Soil Health

Introduction

The international IPM initiative at Cornell University is committed to supporting IPM activities based on agro-ecological principles that support the development of robust crop management systems with resilience to increased climatic and biotic stresses while producing healthy food in sufficient quantity and quality to match present and future family and market demand for both food and cash crops.

The priorities of the initiative reflect the integration of our interpretation of key needs with Cornell’s traditional strengths in education, research and information. There are four priority areas: soil health, distance learning, pesticide resistance management and biological control. Many of these activities have been integrated in activities in priority commodities: vegetables and fruit.

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Soil Health Background

Since the early 1990’s Cornell, through faculty such as George Abawi, has been promoting the concept of soil health. In 1998 Cornell contributed to a key conference on, Soil health: Managing the Biological Component of Soil Quality, published in a special edition on soil health by Applied Soil Ecology (2000, 15). In 1999, Soil health became one of the thematic priority areas of Cornell’s new International Integrated Pest Management (IIPM) initiative supported by Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and Cornell International Institute for Food and Agricultural Development (CIIFAD). One of the priorities of the new initiative was to bring together faculty around thematic area and to develop and help find funding for activities in soil health. This paper reports on the activities and vision of the soil health group facilitated through the IIPM initiative.

In 2000, an interdisciplinary soil health group was brought together. It included faculty from various departments: Crop and Soil Science, Entomology, Extension, Horticulture Microbiology, Plant Pathology, Environmental Sciences and Political Sciences. In the same year, the initiative was able to launch activities through a USAID grant to support the Pan American School of Agriculture (Zamorano) in soil health in Honduras.

The IIPM soil health group through its members also is connected to other Cornell based soil efforts. The soil health/IPM initiative has ties with the Management of Organic Inputs in the Tropics (MOIST) program. Two statewide efforts are running in soil health and organic/ecologically based agriculture. There are separate international projects at Cornell working internationally on various soil related areas, including the soil CRSP project on Rice/Wheat systems in Bangladesh and India lead by John Duxbury, the NASA project on the Biosystem project in Brazil of Erick Fernandes, and the Rockefeller funded African Food Security and Natural Resources Management Program.

Over the last two years Cornell has strengthened its capacity in soils by hiring additional faculty, including Janice Thies (soil microbiology and ecology), Laurie Drinkwater (soil nutrition and carbon sequestration), Johannes Lehmann (soil fertility management) and Quirine Ketterings (sol nutrient management). Now it is searching to fill an opening in soil genomics. Some of these faculties have been active in the group in 2000-2001.

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The soil health working group

  • George Abawi (soil pathologist)
  • Barbara Bellows (extension) (left in 2001)
  • Laurie Drinkwater (soil carbon sequestration)
  • John Duxbury (soil organic matter chemistry)
  • Joseph Esnard (soil pathologist/nematologist)
  • John Losey (entomologist)
  • Eric Nelson (soil pathologist)
  • Janice Thies (soil microbiologist/ecologist)
  • David Thurston (plant pathologist)
  • Peter Trutmann (plant pathologist, soilhealth/IPM coordinator)
  • Norman Uphoff (social and political scientist)
  • Mike Villani (Soil entomologist) (passed away in 2001 – thanks Mike from the bottom of our hearts for your support)
  • Armand van Wambeke (soil scientist)

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Projects

  • USAID support in Soil Health to Zamorano’s Post Hurricane Mitch Agricultural Revitalization Project in Honduras (2000-2001)
    Starting in 2000 a USAID funded activity has been to support in soil health a long term partner, the Pan American School for Agriculture (Zamorano) in Honduras to increase on farm productivity of beans, coffee, livestock/pastures and plantains. It has been the main activity of the group and was supported by an in-country coordinator, John Reilly.
     
  • USAID support Assessing the impact of biotechnology on biodiversity: effects of transgenic maize on non target soil organisms 2001- 2003)
    In September 2001, Cornell faculty in the soil health group together with CIAT were granted one of six USAID grants in Biotechnology and environment through a proposal to investigate in an integrated manner the effects of genetically modified maize on non target organisms in soil and above ground. It is entitled Assessing the impact of biotechnology on biodiversity: effects of transgenic maize on non target soil organisms. The grant recipients were Janice Thies, Joseph Esnard, Tony DiTommaso, John Duxbury and John Losey at Cornell and Dan Peck at CIAT.

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Education and Training

  • Soil health: Distance learning course
    In the last year, Dr. Janice Thies has developed an on line course in Soil Health. The course, is build up as 45-50 minute modules that can be augmented to cover specific needs as the course develops. It is presented as a streaming in line video that covers the principal areas of soil health as it relates to understanding the soil biota and its ecology. Topics covered so far include an introduction, the soil habitat, the rhizosphere, soil ecology, the various components of the soil biota, soil metabolism, methods of studying soil biology and ecology. Further topics will include soil ecosystem structure and function, soil ‘architecture’, diversity of soil biota, traditional and modern methods of microbial measurement, organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Special topics will include: beneficial symbioses, biological control of plant pathogens, bioremediation and composting of organic wastes. The course has been used on line to teach the course in Korea. The course can be accessed by registered students by clicking on the title.

    Contact: Dr. Janice Thies jet25@cornell.edu
     
  • Soil health: Summer course
    This course is ideal for organizations moving to more agro-ecological approaches to agriculture and for organizations interested in ecological approaches to soil management.

    The nature of soil and its functions are studied from the perspective of health and health management combining the latest in scientific with the best of traditional knowledge on soils.

    Areas Covered:
    a) the fundamental concepts of soil health and quality,
    b) the components of soil and their interaction,
    c) the functions of the soil,
    d) the role of soil in agricultural environments in changing social and economic and technological environments from ancient, to modern non industrial and industrial systems,
    e) the agro-ecological constraints and management of soils to sustain its function and productivity in changing environments and knowledge.

    When given: Summer 2002

    Contact:
    Fancine Jasper fj10@cornell.edu
    Peter Trutmann pt15@cornell.edu

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Information

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Research

  • Phase 1
    Together with Zamorano the primary function of research in 2000-1 was to provide applied information to the training and information activities. In some cases the research served an educational purpose to demonstrate to the students aspects of soil biology and health. In other cases the studies were purely diagnostic since large gaps exist in our knowledge of Honduran soils. Student research projects included:

    Cornell students:

1) Diagnosis of Phylophaga (white grubs) associated with beans and coffee and characterization of their pheromones in Honduras: Jodi Collins and Paul Robbins. The initiative supported Claudia Kuniyoshi to organize the setup and maintenance of Robbins’ traps in Honduras. The late Mike Villani was a strong supporter of this project.

Zamorano students:

1) Characterization of soil quality indicators in coffee production systems of differing slopes: Ricardo Espinoza
2) Biological control of Fusarium oxysporum using mycorrhizal fungi and Trichoderma spp: Julio Mora.
3) The effect of organic and inorganic fertilization on soil quality indicators in bean systems: Juan Pablo Flores.
4) The effect of organic and inorganic fertilization on soil quality indicators in pastures: Mauricio Nunez.
5) The evaluation and characterization of six commercial mycorrhizal fungi products in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and two pasture grasses Guinea (Panicum maximun var. Tanziana) and Transvala (Digitaria erianthia): Virna Saenz.
6) Evaluation of the effect of Mycoral and liquid humus on nursery and field grown plantains: Heidi Macz.
7) The identification and distribution of plant parasitic nematodes in coffee and plantains: Julio Morales.

  • Phase 2
    In September 2001, Cornell faculty in the soil health group together with CIAT were granted one of six USAID grants in Biotechnology and environment through a proposal to investigate in an integrated manner the effects of genetically modified maize on non target organisms in soil and above ground. It is entitled’ Assessing the impact of biotechnology on biodiversity: effects of transgenic maize on non target soil organisms. The grant recipients were Janice Thies, Joseph Esnard, Tony DiTommaso, John Duxbury and John Losey at Cornell and Dan Peck at CIAT.

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