A new £1m research partnership has been announced to develop practical soil biology management guidance for farmers and growers.
The five-year partnership which includes the AHDB and British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO) looks to improve on-farm understanding of soil health.
It will do so by benchmarking current academic and industry knowledge, developing and validating indicators of soil biology and soil health in research trials.
It will form part of AHDB’s strategic commitment to accelerating innovation and productivity growth through coordinated research and development.
The new £1 million project is part of the AHDB GREATsoils programme, complementing a £1.5 million initiative looking at soil structure, announced by AHDB last year.
Dr Elizabeth Stockdale, partnership lead from NIAB, said: “We want to bring together the best research and the most effective practical approaches on-farm by establishing up to eight farmer research innovation groups across the UK so we can help farmers develop their own site-specific best practice.
“Interest in soil health has mounted in recent years but soil biology is not particularly well understood, with research to date failing to generate practical materials to support on-farm decisions.
“Farmers and growers have themselves taken up the mantle and a great deal of work is being done out in the field experimenting with different approaches to optimising soil biology.
“This exciting new partnership will work closely with farmers, growers and advisers to draw together and build on all that knowledge and experience to create accessible guidance and tools to help farmers improve their soils’ health,” Dr Stockdale concluded.
