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.

Ends

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."

Ends

The SoilCare project introductory leaflet provides details of the aims and objectives of the project and the partners involved. An English version of the leaflet can be downloaded here.

The leaflet is also available in the following 15 languages and can be downloaded from here:

Czech (CZ)

Danish (DK)

English (GB)

German (DE)

Spanish (ES)

French (FR)

Greek (GR)

Hungarian (HU)

Italian (IT)

Dutch (NL)

Norwegian (NO)

Polish (PL)

Portugese (PT)

Romanian (RO)

Swedish (SE)

Welcome to the SoilCare Project's Media Centre. If you're looking for story ideas, want to look through our latest press releases and news or find out more about the project all the details you need are below.

Our latest news and archived news items can be found here.

Project leaflets providing details about the SoilCare project are available in 14 different languages here. All the SoilCare newsletters are available here. If you would like to receive the SoilCare newsletters you can subscribe here.

One of the key aims of SoilCare is to identify, test and evaluate soil-improving cropping systems (SICS) that will increase the profitability and sustainability of agriculture across Europe. 

SoilCare defines soil improving cropping systems (SICS) as cropping systems that improve soil quality (and hence its functions), and that have positive impacts on the profitability and sustainability of cropping systems. Cropping systems refer to both crop type, crop rotation, and associated agronomic management techniques.  The proof of the SICS concept is in the prioritization of specific crop rotations and specific agro-management techniques, and the subsequent optimization.

The SICS that have been selected by SoilCare study site stakeholders for field trials are presented HERE.

Two categories of SICS have been distinguished in SoilCare:

1. soil threat specific SICS, which mitigate the threat and alleviate its effects, and
2. general SICS, which enhance soil quality and soil functions in general.

Prioritization of crop types and agro-management technique in soil threat-specific SICS.

Prioritization of crop types and agro-management technique in general SICS

A non-technical summary of a review of soil-improving cropping systems (in English) can be viewed here HERE. A shorter 4-page summary is also available HERE.

Some voluntary guidelines for sustainable soil management (in French) are available HERE. 

Within SoilCare, the aim is to identify, select and assess different soil-improving cropping systems (CS) in Europe to determine their effects on soil quality, environment, crop yield, profitability and sustainability using a range of advanced methodologies and assessment procedures, core elements being a soil quality evaluation and analysis at the farm level (costs and benefits) and surrounding environments (ecosystem services). As different conditions require the use of different cropping systems, and the applicability, profitability and environmental impacts of the different systems and techniques will vary across Europe, SoilCare is working in 16 different Study Sites covering different pedo-climatic, socio-economic and political conditions. Within the Study Sites, different soil-improving CS will be selected, tested and evaluated in collaboration with stakeholders, after which Study Site results will be upscaled to European level.

The table below gives an overview of the SoilCare project Study Sites in the partner countries.

An overview of SICS to be trialled in each Study Site can be viewed here