Welcome to The UC Davis Global Soil Health Portal: Planting Seeds of Soil Health
Soil Health* Challenges:
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From salinity, to low organic matter, to polluted soils, soil challenges in agriculture are regionally specific and need regionally calibrated solutions
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Here, you can find information on agricultural soil health challenges including definitions, diagnoses, and recommendations to alleviate problems
Our goal is to provide:
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Background on regionally-specific soil health challenges across the globe
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Diagnose problems
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Potential solutions
This website is your access point to the wealth of current global soil health information.
How this site is organized:
This soil health portal is organized by climatic zones and soil challenges. Users can locate their specific regional climate on the map and browse various global climates through the climatic zones tab. A variety of globally derived resources addressing challenges to soil health are aggregated for use under the soil challenges tab. Please leave comments, we appreciate feedback.
*Soil health has been defined as:
"Soil health is the capacity of soil to function as a living system, with ecosystem and land use boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and promote plant and animal health. Healthy soils maintain a diverse community of soil organisms that help to control plant disease, insect and weed pests, form beneficial symbiotic associations with plant roots; recycle essential plant nutrients; improve soil structure with positive repercussions for soil water and nutrient holding capacity, and ultimately improve crop production" (Food and Agriculture Organization; United Nations)
“Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soils to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. (National Resource Conservation Service; United States Government)
