ABSTRACT
Soil is essential to human life and society as it provides our food, animal feed, biomass fuel, fiber, medicine, and various services. Shortfalls in Chinese food production would likely increase the market prices for food around the world and deprive millions of the most vulnerable people of their daily sustenance. Overapplication of inorganic fertilizers has led to much soil degradation and also to deterioration of the natural resources base on which everyone depends, causing pollution of both the air and water and soil acidification. Soil health is defined as “the capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, within ecosystem and land-use boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and promote plant and animal health”. Contemporary agricultural practices such as tillage, monoculture, overuse of chemical fertilizers, unbalanced fertilization, and the application of synthetic pesticides, individually and together, lead to soil degradation.
