Organic soil management

Mulching is a key technique in organic soil management but it is also an incredibly useful way of suppressing weeds. A thick covering of a loose mulch will prevent weed seeds in the soil from germinating. A mulch membrane—such as cardboard or permeable plastic—laid over the soil will prevent weed growth. 

This has led to research into identification of labile pools of organic matter (which make up a relatively small proportion of the total pool) that are more sensitive to changes in soil management or environmental conditions than total soil organic matter content. Examples of such pools include C and N held in the microbial biomass and in particulate organic matter and in water-soluble, easily-extractable and potentially mineralizable fractions (Haynes 2005). 

The purpose of this paper is to review the significance of soil organic matter fractions, and the size and activity of the soil microbial community to the function of agricultural soils and investigate how land use and soil management affect these parameters. 

Davies B, Eagle D, Finney B (1997) Soil management. Farmingl049 Press, Ipswich, MA DEFRA (Department for environment, food and rural affairs) (2002) Action plan to develop organic food and farming in England. DEFRA, UK, pp 1-10... 

Shannon D, Sen AM, Johnson DB (2002) A comparative study of the microbiology of soils managed under organic and conventional regimes. Soil Use Manage 18 274-283... 

Werner MR (1997) Soil quality characteristics during conversion to organic orchard management. Appl Soil Ecol 5 151-167... 

By virtue of being unconsolidated and structureless in comparison with mineral soils, organic soils have much smaller bulk densities, greater porosities and water contents (>80%), and smaller load-bearing capacities. These factors make their artificial management highly problematic. 

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