Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 3 — Observational / field trialPeer-reviewed

Soil quality both increases crop production and improves resilience to climate change

Lei Qiao, Xuhui Wang, Pete Smith, Jinlong Fan, Yuelai Lu, Bridget A. Emmett, Rong Li, Stephen Dorling, Haiqing Chen, Shaogui Liu, Tim G. Benton, Yaojun Wang, Yuqing Ma, Rongfeng Jiang, Fusuo Zhang, Shilong Piao, Christoph Müller, Huaqing Yang, Yanan Hao, Wangmei Li, Mingsheng Fan

Nature Climate Change · 2022

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Summary

This Nature Climate Change study, authored by an international team including researchers from China and the United Kingdom, investigates the dual benefits of improved soil quality for agricultural systems. The work suggests that enhancing soil health simultaneously increases crop production and strengthens resilience to climatic variability, addressing two critical challenges in global food security. The findings integrate soil science with climate adaptation perspectives.

UK applicability

The research has direct relevance to UK agricultural policy and practice, particularly regarding soil health recommendations in the Agriculture Act and Environmental Improvement Plans. UK farmers and policymakers may apply these findings to justify investments in soil management practices that deliver both productive and climate-adaptive outcomes.

Key measures

Soil quality indicators (as suggested by title); crop yield; climate resilience metrics; likely soil carbon, structure, and biological activity measures

Outcomes reported

The study examined relationships between soil quality metrics and crop production outcomes, as well as crop resilience to climate variability. It assessed how soil health influences agricultural productivity under changing climatic conditions.

Theme
Climate & resilience
Subject
Soil health assessment & monitoring
Study type
Research
Study design
Field trial
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
Global
System type
Arable cereals
DOI
10.1038/s41558-022-01376-8
Catalogue ID
BFmommpfun-umka0z

Topic tags

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