Sustainable Soil Management Guidelines for Better Soil Health

Soil is a significant part of our survival. It is the foundation on which crops and trees grow, making it an essential aspect of our agriculture and ecosystems. As the risk of soil degradation continues, implementing sustainable soil management becomes necessary for healthy and productive soil worldwide.

Soil State

Healthy soils allow healthy crops to grow. It can also store carbon and support greenhouse gas reduction efforts. However, around 33% of global soils had moderately or highly degraded in 2015. Soil degradation can lead to agricultural production loss, inability to store carbon, and lack of nutrients.

Sustainable soil management is essential to improve soil health and prevent further degradation. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines soil management as sustainable if “the supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural services provided by soil are maintained or enhanced without significantly impairing either the soil functions that enable those services or biodiversity.” In other words, using soil for various purposes should not damage soil health and functions.

The Guide to Sustainable Soil Management

In 2017, the FAO released voluntary guidelines for sustainable soil management to provide science-based principles and promote the implementation of the principles to relevant stakeholders. 

The guidelines contain ten technical and context-specific principles to address soil threats and further advance sustainable soil management. Those principles are:

• Minimize soil erosion

Soil erosion caused by water, wind, and human activities can strip the organic and mineral nutrients from the surface soil layers. Some ways to minimize soil erosion include avoiding land-use changes, maintaining growing plant coverage, and installing water harvesting systems.

• Enhance soil organic matter content

Soil organic matter is significant in maintaining soil functions, preventing soil degradation, and adapting to climate change. Enhancing soil organic matter content can be done by managing crop residues, practicing organic farming, composting, and applying animal manure or other carbon-rich wastes.

• Foster soil nutrient balance and cycles

The nutrients stored in soil play a significant role in plant nutrition. The lack of nutrients can hinder plants’ development and decrease their nutritional value. Optimizing soil conservation practices, applying appropriate fertilizers, and adding soil micronutrients can help foster soil nutrient balance and cycles.

• Prevent, minimize, and mitigate soil salinization and alkalinization

Salinization is the accumulation of water-soluble sodium, magnesium, and calcium salts in the soil. It can result in crop yield reduction. Proper irrigation is crucial in this aspect, requiring improved distribution and application methods.

• Prevent and minimize soil contamination

The best way to maintain healthy soil and food safety is to prevent soil contamination. In this case, governments need to establish a limit on soil contamination levels to protect human health and well-being. The information on soil risk assessment and identification should also be made public to avoid the usage of contaminated soil for food production.

• Prevent and minimize soil acidification

Soil acidification refers to the decrease of soil pH. Preventing this process requires monitoring, using balanced organic amendments, and applying appropriate and balanced fertilizer types.

• Preserve and enhance soil biodiversity

Soil organisms, such as earthworms, play significant roles in delivering many ecosystem services. Therefore, monitoring the use of pesticides, restoring plant biodiversity to improve soil biodiversity, and enhancing soil organic matter levels are encouraged.

• Minimize soil sealing

Soil sealing occurs when impermeable materials like buildings, roads, and other constructions cover the ground. It can lead to irreversible loss of soil functions and ecosystem services. In this case, regulations to limit land conversion become particularly crucial.

• Prevent and mitigate soil compaction

Soil compaction refers to soil structure degradation due to imposed stresses by machinery and livestock trampling. Therefore, when using machines and vehicles in fields, the type of soil and its strength should be considered to avoid soil compaction.

• Improve soil water management

Too much and too little water can be detrimental to crop growth. Managing water through proper drainage and irrigation systems becomes crucial in maintaining the appropriate soil water levels to support crop growth.

Encouraging Adoption

From large organizations and businesses to small-scale farmers, all relevant stakeholders are encouraged to adopt, promote, and disseminate sustainable soil management guidelines for better soil health. The guidelines should be used in an inclusive, participatory, gender-sensitive, and cost-effective manner to be sustainable. Eventually, maintaining soil health through sustainable soil management is hoped to support and safeguard food security and contribute to climate actions for the people and planet. 

Read the complete guidelines here.

Editor: Nazalea Kusuma