The United Nations’ World Soil Day is annually held on the 5th of December and emphasises the importance of sustainable soil management. The initiative aims to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and advocates for the sustainable management of soil resources.
The demand for increased crop productivity, due to an increase in the population as well as the predicted environmental challenges, has renewed the interest in soil health globally.
Healthy soil forms the foundation of profitable, productive, and sustainable agriculture. A limited understanding of soil systems in the past as well as some cultivation practices such as overgrazing, deforestation, year-on-year tillage and over and under fertilisation, has led to soil degradation and erosion in many parts of the world.
Soil fertility is a complex system that regulates water, air, nutrients and carbon and does not only refer to the ability of the soil to sustain agricultural productivity and protect environmental resources. Soil health takes factors such as soil structure and biological activity into consideration and is determined by texture, depth, density, water infiltration, the water and nutrient holding capacity, the amount of organic matter as well as respiration.
The 2021 Soil Health Day campaign focuses on soil salinisation and the threat it poses to healthy soil systems. Soil salinisation and sodification are major soil degradation processes threatening ecosystems and are recognised as being among the most important problems at a global level for agricultural production, food security and sustainability in arid and semi-arid regions.
Source: https://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/en/
Salt-affected soils reduce both the ability of crops to take up water and the availability of micronutrients.
Soil and plant roots form an inseparable two-way relationship. The ability of a plant to grow roots in and through soil to find essential nutrients is dependent on the soil’s texture, structure and nutrient content. But roots do not only enable plants to obtain the nutrients and water they need for healthy growth, but also keep soil healthy.
Roots create spaces in the soil and alleviate compaction. Plant’s root systems stabilise the soil and help prevent or combat water and wind erosion. Plant roots transfer energy and other by-products of photosynthesis to their roots that create specific interactions with the soil microbiome and thus redistribute carbon and nutrients throughout the entire soil profile. The deeper the roots grow, the more the soil benefits.
The natural hormone auxin is a major phytohormone that controls numerous aspects of plant development and coordinates plant responses to the environment. The uniquely South African kelp species, Ecklonia maxima, is used by Afrikelp™ to produce Afrikelp™ LG-1, a liquid kelp concentrate that offers farmers a quality biostimulant solution in their crop health package. The unique composition of natural biostimulants, mainly auxin, in Afrikelp™ LG-1 has a positive impact on increased root growth which improves water and nutrient use efficiency.
Various studies have provided ample evidence in support of the role of plant growth regulators in root development and the early characterisation of auxins as “root forming hormones of plants” established a long-standing link between auxins and root development (Went 1929; Thimann and Went 1934). According to another paper, Auxin: a master regulator in plant root development (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23553556/), auxin plays an important role in the development of plant roots.
Trials done by Afrikelp have shown that the number of roots on crops treated with Afrikelp™ LG-1 were always more than the control group of plants. With more roots, crops can absorb more nutrients and water and are therefore more resilient against stresses like disease and harsh environmental conditions. Healthier roots also have a positive impact on soil structure and health.
Afrikelp™ LG-1 is complementary to other crop and soil nutrition products and can be mixed with most other fertilisers, insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Afrikelp™ LG-1 can be applied through standard spraying and fertigation equipment. It can be applied as a rootstock drench, directly onto the soil in the root zone of the plant, or as a foliar spray.
“Afrikelp™ is in the business of sustainability. We believe improved plant health and vigour can contribute to increased farm productivity and crop yields, as well as play an important role in enhancing soil health, protecting the environment, and consequently contributing to sustainable agriculture,” says Salo Minnaar, Commercial Director of Afrikelp™ Global.
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