The cornerstone of sustainability.

Soil degradation is increasing globally, threatening soil health, biodiversity, and food security. A major shift in agricultural practices is needed to ensure soil health and resilience, especially with increases in extreme events due to climate change.

Regenerative agricultural practices ensure the restoration of soil biodiversity in agroecosystems, enhance soil health, reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses, and benefit soil resilience and profitable crop growth (FAO, 2020).

It is crucial to further our understanding of soil biodiversity to promote systems relying on good soil quality and preventing further soil degradation.

Regenerative practices’ impacts 

PhD student Gemma Walker is investigating the impacts of regenerative practices on soil biodiversity.

Soil biodiversity in sugarcane

Dr Juliette Chassain’s (link to Juliette’s page) research aims to understand the composition and resilience of soil biodiversity in sugarcane while providing information on soil organisms that are still understudied in Southern Africa.