SOIL HEALTH MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION: PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES AND PATHWAYS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Soil health has emerged as one of the most consequential concepts in contemporary agricultural science, replacing older, narrower notions of soil quality and soil tilth with a more integrative understanding of how soils function as living systems. This chapter examines the conceptual evolution of soil health, the physical, chemical, and biological indicators used to assess it, and the management frameworks that guide practical decision-making at the farm level. Drawing on recent scholarship from the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation and the Cornell Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health framework, the chapter traces how reduced tillage, diversified crop rotations, strategic cover cropping, and organic amendments together constitute a coherent approach to building and maintaining soil health across diverse agroecological contexts. Particular attention is given to the challenges of semiarid and water-limited environments, the linkage between soil organic matter and soil function, and the persistent barriers - economic, social, and technical -that constrain farmer adoption of soil health practices. The chapter also addresses the relationship between soil health management and climate resilience, arguing that practices designed to restore soil organic carbon simultaneously improve a farm's capacity to tolerate drought, flood, and other extreme weather events. The discussion concludes with reflections on knowledge gaps, measurement challenges, and the policy landscape needed to accelerate progress.