Organic matter has a profound impact on soil quality; it
encourages granulation, increases water storage, nutrient supply,
and soil organism activity, and improves soil fertility and
productivity11•12. An earlier study8 with these two farms showed
that the organically-farmed Naff soil had significantly higher
levels of urease, phosphatase, and dehydrogenase (soil enzymes)
and significantly higher microbial biomass. We found that the
organically-farmed soil also had significantly higher polysaccharide
content than the conventionally-farmed soil (Table 2).
Polysaccharides, some of which are produced by soil microorganisms,
serve as active binding agents in soil aggregate formation,
and are involved in aggregate stability