ABSTRACT
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Ten years ago, a member of our editorial team, speaking to the 15thWorld Congress of Soil
Science, proposed that it was time to move soil science toward a “second paradigm” in
order to meet agricultural production needs in the tropics, and indeed in the world more
generally (Sanchez, 1994; 1997). Sanchez summarized the prevailing paradigm which had
grown out of 150 years of research and practice as: “Overcome soil constraints through the
application of fertilizers and amendments to meet plant requirements.” This conception,
which currently guides most soil science and “modern” management, focuses primarily
on production goals, and gave little attention to ecological functions, he noted. Research
and applied efforts have been directed primarily to managing inputs that are exogenous to
the processes of plant growth and production rather than to endogenous processes and
potentials that exist within soil systems.
