Embrapa launches new versions of online course to celebrate four years of BioAS technology

Launched in July 2020, Soil Bioanalysis (BioAS) reaches its fourth anniversary with new features for those interested in the technology, which adds bioindicators to traditional soil analyses, anticipating soil health problems that impact crop productivity. From now on, the free online course “Soil Health, BioAS Technology and Agricultural Sustainability” now has versions in English and Spanish, available on the National School of Agricultural Management (Enagro) platform. 

Aimed at rural producers and extensionists, agricultural science professionals, students, cooperative technicians, public servants and other interested parties, the course has a workload of 20 hours and seeks to train participants with information related to BioAS, in addition to providing content related to the systems and agricultural management that contribute to soil health. Registration for the new class in the three languages ​​will be open from July 29th to August 4th. Places are unlimited and the period will be from August 5th to 25th.

The new versions of the online course will be officially launched at the 9th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 22 to 25 July. Responsible for leading the research project that culminated in the development of BioAS, researcher Ieda Mendes, from Embrapa Cerrados (DF), will be the only representative of Embrapa at the event. On the 23rd, she will participate in the special session “Soil Health measurements – sense and nonsense” with the lecture “Large Scale Assessments of Soil Health in Brazil using Soil Enzymes”. “The lecture will be exactly on the day we celebrate the fourth anniversary of the launch of BioAS, which is very symbolic and emblematic”, comments Mendes.

Since the launch of the technology, the project team has presented 143 in-person and online lectures on the technology and soil health.

Another novelty that is part of the celebration of four years of technology is the approval, together with the Ministry of Integration and Rural Development, of a research project that will evaluate soil health in the areas of irrigation hubs in Goiás.

“Four years ago, we did not imagine the repercussion that BioAS is having, with all these events. This shows how technology, still at an early stage, has impacted the field and has increasingly attracted the interest of the scientific community, rural producers, technicians and soil analysis laboratories not only in Brazil, but in several countries”, celebrates the researcher. 

Last May, for example, BioAS was presented at the event celebrating 100 years of the creation of the International Union of Soil Science Societies, held in Florence, Italy. The technology was also highlighted in Field Days promoted at Embrapa Cerrados for participants of the Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists (MACS 20) and the Advisors of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

About BioAS

BioAS consists of the inclusion of two enzymes related to the functioning of the soil's biological machinery (beta-glucosidase, from the carbon cycle, and arylsulfatase, from the sulfur cycle) in routine soil analyses, allowing the anticipation of asymptomatic soil health problems. soil before causing productivity losses in the crop. At the moment, 33 commercial laboratories trained by Embrapa and accredited in the BioAS Network are qualified to use the technology and another 31 expressed interest in the public invitation notice launched by the Company this year.

In addition to determining the activity of the two soil enzymes, BioAS also involves calculating the Soil Quality Index (IQS), which integrates chemical and biological parameters based on three functions – cycling, storage and supply of nutrients.

The accredited laboratories of the BioAS Network are connected to a web platform that interprets the results of enzymatic activity determinations in the collected samples and calculates the IQS and the cycling, storage and nutrient supply functions. The data is stored in a large database that, by the end of this month, should reach almost 40 thousand samples from different regions of Brazil.

Next Steps

Ieda Mendes points out that, despite the achievements achieved in the first four years, the list of challenges for the future is extensive.

By the end of this year, the BioAS calibration is scheduled to be launched for coffee, sugar cane, pasture and eucalyptus crops. “Although the algorithms developed for annual crops are working well for areas with coffee, sugar cane, pastures and eucalyptus, it will be very important to launch specific algorithms adjusted for these crops”, highlights researcher Fábio Bueno dos Reis Junior, also from Embrapa Cerrados

According to researcher Guilherme Chaer, from Embrapa Agrobiologia (RJ), BioAS' next steps will also involve calculations of the Soil Carbon Trend Index (ITCS). “Based on data on enzymatic activity and soil organic carbon obtained in the 0 to 10 cm layer, the ITCS will make it possible to identify the trend of carbon in the soil: gain, loss or stability, and quantify the strength of this trend”, he highlights.

Finally, making the BioAS database available for public consultation is the researchers' biggest dream. Efforts with various bodies are being made to make this a reality as soon as possible. For Mendes, Brazil could be the first country to implement a web structure to host a National Soil Health Platform. 

The platform will allow access to the percentage of samples coming from healthy, recovering, diseased and sick soils in production areas in Brazilian municipalities using BioAS technology. Geospatialized information on the health of Brazilian soils will also be presented through interactive maps. 

“By making soil health diagnosis publicly available at the municipal level, the platform will enable the development of effective public policies for conservation and soil health at the municipal, state and national level to guarantee productive crops in healthy soils”, projects the researcher.