Soil Improving Cropping Systems for Sustainable and Profitable Farming in Europe / / Guido Wyseure, Julián Cuevas González, Jean Poesen, editors.

• TeilnehmendeR: Poesen, Jean,; González, Julián Cuevas,; Wyseure, Guido,
• Place / Publishing House: [Place of publication not identified] : : MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute,, 2023.
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (346 pages)

A major challenge for the future is combining both the profitability and sustainability of agriculture. The European H2020 project SoilCare aims to identify, test, and evaluate soil-improving cropping systems (SICS) which contribute to the implementation of agricultural solutions across Europe (See: https: /soilcare-project.eu/en/ for the project website). The project includes 16 study sites distributed across Europe. Each study site implemented short-term experiments during the duration of the project, and most also ran long-term experiments comparing soil quality as a function of different treatments, such as soil amendments, tillage, cover crops, nutrients, and organic matter inputs. In addition, eight work-packages assess different aspects encompassing reviewing the soil-improving cropping systems, the participatory analysis of implementation and selection, methodology and analysis, upscaling at the European level, policy analysis and support, and dissemination and communication. In this way, SoilCare works on a providing a holistic approach to soil quality, spanning from biophysical to human interactions at different scales. In this Special Issue, we aim to compile scientific findings on soil-improving cropping systems (SICS) based on field experiments, including the study of policy, upscaling, and dissemination.

Table of Contents

Soil-Improving Cropping Systems for Sustainable and Profitable Farming in Europe 1 -- The Effects of Soil Improving Cropping Systems (SICS) on Soil Erosion and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks across Europe: A Simulation Study 29 -- A New Framework to Assess Sustainability of Soil Improving Cropping Systems in Europe 57 -- Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils? 73 -- An Overview of Sustainability Assessment Frameworks in Agriculture 99 -- Opportunities for Mitigating Soil Compaction in Europe-Case Studies from the SoilCare Project Using Soil-Improving Cropping Systems 125 -- Long-Term Effect of Pig Slurry and Mineral Fertilizer Additions on Soil Nutrient Content, Field Pea Grain and Straw Yield under Winter Wheat-Spring Barley-Field Pea Crop Rotation on Cambisol and Luvisol 151 -- Perceived Causes and Solutions to Soil Degradation in the UK and Norway 171 -- A Multivariate Approach to Evaluate Reduced Tillage Systems and Cover Crop Sustainability 193 -- Comparison of Compaction Alleviation Methods on Soil Health and Greenhouse Gas Emissions 209 -- Soil Water Retention as Affected by Management Induced Changes of Soil Organic Carbon: Analysis of Long-Term Experiments in Europe 219 -- Quantifying Cereal Productivity on Sandy Soil in Response to Some Soil-Improving Cropping Systems 235 -- The Impact of Soil-Improving Cropping Practices on Erosion Rates: A Stakeholder-Oriented Field Experiment Assessment 251 -- Soil Quality Assessment after 25 Years of Sewage Sludge vs. Mineral Fertilization in a Calcareous Soil 269 -- Soil Compaction Prevention, Amelioration and Alleviation Measures Are Effective in Mechanized and Smallholder Agriculture: A Meta-Analysis 289 -- A Review of Crop Husbandry and Soil Management Practices Using Meta-Analysis Studies: Towards Soil-Improving Cropping Systems 307.