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Our agricultural soils are becoming depleted, leading to growing pressure on our food production systems. Chemical inputs and intensive farming practices can only go so far in maintaining yields, and it is becoming ever more vital to find a balance where we can renew our landscapes without losing productivity.

At Â鶹´«Ã½, we are working across the entire South West agricultural system, from horticulture in Cornwall to pastoral land in Devon and arable farms in Somerset. This ‘living laboratory’ provides a unique proving ground where we can validate practical agri-tech solutions and develop the evidence base for best-practice approaches to agricultural regeneration, with both regional and national impact.

Drones with sophisticated mapping equipment, robots armed with a suite of sensors, in-field genetics testing kits to explore the biodiversity of soil – farmers and researchers are working together to develop a set of practical tools that can be adapted to local conditions and individual farms, for rapid, on-site analysis of crop health, animal welfare and environmental impacts.

Professor Richard Preziosi and Dr Mark Whiteside explain how agri-tech can help to achieve healthy landscapes without harming productivity

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Published in Farmers Weekly, 14 June

Healthy landscapes don’t just provide fertile ground for sustainable food production, they can also provide potential solutions to a wide range of climate challenges. From sequestering carbon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to providing rich habitats that could support our declining biodiversity, careful land management can help us to build national climate resilience.

From peat bogs and forested wetlands in the UK, to Peruvian glaciers or the rainforests of Ghana, our transdisciplinary work connects research with practice and local communities. Novel applications of sensor technology and a hands-on approach to environmental data are allowing us to build the evidence base for nature-based solutions to climate change.

Peatlands are among the most critical ecosystems on earth. It is surprising, then, that despite public support, many environmental protections for peatland have failed to materialise. From peat cutting and burning to the continuing sale of peat-based compost, these habitats are under threat. Has their public image led to them being misunderstood and underappreciated?

Find out why Dr Scott Davidson thinks we need to change our perspectives on peatlands and their value to climate resilience.

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Published in the New Statesman, 6 June

Tackling climate challenges needs to start from the ground up – healthy soils form the foundation for resilient, productive landscapes. Understanding the condition of our soil microbiomes could help us to develop adaptation strategies to ensure food security and healthy landscapes, even as the climate continues to change.

But climate-smart land management decisions require accurate and reliable environmental data. We collaborate with local farming communities around the world to validate and ground-truth the data that can be provided by novel environmental sensors, building capacity to tackle landscape-level challenges at a global scale.

A critical soil health challenge that we currently face is how to replicate laboratory data in the field, in a way that is more rapid, more representative of the real environment, and made in collaboration with the landowner. We’ve been developing approaches to using mobile environmental radioactivity sensors to allow farmers to make informed land management decisions at the right time, to improve food security, climate resilience and our ability to reach net zero.

Learn how Professor Will Blake is using nuclear and isotopic techniques to shine a light on soil health.

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Published in New Scientist, 20 June

Sustainable Earth Institute

The Sustainable Earth Institute connects the Â鶹´«Ã½'s world-leading research and expertise with the wider world.

We bring together researchers from natural and social sciences, engineering, arts, humanities, health and business, to take an interdisciplinary, systems-thinking approach to help tackle sustainability challenges.

Our research responds to the call of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, contributing to both global efforts, and the needs identified locally where our capabilities can make a difference.

Find out more about the Sustainable Earth Institute