SoilCare project planning updated
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Both the general project planning and study site planning have been updated to November 2019 versions. The files are available from the planning & monitoring page (login to access).
SoilCare video about the concept of SICS launched
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Watch the new video presentation given by Oene Oenema about the concept of Soil Improving Cropping Systems (SICS), and how the SICS concept is embedded in the SoilCare project. Oene Oenema is WP2 and scientific coordinator of the SoilCare project.
Project meeting to discuss emerging results
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8-9 Jan 2020. As the SoilCare project enters its final year, the project Study Sites came together at the Soil Service of Belgium (BDB) office in Leuven, Belgium, to discuss the emerging results from their individual soi-improving cropping system (SICS) experiments. Fourteen out of the 16 study sites gave a 10 minute presentation on their preliminary results. This was followed by a session where the study sites working in one of the 4 SICS groups: soil-improving crops; fertilisers/amendments: soil cultivation and allevation of soil compaction, discussed opportunties for jointly analysing their results across the different study sites. An exercise was also undertaken to identify the key messages that are starting to emerge from project....
The post-meeting info can be viewed HERE (login first).
SoilCare and World Soil Day 2019
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Today (5th December) is World Soil Day – a day to celebrate and raise awareness on the importance of our soils. Soil quality across the world is declining, which is extremely worrying given we need soils to grow our food. Currently, over 33% of our global soils are already degraded and the rate of degradation is accelerating.
Can farmers improve their soil whilst increasing their profitability? This is a question that has been puzzling scientists on the SoilCare research project for the last four years.
SoilCare has identified practices which could transform agriculture’s ability to improve soil health. For instance, woodchips made from on-farm waste products, such as hedge cuttings, added to the soil can increase organic matter, soil biodiversity and overall soil quality. Preliminary results from Belgium suggest application of woodchips can hold nitrogen in the soil meaning less is leached into groundwater as pollution, whilst yields are maintained.
Dr. Annemie Elsen from Bodemkundige Dienst van België said “Woodchips appear to have the potential to not only improve soil quality, but also decrease the risk of nutrients like nitrogen leaching out of the soil and provide value to what is essentially a waste product from managing hedges and trees, which could improve farmers’ profits”.
Another practice being trialled in Portugal is the use of legumes, such as Yellow Lupin and Crimson Clover, as green manures. These plants are grown after one commercial crop and incorporated into the soil shortly before sowing the next crops. Not only do these legumes produce beautiful flowers that attract pollinators, they also add nitrogen to the soil and suppress weeds, which reduces the need to buy and apply expensive fertilisers and herbicides.
Project co-ordinator Dr Hessel based at Wageningen Environmental Research said
“By working closely with farmers and policy-makers throughout the project, it is hoped that the promising profitable practices identified by the end of the project will be quickly adopted by the farming community, leading ultimately to better soil health and all the accompanying benefits, such as improved food, flood protection and carbon storage.”
The full SoilCare press release for World Soil Day 2019 can be downloaded HERE.
