Soil Organic Carbon content in soils: a critical factor for Kenyan soil fertility
Soil Organic Carbon is a key element of soil fertility and it shows great variation from one field to another. How do you know the SOC content of your soil to ensure successful food production? At SoilCares Foundation we analysed more than 20,000 soil samples from our database of South-Western Kenya and found SOC contents as low as 0.03% to more than 9%.
Soil Organic Carbon in soils is a major factor for the resilience of the production system. For example, water storing capacities and nutrient holding capacities of a soil are higher with higher SOC contents. Soil scientists generally consider a threshold of 2% below which soil quality is considered suboptimal for food production. Looking at our dataset of soil tests performed in South-Western Kenya, we see that 5% of the tested soils had a SOC content of less than 2%. This means that 1 out of every 20 soil tests show the soil is less suited for production and need soil remediation measures to increase SOC contents. Do you also want to know the SOC content of your soil? Have your soil tested at one of AgroCares’ service providers.