SUSTAINABLE SOIL AND WATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

The pillars of agricultural systems are soil and water, on which the world food production and
stability of the ecosystems are built. Soil is a dynamic and living system which supports
plants in a mechanical manner, stores and supplies important nutrients, supports a huge
diversity of microorganisms and regulates important biogeochemical cycles. Water, on the
other hand, is indispensable for sustaining plant life, as it plays a central role in physiological
processes such as photosynthesis, transpiration, nutrient uptake, and cellular metabolism.
Soil-water interaction is a very complex and interdependent process, which affects plant
growth, crop productivity, and environmental sustainability. The capacity of soil to absorb
and pass water, as well as its capacity to store nutrients, defines the effectiveness of crops in
using the resources available. Thus, sustainable management of soil and water resources is
not only a key to the agricultural productivity, but also to the ecological balance and longterm food security.