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Diagnosing and Managing Soil and Root Health |
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 The soil environment provides numerous functions to a healthy and productive Musa planting – nutrient and water supply, recycling of organic crop residues, physical anchoring of the crop and natural control of potential root pests and diseases.
However, what goes on in the soil is hard to observe. A pioneer project in Latin America, led by Bioversity’s banana research team in the region and working with four country partners and several advanced research institutes, has developed a soil and root health diagnostic guide to provide a better understanding of the current state of banana soils – what to observe and how to interpret the results.
This is the first step to the development and testing of economically viable options for restoring soil health, for instance through the use of appropriate organic amendments. These tools and results are being adapted to local conditions around the tropics and subtropics. |
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What we do 