1. AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL SOIL
QUALITY INDICATOR
in the
EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE
NUR’LIANI BINTI KIPLIE (2011679272)
NOR ARMIZA NAWAI BINTI MUHD JASRI (2011884598)
JULIANA APIN ANAK AHOK (2011468972)
NOOR AZRENA BT AWANG (2011600484)

2. The EU’s Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection
(COM (2006) 231)
Preservation of soil functions
- biomass production,
- physical and cultural environment for humans biodiversity pool archive of
geological and archeological heritage
- source of raw material
- acting as carbon pool
- storing filtering and transforming nutrients, substances and water

3. • Three main policy areas with Agri-Environmental effect
(OECD 2008)
 Agricultural policies (production related)
 Agri-environmental policies (enhance environmental benefit associated
to agriculture)
 Environmental policies (of specific issues – eg. climate, water pollution
– with effect on agriculture)

4. 4 Aspects of Soil Quality in the Agri-
Environmental Context
• Productivity = AGRICULTURAL
The capacity of soil to biomass production
• Fertilizer response rate = AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL
The input-need to attain optimal productivity
• Production stability = AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL
The soil-response to climatic variability
• Soil environmental quality = ENVIRONMENTAL
Carbon storage; filtering; buffering; soil biodiversity

5. METHODOLOGY

8. RESULTS
• A concept to replace the obsolete Agri-Environmental
Soil Quality Indicator (AE-SQI) has been developed.
• The new AE-SQI is compatible with the Soil Quality
Indicators developed to support a wider range of EU
policies.
• It includes four sub-indicators of:
– Productivity;
– Fertilizer response rate;
– Production stability;
– Soil environmental quality.

9. DISCUSSIONS

10. A) Biomass productivity
• Biomass production function of a given soil is
computed on basis of soil properties at
prevailing climatic condition.
• Since productivity is a result of interaction of
soil, climatic and terrain condition and
management these factor need to be assessed
in their complexity.

11. B) Production stability
0
20
40
60
80
productivity
index
Year type (climate variation)
The effect of climate variation on wheat productivity
(Debreczeni et al, 2003)

12. C) Indication of fertilizer response rate
• The different soil types can vary to a great extent to Nutrient reaction. The difference can be
seen in the soil quality indices. If the yield formation is increase with the increases of
fertilizer doses, this indicates as positive response property.
• Example:

13. D) Indication of soil environmental quality
There are a number of soil functions that contribute to the
environmental quality of soil.
1) Organic carbon storage
2) Substances filtering
3) Substances transforming
4) Biodiversity and biological activity

14. Recommendation
a) Planning good strategy
• To ensure the sustainability of soil function
• Proper evaluation procedure of soil function
and soil dynamic help to provide the actual
effect either positive or negative
b) Proper management of land practices

15. Summary
The new AE-SQL can be used for policy development
and monitoring through the capacity to indicate:
• The effect of land use change on the availability and
functioning of soil resources
• The effect of climatic variability on the production
function of soil resources
• The effect of land management (eg. Intensification) on
the function of soil resources
• The capacity of soil to mitigate environmental problem.