Soil management

Abstract

Soil management is presented as a selective review of the practices and problems of managing certain elements of soil, such as the physical survival of soil, soil conservation, soil structure, soil water, soil organic matter and plant nutrients in soil. Soil is introduced as a central part of the natural environment, and is itself a complex, sensitive and reactive system. Soil management is seen as the management of a vital environmental resource within the framework of the whole natural environment, and particularly within ecological and economic constraints for sustained agricultural production. The broadening of this concept of soil management into a soil protection policy is considered with reference to the European Soil Charter (1972) and the European Soil Protection Policy (1987). Europe is taken as the geographical context of this chapter, and the present as the time and technological context for this review of soil management. The chapter starts with soil reclamation as exemplified by Dutch polders and Danish heathlands, but devotes more space to the physical conservation of soil against the erosive forces of wind and running water, giving examples from areas in Europe. The management of soil water examines the availability of water to plants, and demonstrates how drainage or irrigation may improve soil water status. Soil structure and soil organic matter are described and, more importantly, discussed as soil properties critical for the development and maintenance of a fertile soil for agricultural production. Chemical fertility is seen as the need to supply chemical nutrients in amounts close to the requirements of plants, but avoiding levels reaching a pollution state in soil. The contemporary chemical problems in Europe of soil acidification, salinisation and metal contamination in soil are considered briefly in conclusion. The review of soil management is selective in topics and restricted to European examples.