Towards enhanced adoption of soil‐improving management practices in Europe-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Towards enhanced adoption of soil‐improving management practices in Europe

Published:2024-03 Issue:2 Volume:75 Page:
ISSN:1351-0754
Container-title:European Journal of Soil Science
language:en
Short-container-title:European J Soil Science

Author:

Heller Olivier¹^ORCID,Bene Claudia Di²^ORCID,Nino Pasquale³^ORCID,Huyghebaert Bruno⁴^ORCID,Arlauskienė Aušra⁵^ORCID,Castanheira Nádia L.⁶^ORCID,Higgins Suzanne⁷^ORCID,Horel Agota⁸⁹^ORCID,Kir Alev¹⁰^ORCID,Kizeková Miriam¹¹^ORCID,Lacoste Marine¹²^ORCID,Munkholm Lars J.¹³^ORCID,O'Sullivan Lilian¹⁴^ORCID,Radzikowski Paweł¹⁵^ORCID,Rodríguez‐Cruz M. Sonia¹⁶^ORCID,Sandén Taru¹⁷^ORCID,Šarūnaitė Lina⁵^ORCID,Seidel Felix¹⁸^ORCID,Spiegel Heide¹⁷^ORCID,Stalenga Jarosław¹⁵^ORCID,Uusi‐Kämppä Jaana¹⁹^ORCID,Vervuurt Wieke²⁰^ORCID,Keller Thomas¹²¹^ORCID,Vanwindekens Frédéric⁴^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Agroecology and Environment Agroscope Zürich Switzerland

2. Centre for Agriculture and Environment Council for Agricultural Research and Economics‐Research Rome Italy

3. Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy Council for Agricultural Research and Economics‐Research Perugia Italy

4. Department of Sustainability, Systems & Prospective‐Unit of Soil Water and Integrated Crop Production, Walloon Agricultural Research Centre Gembloux Belgium

5. Institute of Agriculture Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Akademija Lithuania

6. Soil Lab National Institute of Agricultural & Veterinary Research Oeiras Portugal

7. Agri Food and Biosciences Institute Belfast UK

8. Department of Soil Physics and Water Management, Institute for Soil Sciences Centre for Agricultural Research Budapest Hungary

9. National Laboratory for Water Science and Water Security, Institute for Soil Sciences Centre for Agricultural Research Budapest Hungary

10. Department of Soil and Water Resources Olive Research Institute Izmir Türkiye

11. Grassland and Mountain Agriculture Institute National Agricultural and Food Centre Banská Bystrica Slovakia

12. Info&Sols, INRAE Orléans France

13. Department of Agroecology Aarhus University Tjele Denmark

14. Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme Teagasc Wexford Ireland

15. Department of Systems and Economics of Crop Production, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation State Research Institute Pulawy Poland

16. Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca Spanish National Research Council (IRNASA‐CSIC) Salamanca Spain

17. Department for Soil Health and Plant Nutrition Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) Vienna Austria

18. Institute of Climate‐Smart Agriculture Johann Heinrich von Thünen‐Institut Braunschweig Germany

19. Natural Resources Institute Finland Helsinki Finland

20. Field Crops Wageningen University and Research (WUR) Lelystad The Netherlands

21. Departments of Soil and Environment Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) Uppsala Sweden

Abstract

AbstractSustainable agricultural soil management practices are key to restore, maintain and improve soil health. The European Joint Programme for SOIL (EJP SOIL) has identified twelve main soil challenges in Europe. To assess the potential and eventually increase the adoption of soil‐improving management practices, it is necessary to know (i) the current levels of adoption of the practices, (ii) socio‐technical barriers influencing their adoption, and (iii) their bio‐physical limits. This study compiled an inventory of soil‐improving management practices relevant to European conditions, and used a survey among soil scientists to assess the levels of adoption of these practices in Europe. In total, 53 soil management practices were identified that address one or several of the soil challenges. The adoption of most practices was low or spatially heterogeneous across Europe, highlighting region‐specific limitations to sustainable soil management. Qualitative interviews were conducted to explore the importance of socio‐technical aspects of adoption. Using conservation agriculture as an example, factors that can hinder adoption included the availability of knowledge and adequate machinery, financial risks, and farming traditions. Through a modelling approach, 54% of arable land in Europe was found to be suitable for cover cropping, indicating that the adoption of soil management practices is frequently limited by climatic constraints. We propose a region‐specific approach that recognizes the importance of identifying and overcoming socio‐technical barriers, and by acknowledging bio‐physical limits that may be expanded by innovation.

Funder

Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

Publisher

Wiley

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