News letter Jan-Jun 2004 (ICAR-IISS, Bhopal)

Abstract

Maintaining soil quality has become an essential need for sustaining higher agricultural productivity, employing holistic (as opposed to the traditional reductionistic) approach and evolving appropriate management practices compatible with total ecology by addressing soil, comprising physical, chemical and biological components, as a whole rather than the sum of their separate parts. The concept of soil quality is gaining momentum because of soils multiple functions namely, (i) the ability of soilto enhance plant and biological productivity, (ii) the ability of soil to attenuate environmental contaminants, pathogens and offsite damages and (iii) the interrelationship between soil quality and plant, animal, and human health. Sustaining higher agriculture productivity mandates maintenance of soil quality.