Healthy soils function as a vital, living ecosystem to sustain plants, animals, and humans. Maintaining and building healthy soils is the foundation of farming systems to supply food and fiber to the world.
Soils provide plants with mineral nutrition, water storage, and physical support for growth. Soils maintain the quality of air and water. Ultimately, soils support life.
Many biological, chemical, and physical processes interact to develop the variety of soils on today’s landscape. Soils differ across landscapes because five factors come together in any location:
- parent material,
- local biology,
- climate, and
Healthy soils provide a multitude of services that simultaneously benefit agriculture and the environment. Moreover, healthy soils benefit all farmers, from small vegetable gardeners to large row-crop operations. Healthy soils offer many benefits:
- Enhanced organic matter and soil organisms improve soil structure, aeration, water retention, drainage, and nutrient availability for plant growth.
- Reduced tillage and efficient fertilizer use reduce expenses.
- Soils protect natural resources.
- Increased soil cover year-round can sequester carbon from the air and store it in the soil, benefitting air quality, soil health, and wildlife and plant diversity.
- Increased organic matter enables soil to hold more water and reduce runoff.
- Favorable soil water retention, combined with nutrient management practices, prevents nutrients from contaminating water bodies, thereby protecting water resources and aquatic habitats.
- Reducing trips across fields reduces emissions and improves air quality.
Healthy soil is important for continued food and fiber production. However, building and maintaining soil health, particularly organic matter, requires management commitment and execution.
Here are steps to follow when developing a management plan:
- Develop the farm strategic plan, including personal life goals.
- Develop the business plan.
- Use Web Soil Survey to learn your soils intimately.
- Educate yourself on crops and their markets.
- Educate yourself on the “hows” of crops and conservation practices.Develop and follow a conservation plan that includes a nutrient management plan, based on current soil-testing data from a reputable laboratory. Follow it.
- Develop and follow a budget, and track the budget performance with monthly, quarterly, and annual accounting.Get the work done.
- Stay informed so you can ask the hard questions of “experts.”
- Evaluate after a crop year and go back to Web Soil Survey and study your soils again.
What we see as soil health is an intersection of biology, chemistry, and physics. While measuring properties such as soil organic matter (and thus soil carbon), pH, and plant nutrient status is straightforward, measuring soil health is challenging and the subject of much current research.
Innovative practices that promote soil health while supporting economic and environmental sustainability are featured in the http://extension.msstate.edu/natural-resources/environment/reach program.
The REACH publication http://extension.msstate.edu/publications/natural-resource-conservation-agriculture was used to develop the current information.
A variety of soil health resources are online:
The Mississippi State University Extension Service offers many helpful publications on a variety of topics:
Overall Nutrient Management and Fertilizers
Early fall is one of the best times to test your soil. A soil test can tell you if your lawn or garden needs critical nutrients and how much. This way, your plants and your wallet will stay healthy. You won’t waste your money applying fertilizer or lime that your plants don’t need.
Having healthy soil in your garden results in healthy plants. Whether you’re planting vegetables, flowers, grass, trees, shrubs, or anything in between, a soil sample is the first thing to check off the list. Gathering a soil sample from your landscape and having it tested by MSU Extension’s Soil Testing Lab should be the initial step in any gardening adventure. Plus, it’s pretty easy to do!
Udongo wenye afya ni mfumo muhimu wa ikolojia unaoweza kuendeleza mimea, wanyama, na wanadamu. Kuhifadhi na kujenga udongo wenye afya ni msingi wa mifumo ya kilimo ya kutoa chakula na nyuzi kwa ulimwengu. Udongo hutoa mimea virutubisho vya madini, maji, na utegemezo wa kimwili kwa ukuzi. Udongo huhifadhi hali nzuri ya hewa na maji. Hatimaye, udongo hutegemeza uhai. Utaratibu mwingi wa kibiolojia, kemikali, na kimwili huingiliana ili kuendeleza aina mbalimbali za udongo katika mandhari ya leo. Udongo ni tofauti katika mazingira kwa sababu mambo matano kuja pamoja katika eneo lolote: - mzazi nyenzo, - biolojia ya ndani, - hali ya hewa, na udongo afya kutoa huduma nyingi ambayo wakati huo huo faida kilimo na mazingira. Isitoshe, udongo wenye afya unawafaidi wakulima wote, kuanzia wakulima wadogo wa mboga hadi wakulima wakubwa wa mstari. Udongo wenye afya hutoa faida nyingi: - Kuongeza vitu vya kikaboni na viumbe vya udongo kuboresha muundo wa udongo, uingizaji hewa, kuhifadhi maji, mifereji, na upatikanaji wa virutubisho kwa ukuaji wa mimea. - Kupunguza kilimo na matumizi bora ya mbolea hupunguza gharama. - Udongo hulinda rasilimali za asili. Kuongezeka kwa udongo mwaka mzima kunaweza kuondoa kaboni kutoka hewani na kuhifadhi katika udongo, ikinufaisha ubora wa hewa, afya ya udongo, na wanyama wa porini na utofauti wa mimea. - Ongezeko la vitu vya kikaboni hufanya udongo uweze kubeba maji mengi na kupunguza maji yanayotiririka. - Uhifadhi mzuri wa maji ya udongo, pamoja na mazoea ya usimamizi wa virutubisho, huzuia virutubisho kuchafua miili ya maji, na hivyo kulinda rasilimali za maji na makazi ya majini. - Kupunguza safari katika mashamba hupunguza uzalishaji na kuboresha ubora wa hewa. Udongo wenye afya ni muhimu kwa ajili ya kuendelea kutokeza chakula na nyuzi. Hata hivyo, kujenga na kudumisha afya ya udongo, hasa vitu vya kikaboni, inahitaji kujitolea na utekelezaji wa usimamizi. Hapa ni hatua za kufuata wakati wa kuendeleza mpango wa usimamizi: - Kuendeleza mpango wa mkakati wa shamba, ikiwa ni pamoja na malengo ya maisha ya kibinafsi. - Kuendeleza mpango wa biashara. - Tumia Web Soil Survey kujifunza udongo wako intimately. - Jifunze kuhusu mazao na masoko yake. - Jifunze juu ya "jinsi" ya mazao na mazoea ya uhifadhi. Kuendeleza na kufuata mpango wa uhifadhi ambao unajumuisha mpango wa usimamizi wa virutubisho, kulingana na data ya sasa ya majaribio ya udongo kutoka kwa maabara ya sifa. Fuata mwongozo huo. - Kuendeleza na kufuata bajeti, na kufuatilia utendaji wa bajeti na kila mwezi, robo mwaka, na uhasibu wa kila mwaka. Kupata kazi kufanyika. - Kukaa taarifa ili uweze kuuliza maswali ngumu ya <unk> wataalamu.<unk> - Tathmini baada ya mwaka wa mazao na kurudi kwa Web Soil Survey na kujifunza udongo wako tena. Tunachoona kuwa afya ya udongo ni mchanganyiko wa biolojia, kemia, na fizikia. Wakati kupima mali kama vile udongo kikaboni (na hivyo udongo kaboni), pH, na hali ya virutubisho vya mimea ni rahisi, kupima afya ya udongo ni changamoto na mada ya utafiti mwingi wa sasa. Mazoea ya ubunifu ambayo huendeleza afya ya udongo wakati wa kusaidia uendelevu wa kiuchumi na mazingira yanaonyeshwa katika programu ya http: extension.msstate.edu.natural-resources-environment-reach. Uchapishaji wa REACH http: extension.msstate.edu::publications/natural-resource-conservation-agriculture ulitumiwa kuendeleza habari ya sasa. Kwa mfano, huduma ya uendelezaji wa Chuo Kikuu cha Jimbo la Mississippi inatoa machapisho mengi ya kusaidia juu ya mada mbalimbali: Usimamizi wa Chakula cha Jumla na Mbolea. Uchunguzi wa udongo unaweza kukuambia kama lawn yako inahitaji virutubisho muhimu na kiasi gani. Kwa njia hii, mimea yako na mkoba wako utaendelea kuwa na afya. Huwezi kupoteza pesa zako kwa kutumia mbolea au chokaa ambayo mimea yako haihitaji. Kuwa na udongo wenye afya katika bustani yako husababisha mimea yenye afya. Iwe wewe ni kupanda mboga, maua, nyasi, miti, vichaka, au chochote kati ya, sampuli ya udongo ni kitu cha kwanza kuangalia nje ya orodha. Kuchukua sampuli ya udongo kutoka kwa mazingira yako na kuifanya ijaribishwe na Maabara ya Upimaji wa Udongo ya MSU Extension inapaswa kuwa hatua ya kwanza katika safari yoyote ya bustani. Kwa kuongezea, ni rahisi sana kufanya hivyo!