Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

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Prof. Maria J.I. Briones

Member since
Organization: Universidad de Vigo
Country: Spain
Field(s) of expertise:
I am working on:

The role of soil biodiversity in agro-ecosystem functioning. Identifying soil biology indicators to design more sustainable practices that allow us to maintain a healthy soil .

This member contributed to:

    • I feel that there are additional issues to address in the outline:

      1) Food processing: besides reducing packaging, retailers should seek for better ways to keep food fresher for longer periods without using more chemicals. One of the reasons why consumers waste food is that it goes off before they can eat it. When food are obtained directly from the farms it last longer!

      2) Food distribution/retailing: Supermarkets and shops should stop advertising big savings for big buys.

      3) Food redistribution: Some places have implemented an application for mobile phones so that restaurants offer reduced prices for food that is about to expire.

      4) Food recycling: green bins for organic wastes should be allocated in schools, Universities, working places... Not only consumers eat at the bars and cantees in their working places but also bring food to work and the waste ends in the "general waste" bin.

    • 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.

    • where a(n) (unsustainable) production system played a key role for the degradation of the biodiversity surrounding it?

      Earthworms improve the structure and fertility of soil by accelerating decomposition processes, enhancing nutrient cycling and facilitating water percolation. Conventionally plowed soils reduce earthworm populations drastically. The most vulnerable species to tillage are the larger ‘anecic’ earthworms that create permanent vertical burrows and feed on soil surface residues. However, they can bounce back if conventional plowing is replaced with less disruptive methods.

      The findings published in the scientific journal Global Change Biology show a systematic decline in earthworm populations in soils that are ploughed every year. The deeper the soil is turned, the more harmful it is for the earthworms.

      Please also visit our post at the Global Soil Biodiversity Blog "Ploughshares are swords… if you are an earthworm": http://blog.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/article/2017/06/07/ploughshares-…