Soils are the basis of our existence. And they play a vital role. They secure food for a growing population and are important partners in climate protection. This is because soils can store not only water but also carbon and are therefore a natural greenhouse gas sink. More than two billion tons of carbon are stored in Germany's agricultural soils alone.
To get a feel for what this means, here is another figure: Germany's total CO2 emissions in 2016 were 219 million tons. Together, the forest and agricultural ecosystems store as much organic carbon as Germany emits in 23 years at the current level of emissions CO2 .
The clear aim is to further strengthen soil protection and soil fertility and thus also to maintain - and where possible increase - carbon storage through sustainable humus management. In order to achieve this, we need scientific findings: they help us to better understand the complex "soil ecosystem" and provide us with new approaches to preserve fertile soils and restore or even increase fertility.
Global classification: The "4 per mille initiative" of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference
At the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, the German government was one of the first signatories to the joint declaration of the 4 per mil initiative to bind CO2-C in the soil [= agricultural land]. The aim of the initiative is to increase the humus content in soils [= agricultural land] worldwide by 4 per thousand, which would be equivalent to offsetting all anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, this project can only succeed if appropriate framework conditions are created. For example, fertilizer legislation should be modified so that the nitrogen input required to build up humus is permitted. Organic fertilizers, such as compost, are ideally suited to supplying nitrogen, as most of the nitrogen is already relatively firmly bound in more complex humus compounds.
Climate change in Germany, with rising temperatures, a trend towards decreasing precipitation in the summer months and an increase in extreme weather events throughout the year, is increasing the production risks for agriculture.
Sustainable humus management is therefore also becoming increasingly important as an adaptation measure to climate change.
As part of low-loss nutrient management, measures to build up humus offer a wide range of positive effects and opportunities, both for soil fertility and yield security as well as for soil and climate protection. These opportunities and their synergies must be used in the interests of efficient and environmentally friendly agriculture. (Source: www.humus.de Reterra Service GmbH, 50374 Erftstadt)"
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