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Soil Degradation, Land Use, and Sustainability

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Convergence of Food Security, Energy Security and Sustainable Agriculture

Part of the book series: Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry ((AGRICULTURE,volume 67))

Abstract

One of the critical foundations of a stable agricultural system is the soil resource. Soil provides the substrate(s) of water, nutrient, gases, and physical characteristics which are fundamental to a sustainable highly productive agriculture. To continue to expand our capability to produce food, feed, fiber, and fuel in the most efficient manner requires that we begin to address soil degradation and how we maintain and restore soil productivity. Soil degradation is a result of a continual loss of organic matter or nutrients from the soil through the combined processes of tillage and residue removal which in turn affects the physical , chemical , and biological processes . Once soil is degraded then it becomes susceptible to erosion, compaction, crusting, and has an impaired biological function leading to a loss of productivity. All of these factors begin to limit the ability of the soil to supply adequate water for plant growth and creates a production system extremely susceptible to variations in weather during the growing season. Improving our soil and reversing the trend in degradation is a necessary step for food security and sustainability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA-ARS, National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Jerry L. Hatfield

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  1. Jerry L. Hatfield
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Correspondence to Jerry L. Hatfield .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Director of Research/Cell Biology, Cibus LLC, San Diego, California, USA

    David D. Songstad

  2. National Laboratory for Agriculture and, USDA-ARS, Ames, Iowa, USA

    Jerry L. Hatfield

  3. Grimes, Iowa, USA

    Dwight T. Tomes

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Hatfield, J.L. (2014). Soil Degradation, Land Use, and Sustainability. In: Songstad, D., Hatfield, J., Tomes, D. (eds) Convergence of Food Security, Energy Security and Sustainable Agriculture. Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry, vol 67. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55262-5_4

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