Reliable soil data are essential in implementing sustainable soil management, and high level performance from soil laboratories is a key factor.

One of the biggest challenges in soil analysis regards the comparability of data. In order to facilitate the interpretation of results by users (scientists, farmers, policy makers), and non-experts, outcomes gained from soil analysis should report information in a clear and standardized way.
This is enhanced when different laboratories adopt same methodologies and report results using the same units of measurements.

The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) established the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) in 2017 to build and strengthen the capacity of laboratories in soil analysis and to respond to the need for harmonizing soil analytical data. Thanks to the active participation of its members, GLOSOLAN developed several Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which are available to soil laboratories all around the world for free and in several languages.

Moreover, laboratory performance should be consistent through time and produce reliable soil data. To support laboratories in minimizing the human error in their measurements and improve the quality of the analysis, GLOSOLAN implemented key-documents and provided continuous trainings to promote both internal and external quality control procedures.

Soil testing technologies are constantly updated and renewed. To address the need to purchase new laboratory equipment, GLOSOLAN published some guidelines to provide assistance in all the steps of the process, and directly purchased instruments for soil laboratories operating in developing countries, according to their level of performance and main needs. In addition to that, GLOSOLAN is actively working to provide technical support to laboratories regarding the new technologies application to soil analysis, among which, soil spectroscopy gained the greatest interest.