AT this time of year, when Winter days make the world around us muddy and uninviting, it is easy to forget the true value of soil and its importance to our wellbeing in terms of maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Did you know, for instance, that there are more living creatures in a single teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people on earth? Soil is home to more than a quarter of our planet’s biodiversity but, affected by biodiversity loss, it is under pressure.
Tomorrow, December 5, as we celebrate World Soil Day, an annual Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations event, we are being asked to ‘Keep soil alive, Protect soil biodiversity’. This means addressing the challenges of soil management to fight biodiversity loss and encouraging governments, organisations, communities and individuals globally to proactively improve soil health.
Healthy soil biodiversity brings many benefits to plant growth, human health, water purification and helps mitigate climate change. But this is under threat as land usage changes and becomes more urbanised as well as from invasive species, pollution and unsustainable soil management practices.
But what can we do to stop soil biodiversity loss? The folk at the Global Soil Partnership and Food and Agriculture Organisation would like us to:
- Grow green cities and live sustainably
- Invest in soil biodiversity research, knowledge and innovation
- Raise awareness and advocate for living soils
- Manage soil resources sustainably
- Reduce, reuse and recycle.
As contract manufacturers and packers to the agriculture and horticulture sectors, we at Grotech Production Ltd know a bit about soil! We are especially proud to have been the first in our industry to have been awarded, and retained, accreditation in our own right to the Soil Association. We are also members of the International BioControl Manufacturers Association and registered with the British Agrochemical Standards Inspection Scheme.
Aware of the persistent bio accumulative toxic effect that some pesticides can have on our environment, we have long been an advocate of more sustainable and renewable agri and horti chemical fertilisation systems. We work proactively with our customers on developing novel but effective biopesticidal products that meet regulations while suiting their cost, consumer markets and lead time requirements.
If you would like to mark World Soil Day by exploring how your products could help improve the biodiversity of soil why not give us a call on 01405 761746 or email us here.
