Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
DNA extraction techniques or ribosomal RNA are developing (Thies, 2006). The soil
assessment approach can be seen as Figure 13.7 as developed by de la Rosa et al. (2003).
De la Rosa and Sobral (2007) have indicated that the general principles of sustainable
agriculture practices should aim to
• Increase organic matter content
• Decrease erosion
• Improve water iniltration
• Decrease subsoil compaction
• Increase water holding capacity
• Decrease the leaching of agrochemicals in to the groundwater
A variety of innovated agroecological innovations could be employed (Uphoff et al.,
2006) for sustainable agriculture. Some biological techniques include biorehabilitation of
the soil, composting and vermicomposting and bioremediation of organic contaminants
such as pesticides. For an area in Azarbaijan, six agroecological land evaluation models
of the MicroLEIS DSS software were used to evaluate and compare strategies for land use
(Shahbazi et al., 2008). Results from soil morphology and analytical data were studied.
It was determined that 45% of the area was classiied as suitable for agricultural use,
whereas 12% must be reforested and not used for agriculture to minimize the land deg-
radation. The crop rotation of wheat-alfalfa-soybean was selected as the best. Overall,
the tool was appropriate for evaluation of sustainable agroecological systems in semiarid
regions.
13.5.3.1 Sustainability Indicators: Observations and Comments
The use of
soil quality
as an indicator for sustainability in agricultural production has a
history of almost 30 years. The use of soil quality as a tool for assessing the health of a
soil with particular reference to agricultural purposes was irst discussed in the late 1970s
(Warkentin and Fletcher, 1977). The term
soil health
, which was (and may still be) used by
farmers, refers to the functional capability of the soil to support crops and other plants.
With the quantiication procedures indicated in this section, it is seen that a structured
effort is being made in agriculture to meet the goals and requirements for sustainable agri-
culture. The production of quantiication techniques for soil quality provides the means
for comparing the dynamic state of the agricultural soil, and offers the opportunity to
develop the methodology for determination of soil quality indices. As with the other soil
quality indices developed for the various soil function discussed in Section 13.3.1, these
agricultural soil quality indices are the necessary constituents of the indicators for agricul-
tural soil sustainability.
13.5.4 Petroleum Oil Well Redevelopment
The Damson Oil Site in California near Venice Beach is an abandoned oil well that stopped
production in 1989 (CCLR, 2000). Damson deconstructed the facilities in 1991. However,
after the oil wells were capped, the company iled for bankruptcy leaving soils contami-
nated with hydrocarbons, sumps with oil and sludge from the extraction process, vaults
with oil, and several miles of pipeline. Further contamination occurred as a result of delib-
erate dumping of debris by passers by. Since it was deemed too expensive to restore the
Search WWH ::
Custom Search