Organic Soil Amendments for Sustainable Agriculture: A Comprehensive Review

The sustainability of agriculture is thought to be threatened by the scarcity of water resources in arid and semiarid regions. Modernization and industrial pollution have increased and polluted the soil. Modern agriculture with the help of inorganic fertilizer and pesticides degrades the soil quality resulting in the decrease yield in the agriculture. Soil amendment is one of the approaches to improve the quality of the soil in the natural process. Organic wastes are collected, processed and used as a soil amendment. This review focused on the different types of organic soil amendment used to increase the physio-chemical properties of the soil.

Sustainable agriculture, organic soil amendment, nutrient cycling, water retention.

1. Kopittke PM, Menzies NW, Wang P, McKenna BA, Lombi E. Soil and the intensification of agriculture for global food security. Environment International. 2019 Nov 1;132:105078. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Potdar RP, Shirolkar MM, Verma AJ, More PS, Kulkarni A. Determination of soil nutrients (NPK) using optical methods: a mini review. Journal of plant nutrition. 2021 Jul 21;44(12):1826-39. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Rahman R, Sofi JA, Javeed I, Malik TH, Nisar S. Role of micronutrients in crop production. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences. 2020;8(11):2265-87. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Lal R. Soil Degradation and Pollution as the Global Public Health Emergency. Medical Research Archives. 2025 May 30;13(5). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Katsir S, Biswas AK, Urs K, Lenka NK, Jha P, Arora K. Governing soils sustainably in India: Establishing policies and implementing strategies through local governance. Soil Security. 2024 Mar 1;14:100132. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Garbowski T, Bar-Michalczyk D, Charazińska S, Grabowska-Polanowska B, Kowalczyk A, Lochyński P. An overview of natural soil amendments in agriculture. Soil and Tillage Research. 2023 Jan 1;225:105462. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Ansari RA, Sumbul A, Rizvi R, Mahmood I. Organic soil amendments: potential tool for soil and plant health management. InPlant Health under biotic stress: volume 1: organic strategies 2019 Mar 31 (pp. 135). Singapore: Springer Singapore. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Xu J, Li Y, Li L. A Comprehensive Review of the Effects of Organic Amendments on Soil Health and Fertility: Mechanisms, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Implications for Sustainable Agriculture. Agronomy. 2025 Nov 25;15(12):2705. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Renaud M, Chelinho S, Alvarenga P, Mourinha C, Palma P, Sousa JP, Natal-da-Luz T. Organic wastes as soil amendments–effects assessment towards soil invertebrates. Journal of hazardous materials. 2017 May 15;330:149-56. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Loss A, Couto RD, Brunetto G, Veiga MD, Toselli M, Baldi E. Animal manure as fertilizer: changes in soil attributes, productivity and food composition. Int. J. Res. Granthaalayah. 2019;7(9):307. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Darwish OH, Persaud N, Martens DC. Effect of long-term application of animal manure on physical properties of three soils. Plant and soil. 1995 Oct;176(2):289-95. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Bashir S, Gulshan AB, Iqbal J, Husain A, Alwahibi MS, Alkahtani J, Dwiningsih Y, Bakhsh A, Ahmed N, Khan MJ, Ibrahim M. Comparative role of animal manure and vegetable waste induced compost for polluted soil restoration and maize growth. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences. 2021 Apr 1;28(4):25349. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Ali M, Ahmed T, Abu-Dieyeh M, Al-Ghouti M. Environmental impacts of using municipal biosolids on soil, plant and groundwater qualities. Sustainability. 2021 Jul 27;13(15):8368. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Chambers BJ, Nicholson FA, Aitken M, Cartmell E, Rowlands C. Benefits of biosolids to soil quality and fertility. Water and Environment Journal. 2003 Aug;17(3):162-7. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Desjardins M, Ippolito JA, Bary AI, Cappellazzi SB, Liptzin D, Griffin-LaHue D. Long-term biosolids applications improve key soil health functions for semi-arid dryland systems. Science of the Total Environment. 2025 Oct 1;997:180130. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Breeding for a Greener Future: Selective Breeding and Crossbreeding Approaches to Minimize Methane Emissions in Ruminant Livestock
• Determinants of Adoption of Post-Harvest Losses Prevention Techniques among Banana/Plantain Marketers in Lagos State, Nigeria
• Enhancing Rice Yield Prediction Using UAV-Based Multispectral Imaging and Machine Learning Algorithms
• Seed-Borne Fungi of Groundnuts (Arachis Hypogaea) and Their Management with Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) Extract In Makurdi, Nigeria
• The Influence of Landforms and Slope on Agricultural Cropping Patterns in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar District