The Seventh SoilCare Newsletter is here!

The 7th SoilCare newsletter has now been published and can be downloaded HERE. This issue covers a range of topics, including:

• Plenary meeting - December 2020
• The impacts of COVID-19 on SoilCare
• Field day at Brandvall Prestgarden, Norway
• News from the UK case study
• A new policy brief exploring how soil-improving cropping systems contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals
• The social factors that influence farmer’s uptake of sustainable soil-improving cropping systems
• New SoilCare SICS fact sheets
• Celebrating World Soil Day 2020
• Website relaunch: new resources for farmers, researchers and policymakers

Keep your soils alive: Caring for below-ground biodiversity using Soil-improving Cropping Systems

An interesting relationship exists between the organisms in our soil and the crops in our fields.  If managed sustainably, cropping systems can nurture the creatures in the soil, which in return feed and protect the crops.   In recognition of the importance of this soil biodiversity, this year’s World Soil Day (5^th December) is dedicated to the theme “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity”.

Nurturing below-ground biodiversity is a key element of the Soil-improving Cropping Systems (SICS) that are being trialled as part of SoilCare, an EU-funded research project.  This project is identifying ways of improving soil health through cropping systems and techniques that benefit both the profitability of farms and the environment.

5th plenary meeting held online

The 5th plenary meeting was to be held in Budapest, Hungaria in June 2020, but could not be held due to the Covid-19 travel restrictions. Instead, a number of meetings are held online in the week of June 15^th - June 19^th, and the presentations given are available on the plenary meeting 5 webpage (login required). The presentations given are also available on the SoilCare ownCloud data portal.