Effective SQIs in literature, decision to handle specific situation for sustainable agriculture exists, soil test values (spatio-temporal) worked out, pedo-transfer functions for computing the missing soil characters available, land use types/management records available regionwise, yield gap analysis for major crops/cropping systems could be done through use of simulation models  or analyzing from coordinated multi-locational trials,Process for alternate land use choices well defined.

We need to develop region-wise coordination through development of a master platform for execution? Looks a big task for countries like India, but we need to initiate, it may not handle only soil health service and related advisory, but also should address general POP regionwise, yield forecast, pre-, post-  and mid-course advisory.

We need suggestions and directions from the experts to execute operational soil health service? 

Dr.Kalra,Appreciate your question.We are not sufficiently or efficiently utilizing the soil fertility data generated either by Government soil testing laboratories or private labs and those by Fertilizer Industry.Of course, Our institute generated soil fertility maps for different states both for macro and micronutrients. Information is available on IISS ,Bhopal website.Our STCR project generated soil test based recommendations for targeted yield of crops .The information is also available on IISS website.We also attempted to link soil fertility information in maps with targeted yield recommendation.I think the excise is successful but incomplete.  We have to link fertilizer use/distribution in different parts of the country  with soil fertility information Also different sources of nutrients and their availability need to be lined with fertility information.So to do and coordinate all these soil health related activities, at national level a nodal agency is needed with cooperating centers in different states.

I feel same challenges about SQI. For sure, there are different solutions. But, they do not answer on many challenges of practical land use. Further, the economic assessment of soil ressources seems to me too weak, As far as I know there is no experimental definition of soil which allows to distinguish soils formed during ecosystem succession over millenia from other carbon containing geological parent material. How we can speak about solutions for quality assessment if the object is not clear defined? How we can continue to mix functions of fertilizers in mineral substrates for plant growth with functions of real soils in the biosphere? For my opinion the question about soil quality is not solved at all. We only trying to compensate this gap with different approaches and the results are not satisfying until the value of soils become clear enough to public. Sorry, I do not have better answer.

I suggest you go through the attached paper by Kiblewhite et al. (2008) and re-examine the issue of soil quality indices. 

There are two ways in which the concept of soil health (or the closely related concept of soil quality) has been considered, which can be termed either ‘reductionist’ or ‘integrated’. The former is based on estimation of soil condition using a set of independent indicators of specific soil properties—physical, chemical and biological. This approach has been much discussed and well reviewed (e.g. Doran et al. 1994; Doran & Jones 1996; Van-Camp et al. 2004). This reductionist approach has much in common with conventional quality assessments in other fields, such as materials science. The alternative, integrated, approach makes the assumption that the health of a soil is more than simply the sum of the contributions from a set of specific components. It recognizes the possibility that there are emergent properties resulting from the interaction between different processes and properties.

The soil health is an important service in the land use and the diversity index of Collembola familes or another invertebrate specie is a good parameter.

the soil quality of a location depend of their soil characteristics. the different of the result may cause of the different methodology or need of adjustment factors.. 

Dr.Bijay Singh, good comments and good paper attached.I missed reading  this paper earlier.

Thanks for very good suggestions given by colleagues, but still operational part of the soil health service, with the assumption that soil health available, is furthermore tedious.

regards

Dr.Kalra, maybe you will benefit from this material:  http://www.worldaginfo.org/files/Soil%20Health%20Review.pdf 

In my opinion, it's not universal way to assess soil quality or soil health. But main existing required is kind of land use and what will be need land users. If we are evaluating soils of natural landscape it is one method which needed specifical indicators, if we are evaluating soils of agrolandscape - it will be another method and parameters. 

 Dear colleagues,  I understand the concerns of soil scientists or soil microbiologists/biologists.Soil health can not be assessed with uniform parameters and indicators like human,animal or even water health(quality).Soil health in managed ecosystems is different from natural ecosystems.Soil health assessment for food and fiber production is different from providing other ecosystem services.As explained by Dr.Bijay Singh(and the attached literature),the reductionist approach may very well serve the purpose of agriculture.Using some minimum data set if we assess the soil health/quality and take up remedial measures, the soil heath will automatically taken care of.If soil and water conservation best practices are followed,organic matter status is restored/improved and maintained,nutrient imbalances corrected and beneficial organisms population is enhanced/ maintained (through inoculation/biofertilizers or providing good growth conditions),the soil heath will not only improve for agricultural goods but other ecosystem services also be restored and maintained.

I agree with Dr Subba Rao, but as agri-knowledge dissemination or agro-advisory platform, we need to quantify the inputs/management on the basis of certain criteria, under which soil quality index based approach has to come for operational application. Thanks Dr Subba Rao for detailing out the important components.

To my judgement soil health quality can be best reflected by measuring organic matter content, microbial biomass, beneficial microbial and enzymatic activities, total nutrient status, soil depth , pH, EC and moisture retention capacity. There should be 10 scale indicator in each case . Accordingly optimum equation can be drawn based on the weightage of each parameters.

 Thanks a lot, Dr Olga for linking with a nice paper, when we look into soil health through SQI, we have to follow different procedure for quality assessment for different applications such as in irrigation management, tillage management, nutrient management, problem soils handling etc

regards

 Dr Tarafdar suggestion is nice, many of the SQIs are moving on this approach taking easily determinable soil characters, but in order to evolve a SQI how the weightage to selected paramters to be given, 

regards

Dr.Kalra,If you go through the following publication from Cornll University many of  the doubts will be cleared on how to use soil health/quality information in managing soils.

Cornell Soil Health assessment training manual by Gugino,B.K and others Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Cornell Soil Health( http:// soilhealth.cals.cornell.edu)

thanks Dr Subba Rao for guiding the link, regards

Soil health assessment could be done based on soil color, yield and topography at village/community level for quick action.

Thanks Dr Biswas, you are aiming at operational soil health service, which is the need of the hour

regards

Naveen that way , if you have to evaluate the soil health status , yield alone will reveal the status of soil health. But , here we are more concerned with the parameters  of soil to be analysed in laboratory revealing the soil health status. In this context , organic carbon can amply throw  some useful light  , and easy to handle through conventional soil testing laboratory .  

Dr Anoop, we wish to derive  soil health on the basis of basic soil parameters which could be related to growth and yield of crops/cropping systems, if DSS is prepared on the basis of historic datasets thereafter we could use for further applications

regards

Soil microbes and earthworms can give an indication of good soil health.

Dr Biswas, very good suggestion, but for point advisory it will be good, if let us say we have to make a regional application platform, may be we have to depend upon easily determinable or already existing parameters

thanks for the suggestion, regards 

Here are some useful references. All the best 

 Costantini, E. A. C., Branquinho, C., Nunes, A., Schwilch, G., Stavi, I., Valdecantos, A., and Zucca, C.: Soil indicators to assess the effectiveness of restoration strategies in dryland ecosystems, Solid Earth Discuss., 7, 3645-3687, doi:10.5194/sed-7-3645-2015, 2015.

Is there rapid field test available for diagnosing the microbial abundance of soil as indicator of soil health ? . Another problem , one may face is with regard to utmost sensitivity of soil microbes to any kind of input or even any adversity in climate , such microbe may undergo   changes in structural  and functional  diversity . there are so many soil health -related parameters , but we need to have a parameter which fairly stable over time and space , from  convenience in  evaluation  in field , and possibly in field 

I´m agree with the Dr. Biswas, about the bioindicators organisms.