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Agriculture vocabulary · Soil and Land Management

Organic matter

Meaning in agriculture, with examples

nounCore term

In agriculture, organic matter means: The part of the soil formed from decaying plant and animal material; it holds water and nutrients and improves soil structure.

In Turkish: organik madde

How it is used

Usually given as a percentage in soil test reports ('2 percent organic matter'). Farmers increase organic matter with manure, compost, cover crops and crop residues, and lose it through intensive tillage and stubble burning.

Example sentences

  1. Most of our fields have less than 1.5 percent organic matter.

  2. Leaving the straw on the field slowly builds up organic matter.

Common collocations

  • soil organic matter
  • organic matter content
  • increase organic matter
  • low organic matter
  • soilThe loose upper layer of the earth, made of minerals, organic matter, water and air, in which plants grow and take up water and nutrients.
  • soil fertilityThe ability of a soil to supply plants with the nutrients, water and conditions they need to grow well and give good yields.
  • compostA dark, crumbly material made by letting plant waste, manure and other organic matter break down under controlled conditions, used to improve soil.
  • manureAnimal dung, often mixed with straw or bedding, that is spread on land as an organic fertilizer to add nutrients and organic matter.
  • cover cropA crop grown mainly to protect and improve the soil between main crops, rather than to be harvested, such as vetch, clover, rye or mustard.

More terms: Soil and Land Management

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