Soil Management

Regenerative practices

Any process or action that enables a system to renew and recover from damage.

Degenerative agriculture

 Farming systems which reduce the overall sustainability of the soil and surrounding ecosystem.

Examples of degenerative agriculture

• use of synthetic fertilizers: Excess nutrients run off into nearby water bodies, causing eutrophication

• Ploughing land: there are no plant roots to hold the soil in place. Heavy rain or wind can carry nutrients away from plants, in the process of erosion

Regenerative farming 

Farming in a way that mimics nature’s processes; returns organic material to the soil, nurtures biodiverse crops, and disturbs soil as little as possible so as to mimic well-functioning ecosystems.

Regenerative farming techniques (3)

• preventing loss of soil nutrients

• preventing depletion of soil nutrients

• replacing soil nutrients 

Preventing loss of soil nutrients (6)

• cover crops

• planting windbreaks with terraces

• bunding

• contour ploughing

• mulching

• drainage canal

Cover crops

hold soil in place and protect the land from wind and rain erosion. 

Windbreaks and terraces 

Planting windbreaks (trees or shrubs) provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. This can be combined with terracing fields to prevent water erosion. The terraces slow down the movement of water so it can soak into soil where crops can use it

Bunding

involves creating raised beds or embankments, is another practice used on sloping land to reduce water erosion and run-off.

contour ploughing

helps stop water from flowing rapidly downhill where nutrients would be lost.

Mulching 

Fibrous material like straw or even cardboard can be placed over soil to protect it from erosion. This strategy also encourages decomposition and so increases nutrients.

Drainage canal

These allow water to be directed away from crops during heavy rains, reducing erosion and slowing the movement of water across the landscape.

Preventing depletion of soil nutrients (10)

• leaving a field fallow

• polyculture / mixed cropping

• strip cultivation

• herbal lees

• mycorrhizae

• crop rotation

• zero tillage

• minimize use of heavy machinery and livestock

• agroforestry

• contrinous cover forestry

Leaving a field fallow

Soil is left to rest for a growing season. Decomposers release nutrients into the soil before the field is replanted with another crop.

Polyculture / mixed cropping

Some plants have deep roots that bring nutrients to the surface making them more available for plants with shallow roots. Other plants have a mutualistic relationship with fungi and bacteria which can make scarce nutrients available for all of the crops

Strip cultivation

A method of farming which involves cultivating a field split into long, narrow strips which are alternated in a crop rotation system.

herbal lees 

  a kind of sown pasture made up of a mixture of grasses, legumes and herbs, which can be used to increase soil fertility and encourage biodiversity.

mycorrhizae

fungi that form a symbiotic relationship with plant roots. They help plants absorb nutrients and water from the soil. In return, the plants provide the fungi with carbohydrates.

Crop rotation

where different crops are planted in the field after each harvest. Each plant adds different organic material, and removes a different set of nutrients.

zero tilalge 

involves leaving the remaining organic matter after harvesting in the soil to decompose and return nutrients to the soil.

minimize the use of heavy machinery and livestock

avoid soil compaction. Compacted, dense soil has less air space and plants have a hard time growing in this soil texture. 

Agroforesty

Agroforesty combines agriculture and trees. This can involve grazing livestock or growing crops below trees. The benefits include increased biodiversity, improved soil structure and health, and reduced soil erosion

Continuous cover forestry 

It involves selectively thinning trees as opposed to 'clearfelling' in which most or all trees in an area are cut down. This method creates more diverse and resilient forests and can prevent soil compaction and erosion.

Replacing Soil Nutrients (4)

• composting

• cover cropping

• livestock grazing

• adding lime

Composting

Farmers can create compost by layering carbon rich materials like straw and wood chips, with nitrogen rich materials like grass cuttings, waste food, and animal manure. With ample water, this compost pile encourages bacteria growth and will quickly decompose to form a nutrient rich loam that can be added to soils.

Cover cropping 

 They can reduce nutrient depletion if they are left to decompose in the soil, and not removed as a harvest.

Livestock grazing

Animals grazing on cover crops or other plants add nutrients back to the soil from animal faeces, but farmers have to be careful to prevent soil compaction.

Adding lime

Lime or calcium hydroxide can raise soil pH if it is too low, increasing nutrients available to plants.