Two European concerted actions on subsoil compaction

Subsoil compaction has been acknowledged by the European Union as a serious form of soil degradation and therefore EU finances two concerted actions on subsoil compaction, scheduled for a duration between 1998 and 2001. The two CAs involve 49 institutes in 14 EU-member-countries, Switzerland, Norway, and 11 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The general objective is to make an inventory of existing knowledge and experience with the distribution and impact of subsoil compaction in Europe, to formulate recommended analytical and field experiments methods, to develop ways and guidelines to prevent subsoil compaction, to identify gaps in knowledge and need for future research. The two concerted actions collaborate in the construction of two databases on literature, on soil mechanical properties and impact of subsoil compaction on soil nutrients, soil physical properties, crop production and environment. Result