Towards enhanced adoption of soil-improving management practices in Europe

Sustainable agricultural soil management practices are key to restore, maintainand improve soil health. The European Joint Programme for SOIL (EJP SOIL)has identified twelve main soil challenges in Europe. To assess the potentialand eventually increase the adoption of soil-improving management practices,it is necessary to know (i) the current levels of adoption of the practices,(ii) socio-technical barriers influencing their adoption, and (iii) their bio-physical limits. This study compiled an inventory of soil-improving manage-ment practices relevant to European conditions, and used a survey among soilscientists to assess the levels of adoption of these practices in Europe. In total,53 soil management practices were identified that address one or several of thesoil challenges. The adoption of most practices was low or spatially heteroge-neous across Europe, highlighting region-specific limitations to sustainable soilmanagement. Qualitative interviews were conducted to explore the importanceof socio-technical aspects of adoption. Using conservation agriculture as anexample, factors that can hinder adoption included the availability of knowl-edge and adequate machinery, financial risks, and farming traditions. Througha modelling approach, 54% of arable land in Europe was found to be suitablefor cover cropping, indicating that the adoption of soil management practicesis frequently limited by climatic constraints. We propose a region-specificapproach that recognizes the importance of identifying and overcoming socio-technical barriers, and by acknowledging bio-physical limits that may beexpanded by innovation.

Keywords

conservation agriculture, cover crops, EJP SOIL, soil challenges, soil degradation, soil health, soil restoration, soil threats, sustainable soil management

Citation

European Journal of Soil Science, 2024, Vol. 75 :e13483

URI

https://bc.iung.pl/handle/123456789/1224

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