Conventional soil management relies on insufficient information on the potential and limitations of soil. It lacks site-specific
recognition of the problem and delivery of recommendation. In future, there would be greater demand from
agriculture, so more input from the soil scientists. The 20th century witnessed the diagnosis of soil problems through basic principles of chemistry, physics and biological sciences. General approach was to analyze the crop and soil samples for single determinations, except a few. The number and type of determinations depend merely on the knowledge and will of the scientists, but not fully on the nature of the problem and need of the soil. Just in the last quarter of the century and now, some instruments became available for the multi-component analysis or finger-printing through nuclear and molecular techniques. To example a few, ICP spectrometery, NMR spectroscopy, chromatography, and flow cytometry etc., allow wide-range determinations from a single sample. These are expensive but highly valuable for rapid, automatic and precise determination of the multi-components. New modifications to instruments will no doubt also provide further opportunities to examine processes and properties of the soil system. Through such comprehensive analysis report, researchers are able to understand the situation more clearly to formulate pertinent recommendations.
Agriculture in future would not be of a type of ‘left to chance’ or ‘on the sole expense of nature’. It would be highly business oriented with a pre-determined output, so it needs to be equipped with advanced knowledge and technologies. Recommendations on crop
production and soil management must have to be in a package form instead of single item advices. It can come true only through complete and precise analysis of soil, water and crops, with site specific recommendations. This paper elaborates the current scenario of agriculture, the projected demands, the prospective technologies, and responsibilities of scientists towards developing a holistic approach system of soil management in the years to come.