Restoring Soil Health: A Win-Win for Farmers and the Environment

• More than 60% of European soils are currently unhealthy due to excessive fertilizer use, erosion, and pollution, causing an estimated €50 billion in annual economic losses.
• The EU-funded InBestSoil project, part of the 'A Soil Deal for Europe' mission, is developing business cases to prove that investing in soil health is profitable for farmers and investors.
• Field trials in regions like Sardinia, Italy, demonstrate that reduced or zero-tillage techniques increase carbon sequestration and microbial diversity without sacrificing crop yields.
• The team is creating valuation frameworks and a web-based calculator to account for both market benefits and non-market values, such as biodiversity and flood mitigation, to incentivize sustainable land management.

The Crisis of Soil Degradation

• European soils are suffering from heavy nutrient loading, microplastic pollution, and structural degradation.
• Climate change is expected to exacerbate these issues, making soil restoration a critical priority for food security and environmental health.

Lessons from Field Trials

• Trials in Sardinia compared conventional ploughing with reduced tillage and sod seeding (direct sowing into undisturbed soil).
• Less intensive methods significantly improved soil quality metrics while saving farmers time and money on labor and fuel.
• Experimental sites across Europe are testing varied land uses, including open grassland (Dehesa) in Spain, urban areas in Lithuania and Croatia, and forest and mining lands.

Connecting Science to Policy and Investment

• Research is conducted in collaboration with sister projects SoilValues and NOVASOIL to standardize frameworks for assessing soil as a financial asset.
• The data will assist EU Member States in complying with the new Soil Monitoring Law, which mandates the assessment of soil health across the bloc.
• The project aims to provide stakeholders with the tools and economic justification to restore soils by its conclusion in December 2026.