Principles and Practices of Soil Resource Conservation

摘要: Soil and water are the essence of life essential for food production, urban, industrial recreational infrastructures. It is a known fact that soils degraded desertified by natural anthropogenic factors, also due to abrupt climate changes. Thus, soil must be used in such way as protect, enhance restore its functions. The survival projected 9.5 billion people 2050 depends on sustainable management world soils. Sustainability implies maintenance enhancement quality through judicious land use, recommended practices conservation-effective measures. strategy net primary production agronomic yields per unit area, input time intensification conservation tillage, mulch farming, complex cropping/farming systems including cover cropping agroforestry, integrated nutrient management, disease-suppressive soils, drip irrigation or subirrigation, condensation irrigation, precision soil-specific delivering plant nutrients directly roots so on. These ecosystem services, whereas increase C pools adapts mitigates change. As win-win strategy, it enhances environment, advances security promotes development. Key Concepts: Sustainable intensification: producing more from less while reducing environmental foot print agro ecosystems. aim minimize losses inputs (fertilizers, water, energy) use efficiency. Soil restoration: Term ‘soil quality’ refers productive capacity soil. Quality under ecosystems prone degradation misuse mismanagement. achieving necessitate restoration functions. Soil organic matter management: key determinant quality. threshold critical level root zone arable lands 1.1–1.5% weight basis. Yet, most managed extractive farming low 0.1%. goal content above level. Soil processes: Decline caused range processes. include physical processes (e.g. decline aggregation, crusting, compaction, erosion), chemical acidification, salinization, depletion, elemental imbalance) biological depletion matter, reduction microbial biomass, biodiversity). Ecosystem services soils: term economic ecologic goods provided Important among these food, fiber, fuel etc.; purification bio diversity, sequestration carbon, moderation others. Soil adaptation change: Judicious can resilience extreme events drought, heat wave, inundation) uncertain variable climate. Adaptation important minimizing risks changing climate. Climate-strategic agriculture: adoption agricultural practices, which reduce avail any new opportunities may emerge change climate. Soils global security: Being basic resource, advancing security. Between 2005 2050, doubled meet needs growing population dietary preferences toward animal-based over plant-based foods. Keywords: soil degradation; ecosystem services; climate change; food security; environmental quality; land