THEORETICAL ASSESSMENT OF SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO ACHIEVING FARM AND CLIMATE GOALS.

The new European strategy envisages addressing the problems of climate change, which significantly affects the agricultural sector, as, for example, in Latvia it accounts for 22% of all greenhouse gas emissions. However, the data show that since joining the European Union, the main objective has been to increase the productivity of the sector. Therefore, in order to achieve the set climate goals, it is necessary to evaluate the implementation of practices corresponding to the goals set, where, as part of this study, we examine the theoretical benefits of sustainable soil management, as well as evaluate the information available in literature sources about the current situation. The data show that currently, the implementation of such practices is in the process, as it has been observed that it is affected by both technical and financial problems, where it is expected that the implementation of these practices will increase. As well as it is concluded that sustainable soil management practices ensure the achievement of goals of different categories - financial, environmental, and social. Therefore, to objectively evaluate the benefits, a complex approach is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]