Published May 2024 | Version v1
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A framework for setting soil health targets and thresholds in agricultural soils

Description

Soil health is defined through soil indicators, which are assessed using targets and/or thresholds. The challenge is that targets and thresholds are highly site-, managementand climate-specific, and there is not yet a validated assessment system with that level of detail.

With policies worldwide being established to promote soil health, there is an urgent need for the development of a system to assess soils.

We explored four approaches to setting targets and thresholds. Based on stakeholder feedback of the approaches, collected in two webinars (EJP SOIL 2023) and case studies of three approaches, we developed a framework that facilitates both choosing the most appropriate target/threshold method for a given context, and using targets and thresholds to promote soil health.

Files

EJPSOIL_Policy_Brief_A framework for setting soil health targets and thresholds in agricultural soils.pdf