Soil Management for Sustaining Ecosystem Services - Principles of Sustainable Soil Management in Agroecosystems - page 531

and exacerbating difficulties of “distribution of scarcity” and achieving “global
water use efficiency.” This also implies that virtual water import for a water-poor,
but land-rich, country is not a viable option toward sustainable water management
(Kumar and Singh 2005). The global strategy of improving land use efficiency can-
not be achieved by the ever-increasing trade in virtual water.
19.6 SOIL QUALITY INDEX AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT
Sustainable management of SQ is crucial to advancing and achieving regional and
global food security. In this regard, key soil parameters have been identified and
used to develop a soil quality index (SQI), of which there are numerous examples
(Lal 1994; Doran and Jones 1996; Karlen et al. 1997, 2001; Andrews et al. 2004;
Moebius et al. 2007; Gugino et al. 2009; USDA-NRCS 1998). Despite notable
advances in the development of computer-based techniques to assess the SQI, it
is the one that scientists can quantify and farmers can comprehend and relate to.
Thus, it has been argued that scientific SQ knowledge must be relevant to farmer
SQ knowledge. Tesfahunegn et al. (2011) observed for the Mai-Negus catchment
in Northern Ethiopia, that scientifically measured soil attributes significantly dif-
fered among SQ categories identified by local farmers. Tesfahunegn and colleagues
opined that farmer-derived SQ status (e.g., low, medium, high) may be crucial in
providing a rational basis to decision makers and other stakeholders. Policy makers
are well advised to be aware of emerging possibilities from this rapidly developing
theme of sustainable soil management (Powlson et al. 2011). Judicious policy inter-
ventions are needed toward application of BMPs and proven technological options,
through incentivization or education for enhancing awareness, to address emerging
issues. Translation of scientific knowledge into an action plan necessitates a con-
tinued dialogue between the scientists on the one hand and policy makers and land
managers on the other.
19.7 CONCLUSIONS
Research and development priorities must be identified and implemented to promote
adoption of BMPs based on basic principles of soil science for sustainable manage-
ment of cropland, pastureland, forestland, peatland, urban lands, and other natural
and managed ecosystems ( Figure 19.4 ). Important among basic principles are the
following: soils must never be taken for granted; nutrients removed must be replaced;
soil degradation is exacerbated by desperateness, and it makes a society vulnerable
to civil strife and political unrest; soil can be a source or a sink of GHGs depend-
ing on land use and management; and sustainable soil management is an engine of
economic development. While advancing and strengthening the basic science, it is
important to establish and improve channels of communication between scientists,
policy makers, and land managers. Scientific principles must be used to develop
decision support systems for policy makers and for incentivization of land managers
toward adoption of BMPs. Myths about its importance to human wellbeing and envi-
ronment quality must be replaced by facts through doing good science, developing
better curricula, and improving communication.