What is soil health?
Soil health refers to the continued capacity of a soil to function as vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans (USDA-NRCS).Worldwide improper land use and farming operations have resulted in severe soil health degradation, threatening the global food security and sustainable agriculture. Effective management practices are urgently needed to maintain and enhance the soil health of agricultural land.
In the past decade soil health has been intensively studied as a science and practiced as a means to help improve the global social, environmental, and economic sustainability.
The current understanding and interpretation of soil health have been improving in relation to soil functions, processes, and properties.
Multi-tier soil health indicators have been selected from relevant soil physical, chemical, and biological parameters. A suite of soil health assessment methods have been developed, such as soil health card, Solvita soil health tests, Haney soil health test, and comprehensive assessment of soil health.
An array of soil health management practices have been recommended, including proper land use, crop rotation, cover crops, conservation tillage, soil organic amendment, crop-range-livestock integration, rotational grazing, and precision farming.
Continuous research, education, and outreach efforts are warranted to promote localized development, adoption, and implementation of soil health assessment and management.
The 1890 Soil Health Education and Leadership Training Programs are funded by USDA through the NIFA competitive grant no. 2021-38823-34702. The programs provide soil health education and leadership training to students and agricultural professionals via curriculum integration (e.g., AGRI208 Soil Science, NTRS401 Soil and Water Management, and AGRI404 Sustainable Agriculture), experiential learning projects, training workshops, internships, graduate fellowships, and outreach events.
Soil health education and training highlights the following areas:
