Improvement of nutrient efficiency and soil fertility in agriculture – practice-oriented integrated assessment and advisory procedure for rapid assessment of soil structure in the field

Financed by the Federal Foundation for the Environment and the Ministry of Energy transition, Agriculture, Environment, Nature and Digitalisation Schleswig-Holstein

Project goal

The natural soil regulation and the corresponding resource efficiency is decisively determined by the soil structure. Stagnating or declining yield performances and the consequences of climate change will increase the importance of the soil structure in the future. The aim of this research project is to develop a practically relevant consulting tool to analyse the soil structure in top and subsoils. Common pedological methods are being combined with high-resolution photo-analytical methods to identify the characteristics of the concrete soil structure.
 

Procedure

The research takes place on 45 typical arable sites in Schleswig-Holstein. The nature zones were selected according to the proportional arable use. The first step requires a selection of the locations and a following sampling of the top and subsoil. Initially, the disturbed and undisturbed samples will be analysed through common pedological methods (i.a., pH value, nutrient content, pore size distribution, saturated water conductivity, air conductivity). In the further course, the pore system will be examined in detail through photo-analytical methods at different scale levels. The additional examination of yield performances at selected locations will be used to identify the transformation qualities of the soil structure and to compare it with the pedological examinations. In a second step, the results will be evaluated, blended and processed statistically with an evaluation matrix, which forms the basis of the consulting tool. A combination of high-resolution footage and appropriate visual criteria will assist the user in rapidly assessing the structural conditions in the field. Finally, it could also be transferred into an app.