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The FFC Bulletin 2014 V2 – ‘Can healthy soil feed the world?’ Seven scientists give their opinion

By Charles Merfield

The FFC considers the soil to be the most valuable asset humanity owns and has thus made soil management (or husbandry to use the old term) a core focus.  This was highlighted in the presentation made at the FFC’s launch. I was therefore very pleased when recently the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Rural asked seven Australian and international soil scientists (see below) for their perspective on the question ‘Can healthy soil feed the world?‘, on the eve of the Australian ‘Soil Change Matters’ symposium in Bendigo, Victoria.  I think there is considerable commonality between what these scientists said and what the FFC is trying to achieve.

Go to the ABC page with the scientists answers.

Direct links to the scientists answers are below.

Why is soil missing from the ‘big five’ environmental questions of our time? Prof. Johan Bouma, Netherlands.

Could a global grab for fertile soil could bring civil unrest. Dr Luca Montanarella, Italy.

Soil security on the political agenda. Prof. Alex McBratney and Andrea Koch, Australia.

Long-term soil experiments ‘profoundly undervalued’. Prof. Daniel Richter, United States.

Spending on Earth: an alternative to studying soils on Mars.  Prof. Iain Young, Australia.

Finding optimism in the challenge to double food production.  Dr Damien Field and Prof. Alex McBratney, Australia.

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