The benefits of good soil health

Soil is an important resource that is useful to us in many different ways. It is central to successful farming and allows plants and trees to grow which can then be used for financial purposes. Both nature and people can affect the health of soil through changes in the climate or the ways in which we use the land. These changes in soil health can affect the success of farming and its yield (the number of crops that it is possible to produce).

As soil is a finite resource (its loss is not recoverable within a human lifespan) it is important that it is kept healthy so that farming can continue to be sustainable in the future.

HOW TO RECOGNISE SOIL HEALTH

Healthy soil is full of organisms that can turn waste and minerals into crucial nutrients (used to help plants grow). Organic matter (waste products) such as compost and manure contain lots of these minerals which can be broken down into a nutrient-rich mixture to encourage better plant growth. Water is also key to enabling this process and a good level of moisture is required to generate a healthy soil. A healthy soil typically consists of half soil and half water and air. This mixture should appear crumbly as well as moist (so fairly dark in colour).
Unhealthy soil is often caused by a lack of moisture through low levels of rainfall. This means that soil of lower health will often be of a lighter colour and will appear dusty. This unhealthy soil will also often harden producing cracks along the ground surface.

THE BENEFITS OF GOOD SOIL HEALTH

Good soil health enables increases in both the quality and quantity of crops produced through farming. With access to many more nutrients plants will likely grow faster and will achieve much greater size than could be achieved within unhealthy soil. These increases in crop yields mean that more food is produced increasing the profit that can be gained from their sale.
As water passes through healthy soil it is filtered and cleaned. This clean water then accumulates into wells or reaches rivers where it becomes available for drinking use. Healthy soil can also help to conserve water during dry periods. Through adding organic matter soil structures change to become more clay-like. More water can be caught between these clay structures maintaining the moisture levels of the soil and preventing the loss of nutrients. During periods of drought healthy soil can protect the land through this storage of rainwater.

THREATS TO GOOD SOIL HEALTH

When soil becomes compacted it has no space to absorb water or air for plants. This can occur when not enough organic matter is added or if soil is trampled. If compaction is severe roots may not be able to push through the soil meaning that even less nutrients are able to reach the plant.
The removal of plants and deforestation (the cutting down of trees and forests) can cause soil to become less stable leading to erosion as the wind blows away the highest layers of soil. This erosion dumps soil into rivers reducing the amount left behind for growing food. When soil erosion occurs it washes away important nutrients to plant growth reducing the ability of future plants to survive.

BENEDICT MACLEOD

VIEW ALL POSTS

5 Comments

  1. zvodret iluret 6 years ago April 9, 2018

    Great wordpress blog here.. It

    REPLY
  2. Why visitors still make use of to read news papers when in this technological world everything is existing on net?

    REPLY
  3. Гостиничные чеки Казань 1 year ago January 11, 2023

    I just could not depart your website prior to suggesting that I really loved
    the usual information a person supply on your visitors?
    Is going to be back regularly to investigate cross-check new posts

    REPLY
  4. body tape for stomach 1 year ago January 11, 2023

    Awesome article.

    REPLY
  5. Чеки на гостиницу Казань 1 year ago January 12, 2023

    Hi friends, pleasant article and fastidious urging commented at this place,
    I am really enjoying by these.

    REPLY

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function create_function() in /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/framework/inc/sd-theme-functions/sd-functions.php:188 Stack trace: #0 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(326): sd_style_tag_cloud() #1 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/plugin.php(205): WP_Hook->apply_filters() #2 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/category-template.php(778): apply_filters() #3 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-tag-cloud.php(60): wp_tag_cloud() #4 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/class-wp-widget.php(394): WP_Widget_Tag_Cloud->widget() #5 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/widgets.php(837): WP_Widget->display_callback() #6 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/sidebar.php(26): dynamic_sidebar() #7 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/template.php(790): require_once('/home/213602.cl...') #8 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/template.php(725): load_template() #9 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/general-template.php(136): locate_template() #10 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/single.php(114): get_sidebar() #11 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-includes/template-loader.php(106): include('/home/213602.cl...') #12 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-blog-header.php(19): require_once('/home/213602.cl...') #13 /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/index.php(17): require('/home/213602.cl...') #14 {main} thrown in /home/213602.cloudwaysapps.com/nxykgcmrcx/public_html/wp-content/themes/helpinghands/framework/inc/sd-theme-functions/sd-functions.php on line 188
WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.