Humus

In soil science, humus (coined 1790–1800; < Latin: earth, groundWhitehead, D.C., Tinsley, J., 2006. "The biochemistry of humus formation". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Humus significantly improves the structure of soil and contributes to moisture and nutrient retention. humus is good nutrients to plants, it can help them to grow big and strong.

In agriculture, humus is sometimes also used to describe mature compost, or natural compost extracted from a forest or other spontaneous source for use to amend soil. It is also used to describe a topsoil horizon that contains organic matter (humus type, humus form, humus profile).