Soil Health Within Soil Security

Despite the definite links between soil and human health, it is likely that most people do not think about soil when considering human health. There is a disconnect between most people in our modern society and soil, and when people notice soil it is often in a negative context. People care for things that matter to them, and creating a more positive public image of soil could improve human health by leading to better treatment and understanding of the soil resource. There are a number of concepts that may be able to connect people to the soil, including terroir, soil health and soil security. While terroir originally established a connection between those who appreciate wine and the soils that produce those wines, the concept has been expanded to many additional products. It might be possible to provide a terroir link to human health benefits if they can be shown to be characteristic of a given soil environment. The concept of soil health has caught on with many farmers, policymakers, scientists and the general public, thus providing another possible approach to improve peoples’ connection with soil. Soil security is a recent concept that has been advanced as a way to take advantage of the connection that concepts such as energy, food and water security have made with policymakers. Therefore, we advocate a concerted effort to investigate terroir, soil health and soil security as concepts to improve overall human health. Soil health and soil security might have the most promise, and some social marketing campaigns that include soil health are ongoing. Highlights Soil is important to human health. A disconnect exists between the urban population and soil. Education about soil can rebuild these connections. Concepts such as terroir, soil health or soil security might help make connections.

The long-term sustainability of Australian agriculture is fundamentally constrained by the capacity, condition, availability, and governance of soil resources. Australian soils are among the oldest and most weathered globally, highly heterogeneous, and often slow or effectively irreversible to recover once degraded. Traditional approaches centred on soil health, while valuable at paddock scale, are insufficient to address national-scale challenges related to spatial variability, data continuity, economic valuation, and policy integration. This paper examines soil security as a policy-relevant framework for supporting more sustainable Australian agriculture. Building on the dimensions of soil security (capacity, condition, capital, connectivity, and codification), we synthesise recent Australian case studies to show how soil security extends beyond soil health to integrate biophysical properties, digital soil infrastructure, socio-economic value, and governance mechanisms. Drawing on recent Australian case studies, this review identifies advances in digital soil mapping, national soil assessments, economic valuation of soil capital, stakeholder connectivity, and emerging policy frameworks, while also identifying persistent gaps in regulation, data standardisation, and institutional coordination. The paper argues that soil security can help operationalise 3-N agriculture—Net-Zero, Nature-Positive, and Nutrient-Balanced systems—by translating sustainability goals into spatially explicit, place-based decisions grounded in soil realities. By explicitly accounting for soil capacity limits, condition trajectories, capital value, information flows, and codified rules, soil security can support more realistic climate mitigation strategies, targeted nature-positive interventions, and durable nutrient security outcomes. We conclude that embedding soil security more explicitly within Australian agricultural research, policy, and governance would strengthen efforts to deliver productive, resilient, and socially legitimate food and fibre systems. Without soil security, sustainability frameworks may remain difficult to operationalise consistently; with soil security, they can be translated more effectively into measurable, place-based, and durable decisions.

Chapter 16 - Legume-based inter-cropping to achieve the crop, soil, and environmental health security

Core Ideas There is a need for quantitative soil quality, health, and security assessment. Pros and cons of indication systems used in soil and ecological studies. Axiomatic criteria advance soil quality, health, and security indices. There are profound shortcomings of widely used soil indicators and indices. Linking soil science and econometrics improves soil indicators/indices. Soil scientists have worked on the conceptualization and contextualization of soil‐related notions, such as soil quality, soil health, and soil security, over the past few decades. We reviewed the massive amount of literature regarding those major concepts, and summarized definitions, visions, and constraints. Indicators (In) and indices (Ix) are well suited to aggregate soil and environmental data to assess soil quality, health, and security quantitatively. Our literature review showed that (i) more sophisticated quantification methods are necessary; (ii) often only a single soil property and/or class is modeled rather than more complex soil functions, risks, or services; (iii) there is a lack of harmonization, standardization, and reference frameworks that allow soil comparisons across regions and time; and (iv) methods frequently used to calculate soil In/Ix, such as ordination and factor analysis, do not consider rigorous axiomatic criteria of scientific sound indication systems. In summary, the complex soil concepts stand in sharp contrast to the applied indication methods in the soil science discipline. We investigated the potential to apply econometrical methods to assess soil quality, health, and security that serve as alternatives to more traditional In/Ix in soil science. A case study demonstrated the profound transformative potential of linking econometrics–soil–environmental sciences.

Climate change (CC), which is a very challenging task today, affects the availability of food, water, and essential nutrients. Human and natural direct and indirect activities disturb our environment and ecosystem through changing climate due to an emission of several leading greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Soil is the largest reservoir of natural organic 144carbon, essential nutrients and a harbor of various above ground and below-ground organism which directly and indirectly affects the food production system and human health under the era of changing the climate. Healthy soils have abundant organic carbon (organic matter) which is decomposed by the microorganism and release essential nutrients to plants and tree species on which all organism like animals and human depends for food. Therefore, a strong relationship exists among soil-food-health under the situation of changing the climate. Thus, healthy soil satisfies the human's food and nutritional needs along with CC mitigation. For healthy and quality soils, there is a need for better scientific management and farming practices which can solve the problem of extreme weather and food and nutrient insecurity under the changing climatic situations. Practices like agroforestry, conservation agriculture, non-till farming, mixed farming, integrated farming practices, overall we can say climate-smart agriculture and climate-smart soil management practices can minimize the problem of global warming and reduce the emission of GHGs to a considerable extent. Therefore, a great nexus among soil security, food security, and climate and health security, and these overall securities can be achieved through good management and scientific farming practices along with an implementation of existing several government policies, efficient non-government organizations works, and private agencies and organization.

Soil DNA represents the genetic material of diverse soil organisms, serving as a crucial indicator of microbial diversity, ecosystem functions, and soil health. Soil security means protecting and managing soil to support healthy ecosystems, good crop growth, and a clean environment. By studying soil microbes through DNA analysis, we can detect problems and improve soil health. New molecular methods help restore degraded soils and ensure sustainable land use. Extracting DNA from soil involves direct and indirect methods, each with distinct benefits and limitations concerning yield, purity, and inhibitor presence. Direct methods, such as PEG/NaCl, bead beating, and mannitol-based protocols, isolate DNA directly from the soil matrix, while indirect methods rely on cultivating microorganisms prior to DNA extraction. The purity and quality of extracted DNA are essential and are evaluated through spectrophotometric ratios (A260/A280 and A260/A230). The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) serves as a fundamental method in molecular biology, facilitating the amplification of targeted DNA regions such as 16S rRNA genes for identifying bacteria and ITS regions for characterizing fungi. PCR products are analyzed through gel electrophoresis and sequencing, enabling microbial identification and functional analysis. Despite challenges such as contamination and inhibitors, advancements in soil DNA extraction and amplification significantly enhance our ability to assess soil health, contributing to sustainable soil management and ecological security. This topic explores methods for soil DNA extraction, sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis, focusing on their use in tracking and improving soil health. The Mannitol-PBS-CTAB method stands out for its efficiency, delivering high DNA yields and purity (A260/230: 2.07; A260/280: 1.85), making it ideal for precise downstream applications. This method reduces contamination, ensuring high-quality DNA essential for PCR and sequencing. Such techniques are vital for profiling microbial communities, identifying beneficial microbes to enhance crop productivity, diagnosing soil degradation, and advancing ecological restoration, Soil security.

The importance of soil education to connectivity as a dimension of soil security

Soil health and global sustainability: translating science into practice

Understanding and managing soil change is an important component of maintainingsoil health and soil security which is important for the future of agricultural productivity inVictoria. Historically, soil policy in Victoria has been dealt with on the basis of a single issue.With the emergence of farming systems thinking, and the concept of soil health and soilsecurity, a more holistic approach is now being taken. A seven-step policy framework has beendeveloped that promotes dialogue between scientist and policy makers. The questions it asks(what is the problem and how can it be solved?) clarify the role of government investment, anddeveloping partnerships between science and policy, enables early identification of potentialpolicy problems and development of appropriate policy interventions to manage soil changeand ultimately soil health, soil security and soil productivity.

Earthworms are primary candidates for national soil health monitoring as they are ecosystem engineers that benefit both food production and ecosystem services associated with soil security. Supporting farmers to monitor soil health could help to achieve the policy aspiration of sustainable soils by 2030 in England; however, little is known about how to overcome participation barriers, appropriate methodologies (practical, cost-effective, usefulness) or training needs. This paper presents the results from a pilot #60minworms study which mobilised farmers to assess over >1300 ha farmland soils in spring 2018. The results interpretation framework is based on the presence of earthworms from each of the three ecological groups at each observation (20 x 20 cm x 20 cm pit) and spatially across a field (10 soil pits). Results showed that most fields have basic earthworm presence and abundance, but 42% fields may be over-worked as indicated by absence/rarity of epigeic and/or anecic earthworms. Tillage had a negative impact (p < 0.05) on earthworm populations and organic matter management did not mitigate tillage impacts. In terms of farmer participation, Twitter and Farmers Weekly magazine were highly effective channels for recruitment. Direct feedback from participants included excellent scores in trust, value and satisfaction of the protocol (e.g. 100% would do the test again) and 57% would use their worm survey results to change their soil management practices. A key training need in terms of earthworm identification skills was reported. The trade-off between data quality, participation rates and fieldwork costs suggests there is potential to streamline the protocol further to #30minworms (5 pits), incurring farmer fieldwork costs of approximately £1.48 ha-1. At national scales, £14 million pounds across 4.7 M ha-1 in fieldwork costs per survey could be saved by farmer participation.

A matrix based on the six global challenges identified for soil security (food security, water security, energy security, climate change abatement, human health, biodiversity protection) and the dimensions of soil security (capability, condition, capital, connectivity, codification) is proposed as a tool to demonstrate the links between soil security, sustainable land management and soil and land evaluation. The matrix was tested using a number of published systems of sustainable land management (SLM) practices and soil and land evaluation systems. This approach clearly validated the value and potential of the soil security concept in developing and promoting sustainable land management practices. However, it also identified several issues that need further discussion and consideration including the following: the need for a realignment of the definitions of capability and condition in the soil security concept; the recognition that soil capability cannot be assessed separately from land and site characteristics; the need for more emphasis on land management practices especially in the interaction with capability to produce the resultant soil condition; and clearer, more specific definitions of what is included under the dimensions of connectivity and codification.

Soil health and soil security are intrinsically interconnected with food and nutrition security. Hence, their improvement is necessary for a normal functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, including but not limited to increasing biodiversity and crop productivity and improving people’s livelihoods. This chapter reviews the soil fertility status across various agro-ecological or geographic regions of Nepal, soil-related constraints to crop production, factors affecting soil fertility decline, improved soil management practices, soil-related policies and strategies, and contribution of soil to food and nutrition security in the country. Comparisons with south Asian literature are also made wherever relevant. Soils show spatial variability across agro-ecological or geographic regions. Soils across hills and mountains are light-textured, shallow, and susceptible to erosion while low-lying areas including Terai have heavy textured soils with greater depth, and prone to flooding. Majority of the soils in the country are acidic, low in organic carbon and total nitrogen, and deficient in zinc, boron, and molybdenum. Soil fertility is in declining trend mainly due to soil nutrient mining, depletion of soil organic matter, soil erosion in hills and mountains, and inappropriate use of chemical fertilizers in Terai region. Long-term cropping systems experiments conducted across research centers and farmers’ fields have indicated that integrated nutrient management with organic inputs and inorganic fertilizers is necessary for maintaining soil nutrient balance and enhancing productivity, profitability, and sustainability of cropping systems. The contribution of soil to food and nutrition security is discussed in relation to the importance of improved soil management practices including the use of organic inputs (manures, compost, residues), inorganic fertilizers, legumes in crop rotation, green manures, cover crops, and mulching, in-situ manuring, strip cropping, hedgerow/alley cropping, and practicing reduced or minimum tillage within the framework of integrated plant nutrient management. Improving soil information systems and site-specific nutrient management using digital technologies such as digital soil maps, mobile soil testing labs, and Nutrient Expert-based site-specific nutrient recommendations are also discussed. The chapter also highlights policy implications and recommendations for increasing food security through maintaining soil health and soil security and achieving various SDGs, in particular SDG #2 (end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition), #6 (water quality), #13 (climate action), and #15 (life on land) in Nepal.KeywordsDigital soil mapFertilizer recommendationFood securityNutrient managementSoil management practices

The challenges of environmental degradation caused by the human demands and climate change have led to soil degradation. As a way forward, the adoption of water, energy, food, and soil security are viewed as a long-term solution to address these problems. This mini review presents an overview of the capacity of enhancing soil health through the integration of biobased residues (BBR) as a sustainable soil amendment. The perspective of how the use of BBR fits within the concept of soil health and soil security, and how it relates to sustainability indicators was also evaluated. Furthermore, the use of BBR was assessed using criteria considered important for soil and crop performance, and an overall evaluation of sustainable outcomes. We concluded that the application of BBR to agriculture offered a sustainable approach to address current environmental challenges, including the diversion of landfill organic wastes to agricultural land.

Re-politicising soils: What is the role of soil framings in setting the agenda?

Climate change imposes biotic and abiotic stresses on soil and plant health all across the planet. Beneficial rhizobacterial genera, such as Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Paraburkholderia, Rhizobium, Serratia, and others, are gaining popularity due to their ability to provide simultaneous nutrition and protection of plants in adverse climatic conditions. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria are known to boost soil and plant health through a variety of direct and indirect mechanisms. However, various issues limit the wider commercialization of bacterial biostimulants, such as variable performance in different environmental conditions, poor shelf-life, application challenges, and our poor understanding on complex mechanisms of their interactions with plants and environment. This study focused on detecting the most recent findings on the improvement of plant and soil health under a stressful environment by the application of beneficial rhizobacteria. For a critical and systematic review story, we conducted a non-exhaustive but rigorous literature survey to assemble the most relevant literature (sorting of a total of 236 out of 300 articles produced from the search). In addition, a critical discussion deciphering the major challenges for the commercialization of these bioagents as biofertilizer, biostimulants, and biopesticides was undertaken to unlock the prospective research avenues and wider application of these natural resources. The advancement of biotechnological tools may help to enhance the sustainable use of bacterial biostimulants in agriculture. The perspective of biostimulants is also systematically evaluated for a better understanding of the molecular crosstalk between plants and beneficial bacteria in the changing climate towards sustainable soil and plant health.