Advances in Tropical Soil Science Volume 7 by Editors: Tan Geok Hun, Noraini Md Jaafar@Ahmad Jaafar, Mohd Firdaus Mohd Anuar & Adibah Mohd Amin

Soil is a very important resource required for the prosperity and survival of mankind as well as for the maintenance of terrestrial ecosystems. Soil is that the basis of the food system. It supplies essential nutrients, water, root support and oxygen that plants require to grow and produce the required yield. Soil acts as a media for the expansion of all plants, it modifies the atmosphere favourable to plants by emitting and absorbing gases and mud, it provides habitat for the organisms, it holds purifies, alters, releases water and processes nutrients, the organisms to use it again and again. Soils are habitats for beneficial soil microbes; these organisms are nature’s hidden helpers. They form synergistic relationships with plants to guard them from stress and supply them with nutrients, among other tasks. Thus, it is important for us to understand the wide range of soil such as soil physics, soil chemistry, soil microbiology and soil fertility and management in the tropics, particularly in Malaysia.