Soil biodiversity has to be included in any management policy if we aim at increasing soil health, promoting food production and reducing costs. Soil organisms play a key role in delivering ecosystem services and their abundance, diversity and functional structure must be preserved. Soil protection must include soil biodiversity and management practices have to be implemented to ensure soil biodiversity: stop removing crop residues, keep a plant cover over the soil surface, and decrease the additions of agrochemicals.
Our research has shown that intensive management practices reduces soil biodiversity and soil becomes depleted in nutrients. Consequently, these nutrient losses might not compensate the investments in mineral fertilizers. See more:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.13744
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00686/full
Our current studies also suggest that organic farming promotes not only soil biodiversity but also increases the nutrient content of the fruits produced.
أستاذ دكتور Maria J.I. Briones