Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
1
What Makes a Healthy Soil?
Perceptions of Soil Health
Soil scientists used to speak of soil quality, a concept expressing a soil's “fitness
for purpose.” The prime purpose was for agriculture and the production of food
and fiber. However, to the general public soil quality is a rather abstract con-
cept and in recent years the term has been replaced by soil health. A significant
reason for this change is that health is a concept that resonates with people in a
personal sense. This change is epitomized in the motto “healthy soil = healthy
food = healthy people” on the website of the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania
One consequence of this change is an increasing focus on the state of the soil's
biology, or life in the soil, an emphasis that is expressed through the promotion
of organic and biodynamic systems of farming. Viticulture and winemaking are
at the forefront of this trend. For example, Jane Wilson (2008), a vigneron in the
Mudgee region of New South Wales, is quoted as saying, “the only way to build
soil and release a lot of the available minerals is by looking after the biology,” and
Steve Wratten (2009), professor of ecology at Lincoln University in New Zealand
has said, “Organic viticulture rocks! It's the future, it really is.” This exuberance has
been taken up by Organic Winegrowers
1
New Zealand, founded only in 2007,
1
The term “winegrowing” refers to the integrated process of growing grapes and making wine.
Grapegrowers and winemakers are collectively called “winegrowers.”
1
