Understand how to manage and how the soil microbiome works in this thorough course that works through soil science that covers all of the factors that lead to a healthy soil microbiome.
When the soil microbiome is healthy, plants flourish and crops grow better, requiring less chemicals and pesticides.
This course is essential learning for anyone who works in plant production, farming or horticulture.
This course covers nine lessons:
Lesson 1. Nature and Scope of the Soil Microbiome
- Nature of soil
- Soil Structure & Texture
- Soil Structure and Porosity
- Soil Structure Research
- Topsoil Thickness
- Nutrient Components
- Carbon and Nutrient Content
- Carbon Retention
- Nitrogen
- Phosphorus
- Sulphur
- Other Important Indicators of Soil Health
- Acidity (pH)
- Salinity
- Environmental Factors Affecting Soil Health
- Drought
- Frost
- Erosion
- Water Retention
- Nature of soil Microbes
- Bacteria
- Archaea
- Viruses
- Fungi
- Protozoa
- Scope of the Soil Microbiome
- Plant-Microbe Relationships
- Microbe Interrelationships
- Changes to the Soil Microbiome
- Key Definitions and Concepts for Understanding Soil
Lesson 2. Analysing the Soil Microbiome Status
- Measurement vs. Monitoring in Soil Biology
- Things the Soil Microbiome can Help Measure or Monitor
- Types of Soil Biological Testing and Analysis
- Deciding on the Right Type of Test
- Overview of Different Testing Types
- Cotton Strip Assay
- Microbial Activity Using Basal Carbon Dioxide Respiration
- Microbial Biomass
- Identification Through Culturing
- Potentially Mineralisable Nitrogen
- Biolog Plates
- Microarrays
- Community Profiling
- More Advanced Approaches to the Microbiome: Omics
- Transcriptomics
- 16S rRNA
- PCR
- PCR-ELISA
- Bioinformatics
Lesson 3. Human Impact on Microbiomes
- Land Development and Urbanisation
- Changes in Land Use and Microbial Communities
- Problems with land development on soils
- Climate Change
- Pollution
- Air Pollution
- Deposition
- Precipitation
- Erosion
- Microplastics
- Anti-microbials
- Antibiotic Resistance
- Monocultures
Lesson 4. Soil Substrates and Additives
- Soil Substrates
- Inorganic Substrate Materials
- Perlite
- Vermiculite
- Sand
- Rockwool
- Organic Substrate Materials
- Peat
- Coir
- Bark
- Soilless Substrates and Microbes
- Substrate Technology
- Substrate Engineering
- Substrate Evaluation
- Novel Technologies used in Substrate Management
- Tomography
- Rhizometrics
- Mini-Horhizotron
- Rhizometer
- Inorganic Additives
- Organic Additives
- Manures
- Compost
- Fungal Additives
Lesson 5. Conventional vs Organic Soil Management
- Conventional vs Organic Soil Management practices
- Conventional Practices
- Soil Carbon Modelling
- Organic Practices
- Composting
- Crop Rotations
- Cover Crops
- No Tillage Farming
- Organic Pest & Disease Control
- Weed Control
- Rotational Grazing
- Livestock Management
- Biodynamics
- Biodynamic preparations/sprays
Lesson 6: Soil Fertility Management
- Soil Management Strategies
- Soil Organic Matter
- Cover Crops
- Cocktail Cover Crop
- Legume Crops
- Longer Crop Rotations
- Reduced Tillage
- Planting Trees
- ORGANIC Additives
- Soil Humus
- Building Soil Humus
- Humates
- Composting
- Animal Manures
- Microbial Inoculants & Miicroorganisms
- Use of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) Inoculants
- Specific Inoculums
- Protozoa Tea
- Earthworms
- INORGANIC ADDITIVES
- Gypsum
- Lime
Lesson 7. Plant Interactions with a Microbiome
- Soil Organisms
- Function of Plant Microbiome
- Effect of Non-native Species
- Soil Microbiome and Plants
- Plant-Soil Feedback
- Plant-Microbe Associations
- Examples of Plant-Microbe Associations with Plant Families & Species
- Effects of Different Microbes
- Other Associations
- Cover Crops & Grapevines
- Crop Rotations & Microbiomes
- Types of Cover Crops & Microbiomes
Lesson 8. Pest and Disease Interactions with a Microbiome
- Biopesticides
- Advantages of Biopesticides
- Biological Control Agents
- Microbial Pesticides
- Advantages of Microbial Insecticides
- Entomopathogenic Fungi
- Protozoa
- Bacteria
- Engineering Microbial Inoculants to Suppress Disease
Lesson 9. Soil Regeneration Practices
- Restoring the soil microbiome
- Practical Methods Which Benefit the Soil Microbiome
- Reducing soil disturbance
- No tillage (Zero Tillage)
- Advantages of no till farming
- Controlled Traffic Farming
- Advantages of Controlled Traffic Farming
- Increasing crop diversity & ORGANIC matter
- Alley Farming
- Cover Crops
- Mulching & Composting
- Biochar
- Increasing soil microbes
- Microbial Inoculation
- Plant Breeding and Microbiome Engineering
