In recent decades, two subtle yet significant changes have occurred in our
understanding of the health of our nation's soils. First, analysts have
estimated that the costs of soil erosion incurred by the general public are
greater than the private costs incurred by farmers. And second, scientists
have expanded the concept of healthy, well-functioning soils to include
their ability to generate environmental benefits--such as sequestering
atmospheric carbon and buffering chemical runoff--in addition to supporting
crop growth. Yet, our inability to quantify soil health, or to predict how
changes in soils affect all environmental functions, hampers the design of
public policy to achieve environmental benefits along with crop productivity.
Dr. Edward Jaenicke of the University of Tennessee has studied the links
between soil health and broader environmental impacts. His new report for
the Wallace Institute, "From the Ground Up: Exploring Soil Quality's
Contribution to Environmental Health," investigates the current state of
scientific knowledge on soil quality, and identifies research gaps to be
filled before soil policies can target potential social benefits. It
suggests a number of soil-quality initiatives that can be implemented now,
based on current knowledge. The report identifies several
soil-quality-related issues that are particularly timely, given ongoing
scientific investigations and policy discussions:
Global climate change. Healthy soils have the potential to sequester vast
amounts of atmospheric carbon. Already, at least one public utility
encourages farmers to adopt tillage practices known to increase soil carbon
levels.
Precision farming. Site-specific, or precision farming
technologies--including yield monitors, global positioning systems, and
variable rate applications of nutrients, pesticides, and irrigation
water--hold promise to increase the efficient use of farm inputs. If used
with better science about soil quality's environmental benefits, these
tools might also diminish farming's adverse environmental impacts.
Food safety. By reducing the need for certain pesticides, healthy soil
ecosystems may contribute to food safety. Scientists have found that
healthy soils can strengthen plant pest-defense systems, suppress root
diseases, and allow beneficial insects, microbes, and other soil organisms
to help control pests.
Copies of the Wallace Institute's new report are available for $10.00
each, or may be viewed or printed from the Institute's Web site
(http://www.hawiaa.org) after November 6, 1998.
Henry A Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture
9200 Edmonston Rd Ste 117
Greenbelt MD 20770-1551
Phone: 301-441-8777
Fax: 301-220-0164
Web site: www.hawiaa.org
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