“The Importance of Sustainable Soil Management for the Sustainable Development of

the Country”

What is Sustainable Soil Management (SSM)?

According to FAO, they explained SSM as,

“Soil management is sustainable if the supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural

services provided by soil are maintained or enhanced without significantly impairing either the
soil functions that enable those services or biodiversity. The balance between the supporting
and provisioning services for plant production and the regulating services the soil provides for
water quality and availability and for atmospheric greenhouse gas composition is a particular
concern”.

We have to feed for the increasing population in our country and each person should have the
ability to get access to the food as they want. With the chemical-based agriculture, most of the
lands pushed for the marginal lands and some have already converted to the deserted lands.
Soil fertility is very important for crop production. To keep up that soil physical properties such
as texture, chemical properties (pH) and biological factors (Soil microbes) are very important.
We can improve these properties by adding bio charcoal and it can improve soil health and
quality. Good quality soils can keep nutrients and moisture for a long period and support for
crop production. These practices also help to improve the soil properties and support for crop
production.

Healthy people are a strength for the country. Healthy foods make healthy people. Soil plays a
major role in the production of healthy foods. Actually, healthy soils make healthy foods. If
our soil is not healthy, it will make unhealthy foods. Healthy soils containing beneficial
microbes. These whole things occur in healthy soils. Globally we have faced antibiotic
resistance problem now but we can find valuable antibiotics from the healthy soils. And in
inorganic agriculture, the soil was contaminated with heavy metals and now has severe cases
(in Sri Lanka Rajarata Chronic Kidney Disease) that the government spends too much money
on cure these infected people.

Water is a resource also important for crop production and for human consumption. Good
quality soil can filter contaminants such as heavy metals and toxic compounds.
Soil contains fulvic acids kind of substances which can bind toxic compounds and they are
perfect filters. Good quality soils that maintained under sustainably we can assure they can

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filter the silt and clay from the runoff. In SSM, we avoid the exposure of the topsoil. We always
try to cover the soil with vegetation. So, it prevents topsoil removal with the rainwater as runoff
and nutrients deposition in the water reservoirs (high nutrients deposition in the water bodies
may cause eutrophication).

Climate change has become a threat to agriculture. Soil is the major carbon storage and it stores
atmospheric CO2 as biomass C by using the plants. And nutrient recycling also is done by
getting support from the various microbes. If the soil quality degrades, this whole process
collapse. Bush fires, flooding, landslides, and so many natural disasters occur and the
development of the country will fall. But, SSM can answer such kind of problems.

Soil supports biodiversity. Macrofauna, Microfauna, and flora also there. SSM improve this
biodiversity and it supports for tourism as well (Organic farming). This will offer economic
benefits too to the country. That is why SSM is important for the sustainable development of a
country.

H.M.R.P. Perera

14/AG/023

EG 1023