This book gathers the latest insights into soil health and its sustainability, providing an up-to-date overview of the various aspects of soil quality and fertility management, e.g., plant-microbe interactions to maintain soil health; and the use of algal, fungal and bacterial fertilizers and earthworms for sustainable soil health and agricultural production.

It first dicusses the past, present, and future scenarios of soil health, and then explores factors influencing soil health, as well as the consequences of degradation of soil health for sustainable agriculture. Lastly it highlights solutions to improve and maintain soil health so as to achieve greater productivity and sustainability without damaging the soil system or the environment.

Soil health is defined as the capacity of a soil to function within ecosystem frontiers, to sustain biological productivity, to maintain environmental quality and to promote plant, animal and human health. Soil health is established through the interactions of physical, chemical and biological properties, e.g., soil texture, soil structure, and soil organisms. Healthy soil provides adequate levels of macro- and micronutrients to plants and contains sufficient populations of soil microorganisms. As a result of the increasingly intensified agriculture over the past few decades, soils are now showing symptoms of exhaustion and stagnating or declining crop yields. Exploring these developments as well as possible solutions based on holistic and sustainable approaches, this book is a valuable resource for researchers in the area of soil and environmental science, agronomy, agriculture, as well as students in the field of botany, ecology and microbiology.

Autorentext

Dr. Bhoopander Giri received his Ph.D in Mycorrhizal Research from the Department of Botany, University of Delhi, in 2001. He has worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, USA and is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Botany, Swami Shraddhanand College, University of Delhi. He is a recipient of a CSIR Research Associateship (2003), DST Young Scientist Fellowship (2005) and a Raman Post-Doctoral Fellowship. He has served as the General Secretary of the International Symbiosis Society (ISS), USA, and he is a life-member of several prestigious academic societies. He is also a reviewer for several international and national journals. Dr. Giri has published more than 38 papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals and books. His paper "Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in alleviation of salt stress," published in Annals of Botany, Oxford Press, UK was listed among the top 10 cited publications in 2009-2014 in the area of biological science and agriculture by the International Comparative Performance of India's Research Base. Dr. Giri has also edited numerous books.

Prof. Dr. Ajit Varma completed his PhD at Allahabad University at the age of 25 years, and is a former Professor at the School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. He is currently a Distinguished Scientist & Professor of Eminence at Amity Institute of Microbial Technology; Group Dy. Vice Chancellor, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation, and Vice Chairman of Amity Science, Technology & Innovation Foundation, Amity University, India. He has published more than 314 papers in respected journals and has been serving as an Editor-in-Chief of the Soil Biology Series, Springer Verlag Germany. Dr Varma is a Fellow of Alexander-von-Humboldt Society, Germany, elected Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Fellow of the Microbiology Society of India.

Inhalt

1 Soil health: Past history and future perspective

Bhoopander Giri and Ajit Varma

Department of Botany

Swami Shraddhnanand College

University of Delhi

Delhi

Email: bhoopg@yahoo.com

2 Organic farming in relation to soil health

Prof Nguy n Hü

Professor of Environmental and Soil Chemistry

Department of Plant and Soil Sciences

University of Hawaii at Manoa

nvhue@hawaii.edu 3 Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria: A Booster for Ameliorating Soil Health and Agriculture Production Dr. S. C. Shankhdhar Senior Research Officer/Associate Professor Department of Plant Physiology College of Basic Sciences & Humanities G.B.Pant University of Agriculture & Technology Pantnagar-263145 (Uttarakhand), India Contact No. 91-9412864897

shankhdhar.sc@rediffmail.com

4 Vermicomposting and soil health

Dr. Ranjit Chatterjee

Professor in Vegetable and Spice crops

UBKV, Pundibari, West Bengal

Email: ranchat22@rediffmail.com

5 Impact of agricultural practice on soil health Dr. Elizabeth Temitope Alori Lecturer at Landmark University Omu-Aran, Kwara State,Nigeria.

Email: aloritope@yahoo.com 6 Biochar for maintaining soil health Dr Adekiya Aruna Olasekan

Address: College of Agricultural Sciences,

Landmark University, PMB 1001, Omu-Aran, Kwara State Nigeria

Email: adekiya2009@yahoo.com 7 Wild plants from coastal habitats as a potential resource for soil remediation.

Prof. Gederts Ievinsh

Department of Plant Physiology Faculty of Biology, University of Latvia

1 Jelgavas Str., Riga LV-1004, Latvia.

E-amil: gederts.ievins@lu.lv

8 Soil Health and Foliar Fertilisers

Dr Apostolos Papadopoulos University of Lincoln

Riseholme College, Riseholme Park

Lincoln, LN2 2LG

United Kingdom

Email: apostolos@cropintellect.co.uk

9 Arthropods and Soil Health.

Dr Thomas W. Culliney

USDA-APHIS, PPQ Center for Plant Health Science and Technology Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Laboratory 1730 Varsity Drive, Suite 300 Raleigh, NC 27606 U.S.A. (919) 855-7506; (919) 855-7595 (Fax).

E-mail thomas.w.culliney@usda.gov

10 Role of soil microbes in maintaining soil health and sustainable agriculture production

Dr (Mrs) Neemisha

Assistant Microbiologist (Soil Science)

Department of Soil Science

Punjab Agricultural University

Ludhiana 141004

Punjab, India

Email: neemisha14@pau.edu

11 Abiotic and Biotic Factors Influencing Soil Health Dr. K.S. Anil Kumar Principal Scientist

ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning,

Regional Centre, Bangalore 560 024, Karnataka

India Email: anilsoils@yahoo.co.in Mob: 7406376178

12 Assessment of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as soil health indicators

Dr. Manju M Gupta Associate Professor in Botany

Sri Aurobindo College

University of Delhi

Delhi-17 India

Email: mbansalsac@rediffmail.com

13 Organic farming: Myth or reality for sustainable production

Manisha Rani Ph. D.

Assistant Rofessor

Department of Soil Science

College of Agriculture

G.B.P.U.A.&T., Pantnagar (263145)

U. S. Nagar (Uttarakhnad)- India

ranimanisha23@gmail.com

14 Role of rhizobiome in maintaining soil fertility and crop production

Dr. M.P. RAGHAVENDRA

Assistant Professor Postgraduate Department of Microbiology Maharani's Science College for Women (Affiliated to University of Mysore) Jhansi Laxmi Bai Road Mysore - 570 005 Karnataka, India Email: mpraghavendra@gmail.com 15 Role of soil microorganisms in soil health and sustainable agriculture Imitiaz Ahmad

Imtiaz Ahmad, Ph. D.

Department of Entomology,

Penn State University, PA, USA

Email: ixa12@psu.edu

16 Green manuring and its role in soil health management

*1Sanjeev kumar and Premasis Sukul2

*1School of Agriculture, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar 144 411, Punjab, India

2Scholl of Agriculture, Department of Soil Science, Lovely Professional University,

Jalandhar 144 411, Punjab, India E-mail: sanjeev.19379@lpu.co.in

17 Seaweeds: as soil health boosters

Dr Inder Deep Kaur

Department of Botany

Khalsa College of University

University of Delhi, Delhi

kaurid2006@gmail.com

18 Soil…