Understanding and Protecting the Soils of Our Rural Landscapes

The good earth
Better use of Victoria's soils

The challenge
Modern agricultural practices such as crop monocultures, cultivation, fertilisers and pesticides all put stress on soils. The natural resilience of soils is an important measure of their fitness for particular agricultural purposes, but there are no tools to measure this. Healthy soils are one of the building blocks of profitable agriculture and healthy ecosystems.

The strategy
To develop new tools to assess Victorian soils. To identify the best agricultural options for different landscapes and remedial actions for damaged soils.

The project

• Use genetic mapping to profile the major Victorian soil classes.
• Identify key agricultural land uses within each soil class.
• Assess soil management options for each combination of land use and soil class.
• Incorporate the knowledge in existing databases to inform land-use policy development.