Tear-off calendars come in many shapes and sizes. But strangely, none had ever been made for soil. The new Soil-tear-off calendar, with a daily snippet of information on the soil, now fills this gap. The gift, partially made possible by WUR, was delivered to all crop and livestock farmers.
The idea for a soil-tear-off calendar emerged about a year and a half ago, says Janjo de Haan (Field Crops). At the time, there was already a monthly calendar with soil management tips. An initiative from the BO Arable Farming, WUR and communications agency JEEN. All crop farmers received the calendar.
Together
The monthly calendar reeked of more. When Delta Plan Agricultural Water Management joined, possibilities opened up. The result is a calendar for every day of the week. ‘Well. Nearly every day, we cheated a little by placing Saturday and Sunday on a single page.’, De Haan states.
It appears to be catching on and meets a need
Janjo de Haan, researcher of Field Crops
But how do you gather 300 tips and bits of information about soil? De Haan: ‘We started by brainstorming for an afternoon, which already yielded a plethora of ideas. These ideas were further fine-tuned, and we then asked various parties for their input. We also asked farmers for ideas on practical days. The soil is a broad topic.’
Quiz question
And this resulted in questions such as: ‘Soil with a low pH contains more soil life than soil with a high pH value. True or false?’. The calendar contains quiz questions, tips and information. Besides being fun, the primary purpose of the calendar is to educate. One more: How many kilogrammes of worms does an average hectare of clay soil contain?
The reactions are positive, says De Haan. ‘It appears to be catching on and meets a need.’ The calendar is not for sale. De Haan: ‘We received 1000 copies for WUR. Some will be made available to colleagues who work in plant and soil research. The directors of PSG and ESG are to receive a copy on Monday. Monday is not only Sinterklaas but also World Soil Day.’
Those interested in obtaining a copy of the calendar can visit this website. Twenty copies will be distributed among those who answer the worm question correctly.
![[The Proposition] ‘Climate-smart agriculture as a scientific field is a typical example of neocolonial science’](https://www.resource-online.nl/app/uploads/2024/02/DeStelling_online_UK_1811.png)