Soil fertility

Stockdale, E.; Goulding, Keith; George, Timothy S.; Murphy, Daniel V.

doi:10.1002/9781118337295.ch3

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Inherent soil fertility embraces nutrient availability, stable porous structure, large available water content and microbial and faunal communities that facilitate root and shoot growth. Fertility can be, indeed usually is, improved by management practices that maintain structure and through additions of manures and fertilizers (Stockdale et al , ).…”

Section: Soil Food Production and Food Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil, food security and human health: a review

Oliver

Gregory

2014

European J Soil Science

257

119

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Direct effects of soil or its constituents on human health are through its ingestion, inhalation or absorption. The soil contains many infectious organisms that may enter the human body through these pathways, but it also provides organisms on which our earliest antibiotics are based. Indirect effects of soil arise from the quantity and quality of food that humans consume. Trace elements can have both beneficial and toxic effects on humans, especially where the range for optimal intake is narrow. We focus on four trace elements (iodine, iron, selenium and zinc) whose deficiencies have substantial effects on human health. As the world's population increases issues of food security become more pressing, as does the need to sustain soil fertility and minimize its degradation. Lack of adequate food and food of poor nutritional quality lead to differing degrees of under-nutrition, which in turn causes ill health. Soil and land are finite resources and agricultural land is under severe competition from other uses. Relationships between soil and health are often difficult to extricate because of the many confounding factors present. Nevertheless, recent scientific understanding of soil processes and factors that affect human health are enabling greater insight into the effects of soil on our health. Multidisciplinary research that includes soil science, agronomy, agricultural sustainability, toxicology, epidemiology and the medical sciences will facilitate the discovery of new antibiotics, a greater understanding of how materials added to soil used for food production affect health and deciphering of the complex relationships between soil and human health.'Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it and it will grow food, our fuel, and our shelter and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it' Vedas Sanskrit Scripture, 1500 BC.

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Section: Soil Food Production and Food Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil, food security and human health: a review

Oliver

Gregory

2014

European J Soil Science

257

119

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“…Farmers commonly add the essential plant nutrients, potassium (K), phosphorus (P) and magnesium (Mg), to the soil in fertilizers and manures. These additions contribute to the stocks of nutrients retained by the soil, from which plants obtain most of their requirements, rather than directly from the added fertilizer (Cooke, 1982;Stockdale, Goulding, George, & Murphy, 2013). If farmers do not maintain adequate stocks of available nutrients in the soil then the yield of the crop may be limited and other nutrients, notably nitrogen, may be used less efficiently, increasing harmful losses to the environment (e.g., Duan, Shi, Li, Sun, & He, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boundary line models for soil nutrient concentrations and wheat yield in national‐scale datasets

Lark

Gillingham

Langton

et al. 2019

European J Soil Science

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In boundary line analysis a biological response (e.g., crop yield) is assumed to be a function of a variable (e.g., soil nutrient concentration), which limits the response in only some subset of observations because other limiting factors also apply. The response function is therefore expressed by an upper boundary of the plot of the response against the variable. This model has been used in various branches of soil science. In this paper we apply it to the analysis of some large datasets, originating from commercial farms in England and Wales, on the recorded yield of wheat and measured concentrations of soil nutrients in within-field soil management zones.We considered boundary line models for the effects of potassium (K), phosphorus (P) and magnesium (Mg) on yield, comparing the model with a simple bivariate normal distribution or a bivariate normal censored at a constant maximum yield. We were able to show, using likelihood-based methods, that the boundary line model was preferable in most cases. The boundary line model suggested that the standard RB209 soil nutrient index values (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, nutrient management guide (RB209), 2017) are robust and apply at the within-field scale. However, there was evidence that wheat yield could respond to additional Mg at concentrations above index 0, contrary to RB209 guidelines.Furthermore, there was evidence that the boundary line model for yield and P differs between soils at different pH and depth intervals, suggesting that shallow soils with larger pH require a larger target P index than others. Highlights• Boundary line analysis is one way to examine how soil variables influence crop yield in large datasets. • We showed that boundary line models could be applied to large datasets on soil nutrients and crop yield. • The resulting models are consistent with current practice for P and K, but not for Mg. • Models suggest that more refined recommendations for P requirement could be based on soil pH and depth. K E Y W O R D Sagricultural management, fertilization, modelling

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