151. Soil fertility concepts over the past two centuries: the importance attributed to soil organic matter in developed and developing countries
- Author
-
Rattan Lal, Martial Bernoux, Raphaël J. Manlay, Eric Blanchart, Christian Feller, Ecologie fonctionnelle et biogéochimie des sols et des agro-écosystèmes (UMR Eco&Sols), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Carbon Management & Sequestrat Ctr, Ohio State University [Columbus] (OSU), AgroParisTech, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Ecologie fonctionnelle et biogéochimie des sols et des agro-écosystèmes ( Eco&Sols ), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement ( CIRAD ) -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement ( IRD ) -Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique ( INRA ) -Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques ( Montpellier SupAgro ) -Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier ( Montpellier SupAgro ), Ohio State University [Columbus] ( OSU ), Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), and Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)
- Subjects
AGRICULTURE ,Soil biodiversity ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,Population ,soil fertility concepts ,Soil Science ,CROPPING SYSTEMS ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,soil fertility history ,No-till farming ,SUSTAINABILITY ,CARBON SEQUESTRATION ,soil organic matter ,MANAGEMENT ,education ,EMISSIONS ,POPULATION ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,2. Zero hunger ,education.field_of_study ,[ SDV ] Life Sciences [q-bio] ,CHALLENGES ,Agroforestry ,Soil organic matter ,FOOD SECURITY ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,Soil carbon ,15. Life on land ,NATURAL SYSTEMS ,Humus ,Geography ,Agricultural soil science ,Agronomy ,040103 agronomy & agriculture ,0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries ,Soil fertility ,ecosystem services ,Agronomy and Crop Science - Abstract
The theories about plant nutrition and soil fertility varied widely from the antiquity to the middle of the nineteenth century, with major (Thaer A. 1809. Grundsatze der rationellen Landwirtschaft (1809-1812). Berlin (Germany): Realschulbuch Ed.) or minor (Liebig J. 1840. Die organische Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Agrikultur und Physiologie. Braunschweig (Germany): Vieweg) importance attributed to soil humus or soil organic matter (SOM). The importance assigned to humus over the past two centuries will be developed in this historical paper. Intensification of agriculture in the twentieth century permitted an important increase in cultivated plant yield of food, fiber, wood, and biofuel production, not only in the northern countries, but also in some southern countries (e.g., India and China) with the emergence of the Green Revolution. However, the question of organic restitutions and the maintenance (or increase) of the SOM stock was, at times, not taken into consideration; consequently, there was a general decrease in SOM stock for many tropical soils. It is now widely accepted by scientists that SOM depletion is one of the major factors leading to degradation of ecosystem services and loss of ecosystem resilience: new alternatives are now necessary for the maintenance and/or increase in plant productivity and production of environmental services by agriculture. Therefore, this paper will also present some recent research in different tropical countries with a focus on agroecological management of tropical soils.
- Published
- 2012