ABSTRACT
The soil science profession is at a crossroads. While the conventional themes of managing soil resources for enhancing and sustaining agronomic production are more important now than ever before, there are other issues of global relevance that must also be addressed. Important among the other issues are (i) climate change and offsetting gaseous emissions by carbon (C) sequestration in agroecosystems, (ii) the production of feedstocks for the …rst, second, and third generation of biofuels, (iii) urban encroachment on prime agricultural lands, (iv) rising competition for irrigation water with increasing demands from industrial and urban uses, (v) declines in the available soil resources due to degradation by erosion, leaching, salinization, and depletion of soil organic carbon (SOC) and plant nutrients, (vi) environmental pollution through intensi…cation of agricultural activities (i.e., tillage, use of chemicals, and irrigation), and (vii) waste disposal. Most of the future increase in world population, from 6.8 billion in 2008 to 9.2 billion in 2050, will occur in developing countries where the natural resources (soil and water) are already under great stress. Consequently, soil degradation processes that lead to declines in the quality of physical, chemical, and biological attributes (Figure 12.1) must be understood and reversed through adoption of restorative land uses and recommended management practices (RMPs).
