Soil quality and thus sustainable soil management has become increasingly important in modern agricultural systems. Since 2011 the experiment Soil quality on sandy soil (Bodemkwaliteit op Zand) combines noninversion tillage with conventional ploughing to research the effects on ecosystem services. The effect of non-inversion tillage on the crop yields and quality and soil quality are small. Weed densities increase under non-inversion tillage, while nitrogen losses decrease. Overall, non-inversion tillage is well applicable in an arable system on a sandy soil, when weeds can be controlled.

Several measures were tested to improve the soil quality on a reclaimed peatsoil in the North-East of the Netherlands in the period 2014-2021. The effects of the measures on the crop yields, crop quality, soil fertility, nutrient balances, soil nematodes, soil biology, soil structure, plant available water and weeds were monitored. Replacing spring barley by Marigold in the crop rotation was the most successful in increasing the crop yields of potatoes, by reducing the population of the plant parasitic nematode P. penetrans. The cultivation of Marigold once every four years was more successful than once every eight years. The application of compost increased the yield of sugar beet. The application of compost was also associated with nutrient surpluses and a increase in soil nutrients. The application of compost also led to an increase in some aspects of the soil biology. The other measures, including non-inversion tillage, the Base-Cation saturation ratio and applying rockdust were not successful in increasing the crop yields. Overall, large improvements in the soil quality as a result of the measures was not found.

Presentatie van de (voorlopige) resultaten van een meer-jarige veldproef waarin onderzoek wordt gedaan naar verbetering van de bodemweerbaarheid tegen Meloidogyne chitwoodi (wortelknobbelaaltjes). De proefopzet bestond o.a. uit een gewasrotatieexperiment (met en zonder) aaltjesbeheersingsstrategie (ABS), waarbij de nematodenpopulatie en opbrengst en kwaliteit van de gewassen vergeleken zijn. Een voorlopige conclusie is dat gewasrotatie een basis kan zijn van aaltjesbeheersingsstrategie.