It is someting like egg came first or hen...??

I feel , soil fertility .....since we can amend the fertilie soil to perform at best....

Dont forget , famous proverbial saying: all fertile soils are not productive and all productive soils are not fertile....you can now choose in between.....

From a farmers perspective it is the soil productivity that is important !

Thank you for your nice comments @ Anoop Kumar Srivastava.

Thank you @ Joseph Kipkorir Cheruiyot.

Thank you for your nice discussion @ Swaminathan Chitraputhira Pillai.

Keep debating between the two overlapping but complimenting issues....How a given soil could be productive unless the soil has inherent capacity to support the elevated crop performance ..

Productive soils are important rather than fertile soil as if soil is productive it means soil is obvious fertile...it is said that all productive soils are fertile but all fertile soil may or may not be productive in question...

Soil fertility is the inherent capacity of the soil to supply nutrients in adequate amounts and in suitable proportions...it means soil fertility is only related to nutrient supply capacity of the soil so as to ensure better growth and development of a crop by providing nutrients in optimum manner...But if , soil is having optimum supplying capacity with respect to nutrients( that is fertile soil) , but if that fertile soil have some of the constraints like water logging, saline conditions as well as drought viz moisture stressed conditions, then though soil is fertile but there will not be appropriate nutrient uptake by the plant, then its translocation and finally assimilation...

So we need productive soil which is the capacity of soil to produce a crop in a definite set of conditions...productivity of soil is very broad term which include fertility as well as other interactive activities of soil physical chemical and biological environment.. It is measured in terms o yield or production of crop produce per unit of area...

There is really a very thin boundary between the two, but soil fertility when viewed as the ability of the soil to supply the essential nutrients for the growth of plants, means it simply has all the necessary nutrients. But in addition to this, productive soils also have the favourable physical and biological conditions. So productivity rules!

The soil productivity is more important than soil fertility, because the productive soil is fertile

In my view soil productivity is more important than soil fertility, because all productive soil are fertile but all fertile soils are not productive.

Both are important and interlinked. Fertile soil have high production if managed properly and sustainable bases.

ABDUL Aziz

We want productive soils. For soil to be productive, soil fertility is essential.

Thank you @ Anoop Kumar Srivastava.

Thank you @ Himanshu Verma.

Thank you @ Joseph Kipkorir Cheruiyot.

Thank you @ Abu El-Eyuoon Abu Zied Amin.

I do agree with ِِ@ Abu El-Eyuoon Abu Zied Amin. Productive soil is fertile that why yield is more. Good luck.

Thank you @A. S. Tayade.

ِِI do agree with Abu El-Eyuoon Abu Zied Amin. However, the term, productive soil and fertile soil are very closer, and interlinked. But, soil productivity is more important than soil fertility, the reason is that the productive soils are fertile and have the capability to provide all the essential nutrient for plant growth.

Thank you @ Zahid Fazal .

Thank you @ Victor B. Asio.

Thank you @ Dr. Md. Abdur Razzak Choudhury.

Thank you @ M. D.H. Prodhan.

Yes I am also in agreement with you colleagues about this statement that soil production is more important than soil fertility. Soil ecosystem services include soil fertility, carbon sequestration and water retention. So, we can conclude that soil fertility is one part of all factors together providing high production and yield.

Of course, we should never forget that without all these indispensable elements like soil fertility as the inherent capacity of the soil as mentioned by colleagues, we would not be able to have high yield crop productions.

I agree to the statements of my colleagues who have stated that productivity is more important than fertility. Productivity may refer as to the capacity of a soil or media to produce plants/crops successfully. But sometimes a fertile soil may not be a productive soil.

Soil fertility comes before soil productivity.

Thank you for your valuable information @ Elaheh Daghighi Masouleh .

Thank you @ Elaheh Daghighi Masouleh.

Thank you @ Md. Abul Kalam Azad.

Thank you @Emmanuel Vijayanand Murray.

Productivity

both are same when fertility will increase then productivity automatically enhance.

Fertile soil are not always productive, becouse if a soil is fertile and waterlogged condition so no production,

But productive soil are always fertile , if a soil is productive then it is fertile,

So if a soil is productive then always fertile ,

But fertile soil are not always productive.

So productive soil are more important than fertile soil.

Thank you for nice information @ Naimish Kumar Verma.

Thank you @ Arvind Yadav.

Soil productivity comprises the soil fertility inside it since the majority of components within the soil productivity. Soil productivity encompasses soil fertility plus the inherent and management-related factors affecting plant growth and development.

Soil productivity is the most important from the farmer's point of view. However, the soil is not productive unless it is fertile. However, fertile soil is not necessarily productive because there is a set of surrounding factors that may negatively affect the productivity of fertile soil.

Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

All fertile soils may not be productive but all productive soils are fertile. Soil productivity is the function of soil fertility, management and climate.

Soil Productivity = f (Soil fertility, Management, Climate)

Soil productivity encompasses soil fertility plus the inherent and management-related factors affecting plant growth and development. It is generally measured in terms of inputs versus outputs, which for agronomic situations generally refers to water and/or nutrient input versus crop yield.

You may like to go through the attached chapter.

Thank you @ Markos Mathewos.

Thank you @ Ali Alhayany.

Thank you @ Bijay Singh.

I agree with Bijay Singh Sir, nicely explained the term soil fertility and soil productivity.

Soil fertility means nutrients in the soil, as also depends on (i) Inherent or Natural Fertility:

(ii) Acquired Fertility:

(i) Natural Factors:

(ii) Artificial Factors: and soil productivity means to support the plant in the soil through physical, chemical, biological for growth and development of plant.

To be productive, a soil needs to be fertile.

Thank you for your nice discussion @ Anjireddy Pittam.

Thank you @ Bikas S Mahapatra.

The text books by Brady, Tisdale and Nelson and E W Russell have given enough clarification and justified statements on fertility and productivity. Please go through those text books.

Thank you for your nice discussion @ Bikas S Mahapatra.

even though water logged soils are fertile and have ability to supply plant nutrient we cant grow all type crops except rice and jute. so productivity is important than soil fertility. soil fertility is the function of soil productivity.

Thank you @ Arunkumar B R.

applied as a soil amendment

Soil fertility is the capacity of soil to supply or release of all the essential plant nutrient in sufficient quantity required by the crops or plants and it can be measured by the unit of kilogram of nutrients per unit area of land (kg/ha). But soil productivity is the capacity of soil to produce crops per unit area of land (kg/ha). So, the crops cannot be produced without the nutrients and therefore, soil productivity includes soil fertility besides the soil environmental condition which is highly essential for the uptake of soil released nutrients by the crops even if it is released from the soil. Therefore, soil productivity is important than the soil fertility.

Some of the reference books which gives clear idea on this topic are 1. Introductory soil science by Dhilip Kumar Das 2. Fundamentals of soil science by the Indian Society of Soil Science 3. Introduction to soil science by Dr.S.Jothiman (myself) 4. The nature and properties of soil by Nyle.C.Brady.

@Jothimani Subbiah thank you for your precise description and introducing books for further reading.

Dear Jothimani Subbiah,

I am really happy to read your answer. You have given the answer elaborately and very nicely in a descriptive way, which will help the RG members for better understanding this issue properly. Thans a lot for your contribution.

Thank you @ M. D.H. Prodhan.

Thank you @ Elaheh Daghighi Masouleh.

Thank you for your nice discussion @ Jothimani Subbiah.

both are important equally. The fertility is independent of productivity, where as productivity is dependent on fertility.

Thank you @ Bikas S Mahapatra.

Soil fertility is important it's lead soil productivity.

Thank you so much @ Paramasivam Sivaraj.

All productive soils are fertile but all fertile soils may not be productive. Productivity is a broad term encompassing fertile soils, but for being productive other factors also matters, if all the factors of crop production favoured including fertility, then only productivity can be achieved. So, both are important fertility leads to productivity.

Thank you @ Dhiraj Kumar.

@Prava Kiran Dash

A productive soil is already fertile

Fertile soils are usually productive but not always and, productive soils are not always fertile soils

I agree with with Dr. Bijay Singh and would like to add that the difference in optimizing productivity with fertility is a suitable soil pH for the crop being cultivated. I am saying this because a pH that is too high, or too low will not make nutrients available for exchange/uptake by the plant's roots.

Soil productivity

Actually both the soil fertility and productivity are important, however, the more important one is soil productivity, and indeed, the prodyctive soil are fertile.

Soil productivity is more important, however soil fertility leads soil productivity

Both of them are important.

Every fertile soil has good production but not every productive soil is fertile... So soil fertility is more important...

Soil fertility is important because it is the basis of soil productivity, which is especially important in agriculture.

Best wishes,

Happy New Year 2021

Dariusz Prokopowicz

Who can justify , which parameter out of the two is more imprtant , soil fertility or soil productivity , both are conditional parameters , something like , chicken came first or egg came first....

Both are important we can not separate them if a soil is fertile it is also productive meaning soil fertility is soil make up or composition while soil productivity is the ability of a soil to be produce

Both are important. Most important is maintaining the soil health through sustainable management practices

Both are important.

If soil is fertile then it is may be productive.

If soil is productive then it is fertile also.

Soil fertility is the nutrient status of soil.

Soil productivity is the capacity of soil in its normal environment to support plant growth. Soil fertility is inherent property whereas soil productivity is inherent property.

Both are reciprocal to each other.

The soil fertility is the part of the soil productivity. A soil may not be productive with out fertility nature of it. Therefore, both soil fertility and productivity are important.

I would say soil productivity is more important. The reason is because, a fertile soil may not be productive but a productive soil is fertile.

Both soil fertility and the soil productivity are equally important, but the soil productivity is more important as all the productive soil are fertile.

Well, productivity is a broader term than fertility. Productivity actually includes fertility. The soil will be productive if its nutrient status with respect to the plant will be satisfactory. But in every case, fertile soil can not be productive e.g saline soils, water logged soils. These problematic soils having nutrients status but can not give potential production. Yes, productivity is more important.

ABDUL Aziz i would say that both are having equally importance, but practically soil productivity is most important from fertility point of view. Suppose we have saline soils which are more fertile in itself but we can’t take something productive due to their limiting characteristics.

From agriculture point of view soil productivity is important and it is frequently used that all productive soils are fertile but all fertile soils are not productive. This shows that if a soil have high fertility this does not mean that it will be productive so for agriculture we want productive soils

Both areas equally important.

The soil productivity depends upon soil fertility and other factors, like climate, environment,pathogen activities and many more, therefore, it may not be always productive if these othe factors are not considered.

Soil fertility increases soil productivity .It is not at all a question .

Hi. Kindly see the following link :

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/smallfarms/importance-soil-fertility-vegetable-crop-production

For me soil productivity is a function of soil fertility. With limited soil fertility, crop yield may be affected

These are mutually beneficial, as has been alluded to by the previous answers. I strongly doubt that we can have optimum productivity without the required fertility.