Soil organic matter is vital for maintaining healthy and productive soils. It provides essential nutrients for plants through mineralization, enhances soil structure, boosts water retention and management, and improves the soil's buffering capacity. Furthermore, humus—a key component formed during the decomposition of organic matter—acts as a significant carbon sink, playing a critical role in mitigating climate change.

The formation of humus relies on the activity of soil organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and microarthropods. Breaking down complex organic matter (a process known as humification) requires the entire soil ecological community. This means that greater species diversity—or high soil biodiversity—leads to more effective humus development and overall soil health.

Edapholog®: A Revolutionary Solution for Soil Health Monitoring

While humus formation is a slow and complex process, soil biodiversity in arable fields responds much more rapidly to changes in soil conditions. This makes soil biodiversity an excellent early bioindicator for predicting humus development and soil health trends.

Until now, assessing soil biodiversity required expensive and time-consuming laboratory techniques such as DNA analysis or microscopy. Edapholog® changes the game. This groundbreaking technology, developed domestically, uses artificial intelligence-driven image processing to provide the first-ever automated, cost-effective method for measuring soil biodiversity.

With Edapholog®, the impact of soil-regenerating agricultural practices on biodiversity can now be assessed routinely, affordably, and reliably—not just in research but directly in farming operations.

Supporting Carbon Programs with Edapholog®

Carbon programs aim to enhance soil carbon stocks by increasing humus content through practices such as reduced tillage, leaving crop residues, mulching, organic fertilization, and planting cover crops. These approaches not only retain more carbon in the soil but also encourage the continuous activity of soil organisms and improve biodiversity, crucial for organic matter decomposition and humus formation.

Edapholog® supports these efforts by providing robust, data-driven insights into soil biodiversity and health. By measuring the mesofaunal biodiversity of the soil at the start and conclusion of a carbon program, we offer standardized, spatially and temporally consistent sampling data. Advanced biostatistical analysis ensures these measurements can validate and certify the positive impacts of soil-friendly, regenerative practices on biodiversity, soil life, and health—all essential for sustainable humus development.