THE science of soil biology is following on the heels of minimum till farming - hailed as the next productivity revolution and a potential source of widespread gains in the cropping sector.

The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) is supporting soil biology research with a major investment in the second GRDC Soil Biology Initiative (SBI-II).

The Initiative and its suite of projects is coordinated by Associate Professor Pauline Mele, Department of Primary Industries Victoria (DPI) and Latrobe University principal research scientist, under the leadership of GRDC manager agronomy, soils and environment, Dr Martin Blumenthal.

A/Prof Mele says the SBI-II will enhance productivity growth in the cropping sector, particularly the high rainfall zone (HRZ), by improving knowledge on a region-by-region basis as to how the quality of soil biology relates to grain productivity and productivity.

"We hope to improve understanding of the role of soil biological communities in crop nutrient availability, suppressive soils, and general soil health," A/Prof Mele said.

"For example, we have a range of projects that will give us greater insight into the role of free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria in crop nutrition.

"We already know that the amount produced will vary from between 10 and 30 kilograms per hectare per year but we don't have in-crop measures and have yet to link how stubble from previous years influences this rate."

A/Prof Mele says the SBI will provide also agronomic management solutions that encourage desirable biological processes and/or suppress undesirable processes.

"We understand that some soils are more able to resist diseases such as bare patch in wheat," she says.

"We also know that the phenomenon is related to soil biology as previous work has shown that if you sterilise the soil and remove the biology, disease strikes with a vengeance.

"The nature of this 'suppressiveness' is largely a mystery so this initiative is looking more deeply into the soil biology to see who is providing the defence and by what means."

Ultimately the hope is to relate these beneficial defence traits to crop management that encourages the development of a disease suppressive soil community.

"It is also building a research capacity in soil biology research, development and extension through national and international integration of science disciplines including genetics, bioinformatics, modelling, geochemistry, agronomy and pathology," A/Prof Mele says.

The SBI-II is underpinned by three key themes:

1. Monitoring soil quality for better decision making;

2. Management systems for enhanced nutrient availability (incorporating rhizosphere); and

3. Suppressive soils: traits and transferability.

In a season when waterlogging has been common across the HRZ, soil health is a hot topic for southern growers.

Under the SBI, GRDC is supporting the national roll-out of a soil quality project initiated in WA (visit http://www.soilhealth.org .au), which brings together tools and information for growers and advisers, including fact sheets on waterlogging, raised beds and non-wetting soils.

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Grain gains from soil biology research