About us

About the SoilCares Foundation

SoilCares Foundation is an independent organization that was founded in 2015 in Wageningen, the Netherlands. Our ambition is improving food production worldwide through better soil management. The Foundation is associated with AgroCares as we use their solutions (the AgroCares Scanner) to reach our goal among smallholder farmers around the world.

Food production has to increase to meet the growing demand

Global agriculture today is consumed by an unseen paradox: Food production has to increase to meet the growing food and biomass demand, which is putting soil fertility levels under so much pressure that it results in soil degradation and productivity loss. This vicious circle is the result of injudicious soil nutrient management. 

SoilCares Foundation’s aim is to increase food production by introducing solutions that will incite farmers around the world to adopt more efficient use of soil nutrients. In optimal conditions, for every 1 kg of nutrients, about 50 kg of harvestable biomass can be produced. Sadly, under the current production practices, experiencing losses of 50% of the nutrients we apply on a field is considered acceptable. Imagine that nowadays, a farmer has to apply twice as much nutrients than what his crop actually needs just because of such losses and former unbalanced fertilisation.

Increasing food production with fast, affordable and customized methods for soil analysis

SoilCares Foundation is convinced that increasing food production by reducing nutrient losses is now possible as fast, affordable and customized methods for soil analysis have been made available. Even though, Soil fertility is at the start of the value chain of any agricultural commodity and by improving the soil status the entire value chain will improve, of all the agricultural production factors it is the one that receives the least attention. The simple reason is that soil can not be read.

SoilCares makes it possible to easily read and identify the needs of soil

For many farmers all over the world soil is a puzzling black box to which they apply fertilizers without knowledge of what the soil actually needs. AgroCares made it possible to easily read and identify the needs of soil through near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. SoilCares Foundation was founded to make sure all smallholder farmers, even in the most remote areas, can get access to this reliable and affordable technology that will improve the productive capacities of their soils.

SoilCares Foundation puts the farmer at the centre

SoilCares Foundation has a holistic, entrepreneurial approach, putting the farmer at the centre and the soil at the basis of development by getting involved in projects and demonstrations that relate to an integrated sector development, including access to seeds, fertilisers, connection to the local market, etc.