assets. In the past, the scientific community assumed that just doing the research was enough. Through SoilCare we are working with farmers, but also leading machinery manufacturers and policy-makers to make sure they are aware of the findings. One of our most important goals is to ensure that farmers and the agricultural industry know about the results of these trials, so there can be a shift to soil improving cropping systems across Europe."

Project co-ordinator Dr Hessel based at Wageningen Environmental Research said;

"Farmers have known for years that the secret to their success lies in the soil, and we as scientists are actively working with them to find answers that both benefit the soil but also improve profitability. Through this project, we can consider problems such as compaction, weed management, water availability on sites that we have decades of data about. As we have a range of locations, we can consider a diversity of crops such as olives in warm, dry areas through to rye in colder climes as well as pulses and oilseeds. "

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Caring for the Brown Planet

This year Word Soil Day (5th December) has been dedicated to the theme “Caring for the planet starts from the ground”. This theme captures the essence of the EU-funded project, SoilCare, which is identifying ways in which soil quality can be improved through cropping systems and techniques, benefiting both the profitability of farms and the environment.
Farmers already know the central importance of the soil to their business and its future. However, current crop production levels are often maintained by increased inputs, such as fertilisers, pesticides and technology which can mask losses in production due to reduced soil quality. Through a series of workshops, farmers and scientists together have shortlisted a number of soil-improving cropping systems to test in 16 study sites across Europe, including the application of different types of organic material, the use of cover crops, amendments and non-tillage systems. By consulting with stakeholders throughout the project, it is hoped that any promising systems or techniques will be quickly adopted by the farming community, leading ultimately to better soil care.

Project co-ordinator Dr Hessel based at Wageningen Environmental Research (Alterra) said:

“The first 18 months of the project have been very productive. We have conducted an extensive review of soil-improving cropping systems and now a number of practices have been identified for testing and we look forward to learning about their advantages, drawbacks and any barriers to adoption”.

Jane Mills, from the Countryside and Community Research Institute said, 

"In SoilCare we are working closely with farmers, leading machinery manufacturers and policy-makers to ensure that the science is relevant to them and to society. We will then need to make sure that farmers, advisers and the agricultural industry know about the results of our research, so there can be a shift towards these soil-improving cropping systems across Europe."

The term ‘cropping system’ refers to the crops, crop sequences and management techniques used on a particular agricultural field over a period of years. Cropping systems can be considered soil-improving if they result in an improved soil quality, i.e., in a durable increased ability of the soil to fulfil its functions.

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Better Soils to Boost Crop Productivity (5th December 2016)

World Soil Day, (5th December) is the one day in the year that the United Nations asks us all to think about the role of soil in our daily lives. Farmers already know the central importance of the soil to their business and its future. However, current crop production levels are often maintained by increased inputs, such as fertilisers, pesticides and technology which can mask losses in production due to reduced soil quality. The new project, SoilCare, is looking to investigate ways in which soil quality can be improved through cropping systems and techniques, benefiting both the profitability of farms and the environment. Such soil improvement is necessary to beak the negative spiral of soil degradation, increased inputs, increased costs and damage to the environment.

The project brings scientists from 16 countries across Europe together to work on trial plots where cropping systems will be tested to find out how improving the soil can boost productivity. Working on 16 trials across Europe that represent not only different climatic conditions but soil types and crop types, the project is looking to solutions that can be quickly adopted by farmers. All of the test sites have been chosen because they are have access to significant bodies of historical data so that any new measures or techniques developed can be quickly made available to the industry.

Project co-ordinator Dr Hessel based at the University of Wageningen said;

"Farmers have known for years that the secret to their success lies in the soil, and we as scientists are actively working with them to find answers that both benefit the soil but also improve outputs. Through this project, we can consider problems such as compaction, weed management, water availability on sites that we have decades of data about. As we have such a range of locations, we can consider a diversity of crops such as olives in warm, dry areas through to Rye in colder climes as well as pulses and oilseeds. "

Dr Julie Ingram, from the Countryside and Community Research Institute, said,

"One of the products of this project will be an interactive tool to allow decision-makers to select cropping systems that will benefit the soil, and so guard one of our most valuable assets. In the past, the scientific community assumed that just doing the research was enough. Through SoilCare we are working with farmers, but also leading machinery manufacturers and policy-makers to make sure they are aware of the findings. One of our most important goals is to ensure that farmers and the agricultural industry know about the results of these trials, so there can be a shift to soil boosting cropping systems across Europe."

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