The soil under our boots

(Sicilian farmers look) Back to the future

Antonio Jordán August 30, 2016

Wheatfield with Crows, by Van Gogh. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Sicilian farmers are returning to cultivate ancient seed. This is to recover the ancient wisdom that feed the island and Italy since ancient times. Giuseppe Li Rosi is a local farmer and one of the strongest supporters of the return to traditional agriculture. He has converted a property of 100 hectares to traditional farming and proudly guards three local seed varieties (“Timilia”, “Maiorca” and ...[Read More]

The long, long travel from rock to soil (I)

Antonio Jordán February 8, 2016

There is hardly a subject in all nature, of which the majority of people has so unclear terms and which has hitherto been so completely misunderstood, as the soil on which they walk. F.A. Fallou Soil is often considered as the skin of the Earth and is located at the interface between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. Air, water, rock and living beings interact to form ...[Read More]

Soil facts

Antonio Jordán September 23, 2015

As part of the activities of the International Year of Soils, FAO has published the following Soil Facts. Contribute with your comments!

Fire and soil microorganisms: where should we focus on?

Antonio Jordán May 6, 2015

Experimental burn carried out to study the impacts of fire on soil. Credit: Imaggeo/Antonio Jordán.

Gema Bárcenas-Moreno University of Seville, Sevilla, Spain Currently, the complexity of soil microbial ecology on soil systems is a hot topic in the environmental sciences, since the scientific community has achieved a deep knowledge of the relevance of microorganisms in soil processes. After several decades of study of the effects of wildfires on soils, one of the main conclusions is that soil mi ...[Read More]