Project

PPP Better Soil Management, integral and practice-oriented

Both the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (parliamentary letter of May 2018), and private parties (in the National Programme on Agricultural Soils) have indicated as a target that all agricultural soils in the Netherlands should be managed sustainably by 2030. In the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Sustainable Soil Management from 2013-2016, and the follow-on PPP from 2017-2020 (TKI-AF 16064, www.beterbodembeheer.nl), knowledge has been developed on sustainable soil management in field crops. This continuation is needed to further develop and integrate the knowledge gained into action perspectives for sustainable soil management for farmers and their agribusiness partners.

This PPP also plays a central role in connecting with other national and international soil research. Active cooperation with other PPP and other programmes, European knowledge development (EJP SOIL) and regional soil management initiatives is planned.

A deliberate choice was made for a limited duration of two years for this PPP. On the one hand, because of the integral analysis on 8 years of soil research started in 2020, the results of which in the next two years will lead to a better understanding of the knowledge gaps and actions to be taken for sustainably managed soils. On the other hand, because of ongoing agreements on the contribution of BO-Akkerbouw and the completion of a number of four-year projects started two years ago.

This PPP aims both at 2030 to achieve sustainable soil management that contributes to the development of resilient production systems, but also in the short term to provide concrete answers to farmers' questions on how to manage soil today and tomorrow. In doing so, we want to continue and build on the integrated approach from recent years by:

  • working with a systems approach based on the cropping plan and integral soil quality;
  • acquiring knowledge and insight into the integral functioning of agricultural soils;
  • providing the most complete possible picture of the (integral) effects of measures on this functioning and soil quality;
  • to gain insight into the applicability of measures and the costs and benefits of a transition to sustainably managed soils in the short and long term;
  • show which forms of sustainable soil management are possible in specific situations;
  • provide answers to farmers' questions by developing new advice and building blocks for tools for sustainable soil management.

Publications