Developing soil health indicators to inform land management decisions, increase crop yield and quality.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Geography and Environmental Sciences
Abstract
Improving soil management is one solution to the yield plateau of recent years and to feeding a growing population. Healthy soils are more productive soils, but 'soil health' is difficult to define or measure. On-farm indicators of soil health are urgently required by farmers and growers to enable them to assess whether management decisions, e.g. application of organic amendments, are improving soil health. This PhD studentship will develop and trial a suite of on farm soil health indicators. You will establish and manage a commercial field trial with G's in Cambridgeshire and make frequent visits to assess soil properties and crop performance. The resulting data, along with that obtained from expert opinion will be used to explore the concept of soil health using advanced statistical techniques during a placement at Rothamsted Research.
The project will make use of Bayesian inferential techniques that incorporate subjective (expert opinion) as well as objective information and would suit a candidate who already has these skills. However, the student will be given training in both Bayesian methodology as well as field experimentation if necessary.
The studentship offers extensive opportunities to engage with one of Europe's leading family-owned fresh produce companies, growing and supplying a vast array of high quality crops to all the major UK retailer and many European retailers. The individual will thus derive a sound knowledge of agri-business and its particular pressures. Upon graduation the graduate would then be in an excellent position to develop into a future leader in the interface between agricultural practice and research.
This project is part of a BBSRC-funded Collaborative Training Partnership (CTP) between the Waitrose Partnership, their international food production and supply companies, Lancaster University, the University of Reading, the University of Warwick and Rothamsted Research. Between 2017 and 2023, the CTP will deliver 20 four-year studentships on the themes of sustainable crop production, sustainable soil and water and biodiversity and ecosystem services in agriculture.
The project will make use of Bayesian inferential techniques that incorporate subjective (expert opinion) as well as objective information and would suit a candidate who already has these skills. However, the student will be given training in both Bayesian methodology as well as field experimentation if necessary.
The studentship offers extensive opportunities to engage with one of Europe's leading family-owned fresh produce companies, growing and supplying a vast array of high quality crops to all the major UK retailer and many European retailers. The individual will thus derive a sound knowledge of agri-business and its particular pressures. Upon graduation the graduate would then be in an excellent position to develop into a future leader in the interface between agricultural practice and research.
This project is part of a BBSRC-funded Collaborative Training Partnership (CTP) between the Waitrose Partnership, their international food production and supply companies, Lancaster University, the University of Reading, the University of Warwick and Rothamsted Research. Between 2017 and 2023, the CTP will deliver 20 four-year studentships on the themes of sustainable crop production, sustainable soil and water and biodiversity and ecosystem services in agriculture.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/R50516X/1 | 01/10/2017 | 31/01/2022 | |||
| 1941055 | Studentship | BB/R50516X/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2021 | Edward Baker |
| Description | Peat Health Index Soil Health looks at the continued capacity of soil systems to function as vital living ecosystems. Prior research has attempted to map the health, and so functioning, of soil ecosystems but has focused on mineral soils rather than high organic matter and fragile peat soils. Work conducted has identified that peat system requires different indicators and scoring techniques to allow farmers and land managers to assess the health of their peat fields. Results demonstrated that higher health scores are associated with higher organic matter content and strongly correlate with previously identified indicators of a healthy natural peat system. The results allow farmers to adequately map the transition of health of drained peat fields and implement counter measures where necessary. Current work looks to extend the index scoring system over a larger range of farmed peat fields. |
| Exploitation Route | I envisage that the work conducted under this funding will allow farmers, land managers and policymakers to implement effective management strategies, given their fragile nature and importance in global carbon storage. The work will provide quick and easy to access tools for these stakeholders to understand the functioning of lowland peat soils, either to understand how to distribute public money for public goods, or to allow for remediation where necessary. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Title | Peat Health Index |
| Description | Soil Health indexes are created by running large numbers of soil properties/indicators through Principal Component Analysis to extract the features which explain the most variation within fields. The initial soil properties sampled were assumed to relate to the functioning of peat through review of the existing literature. The peat fields were selected using expert opinion and prior knowledge based upon the depth of peat and the condition of each field. The PCA then extracted the features which explained the most variance between sites. From the PCA results, the soil properties that explained the most variation within each principal component were retained and turned into a peat health equation. Prior models have used mineral or high organic matter soils that are formed and function very differently to peat soils, thus these models cannot be successfully applied to peat soils. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The model is currently being applied to an extended number of peat fields managed by the farm group. The model is being assessed to observe if there are correlations with health score and management practices. |
| Description | 25 Year Environmental Plan Response |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Involved in the collation of written evidence submitted by the Soil Research Centre at the University of Reading discussing the 25 year Environmental Plan. The event was attended by 90 people from industry (consultancy and farmers), policy, conservation charities and Universities (both staff and research students). Involved in collecting all the outcomes from the workshop deliberations, of which I participated, and formalised the ideas and criticisms discussed. The report was submitted through the Soil Research Centre to the Environmental Audit Committee. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Architecture, Biology and Chemistry of Soils |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The events aimed to promote the role of soils and the importance of soil health to the general public through the medium of the ABC (Architecture, Biology and Chemistry) of soil under the Soil Security Programme banner. The exhibit demonstrated the importance of soils and how these elements combine to provide the ecosystem services that we require of soil. This involved rotating through each stand and providing a summation of the knowledge exchanged. Attendees to these events ranged from scientists and farmers to young children thus demanding each interaction was tailored to the audience in question. The locations of these events ranged from a local museum (Museum of English Rural Life) to the Royal Society, London and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Attendance ranged from 50 people at the more localised events to 500 at the larger scale events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://soilsecurity.org/ |
| Description | Open Farm Sunday |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In June 2018 and June 2019, I organised a stand at Open Farm Sunday at G's Fresh Farm incorporating the ABC (Architecture, Biology and Chemistry) of soils. The purpose was to demonstrate the role of soils and the ecosystem services they provide to farmers and younger generations in a farm environment. The main impacts of the event included the increased awareness of the functions soils provide, particularly the local fragile peat systems, and the roles agriculture can play in promoting these functions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |