The government has published its response to an Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee inquiry into soil health today (Thursday 21 March).
The committee called for soil to be put on the same footing as water and air quality within government policy, but this has not yet been actioned.
Responding, Soil Association Head of Farming Policy Gareth Morgan said: “We depend on soil for almost all our food production and the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee rightly warns that soil is vital for all life on Earth. This is why the Soil Association and others sought to amend the Environment Act so that soil is given the same protection as water, air and nature.
“It is alarming that government has ignored this advice from the EFRA inquiry and failed to act on many recommendations including the call to better regulate harmful practices. Its response today is largely a reiteration of previous commitments and this underlines the need for a Soil Health Action Plan which was promised but never delivered.
“With millions of hectares of UK soil at risk, and much of our farmland flooded, farmers need help and a strong legal framework to change the way soil is managed. It is essential we stop practices that we know are harming soils and, as a result, food security. This will require regulation, recovery targets, and support for farmers.
“The target to bring 60% of soils under sustainable management is simply insufficient. We cannot leave almost half of this vital resource at risk. We need nature-friendly, agroecological and organic farming across all our farmland if we are to achieve EFRA’s recommendation for 90% of soils to be managed sustainably.”