What is soil and how is it formed?

Soil is a rich, dynamic and complex porous mixture of water, minerals, air, organic matter, and a myriad of organisms (bacteria, fungi, nematodes, mollusks, insects, annelids and higher animals). Soil provides physical and nutritional support for plants. Soils are constantly created and lost. Soil sustains life on Earth! Thus, the soil is an invaluable natural resource, but also fragile and non-renewable. Maladministration of the soil leads to lost productivity and a degraded environment.