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Site Map   Learning Modules   Discussion Archives	What is Soil Health? "Soil health" is an evolving, though certainly not new, concept that has steadily been gaining acceptance among farmers, practitioners and scientists over the past few years. People understandably have different ideas on what it actually means. In the narrowest definition, soil health has been suggested to be the minimization of the number and activity of soilborne plant disease organisms and soilborne insect pests. However, a broader definition that places the soil within a wider context is probably a wiser choice for our Soil Health Portal. Below are 1) the ideas of David Wolfe at Cornell Univeristy and 2) Peter Trutmann's comments on Doran and Zeiss' definition of soil health that in appeared in Applied Soil Ecology (15:3-11) during 2000: 1) Soil health refers to the integration of biological with chemical and physical approaches to soil management for long term sustainability of crop productivity with minimal impact on the environment. "Healthy" soils maintain a diverse community of soil organisms that: help to control plant disease, insect and weed pests: form beneficial symbiotic associations with plant roots (e.g., nitrogen fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi); recycle essential plant nutrients; improve soil structure (e.g., aggregate stability) with positive repercussions for soil water and nutrient holding capacity; and ultimately improve crop production. Examples of management practices for maximizing soil health would include: maintaining vegetative cover on the land year-round to increase organic matter input and minimize soil erosion; more reliance on biological as opposed to chemical approaches to maintain crop productivity (e.g., rotation with legume and disease-suppressive cover crops); and avoiding use of heavy equipment on wet soils to avoid soil compaction. David W. Wolfe, Ph.D. Professor, Dept. of Horticulture Cornell University Ithaca, NY 2) Soil health is the capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, with ecosystem and landuse boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and promote plant and animal health (Doran and Zeiss, 2000, Applied Soil Ecology 15:3-11). This definition indicates need of the soil to function as a vital living system to sustain biological productivity, promote environmental quality and maintain plant and animal health. To us 'soil health' emphasizes a unique property of biological systems, since inert components cannot be sick or healthy. Management of soil health thus becomes synonymous with "management of the living portion of the soil to maintain the essential functions of the soil to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and promote plant and animal health". Dr. Peter Trutmann Director International Integrated Pest Management Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-4203
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