Project team: Tony Pattison, Kim Badcock, Stewart Lindsay, John Armour, Rasiah Velupillai, Phil Moody, Linda Smith, Lisa Gullino, Jenny Cobon
1. BRASH (Banana Root And Soil Health)
Soils are more than just dirt. Like the natural systems that exist in a coral reef or a rainforest, the soil is a complex and diverse ecosystem with many different types of living creatures performing a range of different tasks.
The health of soils is becoming a major concern for farmers and natural resource managers in most horticultural industries. Issues like soil erosion, decline in soil fertility and biodiversity and management of soil-borne pests and diseases are recognised as serious issues.
To get a better understanding of what is happening in our soils a project has been developed with the Queensland banana industry to investigate the influence of various farm management practices on the chemical, physical and biological properties of the soil. To determine the health of the soil ecosystem under banana production the interacting soil physical, chemical and biological properties need to be investigated as a holistic unit. The effects of soil health on crop productivity and disease severity needs to be monitored to allow banana growers to capitalise on potential improvements.
The BRASH project aims to investigate the soil ecosystem and the effect of different farm management practices on it. At the same time it aims to identify and develop simple, practical tests to measure soil health, and to develop an on-farm testing kit to perform these tests. This testing is designed so that banana producers or agricultural consultants can do it without the need for a laboratory or great expense and is designed to supplement current soil testing.
This research and the testing kit that goes with it are products of a banana industry project funded by the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, the Growcom Ltd and Horticulture Australia Ltd.
To determine the health of the soil ecosystem under banana production the interacting soil physical, chemical and biological properties need to be investigated as a holistic unit.
2. What is soil health?
Soil health is a term commonly used in conversation these days by banana producers, consultants and agricultural suppliers, but its meaning is not always well defined. So what is soil health?
Our project team defines good soil health, or a healthy banana soil, as a product or outcome of a functioning soil ecosystem, the results of which can be the suppression of soil-borne diseases, sustained crop productivity and minimal impact on the surrounding environment.
The soil ecosystem represents all the different parts that make up your soil:
The biological properties - microorganisms like bacteria and fungi, the macroorganisms like soil insects and earthworms etc.
The physical properties the degree of structure in the soil, how much airspace and porosity there is.
The chemical properties the pH of the soil and its ability to resist pH changes, the capacity of the soil to hold onto and provide different nutrients.
Climatic and environmental influences water and temperature.
In a properly functioning soil ecosystem the interaction between all these parts produces a favourable soil microenvironment that efficiently recycles the nutrients in organic matter. Soil carbon fuels the soil ecosystem and is the common link between physical, chemical and biological soil properties. The quality of the carbon in the system, availability of water and soil temperature regulates the speed at which soil ecology operates (Figure1).
Figure 1. A functioning soil ecosystem develops optimal soil physical, chemical and biological properties, and is linked and driven by soil carbon. The quality of carbon, soil temperatures and water all influence the speed at which the system is driven.
2.1 Basic soil management principles for developing a functioning soil ecosystem
There are a number of basic soil health principles that can be used by growers to encourage a healthy soil ecosystem:
Minimise soil disturbance e.g. minimum tillage
Control traffic movement - reduction in compaction.
Crop rotation.
Diversity of an active root system - alley cropping, strip cropping.
Match crop requirements on farm water and nutrients.
Bioremediation with amendments if the soil is degraded.
Soil carbon fuels the soil ecosystem and is the common link between physical, chemical and biological soil properties.
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