Health Soil Matters for Our Health
Soil Health
Vital Agri Nutrients Pvt Ltd.
Healthy soil matters for our health.
Soils are the foundation of agriculture and our food system. Soil health and vitality are prerequisites for robust crop production and a sustainable future for farming. Comprised of minerals, organic matter, air, water and living organisms, soils provide plants with a rooting medium and nutrient source.
Soils contain a wealth of biodiversity and play a key role in regulating, storing and filtering water. Additionally, because of their ability to store carbon, soils play an essential role in climate change mitigation. Soil quality or soil fertility typically refers to the ecosystem services soils provide, such as adequate crop yields. Soil health, in a broader sense, emphasises the role of soil as a living ecosystem that sustains the well-being of animals, people and the planet. It is this broad definition of soil health that VAN bases its work on to improve and maintain soil health and vitality.
How does VAN look at soil fertility?
Soil fertility is the ability of a soil to sustain plant growth by providing essential plant nutrients and favorable chemical, physical, and biological characteristics as a habitat for plant growth. Plant nutrients include the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, sulfur and magnesium. Micronutrients are essentially boron, , copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. Fertilisers are chemical or natural substances or
materials used to provide nutrients to plants, usually via application to the soil, but also to foliage or through water in rice systems, fertigation or hydroponics or aquaculture operations. Nutrient sources include chemical and mineral fertilizers, organic fertilizers, such as livestock manures and composts, and sources of recycled nutrients.
Why Soil Fertlity is important to us?
The impacts of soil fertility are reflected in most of the Sustainable agriculture targets of VAN, as they contain economic, social and environmental aspects. The main function provided by a fertile soil is the provision of food, which is very important considering foos security objective. A fertile soil also provides essential nutrients for plant growth, to produce healthy food with all the necessary nutrients needed for human health. Moreover,
fertility has an impact on activities with an economic impact and is therefore related to economic growth and the fight against poverty. Finally, good management of soil fertility can help reduce soil, water and air pollution, regulate water resources availability, support a diverse and active biotic community, increase vegetation cover and allows for carbon neutral footprint.
As, Soil fertility is crucial for agricultural productivity and therefore for food security. VAN closely works with farmers and players in agri ecosystem to maintain soil fertility and reduce the nutrients depletion by introduction novel soil amendment, crop nutrients solutions, developing soil maps and promote several management practices. VAN closely engage with Farmers to help them adopt and improve soil fertility and soil health by optimizing soil nutrient management in terms of maximizing net returns, minimizing the soil nutrients depletion, and minimizing nutrient losses or negative impacts on the environment. We further take steps to promote sustainable agricultural practices, technologies and management in order to improve soil fertility and nutrient management as a whole, such as Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) and Sustainable Soil Management (SSM).