Summary
This narrative review, building on a UK Food & Farming Futures workshop, examines the interconnections between soil health—particularly soil organic carbon—and agricultural productivity in the context of meeting 2050 food production targets. The paper synthesises six primary co-benefits spanning environmental, economic, social and political domains, whilst identifying knowledge exchange regarding agri-environmental techniques and soil monitoring/verification as critical to overcoming implementation barriers. The analysis is supported by expert commentary from leading soil and agricultural science institutions in the UK.
UK applicability
Directly applicable to UK policy and practice; the paper emerges from a UK Charity-led workshop and addresses research challenges specific to the UK's capacity to improve soil health. Findings on implementation priorities and barriers are grounded in the UK agricultural and policy context by 2050.
Key measures
Soil organic carbon (SOC), resource-use efficiency, agricultural productivity, greenhouse gas mitigation potential, and soil health indicators (not quantified in abstract)
Outcomes reported
The paper identifies six primary co-benefits of improved soil management: natural capital development, climate change mitigation, carbon trading, crop yield improvements, animal performance enhancement, and human health/nutrition gains. It also examines implementation priorities and barriers to improved soil management by 2050, centred on knowledge exchange and soil monitoring.
Topic tags
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