Soil quality monitoring for sustainable agriculture

Abstract

Most farmers are highly conscious of the importance of sustainable land management. However, the economics of present day agriculture place ever increasing pressure on farmers to intensify land-use, often exceeding the margins of what is truly sustainable. As a result, farmers increasingly demand more information and better tools for monitoring the sustainability of their agricultural management. This paper describes work in progress. It is our intent to present an overview of our research and development of a Soil Quality Monitoring System (SQMS). The SQMS is designed as an on-farm tool for monitoring and interpreting changes in soil quality that reflect on the sustainability of agricultural management practices. The paper focuses on the philosophical and theoretical basis of our research, the specific approach we have taken and some future prospects for the SQMS.