Principles of Soil Management - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 12

TABLE 1.7
Basic Principles of Soil Management

Law Description

1. Causes of soil degradation The biophysical process of soil degradation is driven by economic,

social, and political forces.
Vulnerability to degradation depends on “how” rather than “what”
is grown.

2. Soil stewardship and human
suffering

When people are poverty stricken, desperate, and starving, they
pass on their sufferings to the land.

3. Nutrient, carbon, and water
bank

It is not possible to take more out of a soil than what is put in
without degrading its quality.
Only by replacing what is taken can a soil be kept fertile,
productive, and responsive to inputs.

4. Marginality principle Marginal soils cultivated with marginal inputs, produce marginal

yields, and support marginal living.
Recycling is a good strategy especially when there is something to
recycle.

5. Organic versus inorganic
source of nutrients

Plants cannot differentiate the nutrients supplied through inorganic
fertilizers or organic amendments.

6. Soil carbon and greenhouse
effect

Mining C has the same effect on global warming, whether it is
through mineralization of soil organic matter and extractive
farming, or burning fossil fuels or draining peat soils.
Soil can be a source of sink of GHGs depending on land use and
management.

7. Soil versus germplasm The potential of elite varieties can be realized only if grown under

optimal soil conditions.
Even the elite varieties cannot extract water and nutrients from any
soil where they do not exist.

8. Soil and global warming Soil is integral to any strategy of mitigating global warming and

improving the environment.

9. Engine of economic
development

Sustainable management of soils is the engine of economic
development, political stability, and transformation of rural
communities in developing countries.

10. Traditional knowledge and
modern innovations

Sustainable management of soil implies the use of modern
innovation built upon traditional knowledge.
Those who refuse to use modern science to address urgent global
issues must be prepared to endure more suffering.

Sources: Lal, R., Agron Sustain Develop 29: 7-9, 2009; Lal, R., J Soil Water Conserv 64: 20A-21A, 2009.

realize that, when people are poverty stricken, desperate, and starving, they pass
on their sufferings to the land. The stewardship concept is important only when the
basic needs are adequately met. A sermon about the virtues of saving a tree falls on
deaf ears when there is no fuel for cooking the family meal. In other words, starving
people do not care about stewardship (Bartlett 2004).