Peltohavaintoja - aistinvarainen tarkastelu maan kasvukunnon mittarina

Soil health is a complex whole, which includes biological, chemical and physical factors. This makes it challenging to measure. One approach for measurement is to make a series of observations and try to synthetize these into an overall picture of the functioning of the soil ecosystem. Observations can be made on a general level, for example on the drying of soil or plant emergence. However observations can also be made in a systematic fashion using a defined evaluation methodology.

Evaluation methodologies have been in use since early 1900s, but they have been further developed during the 2000s. Currently the methods have matured to a stage, where they provide reliable results which can be used to compare fields and the development of a single field over time.

This report presents a group of the most common evaluation methodologies and also results from applying them to 24 fields over 3 years. The visual evaluation results are compared also to measurements from the same fields. The report contains many photographs from different field situations, which can be used to develop obser