The USDA-Specialty Crop Research Initiative Potato Soil Health Project was awarded in 2018 to help the potato industry explore how soil health can be improved in potato cropping systems. The overall goal of this program is to establish physical, chemical and biological indicators of soil health for sustainable potato production and new research and outreach is continuing in 2023.

Given that much of the research on soil health has focused on small-seeded crops and the benefits of minimal soil disturbance (which is not an option during the year potato is grown), research is ongoing to establish a definition of “soil health” that is relevant to potato, and to determine which soil health promoting agricultural practices are economically viable.

The full article available here: https://spudman.com/article/usda-scri-potato-soil-health-project/

Project website: https://potatosoilhealth.cfans.umn.edu/

 

This article was posted in Potato and Vegetable, Sustainability and tagged potato, soil health.