Soil management assessment framework for optimizing soil quality

Healthy soils are crucial to sustainable agriculture as it provide substantial crop yields and also keep the ecological balance. Thus, soil health and quality assessment becomes one of the crucial topics that are ever debatable by the soil science community. It also emphasize on their critical roles in sustainable agricultural practices and ecological health. Present study directs on land degradation which is caused by poor land use management practices and also identifies the necessity of protecting and rehabilitating soil health through various assessment indicators, including soil organic matter, microbial biomass and physical properties. Furthermore, article categorises the soil indicators into biological, chemical and physical classes, and thereby, underscoring their significance in evaluating soil functionality and responsiveness to management practices and environmental changes. It also discusses the soil management assessment framework (SMAF) as an integrated approach for soil quality assessment by focusing on the parameters such as soil reactions and electrical conductivity (EC), plant available nutrients and soil physical features. The study also underscores the essential role of microorganisms in soil quality, detailing their contributions to nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition and plant health. Our study concludes that maintaining microbial diversity is vital for enhancing the soil resilience and promoting overall ecological health, ultimately securing the sustainability of agriculture for future generations.