Compost and other organic substances can make an important contribution to the non-chemical prevention of soil born diseases in plants. This is one of the conclusions of a symposium about soil health held on 27 June in Wageningen, the Netherlands. The fact that the soil can also offer a wealth of valuable information, with major implications for social issues that may at first sight seem unrelated, was one of the most remarkable deductions of this successful day.
Compost can strengthen agriculture and other ecosystems in a natural way. Optimising the disease-prevention capacity of the soil may in some cases actually involve using more compost than is legally permitted. Such a conclusion is at odds with government plans to make the burning of compost made from GFT (vegetables, fruit and garden waste) compulsory in the future.
Participants at the symposium were in agreement that the analysis, mapping and use of soil represent a major challenge. The largest part of our biodiversity is actually in the soil, yet this has hardly been characterised due to the complexity of these ecosystems. Knowledge of the soil has exceptional value for various important social goals, such as the development of new medicines and natural crop protection techniques.
The presumption over the centuries has always been that the soil must have sufficient buffering. We have randomly excavated, buried, built, rebuilt and polluted. Only in recent years have we paused to consider whether our soil is healthy enough to cope with the agricultural and natural functions that are involved in the current intensive use. The subsiding of roads and fields, and the decay of the foundations are partly the consequence of worsening soil health. The symposium, entitled "How healthy are we making our soil How can we make our soil healthy", was jointly organised by Applied Research Plant and Environment (PPO), the Department of Plant Science of Wageningen University and Plant Research International.
List of press releases for 2002