IMPROVING SOIL HEALTH AS A DRIVER OF AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/naturalspu/2026.1.15Keywords:
soil health, climate change, soil resource degradation, food security, ecosystem functions, bioproductivity, land useAbstract
The article explores the role of improving soil health as a key factor in ensuring sustainable agricultural development and increasing its resilience to climate change. The relevance of the topic is due to the intensification of global climate transformations, the degradation of soil resources and the growth of risks to food security. It has been established that traditional models of agricultural production do not provide the necessary level of adaptability of agroecosystems, which makes the search for new approaches to natural resource management relevant. The paper summarizes modern scientific approaches to understanding the concept of “soil health” as an integral characteristic of its ability to perform ecosystem functions, in particular, ensuring bioproductivity, regulating the water regime, maintaining biodiversity and accumulating organic carbon. Particular attention is paid to the role of soils in the global carbon cycle, where they act as one of the largest carbon reservoirs and an important tool for mitigating climate change. It is substantiated that the key factor in the formation of soil carbon potential is the activity of microorganisms that ensure the transformation of organic matter and regulate biogeochemical cycles. It is shown that climate change affects microbiological activity, which, in turn, determines the dynamics of carbon flows in the soil-atmosphere system. It is proven that the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices, such as minimum tillage, the use of cover crops, agroforestry and crop rotation optimization, contributes to an increase in the content of organic carbon, improving soil structure and its water-holding capacity. The impact of irrational land use, degradation processes and imperfect management systems on the reduction of soil fertility and their ecological functions is considered. Approaches to improving soil quality based on the principles of climate-oriented and circular agriculture are proposed, including crop diversification, organic matter restoration, the implementation of effective irrigation systems and monitoring. It is concluded that improving soil health is a systemic factor in ensuring the sustainability of agricultural systems and an important tool for adapting to climate change, which requires integration into state policy and agricultural sector management practices.
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