Soil is a non-renewable resource at the human time-scale, which supports life on Earth. Soil conservation is essential for food security, sustainability and several other ecosystem services. However, human pressures on soil resources are reaching critical limits due to current agricultural practices across the world, increasing the vulnerability to land degradation, especially in primarily agricultural countries.
It is important to identify the impacts of conventional agriculture and identify how innovative farming practices across the world can contribute to soil quality, health and function. Agricultural soil quality is fundamental to meet plant requirements for water, nutrients and aeration, and to resist and recover from processes that may induce degradation. Soil quality is strongly affected by management including crops, fertilization, tillage, influence of atmospheric pollution from industry, machinery traffic and drainage.
This session is open to all contributions focused on soil quality, including physical and chemical properties, as well as biodiversity. We would like to bring to the discussion problems of current intensively managed cropland soils, but also the opportunities associated with novel practices and soil conservation and sustainable land management. Apart from soil properties and environmental issues, contributions regarding to stakeholders’ interaction and economic impacts of agriculture management practices are welcomed.