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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Soil, Water & Air Resources Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #304826
Title: Soil biological fertility: Foundation for the next revolution in agriculture?

Author
item Hatfield, Jerry
item Walthall, Charles

Submitted to: Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/11/2015
Publication Date: 3/11/2015
Citation: Hatfield, J.L., Walthall, C.L. 2015. Soil biological fertility: Foundation for the next revolution in agriculture? Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis. 46:753-762. DOI: 10.1080/00103624.2015.1005227.

Interpretive Summary: Soil degradation reduces the potential of the soil to produce crops and provide the food and feed supply necessary to sustain the world’s population. It has been suggested that addition of organic material either as manure or compost would improve the soil; however, these changes occur over multiple years. We have investigated an approach of restoring the soil biological fertility as a means of increasing the capability of the soil to support crop production. We have been evaluating a manure based agrobiotic material as a means of increasing soil biological fertility have found the response time of the crop to the addition of these materials is months compared to years. Improving the soil has large advantages to more efficiently producing crops. These results will be of interest to producers and scientists.

Technical Abstract: Feeding the world’s population in 40 years will require improved efficiency in the use of plant nutrients and enhancement of the soil resource. Over the past 60 years, agricultural production has rapidly increased; however, continued degradation of the soil resource may limit further increases. Improving the soil through enhanced soil biological activity has been proposed as a method of increasing the capacity of the soil to produce crops. On-going evaluations of one soil biological fertilizer with a patented process to convert and complex manure into stable finished products (AgroBiotic fertilizers) have been conducted in research plots and producer fields and have shown a positive effect on grain yield and potato production. These effects are larger in soils with limited biological activity suggesting that adding this unique AgroBiotic fertilizer helps restore the biological nutrient cycling in the soil. New developments and innovations that improve nutrient availability and the efficacy of soil biological fertilizers have the potential to help restore degraded soils and improve their production efficiency and capacity to feed the world’s population.