How to Improve Soil Fertility

Soil Fertility is soil’s ability to provide plants with nutrients, water, and good living conditions for roots and microbes.

Why Soil Fertility is important 

For every farmer, the real wealth is soil. If soil is healthy, crops grow strong, yields go up, and profit increases. But if the soil becomes weak, crops look yellow, production falls, and more money goes into fertilizers.

The good thing is there are many ways on how to improve soil fertility. With small but steady steps, we can bring back the strength of our soil. Based on ICAR, FAO, and farmer experiences, here are 12 simple and practical methods to improve soil fertility. 

 What is Soil Fertility? 

Soil fertility means how much the soil can feed your crops.Soil’s ability to provide plants with nutrients, water, and good living conditions for roots and microbes.

A fertile soil usually has:

• Balanced nutrients (N, P, K, sulfur, micronutrients like zinc & boron)
• Good soil organic carbon (SOC) (ideally 1.5–2%)
• Healthy microbes (bacteria, fungi, earthworms)
• Balanced pH (6.5–7.5 for most crops)
• Water holding & drainage capacity

12 Ways to Improve Soil Fertility

Following  are 12 simple and practical ways to improve soil fertility. 

1. Add Compost, Cow Dung, and Vermicompost

• Add 5–10 cartloads of FYM (farmyard manure) or compost per acre before sowing.
• Improves soil softness, water holding, and adds friendly bacteria.This is one best answers on how to improve soil fertility naturally.

2. Grow Green Manure Crops

• Crops like dhaincha, sunhemp, cowpea can be grown and ploughed back into the soil.
• This gives natural nitrogen to the soil.

3. Rotate Crops & Include pulses

• Don’t grow the same crop again and again.
• Mix pulses (moong, urad, chana) in the rotation. Pulses naturally fix nitrogen and improve soil.

 4. Use Biofertilizers

• Rhizobium for pulses, Azotobacter for cereals, PSB for phosphorus.
• These are low-cost and reduce chemical fertilizer need.

5.  Use Balanced Fertilizer, Not Just Urea

• Soil also needs sulfur, zinc, and boron.
• Example: SSP fertilizer gives both phosphorus and sulfur.
• Applying only urea makes soil weak in the long run.

6.  Manage Soil pH

• If soil is acidic (pH < 6) → add lime.
• If soil is alkaline (pH > 8.2) → add gypsum.
• Correct pH helps crops use fertilizer better.

7. Reduce Heavy Tillage

• Too much ploughing makes soil lose carbon.
• Practice minimum tillage or leave crop residue on the soil.
• This protects soil health.

8. Mulching with Crop Waste

• Keep sugarcane trash, paddy straw, or dry leaves on soil surface.
• This saves water, keeps soil cool, and increases fertility.
• Don’t burn residue it destroys soil life.

 9. Use Water Wisely

• Extra water washes away nutrients.
• Use drip irrigation or sprinklers for savings.
• In canal areas, water only when needed (based on soil moisture).

10. Add Biochar (Charcoal from Crop Waste)

• Biochar made from crop residues increases soil carbon.
• Helps soil hold nutrients for a longer time.
• Trials show biochar improves sugarcane yield by 10–15%.

11. Soil Testing and Soil Health Card

• Test soil every 2 years.
• Soil Health Card tells what is missing in your soil.
• Based on this, use only the required fertilizer this saves cost.

12. Natural & Regenerative Farming Practices

• Use Jeevamrutha, Beejamrutha, Panchagavya made from cow dung, urine, and local materials.
• Grow multiple crops together (intercropping) to keep soil alive.
• Many farmers in Jharkhand and Karnataka restored soil using these low-cost methods.

 

All these are practical answers for farmers who search how to improve soil fertility in the field.

Soil is like a living body. If you feed it well, it will feed your crops. By following these ways on how to improve soil fertility like adding compost, using green manure, practicing crop rotation, applying biofertilizers, testing soil, and saving water, every farmer can slowly bring back the natural power of their land.

This season, start with just one method add compost, grow green manure, or test your soil. Step by step, your land will become stronger, and your harvest will increase.

For more practical tips and solutions on soil health, visit  SV Agro Solutions – your partner in sustainable farming.