Guideline for soil biology data collection in Ethiopia: National standard

Recently, recognition has been growing of the
power of data and information for better decisionmaking
and service provision in agriculture. To
ensure good data quality, an agreed standard to
collect, store, and share data along the agricultural
value chain is required.
With this background, the purpose of this guideline
is to provide guidance on standardizing soil biology
data collection and thereby enhance temporal and
spatial data interoperability.
Standard field research design, data collection,
and data reporting are required for well-informed
meta-analyses and syntheses of agricultural
research data as well as for making these data
more accessible for calibration and evaluation of
process-based models. Hence, this guideline is
a contribution toward enabling meta-analysis of
different data collected over years and/or space to
accumulate evidence and generate new knowledge
or insights to facilitate informed decision-making
in the agricultural sector in general and in the crop
development subsector.
This guideline is compiled and intended for use
by researchers, academicians, students, and
other interested professionals in Ethiopia and
beyond. The guideline is developed based on
accepted standards and procedures in the field.
Nevertheless, it is not exhaustive in its coverage of
the soil biology data types and crops grown in the
country. Hence, additions and updates depending
on the development of research facilities, the
ever-changing focus of agricultural research and
production systems, and advances in technology
are warranted.