A revolutionary new method for assessing soil health using seismic technology could be a game-changer for global agriculture, helping to prevent famine and increase food production, scientists have announced.
The 'Holy Grail' of Agriculture
The technique, dubbed "soilsmology", adapts principles from earthquake monitoring to create detailed underground maps. Currently, farmers and scientists rely on digging numerous holes to sample soil, a process that is slow, disruptive, and often inaccurate. The new approach involves placing a metal plate on the ground, striking it with a hammer, and measuring the resulting sound waves as they travel through the earth.
These waves bounce back differently depending on what they encounter. They reflect off hard surfaces like rocks or compacted soil, and travel through pores and channels created by earthworms and microorganisms. This allows researchers to build a fine-grained picture of soil structure, compaction, and biological activity without causing damage.
Addressing a Global Crisis
The initiative is being driven by the Earth Rover programme, a non-profit co-founded by Guardian columnist George Monbiot and soil ecologist Professor Simon Jeffery. They aim to develop a free app for farmers worldwide.
"Soil is one of our most precious resources. 99% of the calories we consume come from the soil," said Professor Jeffery. "It's very underappreciated, but without soil we would not be here." He warns that poor practices like excessive tilling and pesticide use, combined with climate-driven erosion, are degrading soils globally. In some regions, crop yields are forecast to fall by 50% even as the population grows.
The problem is compounded by a lack of precise data. Soil conditions can vary dramatically within a single field, yet farmers are forced to apply broad, costly interventions like fertilising or tilling entire areas. This not only wastes money but harms wildlife, pollutes waterways, and further damages soil health.
Life-Changing Potential for Farmers
For farmers in regions like Africa, the technology could be transformative. Soil scientist Peter Mosongo, based in Kenya, explained that many farmers cannot access distant testing labs. "Our technology can find areas of subsoil compaction which can, in turn, reduce flood risk and increase crop yields," he said. "We can tell farmers the problems with their soil and then they can increase their yield by taking targeted interventions."
The seismic readings can also indicate soil dryness, guiding irrigation, and measure microbial life, advising on organic matter needs. Furthermore, it offers a more accurate way to calculate soil carbon levels, which is currently largely guesswork.
Current global soil maps are inadequate. Even the UK's map—the best in the world—operates on a 5km grid, missing crucial local variation. In Africa, maps rely on very few samples. "If we run out of soil, we run out of food," Mosongo cautioned, noting that it can take 500 years to form just 1cm of topsoil, which can be washed away in an afternoon.
Independent expert Aidan Keith, a soil ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, called the development "transformative", praising its potential for limited disturbance and straightforward deployment. The team behind soilsmology believes this tool is vital to sustainably feed a growing world and avert the threat of widespread starvation.
