The Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management were developed through an inclusive process within the framework of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP). It is a reference document when formulating technical and general policy recommendations on sustainable soil management (SLM) for a wide range of committed stakeholders.
Thus, it is possible to include LIFE AgroPaper® in this reference framework. Let’s see how!
Among the Guidelines are:
📍Prevent and minimise soil contamination and acidification. Our proposal from LIFE AgroPaper® is for a 100% biodegradable mulch, eliminating the use of plastic and incorporating organic matter into the soil. Therefore, we not only reduce but also improve.
📍Improve soil water management. Our proposal: With AgroPaper® we hope to achieve an increase in the temperature and humidity of the surface layer of the soil, which will have a positive impact on the general condition of the crop (growth, development and final yield). Preliminary field results are already available at: https://www.lifeagropaper.eu/results/h
📍Promote soil nutrient balance and nutrient cycling. To quote: “Nutrient use efficiency should be optimised by adopting measures, such as balanced and context-specific application of organic and inorganic soil amendments (e.g. compost and liming agents, respectively) and/or innovative products (e.g. slow and controlled release fertilisers), as well as recycling and reuse of nutrients”.
AgroPaper®️ is a mulch that after use can be incorporated into the soil in shredded form, thus serving as a perfect amendment to circularly replenish nutrients in the soil.
📍 Increasing the organic matter content in the soil: “Losing organic matter is losing fertility”. Therefore, LIFE AgroPaper®️ can be incorporated into the soil after cultivation. The paper residues will be degraded by microbial action, which will positively influence the soil fertility of agricultural soils, such as health, biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Preliminary results of the CEBAS-CSIC studies already show that abiotic degradation of paper in the crop is enhanced by climate and soil nitrogen – the positive relationship between soil fertilisation and paper degradation has been proven!
