Nelson, Paul (2023) Sustainable soil management in tropical agriculture. In: Jayaraman, Somasundaram, Dalal, Ram C., and Lal, Rattan, (eds.) Sustainable Soil Management: Beyond Food Production. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, pp. 204-239.

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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.

Item ID:	79133
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	978-1-5275-0204-8
Keywords:	agricultural sustainability, soil degradation, food security, climate change, global development, soil biology, soil physics, soil chemistry
Copyright Information:	Copyright © 2023 by Somasundaram Jayaraman, Ram C Dalal, Rattan Lal and contributors
Date Deposited:	05 Sep 2023 23:16
FoR Codes:	30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3002 Agriculture, land and farm management > 300202 Agricultural land management @ 40% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4106 Soil sciences > 410601 Land capability and soil productivity @ 40% 30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3004 Crop and pasture production > 300403 Agronomy @ 20%
SEO Codes:	26 PLANT PRODUCTION AND PLANT PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 2601 Environmentally sustainable plant production > 260199 Environmentally sustainable plant production not elsewhere classified @ 20% 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1806 Terrestrial systems and management > 180605 Soils @ 40% 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1806 Terrestrial systems and management > 180604 Rehabilitation or conservation of terrestrial environments @ 40%
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