Toward a holistic assessment of economic performance in agricultural plant production

The European Commission reports that 60 to 70% of agricultural soil is degraded, and if current management continues, it is predicted that 90% will be degraded by 2050. Globally, 33% of all agricultural soil is reported as moderately to highly degraded. Ecological economics is guided by three pillars to maintain long-term ecological and economic balance. The pillars are sustainable scale, efficient resource allocation, and fair distribution. If there is a trade-off between maximizing yield and profitability and the overaching soil health, the scaling of management and economic activity is unsustainable. Over time, the system eventually reaches a critical threshold and a possible collapse. This is far from a fair distribution between humans, regarding future generations and non-humans regarding the soil–plant biota as a living ecosystem that also needs a fair share of the dividends we harvest for regeneration. A shift in how we handle the dividends we receive from nature is needed. Our knowledge system about soil–plant biota needs upgrading, followed by new management and economic assessments. In this article, we elaborate on a more holistic assessment of economic performance in agricultural plant production aligned with the three pillars of ecological economics. To illustrate how the pillars can be applied to a practical problem, we refer to a 4-year field trial cultivating organic wheat with and without the application of compost. In our case, compost is the key to transforming from degradation to regeneration. To ensure no trade-off between yield, profitability, and overall soil health, we also measured mineral nutrient balance in the soil, trends in nutrient balance in the harvest, trends in soil organic matter formation, and trends in biological soil health. With the help of these measurements, we can discern whether the soil–plant biota is in a process of regeneration or degradation. Our field trial shows that it is possible to increase yield and profitability, increase carbon stocks in soil, stimulate soil biodiversity, and regenerate soil if a more holistic assessment of economic performance in agricultural plant production is put into practice.