The "Invisible" Subsoil

An Exploratory View of Societal Acceptance of Subsoil Management in Germany

Publication: Article
Citation: Frelih-Larsen, A.; Hinzmann, M.; Ittner, S. (2018). The 'Invisible' Subsoil: An Exploratory View of Societal Acceptance of Subsoil Management in Germany. Sustainability 2018, 10, 3006.
doi:10.3390/su10093006

Hidden beneath the humus-rich topsoil, the subsoil usually receives little attention in agricultural practice. Yet, plants cover between 10 and 80% of their nutrient and water needs from subsoils. Measures to improve the subsoil could help in bridging droughts and stabilising yields. But how do farmers and other societal actors perceive different methods for subsoil management? Ecologic Institutes's Ana Frelih-Larsen, Mandy Hinzmann and Sophie Ittner published the first exploratory research results on the societal acceptance of subsoil management. The article is published in Sustainability, Issue 09, Volume 10, and is available for download.

The research is part of the project Soil^³ - Sustainable Subsoil Management, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) via the BonaRes funding programme. Soil³ aims to improve the overall nutrient and water use efficiency of plants through subsoil management and, thereby, to secure or increase crop yields in the context of an emerging bioeconomy.

An Acceptance Analysis of Subsoil Amelioration Amongst Agricultural Actors in Two Regions in Germany

Year 2021

Event:Workshop

In June 2019, the stakeholder workshop "Optimal soil management to ensure yield capacity & acceptance analysis of measures to upgrade the subsoil" of the BMBF-funded BonaRes project "Soil³ – Sustainable Subsoil Management" took place in Moltzow (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). This workshop is part of a series of workshops with the aim to discuss and gather the prevailing opinions on subsoil management measures with the help of an acceptance analysis. Ecologic Institute researchers discussed with farmers and other ecological actors under which conditions they would implement or support these measures.

Optimal Soil Management to Ensure Yield Capacity

18 June 2019
Moltzow, Germany

Event:Workshop

In January 2019, the stakeholder workshop "Using the Subsoil to Better Prepare for Droughts – An Acceptance Analysis of Measures to Enhance the Subsoil" of the BMBF-funded BonaRes project "Soil³ – Sustainable Subsoil Management" took place in Bonn. The aim of the workshop was to discuss the prevailing opinions on subsoil management measures. Ecologic Institute researchers discussed with farmers and other ecological actors under which conditions they would implement or support these measures. The protocol is available for download.

Using the Subsoil to Be Better Prepared for Droughts – An Acceptance Analysis of Measures to Upgrade the Subsoil

15 January 2019
Bonn, Germany

Project

Fertile soils are an indispensable resource for agriculture and the Bioeconomy as a whole. Subsoils contain a major part of the nutrients essential for plants, a resource potential that has thus far not yet been fully understood nor used. In order to harness this untapped potential, the Soil³ project examines the subsoil processes and application of alternative subsoil management measures. The Ecologic Institute will conduct research on the costs, benefits and social acceptance of these measures.

Sustainable Subsoil Management as Part of the Bioeconomy (Soil³)

Oct 2015 - Jan 2025

Language: English
Authorship: Dr. Ana Frelih-Larsen

Mandy Hinzmann

Sophie Ittner
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany
Published in: Sustainability
Published by: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), Switzerland
Year: 2018
Dimension: 19 pp.
ISSN: 2071-1050
DOI: 10.3390/su10093006
Project: Sustainable Subsoil Management as Part of the Bioeconomy (Soil³)
Project ID: 2275
Table of contents: Click to show full table of contents

1.Introduction

2.Materials and Methods

3. Results: Subsoil Awareness and Acceptance of Management Measures
3.1. Subsoil Awareness
3.2. Acceptance of Subsoil Management Methods
3.2.1. Deep Ploughing
3.2.2. Mechanical Subsoil Loosening
3.2.3. Injection of Organic Matter Furrow-Wise into the Subsoil
3.2.4. Alfalfa Cultivation

4. Discussion

5. Conclusions
Keywords: Agriculture

Bioeconomy

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

subsoil, compaction, agricultural yields, soil functions, societal acceptance, farmer motivations, subsoil loosening, alfalfa, sustainable soil management, resource scarcity

Germany

Further Links

PresentationSpeechThe Invisible Subsoil: Social acceptance of measures to improve the subsoil in agriculture

The BONARES conference "Soil as a Sustainable Resource" took place in Berlin from 26 to 28 February 2018. Ecologic Institute staff attended the conference and presented the interim results of the Soil³ project – Sustainable Subsoil Management. Dr. Ana Frelih-Larsen,... Read more

Speech:The Invisible Subsoil: Social acceptance of measures to improve the subsoil in agriculture

Date: 28 February 2018
Location: Berlin, Germany

PublicationWeb ApplicationSmartSOIL Toolbox

Toolbox

An innovative 'Toolbox', aimed to help farmers achieve a good balance between crop productivity, soil health and soil carbon storage, has been developed as a result of a major EU research project called SmartSOIL. The SmartSOIL toolbox is an interactive platform which... Read more

SmartSOIL consortium 2015: SmartSOIL Toolbox, URL: http://projects.au.dk/smartsoil/smartsoil-toolbox/about/