Soil science: Raising the profile

Abstract

The low public profile of soil science and its practitioners nationally and internationally is noted against a widespread general concern about food supplies and our collective ability to sustain soil resources for agriculture. The historical development of soil science as a recognised discipline is traced from the early Russian pedological work to the current proliferation of taxonomic approaches for codifying soil information; from the application of the basic sciences to measuring soil properties and understanding soil processes; and from traditional soil survey to modern 'information technology' approaches to extending soil information in an easily accessible form to a variety of end-use..