ost of us generally know what is meant by soil health. The problem begins when we start to nail it down to
specifics. There are varying perspectives in the research community on what constitutes soil to be regarded as healthy. Soil chemists will emphasise on the need to get the chemistry in the soil right, physicists will talk about the importance of maintaining a good soil structure and biologists will tell you about maintaining the soil life which often leads to confusion for emerging researchers and farmers. This brings me to a question, why does it have to be an either or situation? How is a farmer supposed to make a decision when there is no consensus amongst scientists or researchers? As agricultural scientists, we need to ask ourselves, are we answering pertinent questions with our research? Are we doing research that is contributing solutions to the global food security challenge?
Most farmers which I have interacted with ask either one, or both of these, questions, “How can I improve my management practices in order to improve my soil health?” and “What can I do to limit my negative impact on the environment?” I think these are the questions that we need to start answering as researchers. We need to come up with practical solutions which farmers can implement at low costs. These answers will not only help farmers, but will also assist in ensuring food security for our increasing global population. The FAO estimates that 95% of our food is directly or indirectly produced from soil emphasising the need to sustain this non-renewable resource (FAO, 2015).
The health of South Africa’s soils has declined over the past 20 years. This is despite the report by the International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) classifying South African soils as very degraded in the early 1990’s (ISRIC, 2002). If this is the case, as scientists we have known about the increased soil degradation in South Africa for a long time. Why is it then that the health of the soil keeps on deteriorating even with almost 2 decades of knowing this? Have we not done enough practical research to inform and support the mitigation of negative effects on soil health? Or is the research not being properly communicated so as to influence the land managers which have the biggest influence on soil health? I fully understand that the weight of the issue should not only be falling on researchers, but governments along with farmers need to take responsibility as well.
Statistics on South African agricultural land use show that 69.7% of the land is under permanent pasture (DAFF, 2010). This means that in order to see significant improvements in soil health and restoration of degraded land, pasture managers should be the starting point. Poor soil health, coupled with the current devastating drought, means that farmers need to have a contingency plan in terms of managing for soil health. Although soil is a non-renewable resource, soil management practices can be
Grassroots
August 2017
Vol. 17, No.3
OPINION
12
Managing for soil health: The key to effective use of soil
Portia Phohlo
Woodlands Dairy, Boog Street, PO BOX 4, Humansdorp, 6300
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