![\"Year](\"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Year-of-Soil-1000x300.jpg\")
<\/a>\n<\/a>Why We Depend on Soil
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\n<\/a>Heathy soils are the basis of healthy food\u00a0production. A healthy soil is the foundation for vegetation which is cultivated or managed for feed, fibre, fuel or medicinal products. Soils support our planet’s biodiversity.
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\n<\/a>Soils are an important part of the carbon cycle which combats climate change. Soils store and filter water, improving resilience to floods and droughts. Most important to note is that soil is a non-renewable resource, its preservation is essential for food security and our sustainable future.
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\n<\/a>Soils supply 4 important things that ensure that food producing plants are able to grow and flourish \u2013 essential nutrients, water, oxygen and root support. Soils also maintain a diverse community of organisms that help control plant disease, help recycle plant nutrients and improve soil structure. Soils act as a buffer and protect delicate plant roots from drastic temperature fluctuations.<\/p>\n
Healthy soil <\/span>contributes to <\/span>mitigating climate change by maintaining or\u00a0<\/span>increasing its carbon content, it also, most importantly, is the foundation of all food systems and is the medium in which nearly all food producing plants grow. Diverse farming approaches promote the sustainable management of soils…<\/strong><\/p>\n Agroecology<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0is a systems approach\u00a0based on a variety of\u00a0technologies, practices\u00a0and innovations,\u00a0including local and\u00a0traditional knowledge\u00a0and modern science.<\/p>\n Organic farming<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0is agricultural production without the use of synthetic chemicals or genetically modified organisms, growth regulators , and livestock feed additives.<\/p>\n Conservation agriculture<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0follows three principles\u00a0(minimal soil disturbance,\u00a0permanent soil cover and crop\u00a0rotations) to improve soil\u00a0conditions, reduce land\u00a0degradation and boost yields).<\/p>\n Agroforestry<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0includes both traditional\u00a0and modern land-use\u00a0systems where trees are\u00a0managed together with\u00a0crops and\/or animal\u00a0production systems\u00a0in agricultural settings.<\/p>\n Zero tillage<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0is a technique used in\u00a0conservation agriculture\u00a0to maintain a permanent\u00a0or semi-permanent\u00a0organic soil cover that\u00a0protects the soil allowing\u00a0soil microorganisms and\u00a0fauna to take on the task\u00a0of \u201ctilling\u201d and soil\u00a0nutrient balancing.<\/p>\n What needs to change to save our soils? Our soils are in danger because of expanding cities, deforestation, unsustainable land use and management practices, pollution, overgrazing and climate change. The current rate of soil degradation threatens the capacity to meet the needs of future generations. The promotion of sustainable soil and land management is central to ensuring a productive food system, improved rural livelihoods and a healthy environment. Why We Depend on Soil Heathy soils are the basis of healthy food\u00a0production. A healthy soil is the foundation for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4098],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"brand_slug":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21033\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/a>Soil is a Non-Renewable Resource!
\n<\/strong> It is the basis of food, livestock feed, medicines, eco-systems and fuel. Currently 33% of global soil is moderately to highly degraded which ultimately affects food security globally.\u00a0
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\n<\/strong>As the population grows, so does the demand for food and this increases agricultural production which intensifies the degradation of soils.
\n<\/a>Did you know?<\/strong>
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\n<\/a>So what is Sustainable Soil Management?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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\n<\/a>Information supplied by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. For more information visit www.fao.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"