This comprehensive document addresses the pressing issue of deteriorating soil health in agriculture and offers a roadmap to safeguard this vital resource. It highlights the challenges stemming from cultural factors, the agrochemical industry, and inadequate government policies, while emphasizing the urgency of action. The importance of soil organisms and monitoring techniques is underscored, along with the critical practice of maintaining continuous plant cover over bare soil. Seven key strategies to increase soil organic matter levels are presented, concluding with a call to prioritize soil protection akin to water and air.
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All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
The author confirms sole responsibility for the following: study conception and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, and manuscript preparation.
The authors did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or non-profit sectors for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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I thank the following individuals for their expertise and assistance in all aspects of our study and for their help in writing the manuscript. I am also grateful for the insightful comments given by anonymous peer reviewers. Everyone's generosity and expertise have improved this study in myriad ways and saved me from many errors.
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