PhD seminar on Soil Quality
| In February an international seminar on Soil Quality has been held. Sixteen mainly junior scientists out of eight European countries came to the Louis Bolk Instituut in the Netherlands for an intensive programme of two days. For this seminar, two main topics were on the programme: soil life, and direct (field) soil observations.
The seminar started with a presentation of the “DOK” trial from the FIBL, Swiss, with the emphasis on the methodological aspects of such a long-lasting trial.
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Soil biological proporties
The biological properties of the soil is of utmost importance in low input agriculture, influencing strongly the chemical and physical properties. Because of this, lecturers from Wageningen University and Plant Research International (both Netherlands) were invited. The topics soil organic matter, soil micro life and soil macro life were discussed, as was the theme of soil-borne diseases.
Direct soil observation
Quite some aspects of soil quality can be directly observed in the field. Several systems have been developed for this purpose. In two excursions, one to a greenhouse and one to a dairy farm, the direct soil observation was practicedand discussed with two Dutch extension workers.
Food quality and nitrogen dynamics
Additional to these activities, two more lectures and one workshop were in the programme. A general view on food quality under the title “Inner food quality” is developed by the Louis Bolk Instituut and presented and discussed in the seminar. Kirsten Brandt from University of Newcastle held a lecture on the relation between food quality and human health. In a workshop, the easy to use NDICEA model was presented, giving insight in the nitrogen dynamics of soil under low input agriculture.
Next PhD course
This was the first seminar out of a series of five. The next will very likely take place at the end of 2005, focussing on animal husbandry and its relation with food quality.
For more information about the past seminar, please contact Geert-Jan van der Burgt, Louis Bolk Instituut.
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