Soil Health

Among other things, soil health has two critical components

Soil Acidity Management (pH Optimization)
Balanced Nutrient Availability

Soil Acidity Management (pH optimization)

Acidic soils are characterized by low productivity due to low pH, deficiency of Ca & Mg and other bases, low cation exchange capacity, low nutrient use efficiency, high phosphorus fixation, poor microbial activity and toxicity of aluminium, iron and manganese. The table below provides a clear indication of the loss in productivity due to soil acidity.

Expected loss of productivity due to soil acidity

Class	pH	Degree	Loss in productivity (%)
0	>6.5	Nil	Nil
1	5.5 – 6.5	Slight	Upto 10
2	4.5-5.5	Moderate	10 – 25
3	3.5 – 4.5	Strong	25 – 50
4	< 3.5	Extreme	>50

Nutrient Absorption as pH varies

“Organic farming is much more than choosing not to use chemical pesticides, fertilizer and genetically modified organisms, growth hormones and plant antibiotics. It is a wholesome method of relying on renewable materials, crop and livestock production for a healthy living!”

Plant Nutrients

Balanced Nutrient Availability

Minimize Soil Degradation

As indicated in the figure above, plants need all the 16 nutrients. However, at the field level, it is seen that there is too much emphasis on NPK nutrients and Micro Nutrients. In the process Calcium & Magnesium supply tends to get neglected.

Additional point to be noted is that often planters deem pH to be an indicator of Calcium in the soil. This notion is misplaced as it is possible that while the pH may be near neutral or higher due to other elements, soil may still be deficient in Calcium / Magnesium