QuantySoil addresses Call 32, “Optimising soil functions for sustainable crop production”, and contributes to Call 24 “Climate strategy” and Call 13 “Arable crops”. The project aims to improve understanding of how agricultural soil management and site-specific conditions influence soil functions and resilience under current and future climate.
To achieve this, QuantySoil moves beyond simple factorial comparisons by refining continuous, numerical soil management indicators and identifying leverage points and thresholds for optimized, site-specific soil management. A key innovation is the shift from binary assessments (e.g. no-till vs. till) to a continuous scale. By analyzing response curves and identifying thresholds, the project aims to define “safe operating spaces” for soil functions under different management intensities. This supports a more nuanced understanding of how much of a given practice is beneficial, rather than simply whether it should be applied.