Soil Renewal and Sustainability - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 477

17 Soil Renewal and

Sustainability

Richard M. Cruse, Scott Lee, Thomas E. Fenton,
Enheng Wang, and John Laflen

CONTENTS
17.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 477
17.2 Soil Resources and Agriculture Production ............................................... 478
17.3 Climate Implications .................................................................................. 479
17.4 Agriculture and Soil Erosion ...................................................................... 480
17.5 Soil Development and Agriculture ............................................................. 480
17.6 Soil Renewal Rates ..................................................................................... 481
17.7 History of Tolerable Soil Loss ( T ) .............................................................. 485
17.8 Erosional Impact on Productivity ............................................................... 488
17.9 Erosional Impact on Productivity—China Perspective .............................. 492
17.10 Soil Sustainability ....................................................................................... 495
Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... 496
References .............................................................................................................. 497

17.1 INTRODUCTION
“The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself”—Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd
president of the United States. Volumes of evidence, including failed civilizations,
real-time observations, and extensive refereed research testify to the absolute neces-
sity of productive soils to meet the growing demands of a world struggling to feed
its people. Human wisdom and the desire to sustain or improve standards of liv-
ing or even insure survival of future generations should offer sufficient incentive to
make sustaining the world's soil resource base a top priority. Too often, however,
soil sustainability has been a lower priority than the short-term goal of maximiz-
ing production and/or profit at the lowest possible cost, which has led to risky soil
management choices, resulting in widespread soil erosion, soil structure deteriora-
tion, salinization, and/or organic matter depletion. Most agricultural soils have been
degraded such that agricultural production potential has been compromised to some
extent; as much as 25% of the world's agricultural soils have been damaged such
that they cannot be reliably used for agricultural purposes (Food and Agriculture
Organization [FAO] 2011). Yet elevated crop yields seem increasingly necessary as
increasing agricultural productivity on existing lands is viewed as necessary to meet

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