Improving Soil Fertility

Most agricultural wastes contain valuable nutrients that could be recycled back onto the land in order to improve soil fertility and increase the sustainability of farming systems. For example, in South Australia there are over 400000 pigs that produce about 2400ML of waste annually and this waste contains enough nitrogen to fertilise about 200000ha of wheat or barley. 

The most common way to use manure is to spread it uniformly over the garden area several weeks before planting and to turn it under. Two hundred and fifty to 500 pounds of large animal manure per 1000 square feet will improve soil fertility significantly while adding considerable organic material to the soil. One hundred to 200 pounds of poultry manure will suffice. 

Existing agricultural policy and extension techniques are not successful in increasing soil fertility. The recommendations of Lynn (1937) to improve soil fertility and food security in 1937 (Box 1) are the same as the focus of Ministry of Food and Agriculture in 2005 (GV2020 2005). 

He was impressed with traditional Indian farming practices and helped to develop and disseminate the making of compost piles from animal and vegetative waste, as well as the use of leguminous cover crops to improve soil fertility. 

Lack of knowledge on improving soil fertility, pest and disease control... 

In comparison with conventional agricultural methods, organic alternatives/ additives can improve soil fertility and have fewer detrimental effects on the environmental ecosystems. These alternatives can also produce equivalent crop yields to conventional methods. 

As a matter of principle, in organic farming the fullest use must be made of all measures available for improving soil fertility. These include careful preparation of the soil, avoidance of damage to the soil in tilling, optimization of humus levels, and application of farm-produced fertilizers. Optimum soil fertility ensures that the crop has an adequate supply of nutrients. Readily soluble N, P and Ca fertilizers are not allowed in organic... 

The supply of the coppice will be undertaken by Yorkshire Environmental Ltd., which will try to maximise the utilisation of biomass fuels supplied by short rotation forestry. Slurry of domestic treated sewage sludge supplied by Yorkshire Wafer Services Ltd. will be applied to the coppice plantations as organic fertiliser to increase crop yield. The sludge will be low in heavy metal, pathogens and odour. Waste ash from both the gasifier and the catalytic cracker will be recycled to the coppice plantations as a soil conditioner and source of base cations and micronutrients to improve soil fertility. 

To improve soil fertility and improve yield, nitrogen fertilizers are used in conventional cultivation methods. As synthetic fertilizers have environmental impacts, in the case of organic cultivation, livestock manure and legumes can be used to improve the soil condition, replacing the synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. It can be animal manure, green manure and compost. The type of organic fertilizer may be recommended based on the type and properties of soil (WWF Report, 2012). 

Cultivation of legumes (fava bean, pea, lupine) can improve soil fertility, reduce supply of nitrogen (N) fertiliser and, due to the tannins presence (Woodward et al, 2001), restrict CH production. In addition, legume grain, in some agricultural condition, such as Mediterranean area, can replace partially or totally soybean in ruminant diets (Cutrignelli et al, 2008). In this study the in vitro fermentation characteristics of six diets for ruminants with fava bean (Vicia faba minor) or solvent extracted (s.e.) soybean as protein sources were studied. 

Composting and using the compost to improve soil fertility ... 

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