Living Soils:

Training Exercises for Integrated Soils Management

William Settle, 2000

'Living Soils' consists of 31 exercises with accompanying reference materials which were compiled and edited by Dr William Settle, Senior Ecology Consultant to the FAO Programme for Community IPM in Asia. All exercises have been field tested in training sessions in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Bangladesh. 

The document has a total of 101 pages and includes many tables and diagrams. To make it easier to download it has been split into 5 pdf files. You will need an Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print these files. The software can be downloaded free of charge from this address: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html.  

Cover and Introduction [16 pages, pdf file,  403 kb]

 1. Analogy as an important tool in training.

 2. What is science?

The Soil System [41 pages, pdf file, 1,045 kb] 

 3. What is a soil system?

 4. Designing experiments for soils

 5. Soil texture 

 6. Atoms and molecules

 7. What is pH?

 8. Particle sizes and forms

 9. Soil structure

10. Soil composition

11. Productivity: testing soils with indicator plants

12. Soil compaction

13. Water-holding capacity

14. Soil Drainage Rates

15. Demonstrating microbes in soil

16. Organic matter decomposition

17. What is a soil system? -- wrap up

18. What is an ideal soil?

The Plant System [14 pages, pdf file, 116 kb] 

19. Plant structure and function

20. Is the soil “alive”?

21. What is energy?

22. Photosynthesis

23. Principal nutrients: sources and behavior

Soil Management Methods [23 pages, pdf file, 566 kb]

25. Nutrient “mining”

26. Rice nutrient budget

27. Straw-use analysis

28. C:N ratios

29. Soil problem analysis

30. Building compost

31. Doing farmer-based research on soils

Appendices [19 pages, pdf file, 306 kb]

A:  Soil Systems

B: Principal Nutrients