Soil Fertility - edX Programme
Farmers want to realize an optimal crop yield, with a good crop quality. The key to this, is to have a fertile soil.
Another important aspect of a fertile soil is a good soil structure so that plants can penetrate and explore the soil with their roots. A fertile soil also has to supply sufficient water to plants.
Fertilily = Fruchtbarkeit
Crop quality = Pflanzenqualität
Crop yield = Ernteertrag
Information Source eDx programme: Soil Fertility
Emre & Tonia
Lebensraum Boden (Video, 3sat.de)
A few centimeters beneath our feet lies a hidden universe: the soil. We need this fragile world to survive. Yet we are in the process of destroying it permanently.
It is a thin layer that surrounds our planet, but more living creatures exist in it than there are people. The deepest part of this layer took a million years to form. The upper one, which feeds us and regulates the climate, centuries.
The soil: A diverse habitat
Healthy fertile soil is the most densely populated and diverse habitat on Earth. Only the interaction of billions of microorganisms and small organisms creates this thin layer, which is essential for survival. As part of the water and nutrient balance, it stores rainwater and nutrients, protects groundwater from pollution, reduces greenhouse gases and regulates moisture.
edX-course by the University of Wageningen (you will need a login)
Sustainable Soil Management: Soil for Life. This course is for anyone who is interested in learning why soil is so important, how it is being threatened and what we can do to protect this natural resource so vital to our lives.