Abstract
Sustainable management of natural resources involves the concept of “using, improving, and restoring” the productive capacity and life-support processes of soil—the most basic of all natural resources. The objective is not only to minimize soil degradation but to reverse the trend through restorative measures of soil and crop management. The soil quality and its productive capacity must be enhanced beyond preservation (status quo) through soil-building measures, e.g., preventing soil erosion and enhancing development of the rooting depth, replenishing nutrients harvested in crops and animals through judicious use of mineral fertilizer and organic amendments and effective nutrient recycling practices, encouraging biological activity of soil fauna, and improving soil organic matter content. The land use or farming system to be adopted must be “soil-restorative” rather than “soil-depletive,” “fertility-mining,” or “soil-degrading.” In addition, soil should not be misused as a dumping ground for toxic wastes. Although soil has a built-in resilience, there is a limit to the abuse that it can withstand.
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Lal, R., Stewart, B.A. (1992). Need for Land Restoration. In: Lal, R., Stewart, B.A. (eds) Soil Restoration. Advances in Soil Science, vol 17. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2820-2_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2820-2_1
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