Abstract
The diverse agricultural systems of the tropics are a crucial, expanding and rapidly changing contributor to the well-being of people around the globe. To be sustainable, agricultural soil quality and functions, including support of crop production, must be maintained in a stable or improving state, without degrading or depleting the wider environment. The quality and functions of tropical soils, which are diverse but typically highly weathered, with high rates of carbon and nutrient cycling, are influenced by all agricultural practices, in positive and negative ways. The main degrading processes are erosion, decline in soil organic matter and biological activity, acidification, compaction and other structural damage, and build-up of soilborne diseases. Farmer-related challenges for sustainable soil management involve the difficulty of detecting changes in soil quality, poor access to knowledge or resources, and the imperative to prioritise investments with short-term return over those with less certain longer-term benefits. Consumers also play a role, as they must adequately compensate farmers for soil stewardship. Therefore, it is critical that we improve a) our understanding of soil processes, agricultural practices, consumer demands, and the socioeconomic factors linking them, and b) our ability to effectively monitor and manipulate those factors, through research, innovation, education, and political action.
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Sustainable Soil Management: Beyond Food Production
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ISBN/ISSN
978-1-5275-0204-8
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Pages Count
36
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Publisher
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
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Publisher Location
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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