The crucial role of healthy soil in achieving sustainable food production and environment is increasingly recognized, as is the importance of proper assessment of soil quality. We introduce a new framework, open soil index (OSI), which integrally evaluates soil health of agricultural fields and provides recommendation for farming practices. The OSI is an open-source modular framework in which soil properties, functions, indicators and scores, and management advice are linked hierarchically. Soil health is evaluated with respect to sustainable crop production but can be extended to other ecosystem functions. The OSI leverages the existing knowledge base of agronomic research and routine laboratory data, enabling its application with limited cost. The OSI is a generic framework that can be adopted for specific regions with specific objectives. As a proof of concept, the OSI is implemented for all (>700,000) Dutch agricultural fields and illustrated with 11 pairs (“good” and “poor”) of local fields and 32 fields where soil quality and crop yield have been monitored. The OSI produced reasonable evaluation for most pairs when soil physical functions were refined with on-site soil visual assessment. The soil functions are sufficiently independent and yet together reflect complex multidimensionality of soil quality. The framework can facilitate designing sustainable soil management programs by bridging regional targets to field-level actions.

中文翻译：

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促进可持续土壤管理的开放式土壤健康评估框架

人们越来越认识到健康土壤在实现可持续粮食生产和环境方面的关键作用，以及对土壤质量进行适当评估的重要性。我们引入了一个新的框架，开放土壤指数（OSI），它综合评估农田的土壤健康并为耕作实践提供建议。OSI 是一个开放源代码的模块化框架，其中土壤特性、功能、指标和分数以及管理建议是分层链接的。土壤健康是根据可持续作物生产进行评估的，但可以扩展到其他生态系统功能。OSI 利用现有的农艺研究知识库和常规实验室数据，以有限的成本实现其应用。OSI 是一个通用框架，可用于具有特定目标的特定区域。作为概念证明，OSI 对所有（>700,000）荷兰农田实施，并用 11 对（“好”和“差”）当地农田和 32 个监测土壤质量和作物产量的农田进行说明。当通过现场土壤视觉评估细化土壤物理功能时，OSI 为大多数对提供了合理的评估。土壤功能充分独立，但又共同反映了土壤质量的复杂多维性。该框架可以通过将区域目标与实地行动联系起来，促进可持续土壤管理计划的设计。当通过现场土壤视觉评估细化土壤物理功能时，OSI 为大多数对提供了合理的评估。土壤功能充分独立，但又共同反映了土壤质量的复杂多维性。该框架可以通过将区域目标与实地行动联系起来，促进可持续土壤管理计划的设计。当通过现场土壤视觉评估细化土壤物理功能时，OSI 为大多数对提供了合理的评估。土壤功能充分独立，但又共同反映了土壤质量的复杂多维性。该框架可以通过将区域目标与实地行动联系起来，促进可持续土壤管理计划的设计。