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Soil health is a state of a soil meeting its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment. In more colloquial terms, the health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong together, as in microbiota, plants and animals.
Microbial inoculants, also known as soil inoculants or bioinoculants, are agricultural amendments that use beneficial rhizosphericic or endophytic microbes to promote plant health. Many of the microbes involved form symbiotic relationships with the target crops where both parties benefit . While microbial inoculants are applied to improve plant ...
Soil conditioners may be used to improve water retention in dry, coarse soils which are not holding water well. The addition of organic material for instance can greatly improve the water retention abilities of sandy soils and they can be added to adjust the pH of the soil to meet the needs of specific plants or to make highly acidic or ...
Lime can improve crop yield and the root system of plants and grass where soils are acidic. It does this by making the soil more basic, allowing the plants to absorb more nutrients. Lime is not a fertilizer but can be used in combination with fertilizers. [3] [4] Soils become acidic in several ways.
Research has also demonstrated that brown algae seaweed extracts can improve tomato plant growth, overall crop yield, and resistance to environmental stressors. [60] Additional documented benefits of using seaweed as a fertilizer include reduced transplant shock , increased leaf surface area, and increased sugar content.
Wood chips are an easy and affordable way to give your garden a boost. They're commonly used as mulch to suppress weeds, improve water retention, and reduce soil erosion.Beyond mulch, wood chips ...
Nutrient management can help to improve the fertility of the soil and the amount of organic matter content, which improves soil structure and function. Tilling the soil, or tillage, is the breaking of soil, such as with a plough or harrow, to prepare the soil for new seeds. Tillage systems vary in intensity and disturbance.
Phytoremediation technologies use living plants to clean up soil, air and water contaminated with hazardous contaminants. [1] It is defined as "the use of green plants and the associated microorganisms, along with proper soil amendments and agronomic techniques to either contain, remove or render toxic environmental contaminants harmless". [2]