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This article throws light upon the six main sections of soil health report. The sections are: 1. Background Information 2. Indicator List 3. Indicator Values 4. Ratings 5. Constraints 6. Overall Quality Score.
Soil Health Report: Section # 1. Background Information:
The information collected during sampling is presented in this section. This includes the farm name and contact information, the sample number, the date of sampling, the local extension educator name, current crop and tillage and their history over the past 2 years, drainage and slope conditions, soil type and soil texture.
Soil Health Report: Section # 2. Indicator List:
This section gives a list of indicators that were measured for soil health assessment. They are colour coded to separate the physical, biological and chemical indicators.
Soil Health Report: Section # 3. Indicator Values:
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This presents the values of the indicators that were measured either in the laboratory or field.
Soil Health Report: Section # 4. Ratings:
This section presents the scores and colour coded ratings of the soil quality indicators. The indicators are scored on a scale of 1-100 based on scoring functions developed for individual indicators. In addition, the indicators are rated with colour codes depending on their scores.
Generally, a score of less than 30 is regarded as low and receives a red colour code. A score from 30 to 70 is considered medium and is colour coded yellow. A score value higher than 70 is regarded as high and colour coded green.
Soil Health Report: Section # 5. Constraints:
If the rating of a particular indicator is poor/low (red colour code), the respective soil health constraints will be highlighted in this section. This is a very useful tool for identifying areas to target their management efforts.
Soil Health Report: Section # 6. Overall Quality Score:
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An overall quality score is computed from the individual indicator scores. This score is further rated as follows: less than 40% is regarded as very low, 40-55% is low, 55-70% is medium, 70-85% is high and greater than 85% is regarded as very high. The highest possible quality score is 100 and the least score is 0, thus it is a relative overall soil health status indicator.
