Soil Fungal Communities

Soil is an essential natural resource for all farmers. Over recent years many initiatives have sought to provide information and advice on soils and Soil Health, notably AHDB Great Soils. 

The attention placed on soil health in agriculture has been receiving more and more attention in recent years primarily due to our improved understanding of the interactions between soil health and overall crop performance in both arable and horticultural systems. This has led to increased soil monitoring and analysis as well as the adoption of alternative farming methods such as cover-cropping and min-till plowing to improve overall soil longevity. However, this increased adoption of more sustainable practices is heavily restricted to organic systems as conventional farming continues to be heavily reliant on high-input chemical fertilizers. Thus the presence of native Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi, (AMF) has been steadily decreasing in soils for decades which has only increased our reliance on these high-input chemical systems, further locking us into a business-as-usual model going forwards. As yield loss from pest pressure and disease susceptibility continue to threaten global food security, costing an estimated $300 billion a year, the race to find the best long-term solutions that pragmatically improve whole system resilience to biotic and abiotic factors is in our midst. Could AMF be part of the solution going, forwards? Here is what we know so far and some recent breakthroughs in the science surrounding it.  

Soil organic matter (OM) is all living or once-living materials in the soil.  OM provides a direct source of energy/food for many soil organisms: it is the fuel in the soil food web.  Turnover of OM successively releases and immobilises elements vital to the nutrition of crops. 

Soil is a major source of nutrients needed by plants for growth.